kyriazis@rpics (George Kyriazis) (09/26/88)
I have a Miniscribe 3438 Hard Disk with a WD1002-27X controller and a strange problem. I turned on my PC one nice morning and discovered that the motor wasn't spinning! I was surprised, 'cause it was working fine over one year and I never had any problems. I managed to do my work without a hard disk, since mostly I use the PC as a terminal. After a few off-on cycles I heard my motor spinning again! You can't imagine how happy I was. Well, the motor was increasing speed, till the speed was above normal, the whole desk was vibrating and I thought my whole PC will take off !! I turned the PC off and on again and the disk was dead again. Till then the motor seems to be "working" (it always overspins, at random intervals though. Sometimes, it is sitting dead and starts spinning like crazy, so I have to save my work quickly and turn off the power!). Does anybody know anything about this problem? I'd be very thankful if somebody could help. Thanks. George Kyriazis kyriazis@turing.cs.rpi.edu ------------------------------
broode@orion.cf.uci.edu (Brian Roode) (09/26/88)
I had a similar problem with my XT clone and it turned out to
be the power supply. As I recall, a regulator chip was bad and was
causing the voltage to fluctuate considerably.
Happy troubleshooting...
Brian
broode@orion.cf.uci.edujames@bigtex.uucp (James Van Artsdalen) (09/26/88)
In article <1254@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU>, kyriazis@turing.cs.rpi.edu (George Kyriazis) wrote: > I turned on my PC one nice morning and discovered that the motor > wasn't spinning! My CDC Wren III-182s have a habit of doing this sometimes. It never overspins like George describes, but usually after a move across town one of the two drives will refuse to spin up. To get it going again, I take it out of the computer and shake it along the spindle axis, and it works. I have been told this is just an artifact of the motor design, but I have no idea if there is any truth to this. -- James R. Van Artsdalen ...!uunet!utastro!bigtex!james "Live Free or Die" Phone: 512-346-2444 10926 Jollyville Rd #901 Austin TX 78759
mvolo@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) (09/26/88)
[Stuff about a Miniscribe 3650 motor that sometimes doesn't power up]. A similar thing happened to my Seagate ST225. I traced it to the power connectors (the white, four-pin plug). Swap power connectors with one of your floppies and see if the problem goes away. In the connectors the pins spread, making poor contact. Environmental variables probably make this vary, causing the variable power up. If the HD doesn't get up to speed in a required time, no boot. Hope this helps. Mike Volow, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, N.C. 27705 919 286 0411, Ext 6933 mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP
wheels@mks.UUCP (Gerry Wheeler) (09/28/88)
In article <8525@bigtex.uucp>, james@bigtex.uucp (James Van Artsdalen) writes: > In article <1254@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU>, kyriazis@turing.cs.rpi.edu (George Kyriazis) wrote: > > > I turned on my PC one nice morning and discovered that the motor > > wasn't spinning! > > My CDC Wren III-182s have a habit of doing this sometimes. It never > overspins like George describes, but usually after a move across town > one of the two drives will refuse to spin up. To get it going again, > I take it out of the computer and shake it along the spindle axis. The ancient hard disk I inherited (Ampex Pyxis 13) uses a solenoid as a brake on the spindle. While power is on, it is retracted. When power is removed, the spring presses a cork against the flywheel to stop the spindle. Sometimes the solenoid sticks in its park position, and there is enough friction to prevent the motor from turning. I have to reach in and use the tip of my finger to nudge it to retract. I should probably take it apart and see what's making it stick, but, you know how these things go... -- Gerry Wheeler Phone: (519)884-2251 Mortice Kern Systems Inc. UUCP: uunet!watmath!mks!wheels 35 King St. North BIX: join mks Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2W9 CompuServe: 73260,1043
malc@tahoe.unr.edu (Malcolm L. Carlock) (09/28/88)
In article <5420@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> mvolo@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) writes: >[Stuff about a Miniscribe 3650 motor that sometimes doesn't power >up]. > > [ serious and helpful reply ] > >Environmental variables probably make this vary, causing the variable power up. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ You mean like PATH and PROMPT?? Now I'm REALLY confused. . . . Oh, you mean things like temperature and humidity . . . whoops. Sorry. ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)
hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) (09/29/88)
In article <1254@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU> kyriazis@turing.cs.rpi.edu (George Kyriazis) writes: }... I turned on my PC one nice morning and discovered }that the motor wasn't spinning! ... }... the motor was increasing speed, till the speed }was above normal, the whole desk was vibrating and I thought my whole }PC will take off !! I turned the PC off and on again and the disk was }dead again. ... it always overspins, }at random intervals though. Sometimes, it is sitting dead and starts }spinning like crazy ... This week's "Time" magazine cover story mentions a computer virus that has this effect. They give no details, just a virus that speeds up disk drives, causing them to wear out faster. -- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, hollombe@ttidca.tti.com) Illegitimati Nil Citicorp(+)TTI Carborundum 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 452-9191, x2483 Santa Monica, CA 90405 {csun|philabs|psivax}!ttidca!hollombe
stevewa@upvax.UUCP (Steve Ward) (10/03/88)
In article <3226@ttidca.TTI.COM> hollombe@ttidcb.tti.com (The Polymath) writes: >In article <1254@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU> kyriazis@turing.cs.rpi.edu (George Kyriazis) writes: >}... I turned on my PC one nice morning and discovered >}that the motor wasn't spinning! ... >}... the motor was increasing speed, till the speed >}was above normal, the whole desk was vibrating and I thought my whole >}PC will take off !! I turned the PC off and on again and the disk was >}dead again. ... it always overspins, >}at random intervals though. Sometimes, it is sitting dead and starts >}spinning like crazy ... > >This week's "Time" magazine cover story mentions a computer virus that has >this effect. They give no details, just a virus that speeds up disk >drives, causing them to wear out faster. > >-- >The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, hollombe@ttidca.tti.com) Illegitimati Nil >Citicorp(+)TTI Carborundum >3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 452-9191, x2483 >Santa Monica, CA 90405 {csun|philabs|psivax}!ttidca!hollombe Wouldn't the computer have to BOOT UP before a virus could have an effect on its operation? And if he's booting off a floppy, there's no reason why a virus would ever be able to load (unless it's on the floppy itself) from the HD since the HD isn't working. A virus is a program. Granted, it's a complicated program which doesn't follow the rules of how programs normally behave, but there's just NO WAY a program can be run without being loaded up first. The problem described sounds like a hardware problem. Chasing ghosts won't solve it...the machine needs to be looked at by someone who has the proper equipment and facilities to figure out what's going on (be it a paid technician or not). People are giving the virus writers more credit than they're due. The hype they have received in Time and elsewhere (including this forum) only entices them to keep it up. If you're worried about viruses, back up your HD before installing an untried software package. If you have any problems, LOW LEVEL format the drive and start from scratch (obviously, you'll want to start from power-off and boot from a known safe floppy with write-protect on to be absolutely sure). This is the only 100-percent reliable way to get rid of a virus that I know of. These people are writing this trash because they want to make us change our habits and lives. If we adopt a paranoid attitude we've done exactly what they want. If we take reasonable precautions and don't talk about how amazing these little ditties are, the feelings of power and excitement will eventually wear off. I hadn't anticipated being so long-winded about this, but I think it's an important issue. Steve | Steve Ward Jr. | | | University of Portland (Just a lowly student!) | stevewa@upvax.UUCP | | Portland, Oregon | !tektronix!upvax!stevewa |