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I think my little tangerine DV is sick...


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I think my little tangerine DV is sick...
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2004-05-17, 18:29

Started it up last night (installed an AirPort Card in it a week ago and it's being used as a great guest e-mail/surfing station in the corner of my dining room...really cute, and quite the conversation piece).

Anyway, last night it was making this HORRIBLE clicking/chirping racket.

I'm so sad.

Seems to maybe be the hard-drive? Seems to be coming from inside the unit, toward the bottom. And does it when I click on something (a menu, icon, load a page, etc.).

It's been PERFECT the past few months and a week ago I moved it to its new location and it worked fine (no weird sounds or anything out of the ordinary) until last night. Can a hard drive, or other internal component, just, out of the blue, start going bad? Instantly? No warning or lead-up?



Again, just a VERY loud clicking/chirp (almost an electronic beep, believe it or not). And it froze on me twice. I finally got discouraged and just shut it down, but I'm going to have to face it sooner or later.

Suggestions? Ideas? Comments? Tips? Info?

If I lose my little jellybean, I'll...well, I'll just be beside myself.



[Edit: there's no critical data on it, other than a small iTunes library, copied from my PowerBook. So it's not an urgent, "OHMIGOSH!" situation. More of an inconvenience/worry, tinged with bittersweet longing.]

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alcimedes
I shot the sherrif.
 
Join Date: May 2004
Send a message via ICQ to alcimedes  
2004-05-17, 18:41

yeah, that's a HD going bad. it wouldn't be too much money ($40) to replace the bad one with a good one. think it's maybe 4 screws you need to take out to get to it. if you have no data you really want backed it, it would be a half hour process tops if you've never done it before.

if you've gutted a few iMacs, it'd probably take 15 min.
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Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2004-05-17, 19:42

If I can make a little recommendation on a replacement hard drive, I'd suggest a Seagate over a Hitachi, Maxtor or Western Digital. Seagate makes the quietest hard drives. Also, you can go for one with 8 MB of buffer, but it's probably not worth the extra cash. Do go for a 7200 RPM drive though. Some people say to go with a 5400 RPM because of heat issues, but since drives have gotten more advanced in the past few years, I wouldn't be surprised if a brand new 7200 RPM drive were actually cooler than an older 5400 RPM drive.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2004-05-17, 19:46

For something like that, a 5400-rpm drive is a good idea, right? I always heard the 7200 may run a bit warm for the fanless DV iMac?

Apple used 5400 drives in them originally.

I may have to do that, then. Damn.

Considering what it's used for, there's no sense AT ALL dropping some ridiculous 80GB monster in there. Think I'd still be able to find a 20-30GB drive around somewhere?

Cool thing (well, maybe not cool, considering...) is that it's on its THIRD hard drive. But, during that final warranty repair nearly three years ago, the tech said they couldn't get 10GB drives from Apple and I ended up with a 20GB (twice the size it originally shipped with), covered by warranty.

But it appears now THAT one has crapped out. Is it odd to be putting a fourth hard drive into a four-year-old computer (bought it in February 2000)?



Give me a quick primer on this whole ATA this and ATA that...what, exactly, do I need to be looking for, hard-drive-wise?

5400rpm...what else? Brands? Maxtor? IBM? Western Digital? I don't want to screw it up...

[Edit: wrote much of the above before seeing Luca's post...thanks!]
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FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2004-05-17, 19:54

Maxtor blows chunks. I'd say WD or IBM. 5400 for sure, don't stress the old girl any more than you need to. I'd personally be looking for the cheapest thing I could find at newegg.com

No worries on compatibility, it would only be newer, faster, higher capacity drives that could have that problem.

That IS a lot of hard drives to go through. How much RAM do you have - excessive paging can make a drive die before its time.
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Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2004-05-17, 20:00

5400 vs. 7200 RPM drives: Well, I already told you that it probably isn't a concern, but sticking with a 5400 RPM because that's what it originally shipped with is silly. The Blue G3 originally shipped with a 5400 RPM ATA drive... that doesn't prevent you from using a 7200 RPM drive in it. Also, I have a pair of 7200 RPM hard drives running 24/7 in my tower, one on top of the other. The one on the bottom probably doesn't get much ventilation, but they both still work great.

