[cctalk] Re: Nuking an MFM drive with a magnet, format/servo gone?

Chris, what kind of magnet did you use? If it was an electromagnet I could imagine that you caused physical damage by something heating up sufficiently. If it was a permanent magnet then it might indeed be servo data which has been erased. Either way I expect you need a very strong magnetic field to erase a hard drive from the outside. Tom On Sat, 4 Feb 2023, 12:40 am Chris Zach via cctalk, <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > Question: I just used a strong magnet to wipe an old Maxtor MFM drive > (magnet on outside of case). Now the drive will not even seek properly > on start up, just endlessly moves the heads.. > > Is the drive now toast? Do MFM drives have embedded servo information on > the platter formatted by the factory? > > CZ >