Copier asks user to reformat hdd MP C3004ex

[tonerhead]

Here's a new one on me. MP c3004ex. Copier threw a message on the screen saying hdd needs to be reformatted, do you wish to do that now? Yes/No. The customer hit yes, hdd was reformatted and they lost address book. Since it wasn't backed up, I had to re-enter values to address book. Has this happened to anyone else? What should a person be doing in this case? I have not seen a message like this before.

[tjvincent]

First thing I would try would be a new hard drive and hope it doesn’t do it again, maybe just a power outage that caused it ?

[copier tech]

Yes seen this a few times, strangely on new or nearly new install. New HDD has always been the fix.

[mincopier]

Agree with replacing the HDD. Could be as simple as a loose connection on the HDD cables. Then teach the customer how to backup the address book through the web interface.

[slimslob]

In all likelihood, by the time they received the error message, the address book was already gone. One of the things that should be included in user training is how to backup the address book in WIM. I have always taught to do a backup every time there are changes to the address book.

[tonerhead]

Got word back from Ricoh. They said that if I look in SMC, I would likely find an SC860 error listed. They suggested replacing hdd. Apparently the copier notices a faulty partition and tries to correct it by putting up the reformat hdd message to the end user. If the reformat does not fix the partition an SC860 is displayed to the operator on the screen and copier stops working. I guess this is similar to the Ricohs of the past where it used to say functional error, shutdown in progress, and would start filling in a line of blue circles. Thanks for the replies.

[Brianneoe]

I had this problem on a color 02 series and then on a color 03 at the same location plunged into the same outlet. I found the problem back when they had the 02 but they didn't want to do anything with the outlet so I showed the end user on how to reinstall the address book.I also replaced the hard drive twice before I found the issue. The problem was the ground to neutral voltage was running about 3 volts. I have a nice "Sure Test" circuit analyzer that made the troubleshooting easy. It is also handy when you need to test 20 amp load drops. Installing a ESP surge protector does nothing for the voltage running between ground and neutral if you find this to be your problem.

Good luck