todd@uhccux.UUCP (Todd Ogasawara) (05/17/88)
I was just wondering why I have never seen a Mac II mounted vertically
on the floor. The thing takes up an awful lot of space on my desk and
it is beginning to annoy me. I'm tempted to banish it under the desk
but am a bit hestitant to do so (I also haven't checked if the various
cables are long enough to snake around the desk :-) since I have never
seen any Mac II kept this way.
Does anyone have any solid info on whether the Mac II can be mounted
vertically on the floor? Thanks...todd
--
Todd Ogasawara, U. of Hawaii Faculty Development Program
UUCP: {ihnp4,uunet,ucbvax,dcdwest}!ucsd!nosc!uhccux!todd
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INTERNET: todd@uhccux.UHCC.HAWAII.EDU <==I'm told this rarely worksdplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt) (05/18/88)
Short answer: Yes, if you're careful.
Kensington makes a Mac II stand (a pair of metal feet) that place the
II vertically, with the floppy-disk drive(s) at the upper end. These
stands raise the lower edge of the II case (the left side, when mounted
horizontally) a couple of inches off of the floor, so that the vent
holes in the edge of the case are not blocked by the floor or carpet;
blocking them would probably result in overheating of the II. You
should be able to cobble up something similar with a few pieces of
interior-grade pinewood and a few screws and some white glue, if you
prefer the low-tech approach.
Re vertical and horizontal mounting: Sun Microsystems recommends that
whenever a system is shifted between horizontal and vertical mounting,
you back up its disk before remounting, move/reposition the system
cabinet, and then reformat and restore the disk. Apparently, some hard
disks are sensitive to orientation change, and should be formatted in
the same orientation that they'll be used. I've not spoken to anyone
who has lost data by failing to do this, nor am I aware of precisely
which drives may be sensitive to orientation. Seems a cheap form of
insurance to backup/reformat/restore, though.
--
Dave Platt VOICE: (415) 493-8805
USNAIL: Coherent Thought Inc. 3350 West Bayshore #205 Palo Alto CA 94303
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INTERNET: coherent!dplatt@ames.arpa, ...@sun.com, ...@uunet.uu.netmithomas@bsu-cs.UUCP (Michael Thomas Niehaus) (05/18/88)
In article <1856@uhccux.UUCP>, todd@uhccux.UUCP (Todd Ogasawara) writes: > > I was just wondering why I have never seen a Mac II mounted vertically > on the floor. The thing takes up an awful lot of space on my desk and > it is beginning to annoy me. I'm tempted to banish it under the desk > but am a bit hestitant to do so (I also haven't checked if the various > cables are long enough to snake around the desk :-) since I have never > seen any Mac II kept this way. > The Mac II owner's manual doesn't recommend this, although I see no real reason not to. If you have an internal hard disk, I would think twice, though. Apple's "crashless" hard drives just haven't proven themselves to me yet. Michael Niehaus UUCP: ..!{uunet,pur-ee,iuvax}!bsu-cs!mithomas
dorourke@polyslo.UUCP (David M. O'Rourke) (05/18/88)
In article <1856@uhccux.UUCP> todd@uhccux.UUCP (Todd Ogasawara) writes: >Does anyone have any solid info on whether the Mac II can be mounted >vertically on the floor? Thanks...todd Kensinton makes both a floor stand, and extenstion cables for the Macintosh II to do just what you want. Check with your local dealer. David M. O'Rourke +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ | dorourke@polyslo | Disclaimer: All opinions in this message are mine, but | | | if you like them they can be yours too. | | | Besides I'm just a student so what do I | | | know! | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | When you have to place a disclaimer in your mail you know it's a sign | | that there are TOO many Lawyer's. | +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
mls@whutt.UUCP (SIEMON) (05/18/88)
In article <1856@uhccux.UUCP>, todd@uhccux.UUCP (Todd Ogasawara) writes: > > Does anyone have any solid info on whether the Mac II can be mounted > vertically on the floor? Thanks...todd Yes. Kensington, for example, makes a stand that will not block the ventilation. I've used it for three months now with no hassle. Note also that Kensington wants to sell you longer cables to go with this, but you probably don't need them. -- Michael L. Siemon contracted to AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!mhuxu!mls standard disclaimer
Jerry_Geronimo_Whitnell@cup.portal.com (05/19/88)
|Does anyone have any solid info on whether the Mac II can be mounted |vertically on the floor? Thanks...todd Obviously, you havn't been in my office in California :-). I have a Mac II mounted on it's side using the Kensington stand (avilable from ComputerWare). All of the cables will reach to the Mac II on the floor as long as it's not too far away from the monitor and keyboard. The monitor cable and power cord are the shortest, but will reach. I have an external drive so I needed a SCSI extender cable, but if you have an internal drive you won't need that. As someone else mentioned in passing, don't put the Mac II on the floor without a stand as blocking the air vents on the side will cause overheating |-- |Todd Ogasawara, U. of Hawaii Faculty Development Program Jerry Whitnell jwhitnell@cup.portal.com ...!sun!cup.portal.com!jwhitnell
dalea@cerebus.UUCP (Dale M. Arends X5706) (05/19/88)
I am not sure how the add-in boards mount in the Mac II, but if they
are not supported at both ends I would not recommend standing the
system on edge. If the unit is situated such that the plug-in boards
are parallel to the floor, and not properly supported, the angle of
force placed on the edge connectors may result in a heavily populated
board not making good contact to the bottom row of connections in the
edge connector.
