don@bacchus.esa.oz.au (Don Isdale) (11/29/90)
Could someone advise if there is a procedure for parking a disc for shipping, other than "shut". Thanks, Don Isdale P.S. If someone could tell me the type of controller Apollo would have shipped (in March '89) with a DN3010 with a Maxtor EXT-3480 series 3 disc drive, I'd be greatly grateful. --- INTERNET: don@bacchus.esa.oz.au UUCP: uunet!bacchus.esa.oz.au!don Phone : (+61) (3) 819 4554 Fax : 819 5580
hanche@imf.unit.no (Harald Hanche-Olsen) (11/30/90)
In article <841@bacchus.esa.oz.au> don@bacchus.esa.oz.au (Don Isdale) writes:
Could someone advise if there is a procedure for parking a disc
for shipping, other than "shut".
There is an undocumented monitor command SH that I believe does this.
At least, that used to be folklore knowledge around here. If anyone
can confirm or deny this, I would like to know about it...
- Harald Hanche-Olsen <hanche@imf.unit.no>
Division of Mathematical Sciences
The Norwegian Institute of Technology
N-7034 Trondheim, NORWAYgk06@umd5.umd.edu (David O. Dodge) (11/30/90)
In article <HANCHE.90Nov29175402@hufsa.imf.unit.no>, hanche@imf.unit.no (Harald Hanche-Olsen) writes: > >In article <841@bacchus.esa.oz.au> don@bacchus.esa.oz.au (Don Isdale) writes: > > Could someone advise if there is a procedure for parking a disc > for shipping, other than "shut". > >There is an undocumented monitor command SH that I believe does this. >At least, that used to be folklore knowledge around here. If anyone >can confirm or deny this, I would like to know about it... > I was looking over the old DN300 "troubleshooting manual" yesterday and it states that when you are doing a complete shutdown, you use "SH" at the MD level and listen for the drive to spin down. I'm guessing it's fairly safe for shipping but I'm not sure if it actually "parks" the heads or not. BTW, the manual also explains several other MD commands (though I'm not exactly sure which ones are applicable to the newer models). Dave Dodge gk06@umd5.umd.edu (University of Maryland, College Park)
nazgul@alphalpha.com (Kee Hinckley) (12/01/90)
In article <7643@umd5.umd.edu> gk06@umd5.umd.edu (David O. Dodge) writes: >I was looking over the old DN300 "troubleshooting manual" yesterday and it >states that when you are doing a complete shutdown, you use "SH" at the MD >level and listen for the drive to spin down. I'm guessing it's fairly safe >for shipping but I'm not sure if it actually "parks" the heads or not. On the 400's and maybe the 300s too this actually did do a full disk shutdown. I think it's a noop since then, but I still tend to do it for good luck. -kee -- Alphalpha Software, Inc. | motif-request@alphalpha.com nazgul@alphalpha.com |----------------------------------- 617/646-7703 (voice/fax) | Proline BBS: 617/641-3722 I'm not sure which upsets me more; that people are so unwilling to accept responsibility for their own actions, or that they are so eager to regulate everyone else's.
krowitz@RICHTER.MIT.EDU (David Krowitz) (12/01/90)
The MD command "SH" does cause the disk drive to spin down for the older DN3xx and DN4xx/6xx models. On the DN4xx/6xx there is a head-locking arm on the drive that must be moved to secure the heads. I do not know of any similar mechanism on the DN3xx models. For DN3000/3500/4000/4500 machines, the "SH" command doesn't really do anything. What I have been told by our field-service engineers is that the shutdown sequence puts the drive in a safe position, and that the drive spins down when the power is shut off. There are no head-locking mechanisms mentioned in any of the DN3xxx/4xxx packing/unpacking manuals, and the drives themselves do not have any markings that would indicate action that you would need to take (the DN460/660 155MB drives actually had a sticker on them that said something like "move this switch before shipping", etc.). A word about HP's policy on shipping machines: they don't like customers shipping machines. If it doesn't work when it gets to the destination, it's your own problem. A valid maintenance contract at the old site does not cover fixing the machine at the new site. I had this happen to me this summer when several professors from universities around the country shipped four DN3xxx/4xxx machines to a conference in Boulder, Colorado. Even though all of the machines were on maintenance at their home universities, HP's Denver field service office refused to help us out with any of the problems we had (some people forgot their cables -:), others had left their external 350 MB drives (which contained the EDSI control-bus terminators!), etc.) until they had received an authorized purchase order for time & materials at something in excess of $100 per hour. We were told that HP's official policy is that the machines may only be shipped (and remain under contract) if you have made prior arrangements with HP and that they have packed the machines. Shipping them in the original containers and/or in custom-made, foam-lined, steel-reinforced, trade-show cases is apparently not sufficient. The bottom line: CALL YOUR HP FIELD SERVICE OFFICE AND TALK DIRECTLY TO THE BRANCH MANAGER *BEFORE* YOU MOVE YOUR MACHINES! -- David Krowitz krowitz@richter.mit.edu (18.83.0.109) krowitz%richter.mit.edu@eddie.mit.edu krowitz%richter.mit.edu@mitvma.bitnet (in order of decreasing preference)
linder@sequent.UUCP (Linda Flanders) (12/01/90)
In article <HANCHE.90Nov29175402@hufsa.imf.unit.no>, hanche@imf.unit.no (Harald Hanche-Olsen) writes: > >In article <841@bacchus.esa.oz.au> don@bacchus.esa.oz.au (Don Isdale) writes: > > Could someone advise if there is a procedure for parking a disc > for shipping, other than "shut". > >There is an undocumented monitor command SH that I believe does this. > And Dave Dodge <gk06@umd5.umd.edu> writes: >I was looking over the old DN300 "troubleshooting manual" yesterday and it >states that when you are doing a complete shutdown, you use "SH" at the MD >level and listen for the drive to spin down. I'm guessing it's fairly safe >for shipping but I'm not sure if it actually "parks" the heads or not. If I remember correctly, it was only the D3xx series that you needed to type SH to spin down and park the drive. If you listen, you'll here the drive spin down and click. After the click, you can power it off. You do not have to do this with the DN3000 and higher models. Linda Flanders (sequent!linder) ex-Apollo-ite --
alien@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (Tom von Alten) (12/02/90)
Most disk drive designs these days have some kind of latch mechanism
that is automatically activated on power-down (without any help from
a computer). I would think drive-specific documentation would tell
you if this was the case...
