Re: Replacing the HD
At 10:27 AM -0800 12/22/2011, Bill Spencer wrote: On Tuesday, December 20, 2011 1:51:29 AM UTC-5, Dan wrote: ...To be honest, farking inside an iMac is such a PITA, I've often told people to just boot/live off a chain of external firewire drives and let the internal spin down. This makes good sense to me. So to be certain I'm following you, a bootable external drive: Requires a Firewire connection, not USB yea. Even machines that can boot USB, I don't recommend it - gratingly slow. (will FW 400 work? I don't think the machine does 800.) yes. Requires being formatted a certain way (which I saw in the Help files last night but I forget right now what the acronym is) Since you're running the more recent versions of OS X, on an x86 Mac, you should be using GUID. Right? Anything else for this part? Next, 1. CCC to your an external. 2. Boot on the external - to make sure its fully functional. I take it I'd zero the internal at this point, and somehow set things up so the machine boots automatically from the external. Will this happen automatically if the internal has been zeroed, or do I need to do something specific to boot from the external automatically? You can pick the boot volume from the system preferences. If you don't, then the bootstrap will do the normal searching, taking its time checking one device after another. Does CCC take all partitions of the internal and put them on the external or do I need to do that some other way? CCC only does one volume at a time. Use Disk Utility to create what you want on the destination then CCC each, to populate them. I plan to set up Time Machine on another external drive...will this setup be OK for that? (And by the way, does Time Machine do OK going onto a USB external or not?) That's fine. Just remember that TM gets confused easily and corrupts itself easily. So it does NOT replace a normal backup made with CCC. - Dan. -- - Psychoceramic Emeritus; South Jersey, USA, Earth. -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
On Tuesday, December 20, 2011 1:51:29 AM UTC-5, Dan wrote: > > ...To be honest, farking inside an iMac is such a > PITA, I've often told people to just boot/live off a chain of > external firewire drives and let the internal spin down. > This makes good sense to me. So to be certain I'm following you, a bootable external drive: - Requires a Firewire connection, not USB (will FW 400 work? I don't think the machine does 800.) - Requires being formatted a certain way (which I saw in the Help files last night but I forget right now what the acronym is) Right? Anything else for this part? Next, > >1. CCC to your an external. >2. Boot on the external - to make sure its fully functional. > > I take it I'd zero the internal at this point, and somehow set things up so the machine boots automatically from the external. Will this happen automatically if the internal has been zeroed, or do I need to do something specific to boot from the external automatically? These next steps from Dan are now moot if I'm booting from the external (except #3): > >1. Do yer HD replacement. >2. Boot on the external. >3. Use Disk Utility to zero and initialize your new internal. >4. CCC into the new internal. > > What about the following: - Does CCC take all partitions of the internal and put them on the external or do I need to do that some other way? Unfortunately, I have to retain Tiger for the time being for one app that's too old for Lion, so I have a very small partition for that. - I plan to set up Time Machine on another external drive...will this setup be OK for that? (And by the way, does Time Machine do OK going onto a USB external or not?) Again, many thanks! Bill -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
On Dec 20, 5:21 pm, Bill Spencer wrote: > On Tuesday, December 20, 2011 1:51:29 AM UTC-5, Dan wrote: > > > Could be the drive. Just as likely to be the fans running at a > > > higher than normal speed because there's 5 years worth of dust > > bunnies growin in there. > > Just had the thing cleaned out a couple of months back because of what > proved to be improperly-seated memory, so it's probably still OK in that > regard. The whine sound stops as soon as the thing goes to sleep, and > starts up as soon as it awakens. Here is the hint to do a little sleuthing. Hard drive whine should remain fairly constant. Fan whine should change from silent to strong as fan speeds vary. Note the placement of fans and other components in various iMac models, all fairly standard. In the limited sampling of three models with the iMac Core Duo 1.8GHz (late 2006) in the