ccjapu@uta.fi (Jarmo Puntanen) (05/16/91)
In article <hoepfner.674155244@heawk1> hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) writes: > > Laying any Mac II, Mac IIx, or Mac IIfx on its side is dangerous! >This is because the hard disk is mounted with the read/write arm >mounted sideways. This means that when you lay the Mac on its side >the read/write arm is forced to move against gravity. This wears the >arm out quicker. Apple can determine (I am told) that the wear has >been caused by incorrectly placing the box on its side and they will >not repair it under warranty. To state that laying *any* Mac II or IIx (or any Mac for that matter) on its side is dangerous is simply not true. Quite a number of those machines have Seagate hard disks, whose installation manual (Universal Installation Handbook, Seagate Publication 36042-001, Rev D.) reads (p. 12): "The drive may be mounted horizontally ... or on either side (egde)." I am pretty certain that this applies to other brands as well. In fact, in vast majority of Seagate installations I have seen in Macs, the disk has been installed upside down (a strick no-no, which voids your warranty, according to Seagate). This causes "sticktion", which finally leads to the "sad mac" symbol and an instance of aggravated end-user. Jarmo Puntanen, University of Tampere Computer Centre, Tampere Finland
cjeff@ghoti.lcs.mit.edu (Carl J.M. Alexander) (05/16/91)
In article <2772@kielo.uta.fi> ccjapu@kielo.uta.fi (Jarmo Puntanen) writes: >In article <hoepfner.674155244@heawk1> hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) writes: >> >> Laying any Mac II, Mac IIx, or Mac IIfx on its side is dangerous! >>This is because the hard disk is mounted with the read/write arm >>mounted sideways. This means that when you lay the Mac on its side >>the read/write arm is forced to move against gravity. This wears the >>arm out quicker..... > >To state that laying *any* Mac II or IIx (or any Mac for that matter) >on its side is dangerous is simply not true. >Quite a number of those machines have Seagate hard >disks, whose installation manual (Universal Installation Handbook, >Seagate Publication 36042-001, Rev D.) reads (p. 12): "The drive may be >mounted horizontally ... or on either side (egde)." Am I the *only* person who remembers that the reason Apple told us not to put Mac IIs up on end was that it defeats the cooling design? --Carl Alexander News Editor, The Active Window cjeff@ghoti.lcs.mit.edu
ech@cbnewsk.att.com (ned.horvath) (05/16/91)
From article <1991May16.134953.28442@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>, by cjeff@ghoti.lcs.mit.edu (Carl J.M. Alexander): > Am I the *only* person who remembers that the reason Apple told us not > to put Mac IIs up on end was that it defeats the cooling design? A valid point. However, - Kensington markets a nice pair of metal "feet" you can put under the "fan-exhaust" end of a II(IIx,IIfx). The feet widen the footprint to about 9" for stability, AND provide 2" of clearance off the floor for proper exhaust. $20 from MacConnection, I small price to reclaim your desk! - The compact modulars (IIcx, IIci) have a redesigned cooling system to permit you to mount 'em on the left side. -- =Ned Horvath= ehorvath@attmail.com
wiseman@tellabs.com (Jeff Wiseman) (05/17/91)
In article <2772@kielo.uta.fi> ccjapu@kielo.uta.fi (Jarmo Puntanen) writes: >In article <hoepfner.674155244@heawk1> hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) writes: >> >> Laying any Mac II, Mac IIx, or Mac IIfx on its side is dangerous! >>This is because the hard disk is mounted with the read/write arm >>mounted sideways. This means that when you lay the Mac on its side >>the read/write arm is forced to move against gravity. This wears the >>arm out quicker. Apple can determine (I am told) that the wear has <<stuff deleted>> >Quite a number of those machines have Seagate hard >disks, whose installation manual (Universal Installation Handbook, >Seagate Publication 36042-001, Rev D.) reads (p. 12): "The drive may be >mounted horizontally ... or on either side (egde)." I am pretty >certain that this applies to other brands as well. In fact, in vast One point here is that where drive manufacture's DO have a warranty issue, it is from mounting the drive "face-down". The reason that mounting the large macII type enclosures on their side is an issue is because unlike IBM PCs which have the "face" of their hard drives mounted to face the front of the enclosure, the macII enclosure requires the drive to (usually) be mounted with its "face" pointing to the left or the right resulting in a face up or face down orientation when the enclosure is put on its side. I think that this is the part that gets forgotten sometimes during the discussion. If I were paying for everything out of my own pocket, I would not put the machine on its side. But that is just my preference since I have seen the warranties and also how fast those read/write heads need to change direction! :-) -- Jeff Wiseman: ....uunet!tellab5!wiseman OR wiseman@TELLABS.COM
carter@cat51.cs.wisc.edu (Gregory Carter) (05/17/91)
Well, I don't know about you guys, but if you install a hard disk inside out, Apple clearly states you cannot "breathe or have sex" in the same room. Appearently, the heavy breathing laminates the surface of the exposed platter and causes head crashes. Has anyone confirmed this? I always had my drive inside out and mounted backwards and I only have had problems when I would have my mom or dad use my computer, they smoke. Incidentally, a perfect way to clean the platter is to get a hoover vacume cleaner and turn it on high and clean the platter this way. Any better ways to clean or mount the disk inside out would be really appreciated, send mail to: ...
ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) (05/17/91)
In article <6099@tellab5.tellabs.com> wiseman@tellabs.com (Jeff Wiseman) writes: >In article <2772@kielo.uta.fi> ccjapu@kielo.uta.fi (Jarmo Puntanen) writes: >>In article <hoepfner.674155244@heawk1> hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) writes: >>> >>> Laying any Mac II, Mac IIx, or Mac IIfx on its side is dangerous! >>>This is because the hard disk is mounted with the read/write arm >>>mounted sideways. This means that when you lay the Mac on its side >>>the read/write arm is forced to move against gravity. This wears the >>>arm out quicker. Apple can determine (I am told) that the wear has > <<stuff deleted>> >>Quite a number of those machines have Seagate hard >>disks, whose installation manual (Universal Installation Handbook, >>Seagate Publication 36042-001, Rev D.) reads (p. 12): "The drive may be >>mounted horizontally ... or on either side (egde)." I am pretty >>certain that this applies to other brands as well. In fact, in vast > >One point here is that where drive manufacture's DO have a warranty issue, it >is from mounting the drive "face-down". The reason that mounting the large >macII type enclosures on their side is an issue is because unlike IBM PCs >which have the "face" of their hard drives mounted to face the front of the >enclosure, the macII enclosure requires the drive to (usually) be mounted with >its "face" pointing to the left or the right resulting in a face up or face >down orientation when the enclosure is put on its side. > >I think that this is the part that gets forgotten sometimes during the >discussion. If I were paying for everything out of my own pocket, I would not >put the machine on its side. But that is just my preference since I have seen >the warranties and also how fast those read/write heads need to change >direction! :-) > I recently called Quantum tech support about installing one of their drives upside down and the tech told me that they can be installed in any orientation. Your mileage may vary with other drives. Actually, I had a Seagate 157N-1 installed upside down for two years without a problem. -- ||| Ed Krimen [ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu or al661@cleveland.freenet.edu] ||| Video Production Major, California State University, Chico / | \ SysOp, Fuji BBS: 916-894-1261 TWO WEEKS UNTIL GRADUATION!!
ron_b@apollo.HP.COM (Ronald Buttiglieri) (05/17/91)
>In article <2772@kielo.uta.fi> ccjapu@kielo.uta.fi (Jarmo Puntanen) writes: >>In article <hoepfner.674155244@heawk1> hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) writes: >>> >>> Laying any Mac II, Mac IIx, or Mac IIfx on its side is dangerous! >>>This is because the hard disk is mounted with the read/write arm >>>mounted sideways. This means that when you lay the Mac on its side >>>the read/write arm is forced to move against gravity. This wears the >>>arm out quicker..... >> >>To state that laying *any* Mac II or IIx (or any Mac for that matter) >>on its side is dangerous is simply not true. >>Quite a number of those machines have Seagate hard >>disks, whose installation manual (Universal Installation Handbook, >>Seagate Publication 36042-001, Rev D.) reads (p. 12): "The drive may be >>mounted horizontally ... or on either side (egde)." > One thing I haven't seen mentioned here in this thread is that according to most manufacturers, HDs can be mounted on their side or flat (generally speaking, of course) but should be reformatted if changing orientation! (okay, how many different ways can you net-folk read into the above statement?^) In other words, if you decide to tip your (currently formatted) Mac IIn on it's side, then according to manufacturers, you should back up the drive, tip it, then reformat the drive and finally restore the backup. Hey, I don't explain 'em, I just tell 'em like I read 'em. Just my two-bits, Ron --- Ron Buttiglieri "Nobody tells me what to do, not even me!" ron_b@apollo.com - Andrew "Dice" Clay ----
folta@tove.cs.umd.edu (Wayne Folta) (05/17/91)
From what I have read, you can orient a disk any way you want. BUT, I have also heard that re-orienting a disk technically requires a reformatting. For example, moving from a horizontal positioning to a vertical one means that the heads encounter a different resistance (due to gravity), so they might not seek quite the same. Don't know if this is true now, or if it was just true years ago. (Although I did just read it a year or so ago.) -- Wayne Folta (folta@cs.umd.edu 128.8.128.8)
jp48+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jonathan Pace) (05/18/91)
For what it's worth, I formatted the drive of my IIcx flat and ran it that way for a year. Then I ran out of desk space (don't we all) and I tipped it onto the side. That was a year ago and I haven't had any problem. I don't say this is safe. If the mfg says reformat, I'm not saying not to. I'm just saying it's working for me. Jon
teg@odgate.odesta.com (Todd Grinnell) (05/18/91)
Just to add some gasoline to this fire, a co-worker of mine was having sporadic crashes and lock-ups with his IIci here at work. As it was under warranty, many things were replaced, including the motherboard, to no avail. Eventually, he realized that 1) he had the CPU on its side 2) the _bottom_of_the_cabinet_is_not_shielded!_ 3) his placement of the box had it in an RF nuclear war zone Since righting his cpu cabinet, he has had no problems. Naturally, we all laughed at his decision that the lack of shielding was the problem, but if the shoe fits... t-bone -- Todd Grinnell | Odesta Corporation "Less talk -- More synthohol"| 4084 Commercial Ave. Lt. Worf| Northbrook, IL 60062 mcdchg!ecgcurly!odgate!teg | (708) 498-5615
tgoose@eng.umd.edu (Jason Garms) (05/23/91)
In article <QcB2uPy00WB7E6JH1W@andrew.cmu.edu>, jp48+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jonathan Pace) writes: > > For what it's worth, I formatted the drive of my IIcx flat and ran it that > way for a year. Then I ran out of desk space (don't we all) and I tipped it > onto the side. That was a year ago and I haven't had any problem. > > I don't say this is safe. If the mfg says reformat, I'm not saying not to. > I'm just saying it's working for me. > > Jon Usually people run out of DISKspace before they run out of DESKspace ;-> (it's been a long week... and it's not over yet!) -- Jason Garms tgoose@eng.umd.edu