The hard disk, of course, is another possible problem.
--
Dale M. Arends (Fujitsu America Inc., San Jose, Calif.)
dalea@cerebus.fai.com
dalea@cerebus.UUCP
{...}!amdahl!cerebus!dalea
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
They are entirely my own if they make sense and I disavow them if they don't.gersh@aplvax.jhuapl.edu (John R. Gersh) (05/20/88)
In article <3084@bsu-cs.UUCP> mithomas@bsu-cs.UUCP (Michael Thomas Niehaus) writes: [on mounting a Mac II vertically] > >The Mac II owner's manual doesn't recommend this, although I see no >real reason not to. If you have an internal hard disk, I would think >twice, though. Apple's "crashless" hard drives just haven't proven themselves >to me yet. > The owner's manual does more than not recommend this, is says quite positively "don't do it." There is a right/wrong picture with a big red "X" over the vertical Mac II. What's not clear is the exact reason for this and whether a stand changes anything. The text says Proper ventilation is important to the life of your computer Be sure to leave a 4- to 6-inch clearance between the side vents on the main unit and any object that might restrict air flow. Always keep your computer's main unit flat, sitting on its rubber feet. Standing it on edge defeats the cooling design, and is likely to make your computer overheat. This will eventually damage the main unit. Is the problem only that standing it on edge right on the floor blocks the vents, and therefore is OK if you put it on Kensington's stand, or does vertical orientation not support some assumed convection in the cooling design? Also, what about dust? If you put it close to the floor will that be a problem? The manual mentions that the vents on the sides are exhausts, with the intake on top, which would limit this problem. (It also argues against any needed convection in the normal orientation.) In the latest Businessland catalog, the Kensington stand is described as "the only Vertical Stand that's recommended for the Mac II." Is this just hype or has Apple Ok'd it in some way? Anybody had any lengthy experience with vertical Mac II's?
getchell@amethyst.ma.arizona.edu (David Getchell) (05/20/88)
In article <1856@uhccux.UUCP> todd@uhccux.UUCP (Todd Ogasawara) writes: > >I was just wondering why I have never seen a Mac II mounted vertically >on the floor. The thing takes up an awful lot of space on my desk and >it is beginning to annoy me. I'm tempted to banish it under the desk >but am a bit hestitant to do so (I also haven't checked if the various >cables are long enough to snake around the desk :-) since I have never >seen any Mac II kept this way. > Kensington makes a stand and cable extensions to do just what you want. On the other hand, the Mac II manual clearly says to mounat it horizontally. I have no idea if it's safe. If anyone out there has experience with this, please post it. I want to mount mine vertically too. David Getchell getchell@amethyst.ma.arizona.edu
norman@sdics.ucsd.EDU (Donald A. Norman) (05/20/88)
I have had my MacII vertically mounted in the Kensington Stand (with
extension cords) for over a month. It gets pretty heavy usage and
there appers to be no problem. Certainly there are no signs of
overheating.
My Apple friends were surprised to hear that the manual says you
shouldn't do it. They were equally surprised to hear that the manual
states that the life of the hard disk is prolonged if the machine is
turned off when not in use -- nobody at apple ever turns off their
machines, they said.
