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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:AMIGA NOTES
Notice:Join us in the *NEW* conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:HYDRA::MOORE
Created:Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5378
Total number of notes:38326

3227.0. "Park'n the drive (A590)" by BELFST::MCCLINTOCK (Peter) Mon Dec 18 1989 12:11

    In the documentation for my A590 it says that you have to Park the
    heads with the utility provided and wait 30 sec before switching
    off.
    
    Is this serious?! 
                                                                  
    Am I risking damage to the drive if I ignore this instruction?

    Peter
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3227.1Not parking drives can damage them.CSC32::K_APPLEMANMon Dec 18 1989 13:4119
    re: 3227.0
    
    Parking the heads moves the heads off of the data area of the disk and
    onto a special "Landing area" this is lubricated.  When a winchester
    disk spins down, the heads actually contact the surface.  Having this
    happen on your data area could damage the data and the heads.  Doing
    this a couple of times probably will not hurt anything, but neglecting
    to park the heads habitually will definitely cause damage.
    
    Some drives are made so that they automatically park the heads when
    powered off so no Park program is necessary.
    
    The thing I don't understand is why does the documentation tell you
    that if you have a partitioned drive, you must park both partitions? 
    There is only 1 landing zone and it should only be necessary to park it
    once.  Any ideas on this out there?
    
    Ken
    
3227.2WJG::GUINEAUQuantum RealityMon Dec 18 1989 14:1912
>    that if you have a partitioned drive, you must park both partitions? 
>    There is only 1 landing zone and it should only be necessary to park it
>    once.  Any ideas on this out there?
    

That's rediculous!  "Parking", like you described, moves the heads to the
landing zone. There is only one set of heads in a typical hard disk. Partitions
are logical subdivisions of the disk space provided by the system software
(drivers, device handler).

John
    
3227.3Land in the parking zone ??CSOA1::CURTISMon Dec 18 1989 14:569
    Has anyone seen this ? I have a new A590 and it seems if I click
    on the PARK Icon, then power off and turn it on, say, the next day,
    it does not want to boot from power up. But if I do a reset, it
    then boots. However, if I do not park the heads, then power off
    and turn it on later, it boots ok. Anyone else ? Also, I don't know
    for sure, but it seems to me Commodore would take into consideration
    about people turning off the A590 without parking the heads and
    would build in a retract command when it senses power off. Maybe
    I'll call Commodore and find out..............
3227.4Not always convenientBELFST::MCCLINTOCKPeterMon Dec 18 1989 15:0610
    This all seems pretty primitive stuff .. not automatically parking the
    heads on power-off.  What can you do when you boot a protected game
    from df0: (such as the UK version of Falcon) and have no access to
    Amigados (or the A590).  Do you have to reset the system and park
    the heads before powering off??
    
    re .3
    I haven�t experienced the problem.
    
    Peter
3227.5WJG::GUINEAUQuantum RealityMon Dec 18 1989 20:2814
>    This all seems pretty primitive stuff .. not automatically parking the
>    heads on power-off.  What can you do when you boot a protected game

I agree 100%. IMHO this is a BS way for Commodore to buy CHEAP drives.
No self respecting modern day disk drive requires you to park the heads.

After dealing with a Rodime drive in my A2500 I'm convinced Commodore
has little concern for such a critical piece of hardware.

What kind of drive is in the A590? Anyone open one? If you tell mem what it
is, I'll try to find out if they autopark themselves.

John
3227.6Western Digital somethingCSC32::K_APPLEMANTue Dec 19 1989 11:4713
    The drive is a Western Digital XT type. I will check on the specific
    type tonight when I get home.
    
    I have noticed the same boot problem with my A590,i.e. it won't boot on
    power up except by resetting the computer.
    
    On parking both partitions, I suspect that the park program does more
    than just move the heads to the landing zone.  It may check for open
    files or something first.  At any rate, it is only necessary to click
    the PARK icon once to park both partitions, so it really isn't a
    hassle, just a curiosity.
    
    Ken
3227.7MQOFS::DESROSIERSLets procrastinate....tomorrowTue Dec 19 1989 22:444
    I have heard that you must park the heads when you MOVE the drive, not
    when you just power off untill the next use, is this right?
    
    Jean
3227.8only if you value your dataLEVERS::MEYERDave MeyerWed Dec 20 1989 02:306
    Not having the heads parked when you move any hard drive is an
    invitation to disaster. Not having the heads parked when the disk
    spins down is merely tempting fate. Most new drives will park
    themselves at spin-down, even at a brief power hit. Of course, if
    your backups are always current and your bank balance always flush
    then you needn't give it a second thought. Right?
3227.9Western Digital 93028CSC32::K_APPLEMANWed Dec 20 1989 11:327
    The drive on my A590 is a Western Digital 93028.  Maybe I will try to 
    contact WD and find out if this particular drive needs to be parked. I
    understand that Commodore uses at least 2 different types of drives in
    the A590
    
    Ken
    
3227.10Landing zone hype.MQOFS::LEDOUXReserved for Future UseThu Jan 18 1990 09:5117
    I remember reading an article that mentionned the parking of the
    heads.   It was saying that now a day the winchester heads are
    made to land ANYWHERE on the surface without damaging it.
    The winchester head design permits just that.
    
    The parking zone should be used only for moving the drive.
    
    Now they were probably talking about recent technology drives,
    not the first generation winchesters.
    
    I have 2 HD on my 2000 and I don't even have a "park" program.
    When I power on, the "self test" bring the head to cyl 0 with
    a humming noise, and the duration of the hum is never the same.
    If I power off over a newly created file, (toward the spindle)
    on power on, the hum last longest.  This tells me that the heads 
    land wherever they are.  I don't see any problem with that.