rgd059@Mipl3.JPL.Nasa.Gov (02/13/88)
Howdy... As you may have heard, we lucky folks in S. California had another incidence of terra infirma yesterday (a 5.0 earthquake). My Amiga was turned off at the time (fortunately?!) but it raises an interesting question... How much vibration can an operating hard disk take without crashing the heads or otherwise damaging it? Should I worry about leaving it on all the time when it could get bounced around at any time? (It's an ST251 I think (it's at home)... internal to A2000, 40meg, ST506 interface, but this is a general question). This question is also relevant to the rest of you who live on solid ground. After all, your computer table can always get bumped.... :-) Thanx.... Bob Deen @ NASA-JPL Multimission Image Processing Lab rgd059@mipl3.jpl.nasa.gov span: mipl3::rgd059
sterling@cbmvax.UUCP (Rick Sterling QA) (02/16/88)
In article <5439@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> rgd059@Mipl3.JPL.Nasa.Gov writes: > Howdy... > > As you may have heard, we lucky folks in S. California had another incidence > of terra infirma yesterday (a 5.0 earthquake). My Amiga was turned off at the > time (fortunately?!) but it raises an interesting question... > > How much vibration can an operating hard disk take without crashing the heads > or otherwise damaging it? Should I worry about leaving it on all the time > when it could get bounced around at any time? (It's an ST251 I think (it's > at home)... internal to A2000, 40meg, ST506 interface, but this is a general > question). > > This question is also relevant to the rest of you who live on solid ground. > After all, your computer table can always get bumped.... :-) > > Thanx.... > > Bob Deen @ NASA-JPL Multimission Image Processing Lab > rgd059@mipl3.jpl.nasa.gov span: mipl3::rgd059 The specs for my Conner 40 meg SCSI state : Non-Operating shock 75 G's Non-Operating Vibration 5-17 hz. .020" 18-500hz 4 G's Operating Shock 5 G's Operating Vibration 5-22 hz. .010" 23-500hz. .15 G's peak Operating specs guarantee no non recoverable errors. Looks like you might expect problems with moderate quakes during reads and writes with a Conner drive. Other drives may vary... check mfg. specs. ============================================================================= Rick Sterling COMMODORE AMIGA TEST ENGINEERING UUCP ...{allegra,ihnp4,rutgers}!cbmvax!sterling // /_ |\/||/_ /_ PHONE 215-431-9275 \X/ / \| ||\// \ ` CALM DOWN ! It's only 1's and 0's ! ' =============================================================================
cjp@antique.UUCP (Charles Poirier) (02/17/88)
Speaking of vibrations... While playing a certain game yesterday, I became frustrated and pounded my desk. At that moment, the hard drive (Miniscribe 40M ST-506) started whining a lot louder than it had been! It still seems to work but it remains unnaturally loud. Moral: Don't make your own earthquakes! -- Charles Poirier (decvax,ihnp4,attmail)!vax135!cjp "Docking complete... Docking complete... Docking complete..."
bilbo@pnet02.cts.com (Bill Daggett) (02/17/88)
Leave your hard drive ON. It won't make much difference if you are home at
the time of the quake or not. You'd probably knock the hard drive silly
trying to hit the OFF switch and that wouldn't necessarily park the heads off
the cylinder media anyway. Park would take to long for sure. You might
consider shock mounting and suspending your drive in a structure that would
keep it running through a biggy but what if your house falls down?
I live in El Segundo and my board stayed up through the 6.0 or whatever it was
that hit Whitier. Enjoy your hard drive.
Bill
UUCP: {ihnp4!scgvaxd!cadovax rutgers!marque}!gryphon!pnet02!bilbo
INET: bilbo@pnet02.cts.comlphillips@lpami.van-bc.UUCP (Larry Phillips) (02/19/88)
>Speaking of vibrations... While playing a certain game yesterday, I >became frustrated and pounded my desk. At that moment, the hard drive >(Miniscribe 40M ST-506) started whining a lot louder than it had been! >It still seems to work but it remains unnaturally loud. I have recently made quite a few people happy by pointing out an easy fix for *some* whining hard drives. While some whining is caused by head/disk interference or a bad bearing, many times it is caused by the vibration of the small brass grounding strap that makes contact with the spindle of the drive mechanism. The fix is simplicity itself. Just play with the strap, increasing (usually) the tension, decreasing (not usually) the tension, or just forming the strap to make it ride on a different spot against the spindle. The strap may or may not have a carbon 'button' on it. If all else fails, use a little graphite lubricant (very sparingly). -- The transistor is a curiosity, and will never amount to much. -- Mr. Stringer, Basic Electronic Instructor, RCAF, 1962. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | // Larry Phillips UUCP: lphillips@lpami.van-bc.UUCP | | \X/ or: {ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision,uunet}!van-bc!lpami!lphillips | | COMPUSERVE: 76703,4322 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
derick@garfield.UUCP (Derick Linegar) (02/22/88)
