lfr@rayssd.RAY.COM (Larry F. Rogers) (07/09/87)
The problems with the ST238 are real. The "screws too tight" explanation is a "screws too loose" explanation. My dealer tried it on me and I thought it was as bogus as it turned out to be, although it does have some basis in fact. Anyway, the truth is that the Seagate ST238 disk is not intended for the disk mount in the Leading Edge Model D, or any system that uses a similar mount. The mount does not allow for the flex required by the Seagate disk, thus the failures at extreme temperature ranges (real cold like right after power up or real warm after running the thing for a few hours in an un-air-conditioned room during a warm day. The only, and I stress ONLY, way to resolve the problem is to replace the drive with one spec'ed to work with the mount. My dealer tried to put me off by having me reformat the disk several times before he'd even listen to me about the problem. On the last format, I had him do it because of the "but did you do this thing that we didn't tell you to do, but we would have done if we'd worked on the system" syn- drome. Word of advice; have your dealer do whatever he thinks needs to be done to fix the problem. It will save alot of trouble when they don't work. When you get the errors again after your dealer has tried loosening your screws and formatting your disk and other such "eye of newt" and "wing of bat" type fixit attempts, run an enhanced disk test program on the disk, such as Norton Utilities' and save the output to a file, as the system will probably not always act up at the dealer, and, without proof, they try to make you look a bit like a fool to get you off their back. After harassing my dealer for several months, I finally had my disk replaced with a Miniscribe. It works just dandy, although its a tad slower and makes a bit of a whining noise (sort of like your ear's ringing). I'm not sure if this is a problem with the drive or if the power supply is straining (if anyone has seen this, please let me know), but it does not affect the drive functionally. To conclude, one statement says it all: NO MATTER WHAT YOUR DEALER SAYS TO YOU, YOU MUST GET YOUR DISK REPLACED BEFORE YOUR WARRANTY EXPIRES. If you live with this problem, it gets worse, and eventually, you have no warranty left to fall back on. Good luck. Post me and let me know how you do. Larry Rogers Forgive and forget my #@$%$#@. to fix the problem. It w