From: Jon Glass (jonglass_at_usa.net)
Date: Mon Aug 09 2004 - 23:10:22 PDT
On Aug 10, 2004, at 1:23 AM, Steven DeRyke wrote:
> The lubricant used in the old Mac hard drives would
> degrade and fail after years such that the motor would
> not be strong enough to spin the disk up reliably.
> Keeping the disk active for long periods of time would
> serve to get the lubricant fluid again (if of course
> you were able to get it to boot in the first place).
> But there is really no solution other than putting a
> new drive in.
>
This is so absolutely true... However, sometimes it is possible to get
a stuck drive going again, but it's "dangerous" and scary...
What I have done is to pull the drive from the computer, and hold it
level with the ground, holding it via the top, and give it a firm twist
(in the direction that the platters can spin). I will do this two or
three times quite vigorously, and then put it back immediately, and
turn it on immediately. In most cases I was able to get a stuck drive
going again, and then I would immediately back that drive up. Sometimes
I kept such a drive for my System folder. In one case, I had a drive
that suffered from stiction last me another year or two, but it was in
a Mac that was never shut down, and I backed up my important data off
it _very_ regularly. I don't recommend doing this however, as you can
never be certain when it will die forever. At the time, I was hard up
for cash. :-)
-- -Jon Glass Krakow, Poland <jonglass_at_usa.net> -- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
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