16 Aug
2005
16 Aug
'05
1:55 p.m.
and a woman urinated on herself so that she wouldn't give up her spot!!!
Ram
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Eros [mailto:tony.eros at machm.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 4:46 PM
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
Subject: Used laptop stampede
Apparently, the iBook sale in Virginia turned out to be a
real Donnybrook. Folks lined up at 1:30 am, and there was a
stampede when the doors finally opened.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8973616/
-- Tony
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Dwight K. Elvey
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 2:15 PM
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: SPAM-LOW: Re: drive repair tips?
data. I'd say
From: "Sridhar Ayengar" <ploopster at
gmail.com>
der Mouse wrote:
> I have a disk drive - a (relatively) modern sealed unit - which
> appears to have mechanical trouble. The noise it makes
spinning up
> says to my ear "bearing friction".
>
> I'm considering taking it apart and lubing the bearing.
Of course,
> this would at best be a temporary fix, since
it is on its
way out at
> this point; this is more to gain experience
on a throwaway device
> than to actually recover the drive. (All the bits from it
are safe;
> live mirroring is great for that.)
>
> Any tips from the collective wisdom? Obviously, I want to
do this in
as close
to a cleanroom as I can reasonably find, and have the
platter assembly open as short a time as I can. But I don't, for
example, have any idea what would be a suitable lubricant to use -
assuming the bearing isn't a totally sealed assembly itself....
ObOTness thread: the disk itself may be formally on-topic; it's
certainly close to - it is stamped "MAR 31 1996".
I've done it before, but I find it's not usually worth it, unless you
can't access data on the drive, and you really need that if that drive is still working, find an identical
drive and
dd the data
over.
The drive is nowhere near as valuable as the data, at least
for newish
drives.
Peace... Sridhar
Hi
It sounds like a fun project. Don't expect to get good
results but consider it as an experiment in how to analyze a
drive failure. One problem you may find is that in order to
get to the bearing, you'll need to unmount the disk platters.
It will be almost impossible to get these mounted in the same
concentric location as they came out from. Also, note that
rotating the disk surface, even a little backwards while the
heads are in contact will most likely destroy the surface.
One last thing is that you may need to make some special
spanners to undo some of the fasteners. You can make a clean
work area by getting some plastic sheeting, a small blower
and a HEPA filter from a vacuum cleaner. Wipe the inside and
the outside of the plastic sheet with a 10:1 diluted mixture
of liquid dish soap and water. Let this dry. This stops most
all of the static that would hold or transfer dust on the
plastic sheet. Try to get some clear plastic so you can see
but a small piece of glass should work. The bearing will be
sealed but if you can access it from the motor side, you can
get some lubricant by lifting the seal. Remember, you can't
rotate the disk while the heads are on the surface. You'll
need to make a comb like tool to lift them off while banging
and digging on things. Hope this doesn't scare you. I do
wish to hear what results you have. Also any observations you
have while disassembling. The brand and type of drive are
also of interest here. Dwight