MD recovery (Mini Disk)

[Peterc]

Gurus,

I looked for information about this kind of drive on here, but unless it is called something other than MD or mindrive, I am at a loss. Anyone with success/experience with DR of these drives, I would greatly appreciate input. I have had 3 submitted for recovery already, one without success. Is it worth attempted repair or waste of time? If repair can be made, do the particulars of donor matching remain the same as with hard drives?

Thanks

[Doomer]

Are you talking about Sony MiniDiscs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniDisc
What is so special on it?

[Peterc]

The minidrive is a simpletech on the outside shell, i do not know what the minidrive manufacturer is. Its a platter with one head. Where would i find manufacturer info on the drive? the head is very flimsy. I am just looking for direction to go on these drives.

Thanks for your response Doomer

[lcoughey]

For such projects, I don't bother with an in-house solution, unless we can access the drive without opening it up. We don't see enough to bother with the internal work. So, we outsource them to Nortek. If you give them a call, I recommend talking to Stan Bullet or Chris Jones.

[Doomer]

The minidrive is a simpletech on the outside shell, i do not know what the minidrive manufacturer is. Its a platter with one head. Where would i find manufacturer info on the drive? the head is very flimsy. I am just looking for direction to go on these drives.

Then it is defenitely not a Sony MiniDisc
Can you make a picture of this device?
It would help with ID

[Peterc]

I have had 3 mini drives come across my lab recently. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks lcoughey, I will have a look at that.

Attachments

Head already removed.

[Doomer]

That's a 1" HDD. IBM/Hitachi also uses MicroDrive term for those
I guess you need to treat them as normal hard drives
There are several manufactures of 1" HDDs but it is hard to say what you got because you didn't show the sticker from the lid. Unlikely it's Hitachi - your drive is "left-headed" and Hitachies are "right-headed"
I see you removed parking ramp, top magnet and HSA.
I can tell you are not a professional DR specialist by looking on how you did that
Those 1" drives need steady and experienced hands. It looks like this work is not for you, sorry

[Peterc]

Thanks for your advice. The 1" drives I am new to. What do I need to match to repair these drives? The case of the drive is a Simpletech but I cannot find the Manufacturer of the drive. That is what I am trying to get advice on. I admit my ignorance of 1" drives. Just looking for a direction to go.

[Doomer]

Simpletech owned by Hitachi
Can you show drive's lid sticker?
Also you didn't tell anythyng about drive's behavior and it is impossibe to guess what is the problem

[Peterc]

Can't get a good picture of the label:55P07BLKA79 H4F4 is the number under the bar code.
Problem: Drive clicking, not recognizing.
Thanks for the information that Simpletech is Hitachi.

Thanks for your patience as well