[Gllug] OT: Hard drive failure

[Simon Stewart]

On Tue, Jul 31, 2001 at 07:00:08PM -0400, ChrisJS at aol.com wrote:

<snip "try another identical disks' electronics">

> I think that would invalidate my warrenty and I can't afford a replacement. 
> Also, the sound makes me think that its not an electrical problem, its like 
> something's grinding in there...

"something grinding" is never a Good Thing. I've had similar
experiences to this, and so here's what I learnt:

1) The drive electronics[1] can be different even on identical
drives. Sometimes this doesn't matter.

2) Grinding noises tend to indicate that the read/write heads are
gouging a nice little track through the media of your disk. This sort
of damage can be recovered from, but it costs a bomb and isn't
guarenteed. I might be able to point you towards some-one who could do
it if you've got a couple of grand kicking about.

3) Thoroughly examine the drive electronics if the drive isn't
spinning up. Sometimes you can spot the burnt out chips on the PCB,
which hints that things can be solved by simply replacing the PCB.

4) Backups rule.

Cheers,

Simon

[1] Well, the PCB on the outside of the drive.

-- 
I had just received my degree in Calcium Anthropology... The study of
milkmen
 - Steven Wright

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