Using a 7200 RPM hard drive- too hot?

A question about hard drives and heat. I've read using a 7200 RPM HD in a fanless slot load iMac may be too hot. What has been people's experiences with this? Does anyone have suggestions of cooler running drives? I have a 60 GB 7200 RPM IBM Deskstar that was original equipment in the Digital Audio I had that I'd like to try in my iMac to replace the original 4400 RPM 20 GB drive.
Also, has anyone added any fans to the inside case of their slot loader?

Hey Steve,
Here's a discussion from:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6805878&#6805878
">Other forums say that "modern" 7200rpm drives do not get dangerously hot. How modern is 2002?
Well if it were me and wanting to save everything I could I would go ahead. When this came up before I suggested putting a wrapped copper heat sink around the drive. I would at least put a thermal pad between the drive and the mass store cage to maximize heat transfer. (this is what's done in the eMac) If you did that you'd probably want to do the same thing between the cage and the divider panel.
I would then monitor the drive temp and if I felt it was too high I would go to a wrapped heat sink.
still too high - mini fan scab power off the 12 V supply to the drive.
When this was brought up before I read a study that said that there was no correlation in drive temps and failure rates."
Also, has anyone added any fans to the inside case of their slot loader?
I did this. Mounted a 12V squirrel cage fan in my son's iMac 500. It was just below the upper vents. I scabbed power off the 12V from the hard drive.
It worked in there for about two years but I noticed it was kind of noisy even tho' that's the quietest type of fan.
Later I thought you could mount a more conventional type directly over the back of the HD mounting cage.
However in all these iMacs the most common point of failure is in the upper part of the iMac. ( The PAV board ) Most often this is due to heat buildup and involves the high voltage capacitors and flyback transformer. That was actually why I mounted that fan in the upper section.
Richard
Message was edited by: spudnuty

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CTO Seagate 500 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive Issues (beeps, clicks, freeze, hang)

The other threads on this issue have gotten completely out of hand with most new posters not bothering to read the older posts. So we still get "It's the optical drive" and "It's a problem with all 7200 RPM drives" or "It's all MacBooks that have the problem." Those posts aren't helping any of us with the specific issue noted in this subject fix our problem and gather helpful information. This thread is only for those experiencing issues with the CTO Seagate Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420ASG 500GB 7200 RPM hard drive. If you don't have that drive and are having problems with your new MacBook Pro, please start a new topic or look for an existing one that matches your issue.
_CTO Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420ASG 500GB 7200 RPM Problems_:
1. *The drive beeps intermittently*. Unusual sound and not typical of any other hard drive I've ever used in a MacBook Pro or PowerBook.
2. *The drive clicks/clacks quite loudly*. This is much louder than typical drive behavior.
3. Most importantly, *the drive freezes or hangs* in conjunction with the other sounds. It causes games to freeze for a second. It causes HD video to hang momentarily. It brings whatever task you're doing to a complete stop for a second or so, several times per hour.
4. These issues all occur while the MacBook Pro is sitting on a desk, untouched and unmoving. It's not related to any specific user input or action.
Troubleshooting
1. SMS: The built in SMS may conflict with the G-Force technology in the Seagate drive. While it's odd that Apple chose to use the drives with G-Force, disabling SMS has not fixed the issue.
2. *OS X*: It's been suggested this is a problem with OS X and its power management. However, users have reported the problems continue when booted into Boot Camp. This would seem to eliminate OS X as a factor.
3. *Normal Behavior*: Several users have said this is normal behavior for 7200 RPM drives. Apple themselves have reportedly told this to users calling for a fix. I can only say I've used 7200 RPM drives in my MacBooks exclusively since they were available and I've never had this issue with any of them. This is not normal behavior, especially the freeze/hang associated with the beeps and clicks.
4. *Change Energy Saver Settings*: Set Energy Saver so the drives won't sleep. This has not fixed the issue for me. I always set the drives not to sleep as a matter of practice (necessary for HD video & Aperture work) and the issue remains.
5. *Problem with all MacBooks regardless of drive*: This is total b.s. We've got several MBPs here at my company and none of them have the issue.
_One Solution_
In May, I purchased a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB 7200 RPM from NewEgg.com. Note that this is a non G-Force model of the same CTO drive. I had been using it in an external FW enclosure. I decided to swap the drives. *With the NewEgg 500/7200 drive in my 2009 MBP (3.06GHz), all of the issues are gone. The drive doesn't beep, doesn't click, and never, ever hangs or freezes.* It's whisper quite and very, very fast. I literally can't hear it unless I put my ear on the case.
The CTO drive, now housed in a FW800 external enclosure, continues to have the same problems. It no longer beeps, but clicks and clacks loudly, and still hangs and freezes. This would seem to entirely isolate the drive as the problem and remove the MacBook Pro from the equation.
Some posters in the other thread claim that Apple engineering has reviewed the problem, witnessed the beeps, clicks, and freezes, and had labeled them "normal behavior." If true, this is unacceptable. It is impossible to do any professional work, or even play a game for that matter, with a drive that constantly hangs or freezes. We have to stay diligent in pursuing a fix. Be polite, be friendly, but be persistent.
Message was edited by: KBeat Fixed typo, added one more troubleshooting step.

