Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!sunybcs!jmpiazza From: jmpiazza@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Joseph M. Piazza) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Comotose Seagate follow-up & question Summary: As the Seagate Doesn't Turn Keywords: Seagate, Hard Drives, Suck Message-ID: <5586@cs.Buffalo.EDU> Date: 30 Apr 89 02:51:34 GMT Sender: nobody@cs.Buffalo.EDU Reply-To: jmpiazza@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Joseph M. Piazza) Distribution: na Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science Lines: 99 Thanks to all who responded. I also managed to find the article that appears to explain why so many Seagate hard drives (a ST-138N 30 Meg 3.5" SCSI in my case) fail to spin-up when power is turned on. I also briefly describe the fix as well as include a few other tidbits including some warrenty info. [From: thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) [Subject: Re: Those seagates [Date: 13 Jan 89 12:05:53 GMT [ ... [Maybe I should repost this once a month or something. I'll say, [... I've been hearing from MANY people that MOST [Seagate drives have the same problem (this also from several dealers). [Experience NOW suggests that only the ST-4096 is a good drive from Seagate due [to its linear actuator (vs. rotary stepper) for the head/arm assembly. I've [received HUNDREDS of comments from people all over describing the non-spin [problem with most Seagate disk drive models after the drives have been in [operation more than a few months, so the reasonable conclusion is that Seagate [disk drives are inherently flawed; caveat emptor. "... a few months ..." Mine was right on schedule. [The design (or manufacturing?) flaws with Seagate drives center on the [auto-park/drive-braking assembly. The anecdotes following describe only SOME [of the experiences of others besides myself. [ [Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ] [============================================================================== [Eric Bergan comments about problems with his ST-251 hard drive ... [ [There are inherent flaws in the design of the ST251 such that the drive motor [will NOT spin due to the arms not coming out of park position (which they enter [upon power-down of the drive). ... [>From: thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) [Newsgroups: comp.sys.att [Subject: Re: HELP with 7300 hard disk PLEASE [Date: 1 Nov 88 09:43:22 GMT [ [First thing next morning, called Seagate (Scotts Valley) QA Manager and [discussed my findings. An engineer was consulted and confirmed that the [ST251 drive has "failsafes" to prevent main spindle rotation IF the arms [don't come out of `park' during the power up sequence. [ The fix is to get at the bottom of the drive and give the spindle-thingie a twist using some long nose pliers or whatever (I have reason to believe that all Seagates are the same in this respect). Thanks to Erik Bennett for setting me straight on how to do this. It turns out I was too timid to touch the static brush which lays on the tip of the spindle -- it was very flexible and can simply be bent out of the way. So grab the spindle and give it a quarter turn or so and you're ready to rock-n-roll. This would be easy to bear if it wasn't for the fact that I have to completely dismount the drive from my 2000 to get at it. As for the warrenty: [Date: 16 Apr 89 16:43:06 EDT (Sun) [From: ames!ucqais.uc.edu!ggibeau (George Gibeau) [ [Seagate Corp. have a two-fold warranty program. If you have a [dated receipt, there is a 1-year from purchase warranty, if no [receipt, then you fall under their orphan program. There is a [date on the side of the drive (usually stamped in black ink), this [is the date of manufacture (week and year), if the drive is within [a year of date of manufacture, they will either fix or replace [it for $35.00 (there is an 800 number you call to get RMA #) I have [used this service with GREAT results. Since it seems that I'm stuck with this lemon or another lemon replacement that won't show its true nature until a few months have passed does anybody know how to prevent the lock-up? Like, what if we were to park the heads "manually" BEFORE we turn it off? Has anybody tried this? Can anybody tell me how to park the heads so I can try? In summary: While I haven't contacted Seagate yet, the simple fact that I have been able to gather information describing so many complaints over the course of only a few days amazes me. And I'm pissed that any company could let this happen. 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