Part Two of Computer Surgery

Sunday, October 28, 2007

So after a nights rest, I set out to super-glue the cable to the disk drive itself, in kind of a last-ditch rescue effort.

Well, I glue the cable side, and apply pressure to get the glue to bond, and once it seems tight, I place the drive with the now-glued cable on one of the levels of the disk cage that it is sitting on the now-horizontal computer.

So I boot up this monster, and at first it seems to be ok. It comes up and I log on. Except that when I go exploring for the disk drive in question, it is not to be seen.

I see that the connection has slipped apart a little bit, and slight pressure separates the cable from the disk drive entirely.

Well.

So I notice that the power cable is right next to this cable when plugged into the disk drive, and there is a bit of a snug fit. Why not try a binder clip?

Sounds increasingly desparate, no?

So I go for a one-inch binder clip that seems to have the right span, and clamp it on the two adjecent connectors, making sure that the cable with the broken connector fits snugly against the disk drive itself, hopefully making contact.

So I power up and presto the drive is there and alive. I directly set up the command to make a complete backup over the network, which is to ultimately take overnight.

Whew.

So that is done, and everything works, and now I can run that backup command at will and back up everything that has changed since the last backup.

The side effect of this emergency surgery is that the computer is lying on its side, its sides, top, and front are off, and all parts are exposed. The disk cage is sitting on top of one of the crossbars of the case, and the disk under repair is sitting, unfastened, in one of the slots of this cage, binder clip prominently in place.

It has the look of a high-energy particle physics experiment, or some sort of open-heart procedure on some key electronic assemblage whose makers are not confident enough to put back in the box. So until a new disk drive comes, there it sits, waiting for someone to drop a crescent wrench directly into the middle.