My revision is 0006APM2 also. I would like to know this info as well especially since some posters are not having this problem.
That said - I think there is a business strategy behind all this. Apple is saying there is no problem so that they don't have to recall ALL drives in whatever spec, revision, etc., since that is an extremely expensive resolution. Instead, I think they will quietly fix it in an update and all of a sudden you will notice your drive isn't clicking and hesitating. Perhaps if there are drives out there that can't be corrected in this manner, they will issue a recall/replacement. Being in the software business, I tend to think it will play out this way. The few hotheads that actually return their machine will pale in comparison to the cost of a recall - especially if the affected batch of drives was large in scope.
I think if everyone sits tight it will get fixed. If not, the drive is only a $100-$150 component of this expensive computer and it can be user replaced. I do however strongly encourage anyone with this problem to report it to Apple regardless of the outcome.

7200 rpm hard drive for Mac Book..use up battery faster?

Would a 7200rpm hard drive use up the battery faster in a Mac Book. There wouldn't be any problems with heat or anything either, would there?
thanks!!

The power requirements are virtually the same for their 5400rpm counterparts (100GB Seagate Momentus 5400rpm to 7200rpm for example) so on that front I wouldn't be concerned.
What I would consider is that 7200rpm drives do in fact get hotter than their 5400rpm drive counterparts not to mention that can be much noisier. While I wouldn't expect the difference to be serious it is worth considering.

Is it possible to put a larger 7200 rpm hard drive in my Mini?

Howdy folks.
Just a quick question...is it possible to put a off-the-shelf notebook 200 or 300gig 7200rpm hard drive into my Mac Intel Dual core Mini? Are there heat issues with this speed drive and if not, can I get one at any Comp USA or C. City or Best Buy? (Right now my new Mini has an 5400 80gig drive in it.)
Also, if I can do this can someone guide me to a site or an article on how to do this. Finally, will any type of notebook drive suffice or is there something I should look for as a specific type drive for the Mini?
Many thanks in advance for the assistance.
Randy

Thank you...I looked at the videos and they are indeed very helpful. (Though getting the Mini open doesn't look like much fun!)
Wondering still however....any heat issues from a 7200 drive over a 5400, or is it a pretty much moot point?
Thank you in advance for the help.
Randy

Installing New Hitachi 60 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive!!!! HELP!!!!

