khester@cs.utexas.edu (Stewart Kevin Hester) (03/12/91)
My my IIcx 80MB drive has recently begun to have problems: When the drive is idle the head starts make rather noisy movements, these movements do not stop until I open a folder or perform some other operation which results in a disk seek. My external hard-disk functions fine, so I don't believe that it is a problem with the IIcx SCSI controller. The fact that these movements start when the drive is idle leads me to believe that it is a problem with the logic board, not the actual drive mechanism. Is it possible to purchase a new Quantum 80S logic board? Has anyone encountered similar problems and found a good (read: cheap) solution? Kevin khester@cs.utexas.edu PS: Please reply in this newsgroup.
greg@enterprise.Central.Sun.COM (Greg George - Sun Area Project Consultant - Midwest ) (03/13/91)
This is an old problem for these drives. Quantum used the wrong lubricant on the spindle, causing the drive motor to burn out pre-maturely. There was a free exchange for drives under a certain serial number a while back, but I'm not sure if it still in place. You might want to get in touch with the Apple dealer you purchased the computer from and see if they can help you out. Make sure you have backups on your system, the disk will DEFINITELY crash on you. It may be many weeks before the stepper motor finally gives up, but its just a matter of time. greg In article <1179@priddy.cs.utexas.edu>, khester@cs.utexas.edu (Stewart Kevin Hester) writes: |> |> My my IIcx 80MB drive has recently begun to have problems: |> When the drive is idle the head starts make rather noisy movements, these |> movements do not stop until I open a folder or perform some other operation |> which results in a disk seek. My external hard-disk functions fine, so I don't |> believe that it is a problem with the IIcx SCSI controller. |> The fact that these movements start when the drive is idle leads me |> to believe that it is a problem with the logic board, not the actual drive |> mechanism. Is it possible to purchase a new Quantum 80S logic board? Has |> anyone encountered similar problems and found a good (read: cheap) solution? |> |> |> Kevin |> khester@cs.utexas.edu |> |> PS: Please reply in this newsgroup.
ejbehr@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Eric Behr) (03/14/91)
I guess it's a FAQ... Certain Quantum drives (mine included) had improper lubricant put in at assembly time. It was getting too sticky, esp. in higher humidity. Result: drives sometimes didn't boot, because the actuator couldn't overcome the excessive viscosity. Quantum came up with a fix (at the first glance it's silly, but when you think about it it might be better for all concerned than removing the old gooey): revise the ROMs so they'll "exercise" the heads when the drive is idle. This produces the annoying noise. It's not free of side-effects: the drive sometimes keeps going, and my DiskTimer checks occasionally produce numbers 4-10 times higher than normal when that happens. To make your life rosier, I paid an obscure company $750 for my external 40MB, and the obscure company got even more obscure - i.e. it no longer answers the phone. I've lived with the occasional clicking for over 2 years now, and I must admit that the disk hasn't yet dropped a single bit. My advice: enjoy it and work in headphones. -- Eric Behr, Illinois State University, Mathematics Department Internet: ejbehr@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu Bitnet: ebehr@ilstu