ge@mcnc.org (George Entenman) (01/24/91)
A friend of mine bought a stand to keep her CompuAdd 386 on its side, thereby saving desk space. When the CompuAdd service person saw it, however, he said that it made him uneasy to see that. He recommended that she keep the computer flat on her desk. Who is right? Will disk drives malfunction when turned on their side? Does heat fail to disperse? Etc? Any help would be appreciated. ########################################################################## # # # George Entenman (ge@mcnc.org) # # MCNC Center for Microelectronics # # P.O. Box 12889 # # Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2889 # # 919/248-1953 (voice) # # 919/248-1455 (FAX) # # # ##########################################################################
raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) (01/25/91)
The Frequently Asked Questions file tries to answer this in question 4.7. It tells you that the general consensus is mixed, and that a summary of the discussion can be obtained from the comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc mail server (or ftp from math.princeton.edu:pub/rjc/csip/24hrs.Z). To obtain the file via email, send the two-line message path raymond@math.berkeley.edu send 24hrs and NOTHING ELSE (no signatures, etc.) to the mail server at rjc@math.princeton.edu. REMEMBER to change raymond@math.berkeley.edu to your actual email address. Just a brief note from your Frequently Asked Questions File maintainer...
rbr@bonnie.ATT.COM (4197,ATTT) (01/26/91)
In article <2777@speedy.mcnc.org> ge@mcnc.org (George Entenman) writes: > > >A friend of mine bought a stand to keep her CompuAdd 386 on its >side, thereby saving desk space. When the CompuAdd service person >saw it, however, he said that it made him uneasy to see that. He >recommended that she keep the computer flat on her desk. > >Who is right? Will disk drives malfunction when turned on their side? >Does heat fail to disperse? Etc? > >Any help would be appreciated. > >########################################################################## ># # ># George Entenman (ge@mcnc.org) # ># MCNC Center for Microelectronics # ># P.O. Box 12889 # ># Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2889 # ># 919/248-1953 (voice) # ># 919/248-1455 (FAX) # ># # >########################################################################## There are two factors against standing a system on it's side - gravity and heat. Gravity effects the head motion and position of the HD. Also gravity may cause the HD thrust bearings to wear unevenly. Heat will probably not be a problem for any motherboard chips but it could age some of the chips on an expansion board (if heat can be trapped under one). If the HD is in the lower right drive bay, there is a potentail heat problem there as well. When I got my AT&T 6300 (at work) several years ago, I stood it on it's side. A year later my HD bearings started to sqeal. This machine had a HD drive mounted in an external box attached to the side of the PC. Since then I have seen several 6300 & 6300+ as well as other 6300 clones (with internally mounted HDs) that have been standing on edge for years. My home PC (TANDY 1000SL) sits flat on the desk. Must be chicken. Bob Rager
sichermn@beach.csulb.edu (Jeff Sicherman) (01/27/91)
In article <1991Jan24.164501.10232@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) writes: >In article <2777@speedy.mcnc.org> ge@mcnc.org (George Entenman) writes: >> >>A friend of mine bought a stand to keep her CompuAdd 386 on its >>side, thereby saving desk space. When the CompuAdd service person >>saw it, however, he said that it made him uneasy to see that. He >>recommended that she keep the computer flat on her desk. >>Who is right? Will disk drives malfunction when turned on their side? >>Does heat fail to disperse? Etc? > >Normally it is OK to set a unit on its side, provided that you low-level >format the hard drive in its new position (make sure you back up your >disk first!). The reason you need to low-level format the drive is >that gravity is acting differently on the heads, and they will no longer >coincide exactly with the previous sector markers. Reformatting the >drive will write the sector markers in relation to the way the heads >in their new position will move. > >Be sure your friend checks her HD manual to see if there are any >caveats about vertical mounting of her HD. > is it likely that this reformatting can be done by one of the non-destructive reformatters (with reformatting forced rather than conditional only on errors). Of course the backup should still be done first in case it doesn't successfully read in this position but it could save the restore step. Jeff Sicherman