[LAD] [OT] Richard Stallman warns against ChromeOS

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Fri, 2010-12-17 at 05:50 -0500, gene heskett wrote:
> On Friday, December 17, 2010 05:32:43 am Ralf Mardorf did opine:
> 
> > On Fri, 2010-12-17 at 11:05 +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> > > I'm turning on my computer several times a day and my drives get
> > > broken after 2 years
> > 
> > Last time this happened Gene recommended that I should hit the hard disk
> > drive with a hammer on startup and it worked :). I was able to backup
> > important data, but I couldn't backup all data. I noticed that after the
> > HDD rest for a while, a week or so, it worked better when using the
> > hammer, resp. I used a slat.
> 
> I don't recall using the word hammer without the rubber prefix.

Pardon, you're right.

> That really 
> is extreme, although I do have an old Maxtor 7120S that needs a pretty good 
> bump to get it started.  Once running, it has no bad sectors yet.  The idea 
> is that you give the drive a good bump, with the ball of your hand, or a 
> small rubber hammer, striking the corner of the case so that the drives 
> case is spun a few degrees in the same plane the disks inside turn.  This 
> breaks the heads loose from the disks, which have become so polished that 
> they stick to the disk like a set of machinists 'Joes Blocks' which are so 
> highly polished that one can bring them together in whatever thickness you 
> need to set a gage with, by twisting them.  They will remain stuck together 
> until you twist them again breaking the atomic bond.  If the drives case, 
> and the heads attached to it, can be given enough of a twisting motion 
> relative to the disks, by a sideways blow on the corner of the case, the 
> heads will come loose and the drive motor will then have enough power to 
> get the disks started.  The heads will be flying on a film of air, as they 
> are designed to do, before the disks have turned half a turn.  Soft wood 
> might do as it would dent, cushioning the blow somewhat without damaging 
> the case casting.

I used Norway spruce :), anyway the click, click appeared when I tried
to backup a Windos XP pro install :D, I could backup all Linux installs,
perhaps 60GB from a 80GB drive. Maybe I could have backup Windows too, I
didn't try it a second time, because I don't need Windows.