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From: thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Seagate.
Message-ID: <20428@cup.portal.com>
Date: 14 Jul 89 06:59:49 GMT
References: <8907020047.AA15716@lilac.berkeley.edu> <3671@ddsw1.MCS.COM>  <10403@polya.Stanford.EDU> <3687@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <20260@cup.portal.com>  <475@antares.UUCP> <20326@cup.portal.com> <451@sagpd1.UUCP>
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Monty Saine comments:

"	After reading both sides of this discussion it seems to me that the
	best thing to do with SEAGATE drives is to ensure maximum cooling
	(which is probably one reason for high Apple failure rates) and to
	leave it on as much as possible.  This build up of lubricant on the
	edges may increase with temperature, which would account for the high
	failure rate in Apple's.

	So maybe if you have a Seagate, buy a fan and don't turn it off.
"

The BEST thing to do with ALL drives is to operate them in a properly vented
and cooled enclosure.  Heat is the bane of all things electrical and mechanical.

However, there is no evidence to suggest Seagate drives are any more susceptible
to thermal problems than any OTHER manufacturers' drives.

In my own situation, the ST251 drives that failed were operated in the BEST
possible enclosure available, the same kind used by Maxtor itself.  These are
the ones manufactured by Gigamation, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) and used in
commercial disk-subsystems by Storage Dimensions, Inc. (Los Gatos, CA).  These
exact same enclosures are NOW being used to operate Maxtor drives (flawlessly). 

From reading comp.sys.amiga, comp.sys.att, comp.sys.ibm.*, comp.peripherals,
unix-pc.*, private email, etc etc etc people have the stiction problems with
Seagates no matter how or where they're mounted (internal or external).

The evidence suggests that if one's drive's platters received a multiple-wipe,
it WILL fail.  Sadly, there's no way to examine the platters before purchase.

I did hear from one person off the record at this week's FAUG meeting that the
problem is almost exclusive to those drives bearing an "Assembled in Singapore"
stamp.  I just this moment examined all ten of my failed ST251 drives and they
ALL bear the "Assembled in Singapore" legend at the bottom of the Seagate label,
so there "may" be some truth in that assertion.

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