So I opened this harddisk because it was not spinning and it kept on making a click sound. This is an old harddisk , so I understand that the technology has changed. But I can’t seem to find the read head parking area which most tutorials show or explain. So my question is, which is the resting position of this read head? Also is there a type or version of this sort of hdd?

  • @Brujones
    21•11 months ago

    Former industry guy here.

    Some HD’s park the head on a plastic ramp at the OD of the platter stack. I don’t see that structure in your picture.

    Others park the head on the platter itself. This area is always not usable area, since contact isn’t great for data integrity. This is a simpler solution but comes at the cost of reduced data capacity.

    I don’t recall if this park area is on the ID or OD (it’s been a long time), but the position in your picture is reasonable since it would cost less disk area…

    • alphacyberrangerOPEnglish
      1•11 months ago

      Thanks for the clarification. So I’m assuming none of the newer HDs do this and all of them will be parking on a plastic ramp?

      • @Brujones
        6•11 months ago

        Not necessarily. It varies by manufacturer, and some manufacturers use both methods for the various HD’s they make. Both work just fine, and both have their strengths and weaknesses.