[ltp] HDD emergency repair (howto)

[Richard Neill]

Lou Burnard wrote:
> I agree that this is a really good account... my only comment (from
> many years of bitter experience) is that Richard is a VERY VERY LUCKY
> guy. 

Actually, this has worked for me on two separate occasions. I'm also 
surprised - it really "shouldn't" work.

 > What are the odds that the head won't have actually caused
 > damage to the platters before parking itself in the wrong place?

It does seem to do a small amount of damage in the area where it sticks. 
Out of 80GB, there was about 5MB of data that just couldn't be read at all.

 > What are the odds that you won't introduce some crud into the drive
 > when disassembling it or exerting your 10 newtons poke?
 >

Again, if one is careful (and I only had the disk open for a few 
seconds), no noticeable dust gets in. I was careful not to touch the 
head, or the platters, and just pulled at the lever-arm with my nail.
Also, HDDs do have error correction; this helps a bit with dust. 
(Consider: an optical disk works even if it gets filthy - you can write 
on it with a 4mm marker pen, and it still reads fine.) Small amounts of 
dust hurt HDDs by increasing wear and reducing the read accuracy. But we 
only have to get one successful read.

After all, this works (if you're insane):
http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Storage-Devices/Hard-Drive-Modding-How-to-Void-Your-Warranty-in-20-Minutes-or-Less/4/

Best wishes,

Richard