Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!ucbvax!ucdavis!csusac!csuchico.edu!csuchico.edu!gdunlap
From: gdunlap@csuchico.edu (RANZEROX)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Seagate spin-up problem
Keywords: Seagate, hard drive, hard disk, bogus, junky, trash, milk
Message-ID: <1990Oct04.231155.28864@ecst.csuchico.edu>
Date: 4 Oct 90 23:11:55 GMT
Sender: news@ecst.csuchico.edu (USENET)
Reply-To: gdunlap@csuchico.edu (RANZEROX)
Organization: California State University, Chico
Lines: 32


     Hello net!  Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I have a
problem with my Seagate ST-157N hard drive (yeah, I know, "Seagate sucks", but
it's what I can afford).  The problem is that it often doesn't spin up.  When
I power up it just sits there, making a quiet "klunking" sound (I assume this
sound is the heads stepping, normally inaudible when the motor's running).  I
can get it to work by physically turning the motor (I stick the end of a plastic
pen into it and turn the motor).   
     Does anybody know what specifically causes this problem and if there's
any way to fix it?  I can't afford to get the thing fixed, and I certainly
can't afford to buy another drive.   I don't have the thing in a proper
box - My machine's an A500 and I couldn't afford a box for the drive; besides,
if I put it in a box I couldn't spin the sucker up by hand!  Could its 
open-air status be causing a problem (the platters are sealed, so I figured
It'd be OK)?  I'm powering it (and my A500) with a 150 watt XT power supply,
so power should be of no concern.  Improper grounding?
     Any useful suggestions would be most appreciated because I'm tired of
having to stick that pen into the drive everytime I want to power up!
     Please E-Mail, because our news feed is flakey.
Thanks in advance!!!!


 ___________________________________________________________________________
| .  _________  .      _____  .                                             |
|.. /  ______/\  . .  /  _  \   |Greg Dunlap, CSUChico                   ///|
|  /  /\_____\/ .    /  /\\  \ .|Email: gdunlap@cscihp.csuchico.edu     /// |
| /  / /. .____  .  /  / /.\  \ |Disclaimer: Who the hell cares?    \\\///  |
|/  / /.  /  _/\   /  / /. /  /\|Obligatory Quote:                   \XX/   |
|\  \/____/ /\_/ ./  /____/  / /|    "Intuition, however illogical, is      |
|.\________/ /.. /__________/ /.| recognized as a command perogative."      |
| .\_______\/.  .\__________\/ .|  -- Kirk, "Obsession", stardate 3620.7    |
|___________________________________________________________________________|