[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Do ST251/ST4096 have auto-parking mechanism?

yao@euler.uucp (Wei-Hsin Yao) (03/24/89)

  Hi,  I am considering buying a second hard drive for my
  AT clone.  I am interested in:

  1. Seagate 251-1 (28ms, HF, 40MB)
  2. Seagate 4096  (28ms, FH, 80MB)

  How is the reliability of these two models?

  Is there any way to park two hard drives at the same time or
  these two hard drives have auto-parking mechanisms?

  Any information or comments are highly appreciated.

  Wei

-------------------------------------------------------------------

   Wei Hsin  YAO                    Internet: yao@euler.berkeley.edu
				
   Dept of ME, UC Berkeley          Phone #:(415) 642-0935
   Hearst Ave. CA 94720

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harper@artemis.uucp (David Harper) (03/25/89)

In article <11386@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> yao@euler.berkeley.edu (Wei-Hsin Yao) writes:
>
>  Hi,  I am considering buying a second hard drive for my
>  AT clone.  I am interested in:
>
>  1. Seagate 251-1 (28ms, HF, 40MB)
>  2. Seagate 4096  (28ms, FH, 80MB)
>
>  How is the reliability of these two models?
>
I bought a Seagate 4096 about 9 months ago and it worked flawlessly, right up
until it died two months later.  My next choice was a Micropolis 1335 and it
seems to work okay.  Same price as the Seagate and as a side benefit, it is
RLLable.

Dave Harper
Convex Computer Corp.
701 N. Plano Rd.
Richardson, TX 75081

Addman@cup.portal.com (Dennis A Lish) (03/26/89)

hmmm I just had a 4038 Seagate die on me...after aboit a yuear and a 1/2.
In addition I bought a 4096 and I'm having problems losing the BPB record. 
Something is going wrong and I have NO IDEA what it is!  It seemed the 4096
lost it's high level format yesterday right after I went into Excel using
Microsofts Smrtdrv disk caching program.
 
I'm really at wits end with the 4038 dead and the 4096 losing esential data.
Plus, Seagate is a bitch to get through too.  They really need to hired
additional help in the Tech Support area.

mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP (Michael R. Volow) (03/26/89)

Disk caching programs sometimes have reputation for trashing the
system areas of HDs. Could the problem be with your cache?

M Volow, VA Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705
mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP           919 286 0411

karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM ([Karl Denninger]) (03/27/89)

>-----
>Response 2 of 3 (2485) by Addman at cup on Sun 26 Mar 89 14:25
>[Dennis A Lish]
>In addition I bought a 4096 and I'm having problems losing the BPB record. 
>Something is going wrong and I have NO IDEA what it is!  It seemed the 4096
>lost it's high level format yesterday right after I went into Excel using
>Microsofts Smrtdrv disk caching program.

Smartdrv is NOT the problem; we use it here..... extensively.;

If your 4096 was made in the last few weeks of 1988 it has a problem; there 
was a bad batch of them.  Get it replaced, and FAST!

---
Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, <well-connected>!ddsw1!karl)
Public Access Data Line: [+1 312 566-8911], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910]
Macro Computer Solutions, Inc.

stoppani@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Peter Stoppani) (03/28/89)

>  Hi,  I am considering buying a second hard drive for my
>  AT clone.  I am interested in:
>
>  1. Seagate 251-1 (28ms, HF, 40MB)
>  2. Seagate 4096  (28ms, FH, 80MB)
>
>  How is the reliability of these two models?
>
>  Is there any way to park two hard drives at the same time or
>  these two hard drives have auto-parking mechanisms?
>
>  Any information or comments are highly appreciated.
>

The 251-1 has auto-parking heads!!  I just bought one and the only
complaint I have is that it is much louder during seeks than my old
20MB (40ms, FH) disk.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Pete Stoppani

    UUCP: {...}!hplabs!hpda!stoppani  -or-  stoppani@hpda
  Telnet: 447-5675                    
  HPMAIL: STOPPANI (hpda) / HPUNIX/UX

pat@upose.UUCP (Richard Patrick) (03/29/89)

According to the Seagate Universal Installation Handbook, page 2-2
section 2.1.6:  "All Seagate disc drives, with the exception of the
ST213, ST225, ST225N and ST238R products, have an automatic read/
write head parking function at power off."

Hope this helps.  Drop me a line if I can be of further help.
pat

schuster@dasys1.UUCP (Michael Schuster) (03/29/89)

In article <11386@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> yao@euler.berkeley.edu (Wei-Hsin Yao) writes:
>  How is the reliability of these two models?
The ST-4096 is a well-established decent performer which is now available for
excellent prices. Many folks have used them on cheap file servers.

The ST251/277 suffer from a Seagate design flaw which started in 1987 when
they started producing their own magnetic media. As a result, the heads
sometimes get "Stuck" in a glob of lubricant when you power the drive down.
This is called "Stiction" and is an excellent reason not to buy a recent
vintage ST251/277.

>  Is there any way to park two hard drives at the same time or
>  these two hard drives have auto-parking mechanisms?

Both drives are self-parking on power-down. They use different means
of doing it, but they both self-park.
-- 
l\  /l'   _  Mike Schuster          ...!dasys1!schuster
l \/ lll/(_  Big Electric Cat       schuster@dasys1.UUCP
l    lll\(_  New York, NY USA       DELPHI,GEnie:MSCHUSTER  CIS:70346,1745 

Derk@cup.portal.com (DERK ALLEN GATES) (03/29/89)

My Seagate 251 worked great for 3 months... then it puked and I like 38meg!
it stopped spinning... and they said the data couldn't be recovered...
it was replaced and has worked just fine for 9 months now with an average
of 14hr a day...

			Derk @ cup.portal.com

	p.s. it is auto parking

Addman@cup.portal.com (Dennis A Lish) (03/31/89)

Well, a few weeks ago my Seagate 4038 died, my 4096 has trouble with Excel 
and Norton's Disk Doctor and who knows what else.  I reinstalled my original
20meg CMI that came with the AT (this disk was believed dead and had a repu-
tation of dying hard) it lasted for two weeks and now I'm getting disk I/O
errors in my programs.
 
After a while you get a little weary and god knows what's a reliable drive
to buy today.  Seagate had the reputation of having the best drives for a good
price...but look at my 4038 that's rated for 25,000 hours died after a year
and half.  And there was a message here a few nights ago about 4096s that were
made the last few weeks of 1988 that were bad (mine was made in Jan 88..hope
didn't mean the first few weeks of '88!!!).
 
I'm going to send the 4038 back to Seagate's repair service and hopefully th
can repair it for a reasonable price.  If they're as busy as their Customer
Service I should get the disk back some time in 1992.
 
I'm really at a loss in trying decide what companies make good disks these
days.  You here good and bad things about all the companies.  Plus, IBM doesn'
help the matter either by not including or updating bios to include the new 
disks so that we need a program like Disk Manager or whatever to format it
properly. 
 
Dennis

air@anableps.berkeley.edu (Arthur Ernest Wright) (04/01/89)

I've installedlots of differenet drive/controller/cpu
cofigurations. and as far as I can tell, You never can tell
what a drives going to do whenn.  I think the main thing is to be
sure the drive is warranteed, and to check it thoughroly upon receipt,
and periodicaly there after,, and keep backups of your datafiles.

I still believe that seagae is one of the best things going,
though I am not afraid to use a newer companys drive, as
the failure rates seem equally intermitant.
-
Hope this helps some people.
-

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