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Working ST-412s

pearce_jj

Veteran Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
2,808
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UK
I bought an XT a while back and was fortunate to find a working ST-412 in it. Low-level and DOS formats both complete without any hint of a bad sector and it's quiet too, seeking particularly so with just a gentle hum from the drive motor.

So I'm wondering how to 'care' for this drive. I always park the heads before switching off (via the diag disk) but am wondering whether it would be better to run it periodically, say 1 hour every six months, or just not at all?

Unfortunately all my stuff is out in my workshop which varies from about 5*C to about 35*C, over the year, but it is well insulated so the rate of change is reasonable, say 2*C per hour max.
 
but am wondering whether it would be better to run it periodically, say 1 hour every six months, or just not at all?
I run up my stored hard drives annually. No particular reason for the frequency, other than it's easy for me to remember, like the annual changing of batteries in my smoke detectors.

Unfortunately all my stuff is out in my workshop which varies from about 5*C to about 35*C, over the year, but it is well insulated so the rate of change is reasonable, say 2*C per hour max.
Rust may be a problem during the damper months.
 
Rust may be a problem during the damper months.
I second that, I had my Mac Plus and an XT clone rust out on me stored for only a year in an insulated (but not heated) garage. Luckily I stored my more often used (and more valuable) Vintage PCs in my house, or climate controlled storage.

You may ask how a mostly plastic Mac Plus rusted, well the transformer block on the analog board, and the RF sheilding rail on the system board, and a few other components rusted out. Was pissed about this one, but ended up using the case to build a Mac Plus ITX system, something I always wanted to do with a compact Mac. Its now running a Via C7 1ghz, 512mb ram, 40bb HD, and Win XP on a 9" VGA CRT that fits it perfect (and I can also run vMac to emulate a Plus).
 
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