markxx@garnet.berkeley.edu (08/27/88)
Sorry, but yet *another* question about a hard disk..(and no, I don't think that we need a separate newsgroup :-) I recently got a Miniscribe 3650, 40 meg drive from CompuAdd. I installed it in my computer today, and boy, is it loud!!! I have a Seagate in one of my PC's and it isn't much louder than the fan (which may be more of a comment on the fan...) but the Miniscribe sounds like its ready to take off!! It starts up with a loud "ca-chunking" noise and then revs up before quieting down... a little... but not much. Is this drive okay? Do all Miniscribes sound this loud??? I'm thinking of sending it back and getting something quiter even if I have to spend more or get less storage. Any suggestions will be appreciated!! Mark Ritchie markxx@garnet.Berkeley.EDU
hedrick@aramis.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) (08/28/88)
Mark Mitchie asks whether it's normal for the Miniscribe 3650 to make lots of noise. I've got a Miniscribe 3650 in a Leading Edge D2, on a WD controller. It sounds like a car that's stripping its gears. It's loud enough that I'm reluctant to reboot my machine after midnight, for fear of disturbing the neighbors. It happens at times which on a real machine would be when the system is doing a bus init, and lasts for at least 5 sec. I've assumed it's doing a recal. Depending upon the operating system (I use DOS, Minix, and Microport), it happens between one and three times as the system is coming up. I can't imagine any disk drive doing something that obnoxious without causing internal damage, but the drive has been in operation for several months with no problems. My machine is a bit on the noisy side during normal operation also, but I had assumed that was the fan. Might be the drive. I don't regard it as obnoxious. I'm actually reasonably please with the drive.
Vaprak@cup.portal.com (08/29/88)
regarding the miniscribe 3650:
I use one on my bbs and it also makes loud noise sometimes, but it has
performed with no probs since i got it in January.
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\___________________________\ ** The Highlander Should Have Died **Sorceress@cup.portal.com (08/29/88)
I have had a Miniscribe 6053 for 10 months now. At first, I too was worried about the noise they make, but you get used to it. It certainly does not seem to affect the performance of the device.
tissot@nicmad.UUCP (Kevin Tissot) (08/30/88)
In article <13648@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, markxx@garnet.berkeley.edu writes: > [...] > I recently got a Miniscribe 3650, 40 meg drive from CompuAdd. > [...] > Is this drive okay? Do all Miniscribes sound this loud??? > [...] Miniscribe 3650's are loud and slow but reliable. The media is so good that RLL encoding can be used with them, although this is not guaranteed by Miniscribe. I have been using one for 3 months now with an Adaptec 2732A RLL controller with no problems. We also supply these in one of our products with great success. There was a problem with units manufactured before January 1988 which would cause the stepper motor arm to come loose, but this problem was repairable without loss of data and has been fixed in units manufactured after January 1988 (contact Miniscribe if you need the repair procedure -- the symptom is error code 'A' hex flashed on the front LED). In summary, put up with the noise and you will have an inexpensive, reliable drive. -- =============================================================================== Kevin Tissot {ucbvax,harvard,rutgers}!uwvax!nicmad!tissot ---------------------> {att,decvax,rolls}!nicmad!tissot ===============================================================================