• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Conserving a ST-412 10MB MFM hard drive

H

huubwen

Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2012
Messages
45
Location
Netherlands, Europe
The original ST-412 10MB MFM hard drive in one of my IBM 5160 machines is deteriorating fast lately. For 2 weeks ago I did a low level format and a regular format. The format found a lot of bad sectors randomly sprat around the disk. At that time the amount was 139KB.

Today I run a scandisk surface check again. After the scan I had about 200KB of bad sectors.
Besides the bad sectors the bearings of the disk are worn. At power up the bearings are very noise. This decreases after the disk reaches its normal spin rate.

I would like to preserve the disk as long as possible.

What is wisdom to prevent the grow of more bad sectors?

Not use the disk at all. Use it for a short time at a weekly bases. Use it daily? Low level format it yearly?

Second question. What to the about the bearings? Or should I do nothing at all.
 
The problem is that once the mechanicals start degrading, for example bearing wear (which ultimately will result is the disk wobbling), the more it's used the worse it will get. One to consign to the 'was working last time I used it' bin, unfortunately.
 
You need to wait for it to die, and then surgically remove the head and take them to a cryogenics lab, where it can be frozen until a more advanced civilization can restore it to full health.

No seriously ... these things were crudely made and were designed to last around 5 years. You are far outside of the expected life expectancy. I would put it on a shelf and replace it with something like the XT-IDE.



Mike
 
I have made clear plastic covers for a number of old 5.25" full-height drives and put them on display or use them as bookends. It would be shame to let this classic model self-destruct - save it while it still looks good inside! Cut the plastic from 1/8" Lexan or Plexiglass and attach with either the original screws or a small bead of silicone RTV around the perimeter.

IMG_4358.jpg
 
Or turn it into a clock.

hdd_clock.jpg
 
If possible, can the bearings be relubed? I know there was a thread on this one, but i don't know if the technique can be applied to this drive, it's a shame to hear about another trooper dying the slow death, but after almost 30 years on a drive that's supposed to last 5, it can be compared to a dog with a lifespan of 15 years living 35 or 40 years.
 
k2x4b524[ said:
good deal, but in the other thread, the drive is run upside down for a while, will that actually HURT The drive? Or just connect it to power and let it run, with no data transfer going on?
Click to expand...
Certainly some manufacturers indicate that operating a particular drive upside down is not allowed. Example: The OEM manuals of both the ST-506 and ST-412 include, "Recommended orientation is either vertical on either side or horizontal with PCB down. The only prohibited orientation is horizontal with PCB up."

Perhaps operating such drives in upside down orientation only results in read/write errors, rather than damage. Only the manufacturer knows why they declared upside down orientation prohibited for a particular drive.

But the issue you raise is valid. It will be up to the drive owner as to whether or not they accept the 'upside down' risk (if upside down orientation is invalid for the particular drive).

In all of the drives that I've relubricated, I simply left the drive sitting upside down, unpowered, for a few hours, sometimes overnight. A drive had to be pretty bad before I accepted even the risk of relubricating it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top