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Mac Forum / Country Specific / Australian Mac Group / June 2004



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ADVICE PLEASE: Upgrading iMac DV Hard Drive

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Mikey Mike - 16 Jun 2004 12:45 GMT
G'day all,

I've finally convinced my wife to let me upgrade the 10 GB HD in our iMac
DV (Slot Loading CD-ROM - circa 1999 -
http://www.lowendmac.com/imacs/dv.shtml) ...

Ya see - it's my birthday (Saturday) ... ;)

There are no issues regarding pulling it apart (I've replaced it's IDE HD
before with a similarly sized one, and am aware of slave/master issues
...).

Still, I have a few questions - If you've done this, maybe you can help me out:

1) I'm vaguely aware that ATA/IDE drive can have different
interfaces/connectors these days ... to be 100% sure that I get the right
one, what is the official (PC friendly) name for the type of HD I'll need
for this - EIDE?

2) Looking at getting an 80 GB 7200 ... any issues regarding

  a) any limit to the size of drive? 80 GB Ok?

  b) heat - any problems with overheating using a faster drive?
     BTW - I have 'chipped' it to run at 450 MHz ...

  c) any other issues I may not be aware of?

I also have a few questions regarding a Colour Stylewriter 1500 ... but
I'll leave that for another posting ...

Thanks in advance for your help!

Mikey Mike
Walt Sellers - 16 Jun 2004 17:56 GMT
> G'day all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Ya see - it's my birthday (Saturday) ... ;)

Happy Birthday.  

> There are no issues regarding pulling it apart (I've replaced it's IDE HD
> before with a similarly sized one, and am aware of slave/master issues
> ...).

You're a brave one eh?  That's no trivial cabinet to pull apart.  

I'm told that we need to keep away from the circuits driving the display
tube so we can keep having more birthdays. :-)

> 1) I'm vaguely aware that ATA/IDE drive can have different
> interfaces/connectors these days ... to be 100% sure that I get the right
> one, what is the official (PC friendly) name for the type of HD I'll need
> for this - EIDE?

I tried to replace the drive in my slot loader.  It turned out that the
iMac has IDE/66 and I was trying to put in an IDE/100 drive that wasn't
compatible. It didn't work.

Check the speed of your iMac's IDE and make sure the drive will work
with that.  

> 2) Looking at getting an 80 GB 7200 ... any issues regarding
>
>    a) any limit to the size of drive? 80 GB Ok?

It seems like there was one, but I don't recall it right now. Its
probably higher than 80Gig though.

>    b) heat - any problems with overheating using a faster drive?
>       BTW - I have 'chipped' it to run at 450 MHz ...

Good question. With no fan in the box, and the drive going under the
motherboard, that might matter a lot.

>    c) any other issues I may not be aware of?

Its really really easy to add a firewire drive instead and not a lot
more expensive. It'll bump up the available drive space, won't require
the work of disassembly/assembly and avoids the risks of bent pins, lost
screws and other accidents.

Then you can have them both.  I haven't had any trouble saving DV
directly from tape to external disk yet.  Plus, you get to unplug it and
carry it to other Macs. (I have several now.) This is a very fast way to
transfer files. Firewire cases can be bought from many places, including
eBay. (I got a 2-drive case there pretty cheap.)

Signature

Walt Sellers
Computer Engineer For Hire
www.VirtualOutpost.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Meddle not in the affairs of dragons; for thou art
crunchy and good with ketchup.  -unknown
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Dangerous Lunatic - 26 Jun 2004 02:29 GMT
> I've finally convinced my wife to let me upgrade the 10 GB HD in our iMac DV
...
> 2) Looking at getting an 80 GB 7200 ... any issues regarding
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>    c) any other issues I may not be aware of?

I 'upgraded' my iMac DV to an 80 GB / 7200 RPM drive a while ago...

It produces significantly more heat, but provided you don't run your
iMac in a room with temperatures above 30°C, that won't pose a problem.

What _is_ a problem, however, is the amount of extra noise this drive
will produce (and it _will_ produce more noise).  The noise goes down
through the base, bounces off the desk, and hits you straight in the
head.  Acoustic dampening pads make a bit of difference, but not enough.  
I eventually had to swap out the 7200 RPM because it was simply too
noisy.

If there are _occasions_ now where you wish your iMac wasn't quite so
noisy, save yourself a bit of grief and DO NOT put a 7200 RPM into it.

I replaced my 80 GB / 3.5" / 7200 RPM drive with a 40 GB / 2.5" / 4200
RPM drive (Fujitsu MHS2040AT with a 3.5-2.5" IDE adapter) and have
absolutely no complaints.  Cool, quiet as a mouse, and fast enough for
my needs.
Currawong - 28 Jun 2004 11:48 GMT
> G'day all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
> Mikey Mike

There's an upgrade guide with pics at the following URL:

http://forums.appletalk.com.au/index.php?showtopic=436

:)

amos

-- http://appletalk.com.au Australia's Macintosh Community
 
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