Re: Disk drive sticktion(?)

[amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen)]

In article <> schultp@wl.com (Paul Schultz) writes:
>In article <> blaby@fraser.sfu.ca (John Edward Blaby) writes:
>>sknkwrks@sonny-boy.cs.unlv.edu (Scott Alfter) writes:
>>>Odd, all this talk of stiction and 3.5" drives...I always thought...

>>Nope..It is a problem with Quantum 105 as well. It just happened to me
>>tonight of all things. We had a major powerfailure here and ...(down)...

>Can someone tell me exactly what is "stiction".  I have an older Seagate
>ST277N drive (circa 1987) and on rare occasions it won't come up to...

Sticton is in 2 flavors, 2 spindle sticton, and head actuator stiction.  
Basically, the lubricant -fails- sortof.  It either got to hot, and becomes
waxey, or the lubricant carrier evaporates, drying out the oil, or the oil
eventually just leaks out.
When you have head actuator stiction, (less common in my experience) but
this was the quantum problem, a common solution is to run the drive to hot,
and run a head random exercisor program for several days straight. This tends
to -spread- out the waxy lubricant, eventually scraping it out to the outside
ends of the travel.  At this point, stiction mostly and generally stops being
a probl.
Spindle stiction (more common in my experience) and commonly the seagate 
problem. Is a problem with the spindle bearing.  Replacing the bearing is
the only -fix-, although, I have had good luck putting 3 - 5 drops of good
sewing machine oil on the bottom dust cover to the bearing, with the drive
laying face down, letting the oil -soak- in, and spining up the spindle a
bit to help -work- the oil in.  After this fails, (or when this fails again
because it will, eventually, probably sooner than later), I have then had
good luck peeling off the bottom dust cover, remounting the drive
upside down (VERY UNRECOMMENDED -but- hey it's junk at this point anyway)
and if you stand the system unit on end, the drive won't be upsode down anyway
(either way, be sure to backup the drive, and I recommend a LLF fur sure)
Then in a flip top system, it's a trivial task to use a tool like a screw
driver on the exposed  end of the spindle bearing to -break- the stiction
lose, without doing any more than popping open the top....

al