Random Chit Chat

[foothead]

The platters are really shiny as well - keychain ranged lethal weapon/mirror!

Not the platters I just salvaged. They were mostly from ancient drives with a capacity of less than 1GB, so they're actually pretty dull with scratches from the heads.

I also have a 20MB 2.5 inch drive out of a GRiDpad. I can't decide if I want to take that one apart or not.

 

[The_Lucas]

Not the platters I just salvaged. They were mostly from ancient drives with a capacity of less than 1GB, so they're actually pretty dull with scratches from the heads.

I also have a 20MB 2.5 inch drive out of a GRiDpad. I can't decide if I want to take that one apart or not.

I wonder why they put such powerful magnets in there anyways - all they need is one for the head parking, right?

 

[J03]

What happened to the Wiki that david mentioned that we'd get after the upgrade?

 

[The_Lucas]

What happened to the Wiki that david mentioned that we'd get after the upgrade?

Apparently the D dude hasn't set it up yet. And we're also supposed to have support for Google Gadgets, but those haven't shown up either.

So no one knows what the details of gmcrepair's banning were? What was he banned for, and what type of ban?

 

[foothead]

Apparently he had multiple accounts. I searched for him in members list, and it came up with gmcrepair and gmcrepair2. Both were disabled.

Multiple accounts usually results in a perma ban iirc.


How can I figure out if a hard drive platter is aluminum or glass? I really don't want to cut into one if it's glass.

 

[Indigo]

I wonder why they put such powerful magnets in there anyways - all they need is one for the head parking, right?

The magnets are used to create a magnetic field that helps guide the actuator arm back and forth over the platters. If you ever take a drive apart, they sit on either side of the coil of wire attached to the arm I just mentioned. It's pretty spiffy to look at.

 

[foothead]

The magnets are used to create a magnetic field that helps guide the actuator arm back and forth over the platters. If you ever take a drive apart, they sit on either side of the coil of wire attached to the arm I just mentioned. It's pretty spiffy to look at.

Even cooler if you fire up the drive with the top cover removed. Chances are really high that there will be a head crash if you do it for long, but that makes it even more awesome.

 

[Indigo]

Even cooler if you fire up the drive with the top cover removed. Chances are really high that there will be a head crash if you do it for long, but that makes it even more awesome.

Oh its great fun. I'm far too chicken to do it with a drive that I actually care about, but I guess that's why I reserve that for drives I think are toast anyway.

Though, those Raptor-X's I have in my main system have built in windows, but I can't see the drives because of where I have them in the tower.

+1 for the pure mentioning of this awesomeness.

 

[foothead]

^ The raptor X's have a viewing window? I didn't know that.

Behold the wonders of China.

EDIT: Dammit, I forgot to get optocouplers.

 

[The_Lucas]

The magnets are used to create a magnetic field that helps guide the actuator arm back and forth over the platters. If you ever take a drive apart, they sit on either side of the coil of wire attached to the arm I just mentioned. It's pretty spiffy to look at.

Even cooler if you fire up the drive with the top cover removed. Chances are really high that there will be a head crash if you do it for long, but that makes it even more awesome.

I know! It was fun. I did that on a old 4 GB HD, I couldn't believe that it could still read and write data correctly with the top off . But unfortunately, I went crazy and shredded an eraser on the bolt heads on the spindle, and the pieces ruined it.