Science Forums 2

[Boerseun]

Well, that's that. I found the problem. Turns out that the hard drive had an air filter! I kid you not. A device about the size of half a cigarette box, with a zig-zag compressed fabric cardboard-like air filter, not unlike what you get inside a car's air filter unit. It fits next to the stepper motor that pushes the read/write heads up and down the platters. It was loose. Dust got in and it seems a particle got caught between the platter surface and the head, because there's a nasty circular scratch exactly on the platter where the head is. Opening a hard drive is a terminal exercise for the drive involved, but I didn't had a choice in the matter. As I was looking on the net for info on this matter, my friend's kid decided to put the "lefty-loosey righty-tighty" screwdriver hypothesis to the test, with remarkably destructive results. But I did find the cause, though.

I have honestly never, ever, seen a non-sealed hard-drive, complete with an air-filter. And now, it turns out, I'll never see a fully-assembled on, either. Pity - it doesn't say anywhere on the hard drive what it's capacity is. I guess no more than about 10Mb - but, like I said, now we'll never know!

Also, on the back of the PC it says it was built in Scotland. I don't suppose they're building them there anymore.