[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

walking drives n. an occasional failure mode of magnetic-disk drives
   back in the days when they were huge, clunky washing machines. those
   old dinosaur parts carried terrific angular momentum; the combination
   of a misaligned spindle or worn bearings and stick-slip interactions
   with the floor could cause them to `walk' across a room, lurching
   alternate corners forward a couple of millimeters at a time. there is a
   legend about a drive that walked over to the only door to the computer
   room and jammed it shut; the staff had to cut a hole in the wall in
   order to get at it walking could also be induced by certain patterns of
   drive access a fast seek across the whole width of the disk, followed
   by a slow seek in the other direction. some bands of old-time hackers
   figured out how to induce disk-accessing patterns that would do this to
   particular drive models and held disk-drive races.


see also:
washing machine dinosaur 

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

walking drives
     
        an occasional failure mode of magnetic-disk drives back in the
        days when they were huge, clunky washing machines.  those
        old dinosaur parts carried terrific angular momentum; the
        combination of a misaligned spindle or worn bearings and
        stick-slip interactions with the floor could cause them to
        "walk" across a room, lurching alternate corners forward a
        couple of millimeters at a time.  there is a legend about a
        drive that walked over to the only door to the computer room
        and jammed it shut; the staff had to cut a hole in the wall in
        order to get at it  walking could also be induced by certain
        patterns of drive access a fast seek across the whole width
        of the disk, followed by a slow seek in the other direction.
        some bands of old-time hackers figured out how to induce
        disk-accessing patterns that would do this to particular drive
        models and held disk-drive races.
     
        jargon file
     
     
see also:
washing machines dinosaur jargon file 

Walking >> W Words
Walking, definition of term: Walking
walking_pag1.html

Walking Stick >> W Words
Walking Stick, definition of term: Walking Stick
walking+stick_pag1.html

Walking Papers >> W Words
Walking Papers, definition of term: Walking Papers
walking+papers_pag1.html

Walking Fish >> W Words
Walking Fish, definition of term: Walking Fish
walking+fish_pag1.html

Walking Horse >> W Words
Walking Horse, definition of term: Walking Horse
walking+horse_pag1.html

Fire Walking >> F Words
Fire Walking, definition of term: Fire Walking
fire+walking_pag1.html