middle, there seem to be three fans in prominence. Do some heavy work with the optical drive, stress the CPU likewise, and listen. Also, a crude stethoscope applied to the back of the machine may help locate the source of the whine. Your machine seems to be the one in the center of this list, the top one being the first "aluminum" and bottom one being preceding G5: http://www.kodawarisan.com/imac_2007_mid/imac_2007_mid_03.html http://www.kodawarisan.com/imac_intel/imac_intel001.html http://www.kodawarisan.com/imacg5_isight/imacg501i.html Question for iMac techs: Could there be more than the three fans visible in the photos? Could one be always on? Al Poulin -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
At 2:21 PM -0800 12/20/2011, Bill Spencer wrote: SATA-I II or III drives will work just fine. The drives with the faster interfaces will match the interfaces lower speed. Given my pretty light-duty needs, will 5400 instead of 7200 RPM make a lot of difference? I think it will. 5400rpm, to me, == frustration. ALL your disk accesses will take longer. That means more SPOD time... Likewise a PATA laptop drive in an external enclosure as your suggested (I already have the encl and have a line on a NIB PATA WD Scorpio Blue internal laptop drive)? As long as you're not talking expensive drives and/or USB, the interface is fairly moot. It's the speed of the drive mechanism itself that counts. - Dan. -- - Psychoceramic Emeritus; South Jersey, USA, Earth. -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
On Tuesday, December 20, 2011 1:51:29 AM UTC-5, Dan wrote: > > ObQuip: "below" is a goto. Emails should never have gotos. Top > down. Not top, scroll to bottom to find information, then scroll > back up to find your place, then re-read and hope you remember all > the details of what was below - because it's no longer viewable in > the window without re-scrolling. > I'm very sorry, I did not know this. > Could be the drive. Just as likely to be the fans running at a > > higher than normal speed because there's 5 years worth of dust > bunnies growin in there. > Just had the thing cleaned out a couple of months back because of what proved to be improperly-seated memory, so it's probably still OK in that regard. The whine sound stops as soon as the thing goes to sleep, and starts up as soon as it awakens. > SATA-I II or III drives will work just fine. The drives with the > > faster interfaces will match the interfaces lower speed. > Given my pretty light-duty needs, will 5400 instead of 7200 RPM make a lot of difference? Likewise a PATA laptop drive in an external enclosure as your suggested (I already have the encl and have a line on a NIB PATA WD Scorpio Blue internal laptop drive)? No gaming, video or image editing, or things like that, occasional streaming audio recording/editing of the resulting file, otherwise pretty undemanding in general. Thanks again: Bill > -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
[html stripped] At 10:32 AM -0800 11/30/2011, Bill Spencer wrote: Hi there: The 1.83ghz machine below ObQuip: "below" is a goto. Emails should never have gotos. Top down. Not top, scroll to bottom to find information, then scroll back up to find your place, then re-read and hope you remember all the details of what was below - because it's no longer viewable in the window without re-scrolling. IMac Core 2 Duo 1.83 ghz/2 g RAM/Lion is five years old (the first of the late-2006 core 2 duo machines) and I'm beginning to notice a minor whine sound when it's running. I assume this is the (original 160gb) HD demonstrating some wear Could be the drive. Just as likely to be the fans running at a higher than normal speed because there's 5 years worth of dust bunnies growin in there. 1. Is this replacement something I can do myself or would it be better to pay someone to do so? The ifixit site has a guide but it's marked as "moderate" for difficulty, so I'm glad to hear other opinions on the task. If you have the suction cups etc and are ok doing your own hardware, go for it. 2. The drive type is 160 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA drive...so will any drive with these specs work? SATA-I II or III drives will work just fine. The drives with the faster interfaces will match the interfaces lower speed. 