sbw@naucse.UUCP (Steve Wampler) (06/21/89)
(1) Can anyone tell me how to interpret the 'panic' message
that comes from NMI Kernal Parity Error to determine
the physical address that caused the problem. The
number of such panics has increased since I've added
memory to my combo board, but the diagnostics don't
find a problem (intermittant?).
(2) How hot should a hard disk get? If getting too hot to
touch for >5 seconds is too hot, then what might
make it that way? (Flaky power supply causing the
disk to strain? or might the disk be acting as a
heat sink for the power supply?) The drive and
power supply are external, in the same small case
(ventilated, but no fan - though I have the case
opened up slightly with no change in temperatures).
By the way, if you have Unix 3.5 and a 2nd disk. You might
want to check /etc/.cleanup. There is a 'setmnt' in there
that you may want to change to know about the extra partitions.
(3) Can anyone tell me how to *use* ktune? I mean how I might
effectively adjust things to improve performance. Since
I added both disk and memory, I thought I might want to
adjust it. However, after trying to just bump all the
parameters up, I'm now convinced that one needs to make
changes systematically - bumping everything up resulted
in all but one parameter going *down*. Is there a way
to monitor the system for a while to see what parameters
should be changed to what values?
(4) Is anyone interested in the fixdisks for 3.5 (*not* 3.51)?
I can post a description of the things the fix disks
fix if anyone wants. It took <5 days for the ATT Hotline
to get them to me after I asked for them. Changes the
version from 3.5 to 3.5.1.4.
I really appreciate all the help I've gotten from the net. About
all I can offer in return (that isn't commonly available) is Icon
version7.5 for the Unix-pc. If any one wants it, let me know.
(It takes about 5 floppies.)
--
Steve Wampler
{....!arizona!naucse!sbw}thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (06/24/89)
Steve Wampler asks "How hot should a HD get?" How 'bout 1 microsecond access, 100 Terabytes storage, w/10 GByte/sec transfer? :-) Seriously ... I operate more than 20 HDs on various systems and, without exception, they operate too hot for *ME* to touch comfortably for more than a few seconds when operated in "free space." For that reason, I *ALWAYS* operate HDs in an enclosure with forced-air ventilation. Though I have a YSI thermocouple proble system at hand, it's really not convenient to power down a system to access a HD for mounting the probe. My *GUESS* is the external casing of a HD will typically operate at 120-130F. Just do a simple, back-of-the-envelope calculation: most 3-1/2" HDs are spec'd around 9-11W operating power; most 5-1/2" HDs range 12-25W operating power; and the mongo Maxtors and friends are around 26-35W operating power. These Wattages are the sum of the +5 and +12 "average" consumption. Now, to gain a new appreciate for the Watt, buy (or "borrow" from your kid's bedroom) one of those 7W nite-lights. Plug the nite-light into a wall socket and let it warm up for a few minutes. The grab the bulb and see how hot it is and hold your nose while your skin blisters and burns. That's seven (7) Watts. Can your conjecture how much hotter, say, 25 Watts is (sic)? :-) :-) CAUTION: I don't really mean for you to try the above experiment; I simply wanted to illustrate what just a "measly" 7W "feels like." Heat is the bane of ALL things electronic and mechanical. I strongly urge you to consider getting a proper HD enclosure with fan to prolong the life of your HD. Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]