Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
Is it possible that inside certain harddisks motion detectors are placed?
I have a harddsk which works fine but as soon you move the drive (powered on and connected to pc) the head sounds as it wants to go in park, if i leave the drive alone it just works fine. IDE and power cable are ok. Not relevant for a repair but plain curiosity, i would expect it on a laptop disk but not a desktop. Bart Bervoets |
#2
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
Bart Bervoets wrote:
Is it possible that inside certain harddisks motion detectors are placed? I have a harddsk which works fine but as soon you move the drive (powered on and connected to pc) the head sounds as it wants to go in park, if i leave the drive alone it just works fine. IDE and power cable are ok. Not relevant for a repair but plain curiosity, i would expect it on a laptop disk but not a desktop. Bart Bervoets You should never move a running drive. It could crash. -- 50% of all statistics are wrong. The rest don't matter. Clyde Crashcup |
#3
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
Bart Bervoets wrote:
Is it possible that inside certain harddisks motion detectors are placed? I have a harddsk which works fine but as soon you move the drive (powered on and connected to pc) the head sounds as it wants to go in park, if i leave the drive alone it just works fine. IDE and power cable are ok. Not relevant for a repair but plain curiosity, i would expect it on a laptop disk but not a desktop. Bart Bervoets Most microdrives have this feature, but these are the tiny drives the size of CF cards used in many portable music players. Just moving it should not trigger it though, it takes a fair bit of shock. |
#4
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
Hi!
Is it possible that inside certain harddisks motion detectors are placed? Anything is always possible. But I doubt that there is any such thing in a desktop hard drive. Laptop drives may have such circuitry in place. Based on some drives that I've worked with over time, I'd say what you're seeing is likely a result of the spindle motor somehow changing speed slightly as you move it. The drive's controlling electronics can monitor the RPM of this motor and may shut the drive down if enough of a change is detected. The motor may be getting ready to fail or it may have worn bearings that allow a significant RPM change when you move it. You can get most desktop drives to reinitialize themselves with a mild tap. I don't suggest trying that on a drive you depend upon. And while it generally does no harm to move a running hard drive, you should be careful not to drop, jar, shake or abuse it while it is running. If any one of those things were to happen while the drive was running, a head crash or other drive failure is possible. William |
#5
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
"William R. Walsh" m wrote in message news:ceIUg.89757$aJ.137@attbi_s21... You can get most desktop drives to reinitialize themselves with a mild tap. I don't suggest trying that on a drive you depend upon. And while it generally does no harm to move a running hard drive, you should be careful not to drop, jar, shake or abuse it while it is running. If any one of those things were to happen while the drive was running, a head crash or other drive failure is possible. One notorious 10 Mb hard drive Radio Shack sold would only start after a weekend if you first dropped it about a foot onto a desk! |
#6
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
"Homer J Simpson" wrote in message news:JCIUg.50909$E67.45445@clgrps13... One notorious 10 Mb hard drive Radio Shack sold would only start after a weekend if you first dropped it about a foot onto a desk! I've seen many, many drives like that- it's called 'stiction'. The heads and platters are so perfectly formed and smooth that they can bond together preventing the drive motor spinning up the platters. Usually the motor can be heard pulsing and giving up after a few tries. The best way to release the heads from the platters is IME to hold the drive and quickly flick it in a rotational plane to spin the internal platters breaking the bond. Freezing the drive overnight can also do the trick, but the drive must be put in a completely sealed bag beforehand. Warming with a hairdryer can also help. Thumping the drive onto a hard surface should be a last resort. Stiction is not usually an issue on modern drives, but it was common on the old MFM/RLL/ESDI style drives. Dave |
#7
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
Hi!
One notorious 10 Mb hard drive Radio Shack sold would only start after a weekend if you first dropped it about a foot onto a desk! http://www.mcamafia.de/mcapage0/problem1.htm#probl01 William |
#8
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
"William R. Walsh" m wrote in message news:ceIUg.89757$aJ.137@attbi_s21... Hi! Is it possible that inside certain harddisks motion detectors are placed? Anything is always possible. But I doubt that there is any such thing in a desktop hard drive. Laptop drives may have such circuitry in place. Based on some drives that I've worked with over time, I'd say what you're seeing is likely a result of the spindle motor somehow changing speed slightly as you move it. The drive's controlling electronics can monitor the RPM of this motor and may shut the drive down if enough of a change is detected. The motor may be getting ready to fail or it may have worn bearings that allow a significant RPM change when you move it. Seconded. Morse |
#9
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
On Tue, 3 Oct 2006 15:05:22 +0200 "Bart Bervoets" wrote
in Message id: : Is it possible that inside certain harddisks motion detectors are placed? I have a harddsk which works fine but as soon you move the drive (powered on and connected to pc) You're going to crash your heads, if you already haven't. A hard drive should not be moved when running. the head sounds as it wants to go in park, if i leave the drive alone it just works fine. It's probably getting an error and recalibrating. |
#10
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
Bart Bervoets wrote: Is it possible that inside certain harddisks motion detectors are placed? Yep, many do, to prevent head crashes when the drive gets jostled. Get the drive model number and look up the manual on the Internet (a set of tubes). It's there plain as day. As a side effect, it turns out to be quite possible to set up an ad-hoc earthquake monitoring network, just with a little added software! Very clever! |
#11
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
Ancient_Hacker spake thus:
Bart Bervoets wrote: Is it possible that inside certain harddisks motion detectors are placed? Yep, many do, to prevent head crashes when the drive gets jostled. Get the drive model number and look up the manual on the Internet (a set of tubes). Sorry, you lost me there. "Set of tubes"; what is that? -- Save the Planet Kill Yourself - motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/) |
#12
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
David Nebenzahl wrote: Sorry, you lost me there. "Set of tubes"; what is that? One of our more cretinous representatives stood up and blathered in Congress about how the Internet is getting clogged up as one of his staffers sent an "internet" to him and it took four days to arrive. You see the Internet "it's like a set of tubes". |
#13
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
Harddisk motion detection?
"Ancient_Hacker" wrote in message oups.com... David Nebenzahl wrote: Sorry, you lost me there. "Set of tubes"; what is that? One of our more cretinous representatives stood up and blathered in Congress about how the Internet is getting clogged up as one of his staffers sent an "internet" to him and it took four days to arrive. You see the Internet "it's like a set of tubes". Ted Stevens of Alaska and the bridge to nowhere and secret spending. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DClkE64nFDY http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/30/secret.senators/ |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Wiring 'Dual Master' motion sensing lights | Home Repair | |||
wiring a motion light to stay powered on and still motion | Home Repair | |||
need help with motion sensor | Home Ownership | |||
Strange electrical problem, outdoor motion light and indoor ceiling fan switch | Home Repair |