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32 GB Travelstar HD Interference Solved


The PowerList‘s Heeday Danjo posted this fix for a potential interference problem between some IBM hard drives found in PowerBooks.

There is an ongoing discovery at the Japanese reader community at Y. Yamamoto M.D.’s site that there is magnetic interference between some IBM hard disks and the magnetic sleep sensors (you can stick a paper clip on the lower right corner of your LCD screen) on our Wall Street/PDQ models. The symptoms you describe closely match those provided by users in Japan.

Problems have been reported with the IBM Travelstar 20GN (DJSA-220), 10GN? (DJSA-210) and the 12GN (DARA-212). Recently, at least 2 users have reported the problem with the 32GH (DJSA-232) at Apple Support Discussions.

The fix is to put a magnetic shield in the red area in the following image:

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The most popular way to create a magnetic shield is to degauss a snap-off knife blade by heating it with a lighter (hold the blade with a plyer or you’ll get burnt) and taping it down on top of another layer of electric tape after it has cooled. If you can read Japanese, the whole story is at Dr. Yamamoto’s site (I haven’t found time to translate it yet): http://www01.u-page.so-net.ne.jp/ba2/nsxt/faq17.html

Some have had success waving a small magnet close to the return key (that’s where the sensor is — and don’t worry, the magnet in the LCD frame is quitemstrong anyway) to start the PB.

This is such an obscure problem that a fix was found is almost a miracle — guys went through the whole installation multiple times and used voltmeters to check the voltage coming to the drive etc. etc…

If this cures the problem, please let us know, spread the word and ask the vendor (megahaus) to notify the manufacturer (IBM)!

By Jason O'Grady

Founded the PowerPage in 1995.