As far as hard drive sizes, I agree there's not much point in using an 80 GB, but then again, there are very few sub-80 GB hard drives available now. Like many forms of technology, there is a minimum price to build a unit, so an 80 GB drive will generally be about $70 while a 40 GB is about $60, and 20 GB ones aren't even available. You can go ahead and get a 40 GB drive if you really want, but considering that it's only $10 extra to double the capacity, it seems silly. It's kind of like how there aren't any good sub-$200 digital cameras now, and there never have been. $200 is the least that any company wants you to spend for a digital camera, so that's just how things go. The only way to go under $200 for a digicam is to buy a used one, and I think the only way to go under $70 for a good hard drive is to buy used as well.

ATA this, ATA that... you shouldn't have a problem with that. Your iMac has an ATA/66 bus inside, most likely... perhaps ATA/33, but either way it'll work with any other parallel ATA drive. That means ATA/33, ATA/66, ATA/100, and ATA/133 drives will all work in your computer. Serial ATA, the new style, won't work, but you're not going to find a cheap serial ATA drive anyway, so you don't have to worry about getting one of those. Most cheap hard drives are rated for ATA/100, and those will all work. Also, your iMac won't work with a hard drive over 137 GB, but that's okay because you're not going to be getting anything that big.

EDIT:
And I'm still sticking with my recommendation for a Seagate. Maxtor certainly sucks, IBM (now Hitachi) has a spotty record but they should be fine now, and Western Digital is fine and they make fast drives, but they are also the loudest. Seagate has the quietest drives, so you should definitely consider one. Samsung also sells some hard drives, which are also reportedly very quiet, so consider them as well.

Finally, maybe you could stick with a 5400 RPM drive. I really don't buy the argument that it'll put too much stress on the computer, but on the other hand, you might be able to shave off a few more dollars from the price if you go 5400. Plus, a modern 5400 RPM drive should still be faster than an old 5400 RPM drive, and very quiet.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2004-05-17, 20:03

It has 384MB (a 256 and 128 DIMM). It's running Panther, including all the latest updates. And it's an Apple-only machine, having only what comes installed with Panther, iLife '04 and other things like iSync and iCal.

No Adobe, Microsoft or any other "heavy lifting" apps. It's just a surf/e-mail/4GB iTunes jukebox. Very, very light duty these days (and does it surprisingly well, in fact).

Yeah, I really don't wanna fool with the 7200rpm stuff, regardless of what the popular talk is. I'm not trying to make this thing anything it isn't.



Just something I won't have to replace in another 12-18 months would be nice, at this point.



Maybe I'll bump the RAM to 512 eventually. It's a great machine, really.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2004-05-17, 20:08

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luca
5400 vs. 7200 RPM drives: Well, I already told you that it probably isn't a concern, but sticking with a 5400 RPM because that's what it originally shipped with is silly. The Blue G3 originally shipped with a 5400 RPM ATA drive... that doesn't prevent you from using a 7200 RPM drive in it.
I'm not going with a 5400 because "that's what it shipped with", necessarily. I've just heard, over the years from plenty of sources - including Macworld, who I tend to trust - that these fanless DV's might get a little toasty?

I don't know. I'd just like to get a 20-40GB in there and be done with it, and have it functioning again. I'll look around.

Ha...every time I post, Luca is posting something else that answers/responds to what I'm saying already.

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Patchouly
New Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-05-17, 20:14

I gave my Mom my (fanless) Graphite iMac (700MHz, CDRW, ATI) - but I pimped it out for her before I handed it over.



I put in an 80GB 7200rpm SeaGate HD (silent, fast, huge), 1GB of RAM and an AirPort card. It's a great little machine - more than enough for her. The speed difference with the new faster drive is noticeable. Runs Panther nicely and is DEAD SILENT and for what the machine does, it's always cool.



Installing it wasn't too painful either. After I decked it all out, installed a fresh copy of Panther and cleaned up that Graphite casing (which looks like it came right out of the box), I was sorry to let her go!



