Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!sunybcs!jmpiazza
From: jmpiazza@sunybcs.uucp (Joseph M. Piazza)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Seagate.
Message-ID: <7682@cs.Buffalo.EDU>
Date: 9 Jul 89 14:59:56 GMT
References: <8907020047.AA15716@lilac.berkeley.edu> <3671@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <10403@polya.Stanford.EDU> <3687@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <20260@cup.portal.com>
Sender: nobody@cs.Buffalo.EDU
Reply-To: jmpiazza@sunybcs.UUCP (Joseph M. Piazza)
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science
Lines: 44

In article <20260@cup.portal.com> thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) writes:
>... specifically, the application of
>too much lubricant on the drive platters; this causes a severe meniscus at
>the R/W head when in park position, preventing the stepper from moving the
>heads upon a power-up ... and a failsafe in the main spindle driver prevents
>rotation if the heads don't leave park position.  It has also been consistently
>stated by the same companies (independent of each other) that the problem does
>NOT arise until after about 12 months' service (AFTER the warranty expires;
>this may be coincidence, but ... :-)

	In an ealier posting you mentioned this occuring after three months
-- almost to the day the problem showed on my 138N.  Could you clarify?

>6) after the drive is in use for awhile, the excess <chemical> is pushed to the
>   INSIDE and the OUTSIDE of the platter.  Anything beyond cylinder 0 is no
>   problem because the heads won't go there; BUT, the crap that was pushed
>   inwards (beyond, say, cylinder 820 in an ST251) is NOW is the area where
>   the heads are parked.  When you shut your drive down, the heads now are
>   sloshing in that <chemical> and the meniscus essentially GLUES the heads in
>   place, preventing the stepper from moving them from PARK when power is
>   re-applied.

	Wow, this is truely amazing.  I thought I was mixed-up with respect
to how many cylinders are avaible on the 138N.  When I first got my drive it
formated correctly to 615.  A month or so later it would only format it to 605
(the number I currently have in my Montlist).  At the time I figured it must
have been a lapse of my memory.  Now, ...

>The above scenario is NOT speculation; it is FACT.

	I believe you; the supporting evidence just keeps on getting stronger.

Flip side,

	joe piazza

--- "Where's my other sock?"  A. Einstein

CS Dept. SUNY at Buffalo 14260

UUCP: ..!{ames,boulder,decvax,rutgers}!sunybcs!jmpiazza		GEnie: jmpiazza
BITNET: jmpiazza@sunybcs.BITNET		Internet: jmpiazza@cs.Buffalo.edu

>Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]