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From: ESR@SLACVM.BITNET (Ed Russell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Hard Disk Problems/Advice Wanted
Message-ID: <90290.132303ESR@SLACVM.BITNET>
Date: 17 Oct 90 21:23:03 GMT
References: <1990Oct17.181123.6364@Neon.Stanford.EDU>
Organization: SLAC Computing Services
Lines: 39

In response to:

>Message-ID: <1990Oct17.181123.6364@Neon.Stanford.EDU>
>Date: 17 Oct 90 18:11:23 GMT
>Sender: sankar@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Sriram Sankar)
>
>My hard disk suddenly stopped working.  When I power on the system,
>it starts spinning, then I hear the noice of the head moving up
>and down a few times and then it just goes quite (if continues
>spinning).  I tried the disk on another controller and also took it
>to Frys Electronics to test it out.  They suggest burying the disk
>and getting a new one.  The disk in question is a Seagate 4096.
>I've had the disk for only 1.5 years now.  I thought Seagate made
>better products than this.  Is there anything I can do to get this
>disk running again?
>
>In case I do have to buy a new disk, which would you suggest?  I'm
>looking for something with 80Meg or more capacity.  Which company
>is reliable and which format is best, etc.  I've read a few of the
>messages on the newsgroup, but if any of you can give me specific
>suggestions, I'd appreciate it.  When I spend $600 again, I want
>to be sure I've something more reliable.
>
>

My ST-4096 lasted 2 years -- a longevity record for that model?  I now
have a 80MB doorstop.  I won't buy another Seagate drive.  Symptoms sound
similar -- intermittent seek problems.

Before replacing my drive (with a CDC SCSI), I took it to the local disk
repair place to get a repair estimate.  The people there were very helpful,
even though I decided not to repair the pig.  They indicated that the
drives they consider the most reliable (based on their repairs) are Toshiba,
Fujitsu, Maxtor, and Miniscribe (in that order, I think).  (Seagate drives
seem to keep them in business.)  I know several people who think Toshiba
drives are great and QUIET.  I have seen similar postings on the net.

You might also want to read the article in PC Magazine in September 25,
1990.