Hello i am installing the above hardrive into my powerbook G4 12" Aluminum. Does anyone know if there is any additionaly parts or compatability parts i may need, or is it just plug in the new hardrive as easy as the old one popped out? Thanks

I would strongly advise to get the drive installed by a technician. This hasn't to be necessarily an Apple guy, of course.
Not quite. If the PowerBook is still under warranty then a hard drive replacement, which is not deemed to be a user-replaceable component by Apple, will invalidate any remaining warranty.
If no warranty remains then, of course, it's not a problem but an Apple Authorised Service Provider will have more experience of such tasks than a 'generic' computer service centre - thus less chance of something going badly wrong.
As an extra note of caution - there have been plenty of people who have attempted their own hard drive replacement only to cause much more expensive damage to the logic board, which can happen quite easily when detaching the data cable. Too much force and it's even possible to tear off a piece of the logic board.
2.0GHz MacBook, 15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.8) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPod 4G & nano 2G, 1G & 2G iPs, AEBS, AX

My MBP 2012 version is vibrating because 7200 RPM Hard Drive

Someone know any firmware update for the 2011 later?

It is a matter of degree. If you think it is vibrating too much take it in for evaluation by the technicians at the genius bar. It may well be that it is defective and should be replaced. Or it may simply be 'normal'.
I assume you still have you warranty in effect, so use it!
Ciao.

Stop the beeps with the 7200 rpm hard disks of the MacBook Pro

http://www.hardmac.com/news/2009/07/13/stop-the-beeps-with-the-7200-rpm-hard-dis ks-of-the-macbook-pro
Stop the beeps with the 7200 rpm hard disks of the MacBook Pro
from HardMac.com by [email protected] (Lionel)
At the beginning of week, we have spoken about the unpleasant beeps made by the 7200 rpm hard drive proposed as an option in the MacBook Pro 2009.
A solution has been found, the details are given by Rémy.
These tedious beeps occur when the disc is inactive and are caused by a system
to reposition the play-back head carried out in a repetitive way.
In addition to the beeps of the hard drive, Mac OS X displays the pretty multicoloured wheel during some seconds while waiting for hard drive to finish these loadings and unloadings of the play-back head.
The solution comes with a utility of the name hdapm (for Hard Disk Advanced Power Management) which makes it possible to change the level of energy management (APM) of the hard drive.
Hdapm can be downloaded from : http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm; hdapm being a command line utility, it is thus necessary to use the Terminal (which is in /Applications/Utilitaires).
After copying hdapm into your user file, the command to enter is:
sudo ~/hdapm disk0 max
disk0 corresponds to the disc to regulate knowing that hdapm should function with any ATA disk supporting APM
max is the level of APM which is a number ranging between 1 and 254 included
the word following are preset and can used in the place a number for the level of APM
max (maximum performance) is the parameter to use to eliminate the “beeps”.
min (maximum economy of energy)
default (returns to the default setting)
The level of APM is a temporary adjustment in the firmware of the hard drive, this adjustment is lost when the disk is powered down and it is thus necessary to redo this at each for each start up.
To install hdapm so it is launched at each start-up, it is necessary to copy hdapm to the hard drive (/usr/local/bin is advised) and to copy the file hdapm.plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons.
It will be can be necessary to you to edit hdapm.plist with the desired parameters; the default settings are: the repertory where hdapm is /usr/local/bin, the hard drive is regulated on the first (disk0) and the level of APM is the maximum.
You can simply copy the file hdapm into /usr/local/bin file if you want to avoid modifying Plist.
Simplest way to reach these files is to use the Go/go to the file and to copy/paste this address before validating.

Yeah, I don't buy that. I spoke with Seagate a couple of months ago when I was looking for the impossible to find 500 GB 7200 RPM HD and asked them that very thing. They told me it would work fine, but I should disable SMS. Apple told me the same thing. I ultimately waited and got a non G-Force model, but Seagate told me it would work.
I also don't believe that they'd OEM the drive to Apple knowing it wouldn't work. That makes absolutely no sense. If Seagate knew the G-Force drive would not function properly in an Apple MacBook/MacBook Pro, and they OEM'd it to Apple for that purpose anyway, what does that say about Seagate?
I admit it's odd that the used the G-Force model given the presence of SMS, but apparently Seagate has prioritized the manufacturing of the G-Force drives and probably offered it to Apple.

