I doubt that this was a head crash. I think what you're hearing is the
heads restoring and seeking repeatedly. A head-crash would not be likely
produce a repeated more or less regular clicking. What's more likely is
that the drive p*ssed either on a servo track or simply wiped the servo
information from the track on which it saves that information. Drives
normally use embedded servo infomration that's integrated into the data
stream. That means that it could have had this "accident" anywhere, but if
it (the repetetive clicking) happpens during the power-on sequence, it's
likely that it's in the region where the control processor gets its
information about what it's supposed to do. I have about 18 WD drives in a
box in the corner, each of which had this symptom, and each of which was
replaced at least 4 and as many as 9 times over the 2-year warranty life.
Now, though they all work, I'm not likely to use them, since they'll last at
most 6 weeks before going tits-up.
I'll find a suitable donee, so I can take the full tax writeoff.
Your 20GB drive is recent enough that it should probably still be under
warranty. Have you explored that?
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gareth Knight" <gaz_k_at_lineone.net>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2000 9:16 AM
Subject: Re: Hard disk Woes
> Richard Erlacher wrote:
> > How do you know you had a head-crash?
>
> Repeated clicking when the drive is powered up. I suspect the clicking is
> the sound of the drive head catching the platters.
>
> > If it was a head-crash, how would chilling it solve the resulting
> problems?
>
> The extreme cold would (theoretically) cause the drive to contract, and
> expand upon reheating. It's usually used to as a temporary cure for
> stiction, but I'm desperate to try anything.
> --
> Gareth Knight
> Amiga Interactive Guide | Team Amiga |
> http://amiga.emugaming.com | BenchPress |
>
>
Received on Sat Dec 16 2000 - 12:08:08 GMT