shankar@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Subash Shankar) (09/29/90)
What is the prevailing wisdom on turning off Syquest hard drives? Should the cartridge be ejected before turning the drive off? Should the power switch be turned off, or is it OK to turn off a master switch? --- Subash Shankar Honeywell Systems & Research Center MN65-2100 voice: (612) 782 7558 US Snail: 3660 Technology Dr., Minneapolis, MN 55418 shankar@src.honeywell.com srcsip!shankar
johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (09/30/90)
/* Written 1:57 pm Sep 28, 1990 by shankar@SRC.Honeywell.COM */ > /* ---------- "Turning off removables" ---------- */ > > What is the prevailing wisdom on turning off Syquest hard drives? > > Should the cartridge be ejected before turning the drive off? In the manuals and stuff I got with my Syquest (both the stuff from Syquest and from MirrorTech, which is the company from whom I purchased the drive) say explicitly to NEVER NEVER EVER turn the drive off with a cartridge in the drive! ALWAYS eject the cartridge FIRST! Then turn off the drive. They state that damage can be done to both cartridge and drive if you don't follow these instructions. > Should the power switch be turned off, or is it OK to turn off a master > switch? I would think that this would not matter. Erik A. Johnson, Graduate Student \ Internet: johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering \ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign \
midkiff@portia.Stanford.EDU (Neil Midkiff) (09/30/90)
In <93810@srcsip.UUCP> shankar@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Subash Shankar) writes: >What is the prevailing wisdom on turning off Syquest hard drives? >Should the cartridge be ejected before turning the drive off? >Should the power switch be turned off, or is it OK to turn off a master switch? From the manual that comes with the bare Syquest SQ555 mechanism: It is important that you remove the cartridge before you turn off your [drive.] If you turn off your [drive] first, the automatic disk spin-down operation doesn't occur, and the disk will freewheel for up to 30 seconds before it stops spinning. If you attempt to remove the cartridge at this time, you may damage the cartridge and possibly lose data. (Actually the manual says "computer" where I have substituted [drive] above, since the manual tells you how to install the drive into a 5.25" drive slot in a PC-style case, and so the drive would be powered by the computer power supply.) I can see no reason why it should matter whether you use a master power switch, as long as you follow the precaution above. -Neil