SE/30 Blinking Question Mark Floppy only on Cold Boot

[yezzah]

I recently recapped an SE/30; all appears well except for one oddity. On a cold boot, no system is detected and the blinking question mark floppy is displayed. If the computer is immediately reset at the power switch, the system is found on the hard disk and boots without fail. Restarting from software works as well, but as soon as the computer sits powered off for some time, the problem resumes.

I've tried replacing the PRAM battery and running disk repair, but neither have solved the issue.

 

[yezzah]

I should add: disk repair finds no errors and the disk was recently re-initialized and reformatted with a clean install of system 6.

 

[unity]

Im guessing a bad hard drive. If it suffers form any stiction, the first power up may not provide enough kick to break it free. But a second shortly after might.

What hard drive is installed? The miniscribes are very much prone to stiction. Early Quantums suffer from a rubber bump that dissolves and holds the read arm like a fly trap.

 

[yezzah]

It is a 1988 Quantum. I'm guessing the rubber bump issue is a problem that can only be resolved by replacing the drive?

 

[unity]

Yes and no. Opening a drive is never a grand idea. There is reason a clean room is normally used. But I assume there wont be any critical data on such an old machine ever, so you can. Since removing the bump is messy, some just place some tape over the area were the arm contacts to stop it from sticking.

 

[techknight]

Yes and no. Opening a drive is never a grand idea. There is reason a clean room is normally used. But I assume there wont be any critical data on such an old machine ever, so you can. Since removing the bump is messy, some just place some tape over the area were the arm contacts to stop it from sticking.

Until the rubber finally deforms and melts, and flys all over the place and getting stuck to the platter. 

So yes, it HAS to be removed and replaced. 

 

[unity]

I have yet to see that happen. How could it fly around the platter?

 

[techknight]

gets picked up by the actuator arm, or it leaks depending on the position of the arm. 

But yes, I have seen it. I have taken apart a couple dead quatums, one was a notebook drive (the worst), and one was a 230mb quantum desktop drive. Both of them the rubber turned into a liquid goo and was slung all over the place by the actuator arm and platter. But on some other drives, the rubber just goes sticky and hasnt turned into goo. Yet..... 

I have pictures somewhere I ended up posting on the subject.