The first hard drive I ever installed was a 30 MB Compaq drive, which I bought new in 1987 for $360. I installed it in a dual-floppy Kaypro XT, after much head scratching and trying to follow the instructions, which were for a Compaq computer. Finally got it installed, and turned on the Kaypro. An awful high-pitched, grinding noise rose to a deafening pitch as the hard drive spun up. I had never seen a hard drive before, much less installed one. I snapped the power off, opened the case, and pondered. Finally, the only thing I could see that could be wrong was that I had installed the drive upside down (shiny side down). I flipped it over, plugged everything in, turned it on, and, voila! -- quiet humming instead of a banshee wail. The drive was still going strong when I gave the Kaypro to Goodwill 10 years later.
On the other hand, Apple installed hard drives in Classics and other early computers upside down without incident. I've removed many that were still running quietly. I've run other hard drives of recent manufacture on their sides and shiny side up and down without any increase in noise level. I've played with hundreds of drives, and only those that are old (early '90s models) and well used seem to get noisier (or quieter) if they're turned upside down. So, without knowing what model hard drive you have, or anything else about it except that it's "new," I suggest that you have a defective drive, even if you did install it shiny side down (circuit board "bottom" up). Call the manufacturer, describe the sound (play a tape of it if you can), and ask for a warranty replacement. Drives can make weird sounds, especially when running tests for a utility, but yours sounds ominous. If it were mine, I'd get another one. Pronto. -- Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "StarMax List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 7:42 PM Subject: Re: Brand New Hardrive - What do you recommend > Wow!!! > > My head is spinning. But I think I understand. Thanks for all of the advice. > > Raul, I don't know what card I bought. The Apple System Profiler says it is Texas Instruments but I am sure that is not what the box said. I bought it from Comp USA about a year ago, just a basic card that had Mac and PC compatability. > > I have a new question about this hard drive. > > Everything is running fine, but about every ten minutes, the new drive is making a screaming noise like it is engraving something or like someone scratching there nails on a blackboard. Much louder than what a hard drive is supposed to sound like when writing. Is this normal for a new drive or did I do something wrong? Like install it upside down or something? What side goes up? Just worried about that sound. > > Thanks, > Eric > > -- > StarMax is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... > > / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ > / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ > > Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > > StarMax list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/starmax.html> > --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; > Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/starmax%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > > Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com > > -- StarMax is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> StarMax list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/starmax.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/starmax%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