But then, I just know the mechanical stuff works. :-)
_____________
Tom von Alten email: alien@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com
Hewlett-Packard Disk Mechanisms Division
208 323-2711____________________________lampi@polari.UUCP (Michael Lampi) (12/03/90)
In article <841@bacchus.esa.oz.au> don@bacchus.esa.oz () writes: >Could someone advise if there is a procedure for parking a disc >for shipping, other than "shut". Newer disk drives automagically park their heads upon power removal, and lock their heads in the landing zone (typically with a solenoid). Only the older 8 inch and 14 inch winchesters (as on the DN300 and DN-400 and DN-600) needed to use the Mnemonic Debugger SH command to shut down the disks. These systems also have a manual actuator lock (not on the newer DN300 disk drives, tho). >P.S. If someone could tell me the type of controller Apollo > would have shipped (in March '89) with a DN3010 with a > Maxtor EXT-3480 series 3 disc drive, I'd be greatly grateful. > Probably an OMTI 8610 or 8621 controller. Michael Lampi MDL Corporation (206) 643-7333 (206) 643-5080 FAX
honeywel@wayback.unm.edu (Honeywell Field Service) (12/11/90)
Regarding parking disk drives: The newer technology drives park their heads on power down. Many models also include a solenoid to lock the carriage in place after power down--this solenoid is the clicking you hear when first applying power. Some of the older DN300's did have a manual carriage lock. The way to check is to gently turn the drive on its side (after powering it down!) and look for a hole in the bottom of frame towards the front. If the cutout is present, just look for a slot type screw just inside. If the slot type screw is present, you are the lucky owner of a drive with a manual carriage lock. There were two different models of drives in the 4xx 6xx product lines. If you have a Priam disk, there is a spindle lock (just to keep the platter from rotating during shipment) present which clamps the cooling vanes in the spindle assembly. If you forget to unlock this, the extremely loud sound as the spindle vanes rip the plastic clamp to shreds will jar your memory. I don't remember whether the other model drive was an NEC or Fujitsu, but in any event there was a carriage lock on the drive towards the very front of the unit. It is difficult to get to or even see, but with a flashlight you should be able to spot a lever with red plastic handle. If you forget to unlock this drive after shipment, it won't alert you by any loud noises, but will eventually blow the driver transistors. On another subject, if you lose the badspot list off the media you have a potential serious problem. FBS (Find Bad Spots) will never locate all of the spots that the manufacturer has identified as bad. The manufacturer margins the read write levels to locate badspots, this is option not available to FBS. There are a few customers who have had success using FBS to replace a lost flaw map, but I can guarantee that these are in a minority. If you have destroyed your flaw map inadvertently, check the drive itself for a written record usually attached to the top of the unit. The old CDC 500MB drive usually had one taped to the top and a second was hidden in the HDA next to the motor. The manufacturers used to maintain a file copy of the flaw map which they would send to you for a small fee (CDC used to charge $50). If you can't find a copy of the flaw map, then you could try running FBS over a weekend and pray that it will find enough badspots. What happens is that FBS finds the obvious flaws and then you load all your data on the disk. Everything works fine for 3 to 6 months and then you find one of the other flaws the hard way. OK so you map the new badspot out and you're fine again, until in another 3 to 6 months you find another. If this scenario occurs, its time to ship the disk to the manufacturer or a repair depot for media analysis. Mike Thomas, Honeywell Third Party Services.
krowitz@RICHTER.MIT.EDU (David Krowitz) (12/12/90)
Thanks for the informative history of Apollo disk drives! The old DN460/660 disk were Priam and NEC (I had the later) drives. With the online version of FBS (/systest/ssr_util/fbs under SR10.2), you can boot your machine diskless off of a partner and run FBS for a week if you want to. That should give you a geater degree of confidence in the drive. -- David Krowitz krowitz@richter.mit.edu (18.83.0.109) krowitz%richter.mit.edu@eddie.mit.edu krowitz%richter.mit.edu@mitvma.bitnet (in order of decreasing preference)