I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine

I want to know about time machine if i can use the hard drive that i use for time machine back up as a normal hard drive too or if it's only for time machine
and if it yes i want to know if i have 1TB hard disk to use the 500gb for time machine and the other 500gb for normal use

thank you very much because i am considering to buy the porsche design hard disk 1TB and i want to have it for normal use and for time machine is a pitty to give 1TB for back up only again thanks and i know seperate the back and the working jobs are better but the i have to have 2 hardisks and i want only 1

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

You'll get better performance if you use a Firewire hard drive (especially if you buy a 7200 RPM drive). Firewire's IO speed is significantly faster than USB 2. USB 2 has a theoretical max speed of 480 Mbps except that it has extremely high over-head. The fastest speeds you can typically get are about 300 Mbps. Firewire, on the other hand, has very little overhead. The fastest speeds you can get are very nearly 800 Mbps. You will typically be constrained by the maximum read/write speed of the drive, not the speed of the I/O on the Firewire bus. Now if you had one of those nice shiny new Macs with the Thunderbolt I/O and a Thunderbolt drive (Light Peak) ... I think they alter space and time so that your data arrives before you know you want it.
Also... unless you want to buy a solid state drive (very expensive), try to keep your hard drives from becoming much more than about 60% full if you want great performance. A nearly "full" hard drive is, on average, only about half as fast as the same hard drive when nearly empty.
USB 2 will work perfectly fine... just not as fast.
Also... it's much safer to move the entire Aperture library than to "relocate masters". Your images must be managed. You can Aperture manage them, or you can manage them. But someone has to manage them. If you "relocate" them so that they are no longer stored inside the Aperture library then you'll need to work out a system of how you decide to organize things and it's critically important that you don't start moving files around or deleting things without Aperture's knowledge. If you do, you'll break the links to your masters and start having problems with missing masters. If you have Aperture manage the library then you don't need to worry about any of that stuff.... it's safer.
Do make backups (use the Aperture Vault or use some other backup program, but make sure you back up your work if you care about it.) There are only two kinds of hard drives in the world: (1) those that have failed and (2) those that are going to fail. There are no exceptions to this rule. Hard drives are cheap. Backup software is built into Aperture and into your Mac.

EMac and FCE using an external firewire hard drive as a Scratch Disk

I am about to purchase a new hard drive for use with FCE as a scratch disc.
I am looking for people who are "actually" using an external firewire hard drive as a scratch disc with FCE on an eMac.
I am interested in the following info.
1. What Make, Model, size HD are you using?
2. What rpm speed and cache size?
3. Any problems? Crashed HD's? Working good?
4. Do you have any other firewire devices plugged into your eMac?
I blew up 3 eMacs last year. Apple could not figure it out or anyone else.
I was using a Lacie P3 250/8mb firewire drive as a scratch disc.
Thanks in advance.
eMac 1.25ghz/1gb RAM/160gb HD/Superdrive Mac OS X (10.3.9)

1. What Make, Model, size HD are you using?
I have two LaCie Porsche drives, one 160 GB and another 250 GB (more like 159 GB and 233 GB in actuality).
2. What rpm speed and cache size?
They're both 5400 RPM if memory serves me. The 160 drive has 2 MB cache and the 250 has 8 MB cache.
3. Any problems? Crashed HD's? Working good?
The 160 GB drive caused me some problems, but I'm chalking most of that up to a bad FireWire cable. LaCie replaced the cable for free, and I haven't had any significant problems.
4. Do you have any other firewire devices plugged into your eMac?
Since I've got a 15" PowerBook, I'm limited to 1 Firewire bus, so the two drives, a LaCie DVD burner, and my Sony Handicam are all daisy-chained together. Having the Handicam on the bus tends to slow things down, but I can certainly capture to the drives with no problems. If I'm doing a lot of editing, though, I'll unplug the camera to speed up the bus.
I use the 160 GB drive primarily for backup, storing finished projects, and storing stock footage. The 250 GB drive is used solely for video capture and render.
The only thing I might caution you with is that the LaCie Porsche drives are rather picky about how they get turned on and plugged into the FireWire bus. You need to plug the power in, turn them on, and THEN plug in FireWire -- it won't work if you have FireWire plugged in when you turn them on. It's not a big issue, as long as you're aware of it. (It could be that my PowerBook is a little wonky, too.)

