jprice@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price) (03/29/90)
Hi all:
I have a Mirror RM45, with the "new" SyQuest mechanism (at least I
assume it's the new one - the access light is orange). In the manual, it
says that I should let the drive spin up for 15 seconds or so before
turning on the Mac. I decided to try and find out just how long I had to
wait, so I tried shorter and shorter times. I discovered that turning on
the Mac and the drive at the same time works fine - there aren't any
problems whatsoever (so far) as far as the drive being mounted correctly.
Am I doing something that will eventually cause me problems?
Also, it says in the manual that I should *never* turn off the
drive with the cartridge inserted. I forgot to eject it once, but when I
turned it back on, there didn't seem to be any problems. I still eject it
every time (at least, when I remember :), but do I really have to?
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John Price | Internet: price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu
5-145 Knudsen Hall | BITNET: price@uclaph
UCLA Dept. of Physics | DECnet: uclapp::jprice
Los Angeles, CA 90024-1547 | YellNet: 213-825-2259
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Where there is no solution, there is no problem.rmh@apple.com (Rick Holzgrafe) (04/10/90)
In article <40095@apple.Apple.COM> jdevoto@Apple.COM (Jeanne A. E. DeVoto) writes: > In article <0093460F.C78B10E0@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu> > jprice@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price) writes: > > Also, it says in the manual that I should *never* turn off the > >drive with the cartridge inserted. I forgot to eject it once, but when I > >turned it back on, there didn't seem to be any problems. I still eject it > >every time (at least, when I remember :), but do I really have to? > > I can think of two reasons for not turning off the drive before the > cartridge is spun down and ejected: some devices may send a spike through > the heads on powerup (or powerdown), causing possible data loss if the > head happens to be over an active sector; and if you turn off the drive > without spinning the cartridge down, the heads probably aren't parked, > which greatly increases your risk if the drive is jostled slightly while off. Another reason may be that ejecting the volume, if done from the Mac, will ensure that the volume is flushed and properly "put to bed". Obviously, turning off the drive while a file is being moved or saved (in the worst case!) could make a mess of your data. I'm not familiar with the Syquest. If the user can manually eject without the Mac's permission, the argument's not sound. ========================================================================== Rick Holzgrafe | {sun,voder,nsc,mtxinu,dual}!apple!rmh Software Engineer | AppleLink HOLZGRAFE1 rmh@apple.com Apple Computer, Inc. | "All opinions expressed are mine, and do 20525 Mariani Ave. MS: 77-A | not necessarily represent those of my Cupertino, CA 95014 | employer, Apple Computer Inc."