jacobson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (R J Jacobson) (12/19/90)
Having just gotten the CD Technologies Porta Drive I have a question about its use. The docs say you should never power down while the CD and Caddy are in the drive because the normal eject process parks the head, and if the power is shut off first it is not parked and damage can occur. Is this true? Reason for asking is I am intending to run the drive when I don't need it on my users group BBS that I am the sysop for. My concern should be obvious. When gone, what happens if the power is lost and then comes back (storms or whatever). With this warning in the docs I am worried about leaving the CD ROM drive on unattended. Those of you who have used CD ROM drives with BBS's and left them on for long periods unattended would you care to comment. Is this a potential problem. Have you experience power losses while gone with the CD ROM in the drive? I am wondering if I should simply eject the disk when I am not around just to be safe so the heads are parked as the manual says "Always eject CD Caddy prior to powering down to protect optical head." Elsewhere it says "Always eject CD ROM caddy from drive before powering down! Damage to the optical head can result otherwise." Some of the problem seems to be from the fact that the head is not locked or parked when the caddy is in the drive. This can be a problem when moving the drive this way. But what about when not moving it? Is there a potential problem still? Should I be concerned when I am not around to monitor the drive while it is attached to the BBS? Any help/suggestions/info about why this can be a problem or why it is nothing to worry about would be most appreciated. Send via email. Thanks BITNET jacobson@uiucux1 ARPANET jacobson%uiucux1@a.cs.uiuc.edu CSNET jacobson%uiucux1@uiuc.csnet USENET [ihnp4,pur-ee,convex]uiucdcs!uiucuxc!uiucux1!jacobson Russ Jacobson Illinois Geological Survey Champaign, IL 61820 217-244-2425