Using a Maxtor external hard drive

I am using a Maxtor external hard drive for time capsule. I have recently re formatted it to use with my new mac and want to know if i delete something off of the hard drive on my mac - will this mean in will be removed from my hard drive too?

Charlie, Welcome to the discussion area!
Do you really mean Time Capsule
or Time Machine?

I have a macbook pro with only 128gb of hard drive. I have lightroom installed and all my photos on an external hard drive. Can I store my lightroom library on the external hard drive too?

I have a macbook pro with only 128gb of hard drive. I have lightroom installed and all my photos on an external hard drive. Can I store my lightroom library on the external hard drive too?

Yes. Find the LR catalog file by looking in Edit/Catalog Settings/General. Close LR and navigate to that spot. The catalog file is the one that ends in .lrcat - move it to wherever you want. Next to the .lrcat file is a subfolder called Previews.lrdata. You can move that over as well, but if you don't LR will generate new previews. Double-click on the .lrcat file in its new home and LR will open with that catalog. Set Preferences to When Starting Up Use Most Recent Catalog.

Using G3 as a hard drive

is there any way that I can use a blue and white G3 to fill with hard drives and then some way plug it into my G5 to use as an external hard drive?

It might be possble but I'm kinda doubtful. I think the target disk mode is a G5 phenomenon that will make the G5 available on older/other Macs but I don't think the converse is true. As a fun experiment I would try the following: Make sure the G3 has FireWire ports and F/Wire 2.3.3 or later. OS X is probably needed too (and probably Tiger) as this ability to function as a drive is most likely not possible in OS 9. Connect it to the G5 and start it up and immediately hit the "T" key (same steps as doing it with a G5 to another Mac). See what happens. If this doesn't work you could probably just let them see each other over a plain ol' Ethernet connection.

Firewire 800, 7200 rpm external drive options?

I have a Early 2011 Macbook Pro (8,2). I'm looking for a speedy external harddrive to do video editing with. My internal drive is a 256GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD...not a lot of space to store video. So I'd like a fast external.
Problem is, the few Firewire 800, 7200 rpm external drives I've found on Amazon all have TERRIBLE reviews when used with Macs. For some reason, none of these things from Buffalo or Western Digital seem to work with Macs, according to Amazon reviews.
Can anyone recommend a 1 TB external with Firewire 800 and 7200rpm that would be good for video editing, that also works on a Mac 8,2 Early 2011 running the latest OS X?
Thanks!

I have a 1 TB Lacie d2 Quadra but it's a desktop external disk. It's a great disk with FireWire 800, eSATA and USB 2.0 and 3.0. If you are going to use the MacBook Pro at home, I recommend this drive

If I were to drag and drop files from an OSX 9 onto an external hard drive (1 TB), assuming there is still plenty of space left, will I be able to use this same external hard drive to back up my iMac (Mountain Lion)?

If I were to drag and drop files from an OSX 9 onto an external hard drive (1 TB), assuming there is still plenty of space left, will I be able to use this same external hard drive to back up my iMac (Mountain Lion)? And would it ask me if I want to initialize (thus erasing it) or eject the hard drive like the OSX 9 did?

I was trying to follow this thread because I was curious about the OS 9 installation - until I realized you have another thread going about the very same subject, albeit with a different subject line.
FWIW: it is best not to double post - things get far too confusing after a while.
@ Kappy (in case you hadn't seen the other one):
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5054178?tstart=0

Using a 7200 RPM hard drive- too hot?

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