17 Jan
2001
17 Jan
'01
11:23 p.m.
I've got a newly re-functioning VAXStation 2000 which is equipped with an
RD54 hard drive. The system boots into Ultrix 3.1 however it is _very_
loud. The drive has got a serious whine to it. I'm wondering if there is a
bering or a brush somewhere that I can lubricate to cut down on the noise!
--Chuck
17 Jan
17 Jan
11:34 p.m.
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Chuck McManis wrote:
I've got a newly re-functioning VAXStation 2000
which is equipped with an
RD54 hard drive. The system boots into Ultrix 3.1 however it is _very_
loud. The drive has got a serious whine to it. I'm wondering if there is a
bering or a brush somewhere that I can lubricate to cut down on the noise!
Chuck, if it really is an RD54 - aka Maxtor XT2190 - the motor is
internal and inaccessible. There is, however, a Priam 519 that has the
same parameters as the Maxtor, and it has rotating parts external to the
disk housing. I do not know whether DEC used Priam or not, though.
- don
18 Jan
18 Jan
midnight
At 09:34 PM 1/17/01 -0800, Don wrote:
Chuck, if it really is an RD54 - aka Maxtor XT2190 -
the motor is
internal and inaccessible.
Sigh, says Maxtor 2190 on the label. Hmmmm, I suppose I could take apart
but probably won't, the noise is pretty incredible though.
--Chuck
10:07 a.m.
Chuck, this might sound a bit odd, but have you tried flipping the drive
upside down (powered off) and then powering it back up again to see if the
noise diminishes? I had an old CMI(?) 20MB drive that needed this to
_not_ squeal like it was being killed. :)
g.
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Chuck McManis wrote:
At 09:34 PM 1/17/01 -0800, Don wrote:
Chuck, if it really is an RD54 - aka Maxtor XT2190
- the motor is
internal and inaccessible.
Sigh, says Maxtor 2190 on the label. Hmmmm, I suppose I could take apart
but probably won't, the noise is pretty incredible though.
--Chuck
midnight
There is a small copper (berylium?) bracket on the bottom of the RD53
which connects the spindle to ground. Removing said bracket reduces
the noise immensly, though I have been told by unreliable sources this
will considerably shorten the life of the drive... My personal belief
is the drive is near the end of its life anyway when it starts to whine,
so removing the bracket doesn't do much of anything to it...
You might try a little (tiny) spot of conductive grease betwixt the
bracket and the spindle to try to quiet it down...
clint
PS dunno if the RD54 is the same as the RD53... Too lazy to get off my
fat butt and go look :)
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Chuck McManis wrote:
I've got a newly re-functioning VAXStation 2000
which is equipped with an
RD54 hard drive. The system boots into Ultrix 3.1 however it is _very_
loud. The drive has got a serious whine to it. I'm wondering if there is a
bering or a brush somewhere that I can lubricate to cut down on the noise!
--Chuck
12:09 a.m.
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Chuck McManis wrote:
I've got a newly re-functioning VAXStation 2000
which is equipped with an
RD54 hard drive. The system boots into Ultrix 3.1 however it is _very_
loud. The drive has got a serious whine to it. I'm wondering if there is a
bering or a brush somewhere that I can lubricate to cut down on the noise!
--Chuck
Sounds about like a first generation DC-9 revving up for roll out?
I've had very good luck shutting up XT2190's and RD54's simply by turning
them upside-down. In my particular set up (old pee cee cases) they also
run _much_ cooler. That might present mounting and cabling
complications in your situation. YMMV.
Bill
12:33 a.m.
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, William Fulmor wrote:
I've had very good luck shutting up XT2190's
and RD54's simply by
turning them upside-down. In my particular set up (old pee cee cases)
they also run _much_ cooler. That might present mounting and cabling
complications in your situation. YMMV.
I can't say why (this is ignorant input :) but for some reason you're not
supposed to run hard drives upside down. I'm sure some genius will pipe
in now ;0)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
9:59 a.m.
