Re: Hard drive spinup

[mfumu@alphalink.com.au (Bill Robbins)]

In article <19991217151342.20922.00000093@ng-cd1.aol.com>,
a2mg@aol.comNomail (TEXAS II - AppleWorks) wrote:

>Does anyone have any suggestions for making a hard drive that has been turned
>off for one week (and transported 600 miles) spin up? I have tried turning it
>upside down and slapping it around a bit, to no avail. It does get the
>electrical current, and it does do one little "bzzzt" when I turn it on, but
>that's it. No real attempt to spin up.
>
>I have backups of everything, including a ram disk, so I am in okay shape, but
>I would appreciate any suggestions. It is an 85 meg external drive with the
>case the size of an Apple 3.5" disk drive. Thanks.

Sounds very similar to a problem I had a couple of years ago with a hard
drive I am still using, believe it or not.  After doing all the above and
few other things as well, I figured I had nothing to lose and so dropped
it from arm level to a carpeted floor.  When I plugged it in the drive
started right up and has never given any more trouble, perhaps because I
have never turned it off.

Those more knowledgeable than I about such matters figured it must be a
problem of "sticktion" whereby the mechanism refuses to get started even
though there is really nothing wrong with the drive.
-- 
Bill Robbins, mfumu@alphalink.com.au