> It seems like this could just be a hardware problem, and I don't 
> remember if you've tried figuring that out yet.  Perhaps switching the 
> two drives' place in the IDE chain(s) (assuming that they're IDE drives) 
> would give you a clue.  Do you have another machine you could try the 
> newer disk in?
i'll try that. i don't have another 80pin cable now, but in the 
beginning of the next week, i'll also try to attach the drive to the 
other ide controller. i guess i cannot do more in this case - or is 
there another possibility how to check for the hardware problems?

regards,

-- 
Lubos
_@_"