3. Are there manufacturers I should seek our or avoid? I've always heard good things about Seagate and Western Digital but beyond that I'm in the dark. At this point, all bets are off. 20%+ of the manufacturing capacity was flooded out in Thailand. While many of us were recommending big Seagates and laptop WDs, it seems they're chopping their warranty if the company doesn't have faith in their own products, why should we???!!! http://www.techspot.com/news/46726-seagate-and-western-digital-announce-reduced-warranties-for-hard-drives.html That being said, currently, I'm doin Hitachi's. 4. About what might I expect to have to pay if I have someone else do the installation? An arm and a leg. To be honest, farking inside an iMac is such a PITA, I've often told people to just boot/live off a chain of external firewire drives and let the internal spin down. 5. Anything else I should keep in mind? Getting that display off cleanly is critical. And keep it clean. The smallest specs of dust are quite visible once you've closed things up and booted. And keep everything properly grounded. Esp in the winter -- static vs those specs of dust... At 11:58 AM -0800 12/19/2011, Bill Spencer wrote: I just thought of something with this. Since Lion is only a download, if I replace the HD (or have someone else replace it) how do I get the OS back? Would it work to use Carbon Copy Cloner or something comparable and then boot from the external drive once the new HD is installed? CCC to your an external. Boot on the external - to make sure its fully functional. Do yer HD replacement. Boot on the external. Use Disk Utility to zero and initialize your new internal. CCC into the new internal. If you have a way of hooking up the new internal drive before you install it, go for it. Get it zero'd, initialized, and cloned first. That way it's ready to go! Yes, I still *strongly* advocate zero'ing ALL new HDs before using them. While drives are properly formatted in the factory, there's no telling what abuse they've been thru since then... freezing or baking in warehouses, being kicked around the floor during the daily USPS/UPS hockey game, the angry spouse tossing it about because it wasn't a gift for her, the wet spot from the dog, etc... hth, - Dan. -- - Psychoceramic Emeritus; South Jersey, USA, Earth. -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
There is a Lion upgrade USB drive, however I believe you will need to install Snow Leopard then upgrade to Lion, since Apple won't make it easy to do a clean install. -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
I just thought of something with this. Since Lion is only a download, if I replace the HD (or have someone else replace it) how do I get the OS back? Would it work to use Carbon Copy Cloner or something comparable and then boot from the external drive once the new HD is installed? Or some other approach? Thanks! -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
Sent from my iPhone On Dec 4, 2011, at 6:09 PM, Eric Volker wrote: On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 12:32 PM, Bill Spencer wrote: Sorry for my late response. I'll try to answer as best I can, based on my experience upgrading my 2007 iMac. Is this replacement something I can do myself or would it be better to pay someone to do so? The ifixit site has a guide but it's marked as "moderate" for difficulty, so I'm glad to hear other opinions on the task. It's not for the faint of heart. I think you have a white iMac, which I understand is at least a little easier. That said, replacing About what might I expect to have to pay if I have someone else do the installation? Can't speak to this. I imagine it would be expensive I paid a local mac repair shop $50.00 to pull the drive and install a new OS on my iMac core 2 duo. It would have been $25 but the boss was there when I picked it up. It would not power up so I sold it on eBay for parts but did not want my data left on the drive. -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 12:32 PM, Bill Spencer wrote: Sorry for my late response. I'll try to answer as best I can, based on my experience upgrading my 2007 iMac. > Is this replacement something I can do myself or would it be better to pay > someone to do so? The ifixit site has a guide but it's marked as "moderate" > for difficulty, so I'm glad to hear other opinions on the task. It's not for the faint of heart. I think you have a white iMac, which I understand is at least a little easier. That said, replacing the hard drive in my Aluminum mid-2007 model was a pain. It was well worth it for my fiancee though - she jumped from a 320GB drive to a 2TB drive. > The drive type is 160 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA drive...so will any drive with > these specs work? Or are there other constraints I need to consider, > e.g. specified as Mac-compatible? (I'd like to at > least double the capacity if