From: vvann@umbio.med.miami.edu (Vince Vann)
Subject: Re: *Zapping PRAM causes startup problem under Sys7
Organization: University of Miami Medical School
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 08:18:18 GMT

vvann@umbio.med.miami.edu (Vince Vann) writes:
: A few days ago, I zapped the PRAM on my SE/30 (running system 7.0 &
: tuneup 1.1.1).  Since then my machine has not started up properly.
: Instead of the normal startup sequence with a single Happy Mac 
: appearing, I get a cycle of three (3) Happy Mac's as follows:
:  
:   - [HD activity + Happy Mac] X 3
:   - "Welcome to Mac..." Dialog
:   - INITs & Extensions load...
:  
: [stuff deleted]
:  
: Is this a coincidence or a bug in sys7?  Anyone have any clues as to 
: how zapping the PRAM might affect the startup sequence under sys7?
:  

Thanks to everyone that responded by e-mail.  Everyone basically said
the same thing, so I thought I would sumarize (sorry if this follow-up
is a bit lengthy):

The setting for the startup (system) volume is stored in PRAM.  Thus,
when you zap the PRAM, the setting is lost.  At the next startup, the
startup code will search through all volumes (in the default order--floppy's
first, SCSI devices next, etc...) until it finds a volume/partition with
a system on it.  

On my system, I had 3 volumes (actually HD partitions created with
Silverlining).  The system would search through the partitions until it
found the one with a system file on it.  Here is the strange part--my
system partition is physically the first partition on the drive.  So,
logically, I assumed that it would be searched first...WRONG!  

System 7 appears to search through HD partitions in alphabetical order.
YES, my system partition was 3rd alphabetically.  Hence, all my partitions 
were searched and I saw 3 cycles of [HD activity + Happy Mac].  LOGICAL!

Using the startup disk control panel to set my system partition as
the startup volume did NOT correct the problem.  Apparently, the
startup code recognizes separate SCSI devices, but not separate 
partitions created by Silverlining on a single device.  

THE SOLUTION: 
------------
I renamed my system partition so it would be first alphabetically.  
Now, when I starup my machine, I get only one (1) HAPPY MAC!

Another question:  Why didn't this 3 x cycle occur before I zapped
my PRAM, since my system partition has always been alphabetically 3rd???

Also, any idea why the 3 partitions on my drive are not recognized 
properly at startup, even after setting the startup volume with the 
startup disk control panel?  

Whenever I bring up this control panel, all three (3) partitions 
are initially selected (highlighted).  Even if I deselect them and 
re-select just ONE, the next time I bring up the control panel 
ALL THREE are highlighted again... ARGH!!!  Maybe this is because the 
partitions are all on the same device, but this seems to defeat 
the purpose of partitioning your drive.

Thanks again, 
Vince

--
 Vincent R. Vann, Jr.                  _/    _/   _/__/   _/    _/
 U. Miami School of Medicine           _/   _/   _/   _/  _/   _/
 Miami, FL                             _/  _/   _/___/    _/  _/
                                       _/ _/   _/   _/    _/ _/
 E-mail:  vvann@umbio.med.miami.edu    _/_/   _/    _/    _/_/
-- 
 Vincent R. Vann, Jr.                  _/    _/   _/__/   _/    _/
 U. Miami School of Medicine           _/   _/   _/   _/  _/   _/
 Miami, FL                             _/  _/   _/___/    _/  _/
                                       _/ _/   _/   _/    _/ _/
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system