Platter Swap Without Alignment Issues

[lcoughey]

Just added a Seagate V9 to the list. Had to remove the platters for a 3 slider search and rescue.

[300ddr]

In all cases the most that was done to maintain alignment was a fine point sharpie mark on the sides.

Toshiba MK6021GAS - 2 platters/4 heads - 99.9999% of sectors recovered
Seagate ST2000LM007 - 2 platters/4 heads - 99.9999% of sectors recovered
Seagate ST3500630AS - 3 platters/6 heads - 48.9099% of sectors recovered
Seagate ST31500341AS - 4 platters/8 heads - 95.14% of files recovered
Hitachi HDT725032VLAT80 - 2 platters/4 heads - 99% of files recovered
Seagate ST3320820AS - 2 platters/4 heads - 49.1397 of sectors recovered
Hitachi HCS5C1010CLA382 - 2 platters/4 heads - 58.359% of sectors recovered
Hitachi HDT725050VLAT80 - 3 platters/6 heads - 34.75% of sectors recovered

[ddrecovery]

You've been busy Brian

[lcoughey]

Thanks Brian. I've integrated your results into the main list.

[RolandJS]

Folks, I'd like to learn a little more to appreciate what you all do! In layperson terms, how do heads get re-aligned?

[Blizzard]

Folks, I'd like to learn a little more to appreciate what you all do! In layperson terms, how do heads get re-aligned?

Wikipedia has a basic description here: Embedded Servo

[Jared]

So I've confirmed that you can rotate a platter 180 degrees on Dragonfly2 family with no problems afterward.

[ddrecovery]

So I've confirmed that you can rotate a platter 180 degrees on Dragonfly2 family with no problems afterward.

Did it affect the read speed?

[fzabkar]

Are there any single platter models where swapping the platter into a donor drive does not work? I can envisage cases where such a procedure might introduce runout which cannot be accommodated by the track servo. Is that a real concern?

Do DR people ever transfer the single platter into a donor in preference to a head swap?

[lcoughey]

I've never seen an issue with a single platter swap. As for swapping a single platter instead of the heads seems like a good idea on the surface, but considering you need to remove the heads in most models in order to remove the platter, it is not practical...except for the single head Maxtor N40P, where the platter swap is actually easier.