Conclusions.
1. There might be someone at Apple who actually knows the answer, but
most of the ones there that we are apt to talk with don't know any
more than we do -- they are users of the hardware too, even if they
wrote the software.
2 No obvious difficulties. Of course if my machine does
fail, one will never know whether the vertical mounting was
responsible.
3. All this strengthens the well known finding that few people read
manuals, even at the place where they were written.
Don Norman
Donald A. Norman
Institute for Cognitive Science C-015
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, California 92093
INTERNET: danorman@ucsd.edu INTERNET: norman@ics.ucsd.edu
BITNET: danorman@ucsd.bitnet
ARPA: norman@nprdc.arpa UNIX:{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!ics!normanEric_Shockwave-Rider_Larson@cup.portal.com (05/21/88)
One possible concern about mounting a Mac II vertically comes from the hard disk orientation, where there are several potential problems, the other is ventilation. In a forced convection cooled system, physical orientation is *usually* not a concern. But for hard disks, there are two potential problems. The first is the orientation of the drive. Just about all PC drives are capable of operating mounted vertically. BUT, notice that in the Mac II, it's a different orientation than in the case of PC hard drive (or folks like Dataframe as well, who mount hard disks vertically). Some Seagate manuals refer to this long axis vertical orientation as "forbidden". Of, course, it may be perfectly ok for other brands. The second has to do with a slight eccentricity in the path traced by read/write heads on the disk surfcace when the drive is mounted vertically; this eccentricity is the reason most manufacturers recommend a reformat when changing disk mounting orientation.
hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Josh Hodas) (05/25/88)
In article <728@cerebus.UUCP> dalea@cerebus.UUCP (Dale M. Arends X5706) writes: >I am not sure how the add-in boards mount in the Mac II, but if they >are not supported at both ends I would not recommend standing the >system on edge. If the unit is situated such that the plug-in boards >are parallel to the floor, and not properly supported, the angle of >force placed on the edge connectors may result in a heavily populated >board not making good contact to the bottom row of connections in the >edge connector. > >The hard disk, of course, is another possible problem. > >-- > Dale M. Arends (Fujitsu America Inc., San Jose, Calif.) > dalea@cerebus.fai.com > dalea@cerebus.UUCP > {...}!amdahl!cerebus!dalea > >The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of my employer. >They are entirely my own if they make sense and I disavow them if they don't. Well, I wasn't going to post anything in response to the original question about side mounting since I figured lots of others would. But this note needs a retort: While the nubus cards are not supported at both ends, they dont need it, they are very stable because they don't use edge-connectors. The connector on the card (male) has three rows of seperate (relatively thick) pins which fit into three rows of matching holes in the female connector on the mother board. The Mac II (at least mine) is absolutely pleased as punch to be on its side, as long as you don't block the fan vents. do see one small unfortunate fact. Because the fan is on the side that faces down (since the floppies and hard drive are on the other end) and since it blows outwards, the fan is now fighjting the natural convection cooling. It wouls be nice if this could somehow be reversed. ------------------------- Josh Hodas (hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu) 4223 Pine Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 222-7112 (home) (215) 898-9515 (school office)
bytebug@dhw68k.cts.com (Roger L. Long) (05/30/88)
In article <4772@super.upenn.edu> hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Josh Hodas) writes: > do see one small unfortunate fact. Because the fan is on the side that faces >down (since the floppies and hard drive are on the other end) and since it >blows outwards, the fan is now fighjting the natural convection cooling. It >wouls be nice if this could somehow be reversed. And suck all that dirt off your floor and into your mac? -- Roger L. Long dhw68k!bytebug
jwhitnell@cup.portal.com (06/01/88)
Roger L. Long writes... |In article <4772@super.upenn.edu> hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Josh Hodas) writ |> do see one small unfortunate fact. Because the fan is on the side that face |>down (since the floppies and hard drive are on the other end) and since it |>blows outwards, the fan is now fighjting the natural convection cooling. It |>wouls be nice if this could somehow be reversed. | |And suck all that dirt off your floor and into your mac? The Apple Vacum Cleaner. The world's most expensive vacum cleaner. Coming soon to a computer store near you... | Roger L. Long