[CCTALK] HD repair techniques?

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Tue May 14 13:46:13 2002

Well, today I lost the first drive in years due to a head crash. The data
it contained wasn't extremely important, since I can reconstruct it given
time, but sadly, I didn't have a listing of the drive's contents.

After getting the air reasonable clean in a makeshift clean-room, I took a
look at the platters, and found the topmost surface of the upper platter
is the one that took damage. (If I decide to do any serious work on the
drive, I'll have to build a clean-box...)

I'd like to get the drive to a state where I can at least get a directory
listing, but the data it contained isn't worth what it would cost to send
it off for 'professional' recovery, especially since those shops tend to
charge a small fortune for Linux e2fs formatted drives. I have another
drive that is identical to the one that failed, so I have donor parts to
repair it with. The second drive has a bad head, but it affects one of the
lower platters. I've never had to replace a head before, so I'm looking
for advice, or even a step by step guide to replacing it.

The drives are both a Conner CFS1275A, 1.2GB, 3 platters, 6 surfaces. I'm
starting to suspect the top surface of the upper platter is the servo
surface, due to the behavior of the drive when it failed. Can anyone
confirm if this is the case, or if these type of drive even use a servo
surface? The 1275A doesn't quite yet meet the 10 year rule, but with all
the experts here, I figure someone is bound to know more about these
drives then I currently do.

-Toth
Received on Tue May 14 2002 - 13:46:13 BST