In article <1676@van-bc.UUCP> lphillips@lpami.van-bc.UUCP (Larry Phillips) writes: >I have recently made quite a few people happy by pointing out an easy fix >for *some* whining hard drives. While some whining is caused by head/disk >interference or a bad bearing, many times it is caused by the vibration of >the small brass grounding strap that makes contact with the spindle of the >drive mechanism. [ Fix for some nosy hard drives .........] >| // Larry Phillips UUCP: lphillips@lpami.van-bc.UUCP | >| \X/ or: {ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision,uunet}!van-bc!lpami!lphillips | >| COMPUSERVE: 76703,4322 | I REALLY wish there exist something similar for my second floopy drive. Now as most Amigans know, their drives are not the "quietest" around. It sorta makes me red-faced, when I hear a comparable computer, say Computer "X" with 3.5 drives operate MUCH QUIETER than mine. This annoyance is emphasized when one hears my internal drive (AHHH..!! Quiet, is it operating ??? ) and then my external drive ( Oh MY GOSH, Where did the drive get the chisel ??? ). It sorta makes me remeber my first computer, a Apple II, with disk drives that we called "Apple Dish Washers" This REALLY makes me GRIND....! UUCP: derick@garfield.UUCP CDN: derick@garfield.mun.cdn or derick@garfield.mun.edu CANADA SNAIL: Derick Linegar, 12A Fleming Str, St John's Nfld. A1C - 3A2
mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) (02/24/88)
derick@garfield.UUCP (Derick Linegar) writes: > I REALLY wish there exist something similar [disk quieter] for my > second floopy drive. Now as most Amigans know, their drives > are not the "quietest" around. It sorta makes me red-faced, when > I hear a comparable computer, say Computer "X"with 3.5 drives > operate MUCH QUIETER than mine. Get yourself a copy of StepRate. This program was posted to the net a while back. The authors claimed it speeded up floppy access by allowing you to control the step rate of the drive head. Well, it does no such thing, but it does make the floppy drives a hell of a lot quieter. I run it from my startup-sequence just for that reason. The gist of the discussion on the net when it appeared was that a standard step rate for a 3.5" drive is about 2.5 ms; the Amiga uses 3. The slower than normal step rate is responsible for the grinding sound. There was also a warning that you shouldn't set the step rate of the drive head outside the drive's rated specs. --M Michael Portuesi / Carnegie Mellon University ARPA/UUCP: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu BITNET: rainwalker@drycas "little things remind me of you...cheap cologne and that damn song too!" --The Flirts, "Jukebox"
derick@garfield.UUCP (Derick Linegar) (02/25/88)
In article <cW8RxXy00Xo4ySc09I@andrew.cmu.edu> mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu.UUCP writes: > > derick@garfield.UUCP (Derick Linegar) writes: > >> I REALLY wish there exist something similar [disk quieter] for my >> second floopy drive. Now as most Amigans know, their drives >> are not the "quietest" around. It sorta makes me red-faced, when >> I hear a comparable computer, say Computer "X"with 3.5 drives >> operate MUCH QUIETER than mine. > >Get yourself a copy of StepRate. .......[ etc .... ] ...... > > --M >Michael Portuesi / Carnegie Mellon University >ARPA/UUCP: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu BITNET: rainwalker@drycas Gee I forgot to mention that my external drive IS "on StepRate". Helps a bit, but of course, not as much as I want it. You should drop by one of the MAC dealers or Atari dealers ( which in our town is also the Amiga dealer) and just listen to the silence ( comparably ) of their drives. Now I know that quality of a product increases the longer it is out on the market ( as long as it is still being produced ) but sadly, of all the new A500 and A2000 that I came across, their drives are as noisy or worse as ever. What really impressed me is the MAC II drives. Call me a perfectionist but the way I see it, we always have to stive for quality improvements..... UUCP: derick@garfield.UUCP EDU : derick@garfield.mun.edu CDN : derick@garfield.mun.cdn CANADA SNAIL: Derick Linegar, 12A Fleming Str. St John's Nfld. Canada A1C 3A2
kenchiu@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Kenneth Chiu) (02/28/88)
In article <4533@garfield.UUCP> derick@garfield.UUCP (Derick Linegar) writes: >Call me a perfectionist but the way I see it, we always have to stive for >quality improvements.....[re. disk drive noise] Perhaps I'm mistaken, but whether a drive is noisy or not is basically just a matter of resonance, and is not directly related to quality per se. Now, maybe some people are bothered by the actual *noise*, but I think most people are bothered by the *fact* that it makes noise (i.e. they think there disks are getting eaten). So, to sum up, I would rather CA spent time on other things. But still, maybe some engineer at CA could take just a *teensy* bit of time to look into the matter. :-) Ken Chiu
bryce@eris (Bryce Nesbitt) (03/03/88)
In article <> kenchiu@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Kenneth Chiu) writes: |In article <> derick@garfield.UUCP (Derick Linegar) writes: |> |>[...Amiga drives are too darn noisy...better quality is needed...] | |Perhaps I'm mistaken, but whether a drive is noisy or not is basically just |a matter of resonance, and is not directly related to quality per se. As a matter of fact, when removed from the plastic casing, my Amiga drives are very quiet. Only when inserted into the patented "head seek noise amplification units" provided by Commodore does the noise get bothersome :-). |\_/| . ACK!, NAK!, EOT!, SOH! {O_o} . Bryce Nesbitt (") BIX: mleeds (temporarily) U USENET: bryce@eris.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!eris!bryce