[Ham-Computers] RE: Repairing hard drives

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

Wow...SERIOUS disclaimers needed for this one!


>>> First, you need a clean room, so make sure the garage door is closed
before you begin.

Hope your garage is "Class 100" certified (100 particulates no larger
than .5 microns in size per 1/2 cubic meter of air) as this is what's
required for HD manufacturing/servicing.  Don't think anyone's garage
will even qualify for Class 10,000 status.

>>> Disassemble the sealed unit and carefully wash all parts with paint
thinners.

Good luck relubing all the moving parts!

>>> Bend the read/write heads out of the way, and then disassemble the
platter stack.

Ouch...ever take a drive apart and actually see an actuator arm?  Ain't
going to "bend" without causing permanent damage.  If it's a
multi-platter stack, no way to "bend" all the arms out of the way...just
the top one.

>>> VERY CAREFULLY buff the platter surfaces with the #4/0 steel wool.
This will remove any existing data..."

OUCH!  Not only will it remove the existing data, it will render the
drive useless as the magnetic particles are "sputtered" onto a disc.
Remove that layer and no more magnetic properties!

>>> level out any surface defects, and help to redistribute the magnetic
media and fill in those pesky "bad sectors" that most drives have.

Uhhh, yeah.  Unless you have a perfectly flat, optical grade polisher to
refinish those platters, you'll be creating more surface defects than
removing them.  Also, what's going to hold down all those magnetic
particles that are "redistributed"...it's just going to be loose dust.
"Fill in" bad sectors?  Bad sectors aren't divits.

>>> Reassemble the platter stack, and using a .015" feeler gauge, bend
the read/write heads back to the platter surface, using the feeler gauge
to set the gap. This is slightly higher gap than the factory uses, but
it reduces the chance of head collisions with any debris you neglected
to remove.

As mentioned earlier, good luck "bending" an actuator arm back to it's
original tolerances.  It'll be easier trying to open a folded piece of
aluminum foil and get the creases out!  And I didn't see any
instructions on how to remove any debris, let alone "neglected to
remove" debris (remember all the steel wool?).

>>> Give the heads and platters a good shot of WD-40 and reassemble the
unit. If your drive has a filter, replace it with a clean section of
gauze pad.

Ohhhh, don't even get me started about WD-40...many discussions about
what WD-40 really is in other HAM forums.  I'll use it as a penetrant
and temporary lube, but the inside of an HD?

>>> All that's left is to low level and DOS format the drive, and you're
back in business. I haven't tried this myself, but my friend's wife's
sister-in-law's husband knows a technician that does it all the time.

And this technician is my father's brother's nephew's cousin's former
roommate, which makes this hard drive absolutely nothing.


Ahhh, humorous reading...but a bit too early for April...

73,

  - Aaron, NN6O