[Albert Lionheart]

Anyone any ideas with this one?
A brand new Maxtor 250 Gb SATA drive in a new system built by me suddenly started making a really load banging noise (like someone knocking on a door), This was accompanied by a report of a fatal windows error; then it stopped and everything was normal.
I have fitted a replacement drive and ghosted the contents across without a problem - bearing in mind that ghost will not work if there is a fault on the source drive.
The "faulty" drive has been on test in the wksps using seatools and passes everything thrown at it and no more of the noises - not a sausage! There is no question that it was the drive and no other source
Deus ex machina or a ghost in the driveshaft?

[Husky]

Never heard of that one before. Usually they keep on banging & clicking. You must have trapped an angry ghost.

[Albert Lionheart]

It has been on the bench all day, running tests of all sorts and not a sign of a fault. I am beginning to wonder if there was anything wrong with it in the first place - but then again it had to be the HDD as the DVD is OK and there is nothing else that would make a noise like that and throw up a windows error. Bah!

[bushwhacker]

Originally Posted by Albert Lionheart

It has been on the bench all day, running tests of all sorts and not a sign of a fault. I am beginning to wonder if there was anything wrong with it in the first place - but then again it had to be the HDD as the DVD is OK and there is nothing else that would make a noise like that and throw up a windows error. Bah!

You probably wants to RMA the hard drive, since Maxtor 250GB are having the problems with mechanical parts and possible bad firmware.

I also indicated that you shouldn't have 6L250R0 hard drive you are using on Rik's forum.

[Albert Lionheart]

I think you are right about the RMA - will do this next week. I noticed this drive is aleady a factory reconditioned drive so I will send it back.

[bushwhacker]

You can check for the status on the RMA and see if your hard drive is still under warranty.

Seagate Warranty Validation

p.s. in case you don't know, Seagate brought Maxtor few years ago, therefore Seagate still serves the RMA for Seagate and Maxtor.

[Gunner]

Hard drive mechanical failures will soon be a thing of the past as SSD technology
takes hold. Prices dropping sufficiently will start beginning an evolution of hard disk
drive replacements.
And I still miss aligning flying heads manually. Woe is me.
How many techs nowadays actually know how to spell oscilloscope much less
use one?
Can you say Lissajous pattern?

[Gunner]

Albert, I bet you know the XYZs of O'scopes and I don't mean the axis displays.
Get your clanking sorted? I haven't seen too many mechanical things make noise
without reason and then fix themselves. Anything is possible though.

[Albert Lionheart]

I cannot remember the last time I used a 'scope.
If you worked on old drives you might know what this is??



(the little drive is a 2.5" for scale)

[Daveskater]

Originally Posted by Gunner

How many techs nowadays actually know how to spell oscilloscope much less use one?

Used them loads in school and college.

[Gunner]

Albert, that's a new drive compared to some I worked on.
8 or 10 inch platters stacked 5 to 10 high and removable.
I worked on 50MB single platter with 64 and 128 fixed heads.
I've run the gambit, Mate, between running in the jungle and desert or
from vacuum tubes to transistors to IC's.
Whether it's weapons or electronics, if one has lived long enough to really see
and appreciate the evolution of either, it's a great thing.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Albert Lionheart

I cannot remember the last time I used a 'scope.
If you worked on old drives you might know what this is??



(the little drive is a 2.5" for scale)

Unless I'm very much mistaken, that's a SBFM drive isn't it? What capacity is that one? 8meg?

[Gunner]

Old? Here ya go....................(way before my time but interesting)

1956 IBM Hard Drive
Weighed 2000+ pounds (1 ton)
Capacity 5MB
Makes one appreciate a 4GB thumb drive.

Some older ones I worked on were 50MB and 300MB 100 pound units.
Big electromagnetic stepper motors for the heads were used instead of
the common sweep actuator type today.
I've done it but IDE sealed drives shouldn't be opened except in a clean room.

[Albert Lionheart]

Rik - I have no idea what it is - there are no marks on it anywhere and the cover is missing.

Odd picture with the PAA freighter - the forklift is facing the wrong way.

And with the SSMs coming in all this will be history soon.
I remember when I used to teach IT to beginners I had two seagate 4.3 Mb drives (I think), one of which was dead. I took the cover off the dead one and cut a cunningly shaper hole in it which I then covered with a piece if perspex - and then swapped the covers over so I could show the disinterested students what a drive was doing when it was running. I still have it somewhere and it still works.

[Daveskater]

That sounds cool Imagine being taught by a funny looking lion How could you possibly be disinterested?

[Albert Lionheart]

Just for that cheeky remark I will find the s odding thing and take a picture of it!

[Daveskater]

I wasn't being cheeky, honest

Looking forward to pic though

[Albert Lionheart]

Nope - sorry but it has gone and I cannot find it anywhere - must have gone to the great hard drive haven in Nigeria!

[Daveskater]

getting my hopes up there mate

[Albert Lionheart]

Sorry about that - I thought it was in the drive drawer in the wksps but no sign at all.