Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!pro-exchange.cts.com!rich
From: rich@pro-exchange.cts.com (Rich Sims)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: HD startup woes (was: Event manager)
Message-ID: <15784.apple.info-apple@pro-exchange>
Date: 8 Dec 89 13:52:59 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 38

In-Reply-To: message from gt0t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Gregory Ross Thompson)

> Would putting a toggle switch, or a simple button, in the cable
> leading from the drive to the computer fix the problem?  Lemme
> re-state that.  What I mean, is put a small button that is usually in
> the on position in the power wire leading from the drive to the card,
> and when you power down, all you gotta do is his the button
> momentarily to kill power, then release and reboot.  Would it work?

I don't know about the Apple SCSI card, but a similar solution for my CMS
drive/card setup worked quite well.  As a matter of fact, I installed just
such a switch without having to wire it into anything, but plugged it into the
game port.  The switch was a simple momentary NO pushbutton from Radio Shack,
which cost about $0.98 or so.                 ^^-- that's not a typo!

If anyone's interested in the details, contact me via mail and I'll send 'em. 
If there are a lot of requests, I'll post to the net.  Note that any such
solution is _not_ an "officially sanctioned" one, and may well void your
warranty (if you still have one).  Using a non-hardwired switch may save you
from an inflated repair charge some day.

It's also possible (again, I only know about the CMS setup) to build a small
(and cheap) circuit which will accomplish the same thing automatically when
the computer is turned off.  You'd need to be handy with a soldering iron and
not be afraid to make some modifications to at least the controller card, if
not the computer logic board circuitry.  (You also have to design the circuit
yourself, but that's relatively easy and there are a lot of ways it could be
done.)

One caveat:  The solution I'm talking about solved the problem of everything
freezing when the computer was turned off without turning off the hard drives,
and... IT WORKED FOR ME!!  Your mileage may vary!

-Rich Sims-

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