In the mid-90s, I was working for an OEM of large industrial machinery. I was about nine months out of engineering school and had just completed my first major project. This particular project included the installation of the first PC-based HMI that my company (and the customer) had ever used. This HMI was a very complex system for its day.
The system also had extreme environmental challenges due to the shock, vibration, and dirt. We ended up with the Allen-Bradley T60 computer for hardware, which was about the only system on the market that would survive more than a week. I was also pushing the envelope of DOS and the available hardware, so much so that I needed a third-party memory manager to manually allocate each program to make it work.
One of the key features of our new PC-based HMI was that the customer could now extract fault information from the machine to analyze it in the office, and even store long fault and maintenance histories. Due to the equipment’s location, network cabling to the office was not possible and wireless connectivity was still a number of years off. However, "Sneaker-Net" (or in this case, "Steel-Toe-Boot-Net") was a breakthrough solution. The ability to save the fault data to a floppy disk and load it back to the computer in the office was a major development for our customers.
After a lengthy onsite commissioning process, I returned to the office and everything seemed to be going well for the customer. But that changed. I started getting phone calls from the electrical maintenance supervisor saying that the information downloading process was no longer working. This started an in-depth troubleshooting process. Was the raw data good on the HMI? Yes, shutting down the graphics still allowed the raw data to be read on the hard drive.
Was it copying correctly? Yes, the files could be reread after the download. It appeared to work every time, but the files were totally unreadable in the maintenance office. We even swapped out the floppy drives to see if the vibration on the machine misaligned the drive heads.
After going back and forth like this for some time with no solution, the only thing left was to walk through the process and see if there was anything anywhere that could be corrupting the data. I asked the electrical supervisor to tell me step-by-step what he did. He verified a freshly formatted disk -- good. He put the disk in the HMI drive -- good. He went through the proper download process -- good. He waited for the drive light to go out -- good. He removed the disk and put it in his shirt pocket -- oops.
As far as Data Corruption & Tremors, is concerned, since you reference many decades ago as the reference, maybe it was because disk crashes were very prevalent back then. The read/write head technology wasn't as mechanically secure as it is nowadays, and any low frequency vibration could cause the head to literally plop down (a computerese technical term!) onto the spinning platter, literally causing it to dig into the highly polished & coated surface, thus causing the "crash".
Cncerning the IVORY soap commercials, going back as long as I can remember into the 1940s, that was their slogan ...... "So pure, it floats". And, you're exactly correct .... it was to counter some "modern" soap products that included perfumes, and other additives which some claimed detracted from the purity of the soap product. I guess IVORY still floats .... we don't use it ..... have "graduated" to more modern alternatives. Oh, well, time marches on!!
No actually this was told to me by a my boss shortly after he came to the company for which I worked it the late 70's. This was a time when companies were first moving into computerized inventories etc. We were advised to always keep our back-up files at a remote location. I asked why and was given the tremors explanation. He claimed to have experienced the corrupted data/tremors relationship.
As to Ivory soap, I recall a study in the early 70's, I think by Consumers Union that the claim was true. All Ivory were claiming was that it was soap. No detergents and no by products or impurities, and that claim was factual. Then again that was 40+ years ago so I may be in error.
IF you read about it, or was told about tremors & data corruption being from a "source" on the internet, it's probably a bunch of malarkey!!!!! Just like IVORY soap commercials of decades ago, "It's 99.9% pure, so it gfloats!" Well, what you read on the internet is also 99.9% "PURE" ....... pure B.S., that is!!!
I am not very computer savy. I know how to do what I know how to do and all else is witchcraft. I have been told that earth tremors can corrupt data on magnetic media. Is this true? If so, why? How big of a tremor does it take?
Enjoyed reading of your collection! Ours is not so large, but we do have a significant collection of LP's, dating from the 1950s forward, mostly the classics, Broadway show tunes, & some early R&R. And, we have a significant collection of VHS tapes dating from that era, which play quite well on our recorders, a PANASONIC unit & a ZENITH unit. Unfortunately, the SONY unit gave up the ghost due to an idler roller problem, which was unrepairable. That broke my heart because the ONE (SONY) remote controller also handled all the functions of the 30 year old SONY 26" console TV, which continues to produce an excellent picture. SONY, the ONE & ONLY!!!
Our stereo setup also has a DUAL changer & a KENWOOD dual deck Cassette recorder/playback unit. When cassettes were popular, I always bought the best quality tapes that were available. It just made sense then, and I'm glad that I did it.
I am NOT averse to advances in technology. IF I were, I certainly would not have chosen a design engineering career, but I question the pace of new technology introduction presently. I believe that it has been raised to a fever pitch for NO real meaningful end, other than to say, "OH!, look what we just invented!" Without treading into the "green" minefield, the only people I see benefitting are the landfill operators, as we turn yesterday morning's wunder-product into digestible material for "the smasher"!
The part they leave out when tooting DVDs for long term storage (50-100 year) is that you must use actual "archival quality" DVDs. They are manufactured differently to prevent deterioration of the metallized recording surface.
They can be bought but not at general retail outlets (eg, Staples, Wal-Mart, etc.) and the price is not for the faint of heart.
For example, the list price on Verbatim 95355 (DVD-R 4.7GB 8X 50 / spindle) are $160 but you can get them for $80 over at Amazon.
For archiving lots of files permanently (200 year rating), you'll need archival bluray like Delkin Devices' archival blu-ray discs (BD-R 25GB 4X 10 / spindle). Amazon has them for $250; but they ship for free! LoL
Still cheaper and more reliable than tape drives or NAS boxes I suppose. :-)
Now somebody hit a nerve. Why the full warm sound of vinyl records was ever replaced by the mechanics of digital has always been a mystery to me. I know records could not be played in a moving car, but tape recorders took car of that. I also have thousands of vinyl discs and even a few bakelite 78's. They are decades old and still faithfully perform.
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