barry@primerd.prime.com (08/30/89)
This morning I turned on my Mac-II and discovered that my internal
hard drive would not spin up. I had powered the system down last
Thursday because I was going to be out of the office for four days.
I guess this experience is a data point in favor of the "always
leave it on" school of thought.
If the worst happens and I have to replace the drive, I'm in good
shape. I have a reasonably up to date backup, I copied the files I
worked on last week to floppies (good thing the two technical papers
were due LAST Wednesday and not tomorrow!), and the last thing I did
before shutting the system down was upload to a Prime system a
complete list of all files on the drive. Nevertheless, I'd like to
extract everything from this drive if at all possible and want to try
all options before scrapping the drive.
The drive is a 40MB Seagate ST-157 (I had thought I had a Quantum!)
that up to now has performed reliably. I normally kept the system
running but would usually power down a few times during a typical
month. Now, when I power up, I can see the LED flash brightly a few
times; it then flashes very dimly, almost too dim to be seen.
Judging from the complete absence of disk noise, the drive is not
rotating. There are no diagnostics from the Mac. It puts up the
"give me a floppy" icon and boots properly from the floppy. The
Apple HD Setup utility did not think a SCSI device was present.
I've tried a number of simple experiments:
o I reconnected all cables going to the Seagate, to no
effect.
o I borrowed an external hard drive, connected it to the
SCSI port, and was able to boot from that external drive.
The Computerland technician who handles the Prime account thought the
problem was related to the rest position of the platters. He
suggested I look for an external bearing that could be turned
manually (first choice) or try twisting the disk, e.g. with flick of
wrist (second choice). The purpose of either of these actions was to
move the platters enough to enable the disk to spin. When I removed
the drive, I couldn't see anything underneath it. It looked as if
something turnable might be underneath the PC board fastened to the
top of the drive, but I didn't have a screwdriver small enough to
let me remove the board. I tried twisting the drive, but that
didn't work.
Could this be a power supply problem, e.g. loss of 12 volt supply?
If someone could tell me where to put the probes, I'll make the tests.
If my collegague at work cooperates, I could also try installing the
Segate in his system, which has only an external hard drive.
If any of you have encountered a similar problem, I'd appreciate
hearing your suggestions. There were a number of postings earlier
this year about similar problems with Quantum drives. The
recommended solution was to carefully nudge the drive (how hard?
when?). Heating the drive, e.g. with hair dryer, was also suggested.
Would these also be appropriate for the Seagate?
Finally, if I have to replace the drive, what should I get?
Considering my current situation, I'm not thrilled with the thought
of another Seagate. I've heard Apple is now using Quantums, but I've
seen a lot of traffic about similar problems with Quantums in SE/30s
and II/CXs. If I have to get a replacement, I'd like to get an 80MB
drive - are the recommendations the same here?
Thanks in advance for any help. Please respond by mail (post, too,
if you want). If enough replies come in, I'll post a summary.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barry Wolman | barry@s66.prime.com
Principal Technical Consultant | 492 Old Connecticut Path
Prime Computer | Framingham, MA 01701
| 508/626-1700, ext. 4187
------------------------------------------------------------------------barry@primerd.prime.com (08/30/89)
After poking thru some postings that arrived while I was out last week, I discovered that there was a "recall" on Seagate 40MB drives - mine is in the range of affected drives. Thanks to Robert Hammen for his detailed posting! Barry
barry@primerd.prime.com (08/31/89)
Yesterday I posted a query about what to do with a Segate ST-157 disk that wouldn't spin up. I was able to "fix" the problem this morning by turning the disk axle manually. If you have a similar problem with a Seagate in a Mac II, here's what to do: 1. Turn off power (even better, unplug the Mac II), remove the cover, and wait the five minutes recommended by Apple. 2. The disk is inside a metal cage fastened to a large metal plate that covers the right half of the mother board. Remove the four screws that fasten the large metal plate to the Mac cabinet, remove the two screws that fasten the disk cage to the metal plate, disconnect the flat ribbon cable that connects to left side of disk, carefully lift up the large metal plate and disconnect the power connection from the rear of the motherboard. Remove the disk cage (there are two tabs on right that fit in slots on the metal plate). 3. Remove the four screws that fasten the disk to the disk cage and remove the disk from the cage. 4. Remove the three screws that fasten the printed circuit board to the top of the disks. Carefully lift the PCB, you'll see a small "flywheel" on the top left of the drive. Turn the flywheel slightly. 5. Reassemble the system. The disk should spin up. Once your system is back on the air, DO A COMPLETE BACKUP! Hope this helps somebody, Barry
greg@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (greg Nowak) (08/31/89)
In article <160700053@primerd> barry@primerd.prime.com writes: } }This morning I turned on my Mac-II and discovered that my internal }hard drive would not spin up. I had powered the system down last } } ... Now, when I power up, I can see the LED flash brightly a few }times; it then flashes very dimly, almost too dim to be seen. }Judging from the complete absence of disk noise, the drive is not }rotating. There are no diagnostics from the Mac. It puts up the }"give me a floppy" icon and boots properly from the floppy. The }Apple HD Setup utility did not think a SCSI device was present. } } }Considering my current situation, I'm not thrilled with the thought }of another Seagate. I've heard Apple is now using Quantums, but I've }seen a lot of traffic about similar problems with Quantums in SE/30s }and II/CXs. If I have to get a replacement, I'd like to get an 80MB }drive - are the recommendations the same here? } }Barry Wolman | barry@s66.prime.com }Principal Technical Consultant | 492 Old Connecticut Path }Prime Computer | Framingham, MA 01701 } | 508/626-1700, ext. 4187 This is exactly what happened with my drive. I was miserable at first, having made no recent backup. However, a few days later I tried booting the machine and the disk spun up. I immediately ordered 30 HD floppies from MacConnection, whose amazing service got them to me in 15 hours! (with a little help from Airborne) I backed up the whole disk, and when courage returned, I shut down and tried a powerup. Nothing. Apparently, now, the disk succeeds in spinning up about 1 time in 10, usually after waiting a period of time. (I.e. if it doesn't work the first time I try, it's not likely to work for the rest of the day.) I haven't checked the supplier or SN of my drive, but it's in an SE/30, so that probably means Quantum, no? Odd that drives from both Quantum and Seagate would have this problem... ARE WE GOING TO GET SOME ANSWERS FROM APPLE? Ben Wilkes bgwilkes@confidence.Princeton.edu >> Please reply to this address, not the address in the header <<
DANNY@KICKI.STACKEN.KTH.SE (Danny Kohn) (09/10/89)
I have the same problem with my HD80. My dealer said that I should terminate
using that disc asap, back it up and send it to him for drive change. He said
that the problem normally gets worth and one day the drive will never start again.
/Danny
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