Re: Problems with hard drive

[uum1!kksys!mutley!pro-algonquin.mn.org!psonnek (Patrick Sonnek)]

In <1993Aug30.071635.20974@julian.uwo.ca>
hackett@gaul.csd.uwo.ca (Mike Hackett) writes:

>
>Well, it looks like before any of this tape backup or SCSI test software
>that I've been asking for (and am still interested in) won't be of much
>value to me just yet, as my hard drive seems to be flakin' out!  Arggh!
>Talk about bad timing!  I'm hoping someone here can give me some pointers.
>Here's my situation:
>
>Based on sound alone, it seems to me that the drive is having trouble
>maintaining its proper spin rate.  It's familiar startup sequence of
>gradually rising pitch as the drive spins up doesn't always complete, 
>and often the drive's "whirr" (I don't know how else to describe it - 
>you know what I mean) seems to drop in pitch and then slowly work its
>way back up.  When the drive is running at the proper speed, all of
>the data seems intact (thank goodness), but it's so flaky that a second
>"ls" right after a successful one, often results in an empty directory
>listing or an I/O error.  Sometimes the entire hard drive, all of the
>partitions, just disappears from the system's table.
>
[stuff deleted to save bandwidth]

I just had a similar problem, and it turned out to be the bearings in the
drive were wearing out.  I had to replace then actuall disk itself.  You
should Immediatly take a full backup, and then shutdown, and replace the
drive mechanism.  The case & power supply are fine.


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