Does Install erase a disk?

[Thomas]

it won't boot

That's a rather bad description of the problem.

A harddisk partition is marked bootable in the partition table (using HDToolbox or the like). It does not need a boot block. And it will boot no matter if there are files on it or not. If there are no files, you get an empty DOS prompt.

So you should have a closer look where it gets stuck. If you see the insert-disk screen, check with HDToolbox if the partition is marked bootable.

If you get an empty DOS prompt although you think all the right files are installed, check with HDToolbox if there are multiple partitions marked as bootable and if the one you want to boot from has the highest priority.

If you get a DOS prompt with an error message, tell us what the message is.

If it ends with an empty screen with only the "Workbench screen" bar and no icons, boot from floppy, edit startup-sequence of the harddisk and remove the EndCLI command at the end. Then reboot from harddisk and look for error messages.

If something else happens, tell us.

[Thomas]

Originally, I booted 3.1 from floppy and installed 3.1 on FS3:.  That worked fine.  If I just powered up the machine, it booted directly to OS 3.1 on FS3:. 

So there's nothing wrong with partitions and boot blocks and so on.

Then I reloaded my backup of the original FS3: hard drive from a USB stick onto the new SCSI2SD FS3: by saying "copy <usb-name> FS3: all".  Took about two hours.

Now when I try to boot from the SCSI2SD, the disk activity LED flashes around for a few seconds as usual but then all activity stops and I see nothing but a light gray screen.  If I try to reboot using CTL-A-A, I get more disk activity and then the red error box with "Software failure.  Press left mouse button to continue.  Error: 0000 0008  Task: 00212DA0".

It's rather with the files you copy to the disk.

How much do you trust that backup if it gives you "bad block" errors all over the place? Are you confident that the files are not corrupted?

Was this backup made from the same machine you try to restore it to? With the same CPU, the same RAM, the same expansions and the same harddisks?

If I try to boot FS3: using the "boot with no startup-sequence" option from the preboot diagnostic screen, it just goes to the ROM OS screen.

What do you mean by "ROM OS screen"? This one: http://www.gregdonner.org/workbench/images/wb_31k.gif ?

Do you say, you can enter the early startup menu, see your FS3 partition there, click on boot or boot without startup-sequence and then it tells you there is no harddisk any more?

One other possibly relevant point - the USB backup was a 3.9 OS.

Yes, that's relevant. OS 3.9 has a set of modules which they call ROM update. These modules are loaded after power-on and then activated by an immediate reboot. That second boot (and all subsequent reboots) can behave completely different than the first one because of this ROM update.

And IMHO what you describe about software failure after Ctrl-A-A sounds just like that.

[Thomas]

But when I did - we're back to the "Software error" in a red box again.  I don't get it - this is the same machine as the original install.  The only difference is that I now have the GVP HC+8 SCSI controller and a SCSI2SD instead of the A2091 and an actual Quantum hard drive.

Seems like we'll have to go into details now.

Can you please run this program and add the report as an attachment here: https://thomas-rapp.homepage.t-online.de/downloads/hddreport.lha

After that edit Startup-Sequence of FS3. Add

set echo on

as the very first line. Save it and reboot. Try to see which command is executed last when the Software Error appears.

[Thomas]

When I boot from the OS 3.9 emergency disk, FS3's icon doesn't even appear on the WB screen.

This seems to match the other symptoms. What if you boot from the 3.1 Workbench disk?

I have to go to HDToolbox to find it (SCSI address 0). 

But the partition is still there?

Should I reformat it and load OS 3.1 back on it and then run your program?

No, that's not necessary. If HDToolbox finds the partition, then HDDReport should find it, too. Just run it.

As a first try to fix the issue, boot from a floppy disk from where you see the FS3 drive (WB 3.1 probably), go to the Devs folder of FS3 and rename the file AmigaOS ROM Update to something else.

[Thomas]

It's not really a solution but rather a workaround. By renaming the ROM update file you actually deactivated one half of OS 3.9. The better solution would have been to investigate which part of the ROM update causes the software error and exclude it explicitly.

There might still be an issue with your system, you just don't notice any more.

[Thomas]

Blanker is in Tools/Commodities.