“The voice coil motor controlling the head isn’t strong enough to overcome this sticky rubber, so the head just sits there until the drive’s firmware gives up on trying and spins the platter down.”
Rubber head stops in old Quantum and Conner drives turn to goo and glue the heads in place. The drive spins up, fails to seek, and gives up. It happens whether the drive gets used or not. Old data has an expiry date nobody printed on the label.