Powerbook 100 Connor Hard Drive Repair

[aplmak]

If you have a macintosh powerbook 100 more than likely the hard drive is giving you a hard time... Well I've taken several apart and have repaired them. What the issue was in a little arm (see photos below) there is a magnet with some sort of coating that has broken down over time. Well that little film of whatever it was keeps the magnet from holding the head arm from moving. So you need some sort of coating to separate the magnet from the read/write arm. This way the magnet isn't as strong and is not in direct contact with the metal head arm.

So what I did was take apart the cover. Next unscrewed the large magnet that goes over the read/write arm.. You have to use a little strength because the magnet on that piece naturally hangs onto the drive.. But be careful not to bump into the arm with the heads on it. I usually pull up and away from the platters.

After you get that piece off I just take out the little arm with the magnet it in.. And I use some sort of expoxy or glue that hardens.. I've taken a small qtip and filled in the rectangular inside space where you can see the magnet in there (very tiny) is exposed because of the worn down separating film. I let at least 24 hours go by to let it harden.. Then I assemble it all back together and whala!!! A working Connor 40mb drive... I haven't bothered with the 20mb ones yet.

Before assembling the top cover get some compressed air and give it a blow... Also make sure the little rubber gasket is properly seated so it doesn't bump into the platters.. This happened once to me.. but I realigned and all is good.

As I said I've repaired 4 or 5 so far without issue!!! They work great!

  

 

[techknight]

it was probably rubber, and turned to goo and disappeared. 

 

[aplmak]

I've taken the little magnet out of one.. It's turned to like a wax.. Could have been rubber.. All you need is that little layer of a coating in the rectangle hole so the magnet isn't touching the metal arm.. So it gives just enough pull to hold head in park but allows it to release on power up!

 

[galgot]

IT WORKS !!

Many thanks, just got a 40 mb Conner working for my PB100 using your trick !

 

[aplmak]

Awesome!!! Glad it worked for you!!! Worth a shot before it goes in the trash right? Everyone just needs to make sure whatever they use for a filler in that space is something that hardens and won't get sticky over time and hold the head arm from releasing... 

 

[bibilit]

Many thanks, just got a 40 mb Conner working for my PB100 using your trick !

 

 

[galgot]

Yep very cool

I used fast hardening epoxy glue, just a very small drop in that rectangle . Did that on two 40 mb conners, one started on first boot, the other seems really dead. But will try again.

 

[bibilit]

You still have the 20 Mb from the Pwb 100 to have a try...

 

[Scott Baret]

Wow, I'm going to have to try this! I have two or three of those drives sitting around doing nothing!!

 

[techknight]

Why not? Nothing to lose!

 

[aplmak]

I figured I'd post a note here since there appears to be fellow PB100 admirers out there... and if your repairing a PB100 hard drive your probably needing to replace your LCD display... from a funky pink spotch! Most of them don't seem to survive that trackball pressure over time... (thanks to Uni and Techknight for discovering the actual cause) refer to my post "PB100 Screen Line Issue" I think it's titled....

 

[olePigeon]

Speaking of the old 2.5" SCSI drives.  I have a 240MB Conner that I repaired.  By repair, I mean I got the platters spinning again with a little bit of help.

However, in probing the silver security tape looking for the last screw to take out, I discovered that it has a window in the main case so you can see the head move.  I used a heat gun and removed the metal security tape, then covered it back up with clear duct tape.  Now I can see the head move back and forth through the window.  Looks really cool!

 

[tonyingesson]

I just have to say THANK YOU for this awesome piece of advice! I was able to very easily repair an old Conner drive in my recently acquired PB 100 using the trick described in the first post. Not only did this save me the money I would otherwise have to spend on a replacement, it also enabled me to salvage close to a hundred old files. Kudos!

 

[Elfen]

This is great to know!

 

[bibilit]

Yes, great, worked for me also (20 Mb)

 

[aplmak]

Keep in mind the displayed is the 40MB drive... the 20MB is a little different... there is no piece to lift off of the head arm.. but with a qtip and some hardened glue or expoxy you can get in and fill in that little hole... I've done numerous 20MB's now as well...

You have to gently unstick the head first and slide it across the platter.. be sure you know how to do this by using your finger in the center of the round area of the head's arm..

Of course doing all of this you have to be VERY careful... your opening a hard drive which should be opened in a clean environment (technically)... Always go with the intention that this may not work and something may get damaged if not done properly...

 

[bibilit]

Yes, the 20 Mb is different, i tried to lift the piece first, then filled the hole with some glue and a very small screwdriver...worked first time.

 

[bibilit]

Repaired another Conner drive this morning, was not a powerbook this time, but one inside a Colour Classic, after recapping the board i booted the CC and the hard drive started doing a click click sound, followed by the question mark.

After removing the Hard drive (sorry to say so, but removing it from a CC is really a p... in the a...) anyway the drive had exactly the same rectangular hole and once filled and put together, the CC booted right away. 

 

[BadGoldEagle]

Good to know! So it seems all Connor drives from that period experience the same problems. I wonder if the CP3045 (Mac Portable) suffers from the same issue...

It's a shame this doesn't apply to Quantum drives though. The HD in my "new" SE FDHD is a Prodrive which will die in about 53 minutes: it makes a terrible rattle!