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From: rsb@ccvr1.uucp (R. Scott Bartlett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: GVP Quantum hardcard problem
Summary: better fix
Keywords: Quantum
Message-ID: <4557@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Date: 16 Nov 89 21:06:00 GMT
References: <402@brown3.UUCP>
Sender: news@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: rsb@ccvr1.ncsu.edu (R. Scott Bartlett)
Distribution: na
Organization: NCSU Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 51


In article <402@brown3.UUCP> you write:
>
>1. Take the drive out and hold it so that the drive spindle is in the middle
>
>2. Quickly rotate the entire costly device counter-clockwise with a deft flip
>

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO...... Don't Do THAT!  The fix is real simple:

	1)  Get the replacement rom for the drive.  I don't know if
	    you'll have to go through Quantum or not, but i do know that
	    apple dealers can get the roms for you.  The rom fix may or
	    may not permanantly fix the problem.  A friend of mine w/ a
	    40Mb Quantum had the stickage problem, and got a replacement
	    rom (jumping jacks included ;-).  That fixed the problem
	    until last nite, so this fix may or may not work for you.

	or, even easier:

	2)  There is a jumper on the drive (labeled 'ss') that causes
	    it to go into self-test mode when powered on, where it
	    repeatedly seeks back and forth accross the disk.  If you do
	    this for about 2-3 minutes, it should clear up the problem
	    up (at least temporarily).

Now, the bad news is, even after doing one or both things, your drive
may still be flaky.  Don't worry about losing your data tho'
because you can still get it off, it will just be quite slow at times 
(you have wait till the head passes across the cylinder you want while it
is doing it's jumping jacks (i'm not saying that it is doing jumping
jacks all the time)).  If it is still flaky, i'd back everything up and
trade it in for a new Quantum. (Unlike a manufacturer that will go
unamed, Quantum drives are still excellent, this stickage problem is
just a fluke (crappy lubricant got shipped to them))


>The alternate method suggested was to apply power to the drive repeatedly (ie,
>ON-OFF-ON-OFF sequences) which didn't sound that healthy to me.

This works for a short while, but the problem will get worse (not as a
result of the power cycles per se)

I wish you luck...


							rsb
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