Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!sequent!crg5!crg3!dvp From: dvp@crg3.UUCP (Dan Vander Ploeg) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Hooking up a third drive...how? Message-ID: Date: 6 Feb 90 23:58:46 GMT References: <22123@unix.cis.pitt.edu> Sender: dvp@crg5.UUCP Distribution: usa Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Beaverton, Oregon Lines: 42 In-reply-to: jcfst@unix.cis.pitt.edu's message of 5 Feb 90 23:48:13 GMT Other responses have explained the mechanics of a three drive hookup. As for the danger of damaging your computer, the main danger is to your power supply, and that's less than $100 to replace. According to the estimable Chuck McManis, > "What is the worse that could happen if I tried this to see if it > will work?" Then the answer is a simple, the system won't boot in > the worst case, and will crash more frequently in the common case, > and will run fine in the exceptional case. I have heard from half a dozen persons who have added a third drive without problem, and my system is working fine with three drives (so far--it's only been two weeks). I had no reports of trouble. But: > C/A may have (I believe they do) several suppliers for power supplies, > and there are variations within the same power supply manufacturer's > units. So if you find that your system will handle it, you can't > generalize that to another system. You're more likely to have trouble if one of your external drives is an old A1010. Some machines won't boot with an A1010 as DF1, but will if it is moved to DF2. And, of course, you're more likely to smoke your power supply then if you use two late-model drives. For a little insurance, I took apart my power supply (four #1 Phillips screws in wells on the bottom), blew out the dust, inspected and reassembled. Then I built a wooden platform to give it more clearance underneath for air circulation. Probably a waste of time, it didn't run hot before and it doesn't run hot now. When buying a drive, look for a connector that passes the power and a switch to take the drive out of the circuit without taking off the cable. ****** WARNING ****** And as the mighty wizards were careful to tell me: nobody promises that this will work. If you destroy your computer, it comes out of your pocket.