Again, I also suggest a Seagate 7200rpm HD - with an 8MB cache of course. It's cheap, quiet, fast and your little iMac will be very happy.


...open up your eyes and look around, it's just an illusion.
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Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2004-05-17, 20:21

Think about it - if it's going to actually overheat with a 7200 RPM drive, it must be poorly designed. It would imply a very low heat tolerance. What if you live in Arizona? I bet an iMac DV in Arizona with a 5400 RPM drive gets a lot hotter than one here in Minnesota with a 7200 RPM drive, but you don't hear about people in hot climates complaining about dead iMacs. They wouldn't have sold a machine with such a limiting design for so long. Power requirements should be nearly equal, and they won't strain even the iMac's tiny power supply.
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DMBand0026
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Chicago
 
2004-05-18, 02:32

Lets think about this one...
DMBand has a 7200 rpm 80gig in his Cube.
If it works in a Cube, it'll work in an iMac with no trouble heat wise.

Come waste your time with me
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Wickers
is not a kind of basket
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-05-18, 12:24

7200 will be fine...

Go for Seagate...

Get the 8 megs of cache!



Now here is the kicker...
Dont have the drive spin down when inactive for a given amount of time (powersaving settings). Fast drives (7200+) tend to wear down faster when constantly spinning down and up. This will help with the life of the drive.

no sig, how's that for being a rebel!
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DMBand0026
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Chicago
 
2004-05-18, 12:50

Quote:
Originally Posted by \/\/ickes
Now here is the kicker...
Dont have the drive spin down when inactive for a given amount of time (powersaving settings). Fast drives (7200+) tend to wear down faster when constantly spinning down and up. This will help with the life of the drive.
So you're saying that it's better for the drive to always be spinning? So if I don't put my computer to sleep very frequently and don't have the drive spin down it's going to be better for it than if the drive has to spin up all the time
Sorry to hijack the thread, but this intrigues me.

Come waste your time with me
  quote
Wickers
is not a kind of basket
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-05-18, 13:47

Quote:
Originally Posted by DMBand0026
So you're saying that it's better for the drive to always be spinning? So if I don't put my computer to sleep very frequently and don't have the drive spin down it's going to be better for it than if the drive has to spin up all the time
Sorry to hijack the thread, but this intrigues me.
For faster drives it is better for the drive to be spinning. You can still put your computer to sleep, at night or when you are going to be away for a bit. But don't have it spinning down an up while the computer is in use. The bearings inside the drive take the most beating when spinning up because it is increasing it's speed so quickly. As the bearings wear down the drive starts to sound more high pitched and like most mechanical parts, it will wear out faster under such stressful use.

Brad enlightened me about this.

no sig, how's that for being a rebel!
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EDS66
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Arlington, VA
 
2004-05-26, 09:16

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0
For something like that, a 5400-rpm drive is a good idea, right? I always heard the 7200 may run a bit warm for the fanless DV iMac?

Apple used 5400 drives in them originally.

I may have to do that, then. Damn.

Considering what it's used for, there's no sense AT ALL dropping some ridiculous 80GB monster in there. Think I'd still be able to find a 20-30GB drive around somewhere?

Cool thing (well, maybe not cool, considering...) is that it's on its THIRD hard drive. But, during that final warranty repair nearly three years ago, the tech said they couldn't get 10GB drives from Apple and I ended up with a 20GB (twice the size it originally shipped with), covered by warranty.

But it appears now THAT one has crapped out. Is it odd to be putting a fourth hard drive into a four-year-old computer (bought it in February 2000)?



Give me a quick primer on this whole ATA this and ATA that...what, exactly, do I need to be looking for, hard-drive-wise?

5400rpm...what else? Brands? Maxtor? IBM? Western Digital? I don't want to screw it up...

[Edit: wrote much of the above before seeing Luca's post...thanks!]
I would recommend Samsung over Seagate for your machine. Segates are quiet but run warm. Samsungs are even quieter and run very cool even at 7200 RPM.

I've been putting Samsungs into boxes with airflow issues for about a year now. Newegg.com has some good deals on Samsungs.
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