my pretty limited budget can stand it.) Pretty much any SATA 3.5 inch drive will work (see my 2TB drive above.) > Are there manufacturers I should seek our or avoid? I've always heard good > things about Seagate and Western Digital but beyond that I'm in the dark. You'll hear surprisingly varying responses from users. I've used mainly Seagate and Western Digital drives, and have had some of each brand fail. I've never had a Toshiba or Fujitsu fail, but I've only used a couple of those. Seagate had some issues with 1.5TB drives I believe, but that was a while back. Best advice is to buy from a site that has reviews and will accept returns. Stick with a drive that has 4- or 5- star reviews from lots of people. > About what might I expect to have to pay if I have someone else do the > installation? Can't speak to this. I imagine it would be expensive. > Anything else I should keep in mind? Some of the screws in the iMac are extraordinarily tiny. Keep a magnetic screwdriver or someone with small hands around (my fiancee was very handy.) > > > As always my thanks in advance! > > > *** > > > Bill Spencer in Maryland > > IMac Core 2 Duo 2.4 ghz/2 g RAM/Lion > IMac Core 2 Duo 1.83 ghz/2 g RAM/Lion > Good luck! Eric -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Replacing the HD
On Nov 30, 1:32 pm, Bill Spencer wrote: > Hi there: The 1.83ghz machine below is five years old (the first of the > late-2006 core 2 duo machines) and I'm beginning to notice a minor whine > sound when it's running. I assume this is the (original 160gb) HD > demonstrating some wear, so in order to avoid a headache later on > I'm checking into replacement options. Whine could possibly be from one of the several fans. Does whine go away instantly upon putting the screen to sleep? Fan sound may continue for a bit. So my questions are: > > 1. Is this replacement something I can do myself or would it be better > to pay someone to do so? The ifixit site has a guide but it's marked as > "moderate" for difficulty, so I'm glad to hear other opinions on the task. More and more of us will be facing this problem. Understand there are tool kits available to help handle the glass. > 2. The drive type is 160 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA drive...so will any > drive with these specs work? Or are there other constraints I need to > consider, e.g. specified as Mac-compatible? (I'd like to at > least double the capacity if my pretty limited budget can stand it.) > 3. Are there manufacturers I should seek our or avoid? I've always heard > good things about Seagate and Western Digital but beyond that I'm > in the dark. There have been two extensive threads about hard drives by similar titles: "External hard drive vs. online back up sites". One branched off the other: http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list/browse_thread/thread/983316272ddffeb http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list/browse_thread/thread/f3cd455d079173c2 It seems best to concentrate on Seagate and Hitachi, skip Western Digital. > 4. About what might I expect to have to pay if I have someone else do > the installation? > 5. Anything else I should keep in mind? Good Luck, Al Poulin -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Replacing the HD
Hi there: The 1.83ghz machine below is five years old (the first of the late-2006 core 2 duo machines) and I'm beginning to notice a minor whine sound when it's running. I assume this is the (original 160gb) HD demonstrating some wear, so in order to avoid a headache later on I'm checking into replacement options. So my questions are: 1. Is this replacement something I can do myself or would it be better to pay someone to do so? The ifixit site has a guide but it's marked as "moderate" for difficulty, so I'm glad to hear other opinions on the task. 2. The drive type is 160 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA drive...so will any drive with these specs work? Or are there other constraints I need to consider, e.g. specified as Mac-compatible? (I'd like to at least double the capacity if my pretty limited budget can stand it.) 3. Are there manufacturers I should seek our or avoid? I've always heard good things about Seagate and Western Digital but beyond that I'm in the dark. 4. About what might I expect to have to pay if I have someone else do the installation? 5. Anything else I should keep in mind? As always my thanks in advance! *** Bill Spencer in Maryland IMac Core 2 Duo 2.4 ghz/2 g RAM/Lion IMac Core 2 Duo 1.83 ghz/2 g RAM/Lion -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