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Sellam Ismail wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, William Fulmor wrote:
> I've had very good luck shutting up XT2190's and RD54's simply by
> turning them upside-down.
I can't say why (this is ignorant input :) but for
some reason you're not
supposed to run hard drives upside down. I'm sure some genius will pipe
in now ;0)
Maybe the earlier models had inferior magnetic glue and the bits fell off.
<g>
The _XT2000 Product Specification and OEM Manual_ (c) 1986 section 6.2
states:
"The XT2000 may be mounted in any orientation... "
In any event, mine have been running downside up (quietly) for over 3
years now. Perhaps the howl stopped because they run so much cooler when
the electronics are vented.
Bill
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
1:06 p.m.
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Sellam Ismail wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, William Fulmor wrote:
Well... I don't know about the "genius" part, but with a lead in like that
I could not resist...
Back in the Shugart days, (and no, I did *not* misspell "Seagate") when I
asked about that one time I was told that the spindle bearings were not
'stressed' properly for operation with the drive upside-down.
Now, if that was supposed to mean that the spindle might shift, or the
whole thing would fall out into the sealed enclosure was never really
explained. But what would you expect back then? (...when a *big* drive
was 5Mb and cost $3K) <G>
-jim
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
Note: the 'computergarage.org' domain is currently offline. The original
'Garage' site (URL above) is still out there and is currently being updated.
I've had very good luck shutting up
XT2190's and RD54's simply by
turning them upside-down. In my particular set up (old pee cee cases)
they also run _much_ cooler. That might present mounting and cabling
complications in your situation. YMMV.
I can't say why (this is ignorant input :) but for some reason you're not
supposed to run hard drives upside down. I'm sure some genius will pipe
in now ;0) 
1:20 p.m.
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text
Size: 1050 bytes
Desc: not available
Url :
http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/20010118/ad9d7150/at…
1:51 p.m.
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Sellam Ismail wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, William Fulmor wrote:
But, of course! In the 'early' days, that was certainly true. However,
in the era of the XT8000 series - approximately the same as the XT2190 -
the documentation stated that it could be mounted in any position. They
did recommend not facing the circuit board towards a switch mode power
supply as some of them had rather high electromagnetic radiation,
though.
Now days, it seems anything goes.
- don
I've had very good luck shutting up
XT2190's and RD54's simply by
turning them upside-down. In my particular set up (old pee cee cases)
they also run _much_ cooler. That might present mounting and cabling
complications in your situation. YMMV.
I can't say why (this is ignorant input :) but for some reason you're not
supposed to run hard drives upside down. I'm sure some genius will pipe
in now ;0) Sellam Ismail
Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
12:29 a.m.
On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Chuck McManis wrote:
I've got a newly re-functioning VAXStation 2000
which is equipped with an
RD54 hard drive. The system boots into Ultrix 3.1 however it is _very_
loud. The drive has got a serious whine to it. I'm wondering if there is a
bering or a brush somewhere that I can lubricate to cut down on the noise!
Nope, it's on it's way out. Enjoy it while you can :(
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
4:37 a.m.
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 21:23:44 -0800
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)mcmanis.com>
Subject: SCreaming RD54 aka Maxtor 2190
Reply-to: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
I've got a newly re-functioning VAXStation 2000
which is equipped with an
RD54 hard drive. The system boots into Ultrix 3.1 however it is _very_
loud. The drive has got a serious whine to it. I'm wondering if there is a
bering or a brush somewhere that I can lubricate to cut down on the noise!
--Chuck
Sad....
Violin playing weepy tunes.... that hd is dying. There is no
external static discharge spring touching that spindle button. That
hd is whining/squawking because heads are crashing!
Grab the data back before that hd finally dies for good.
Cheers,
Wizard
8771
days inactive
8772
days old
12 comments
9 participants
participants (9)
-
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com -
donm＠cts.com -
foo＠siconic.com -
geneb＠deltasoft.com -
jimw＠agora.rdrop.com -
jpero＠sympatico.ca -
vaxman＠qwest.net -
wpfulmor＠dimensional.com