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- Installing Half-Height Drives
-
- Kauko Laurinolli
- Houston Area League Of IBM PC Users
-
- I installed my first half-height
- drives nine months ago and I have
- been so pleased with them that I just
- equipped two other PC's with them.
-
- When you purchase your drives make
- sure you have all additional
- accessories needed for the
- installation:
-
- o One Y-power cable for each drive
- if you install as the C or D
- drive
- o One interface cable for C and/or
- D drives
- o One set of special installation
- brackets with screws
- o One special faceplate if you
- install only one drive into the
- full height opening
- o Installation instructions for
- your drive
-
- If the drive is to be used as B or D
- drive (the drive that is NOT at the
- very end of your interface cable),
- remove the black chip from the
- printed circuit board at the top of
- the drive. The chip should be marked
- 'RB7-31' and it is in position RP1.
- Slide a thin object, such as the tip
- of a small flathead screwdriver,
- under the chip (between the chip and
- the socket) and gently pry it loose.
-
- Remember that the black chip always
- stays in if the drive is used as
- either A or C. I even found that
- same model drives or may not work as
- C. You will find this out by running
- IBM diagnostics and trying to format
- the diskette.
-
- Slide the drive gently into the
- appropriate slot. If the drive goes
- into the left slot, remove all boards
- so that the screws which hold down
- the drive can be inserted.
-
- Be sure to change switches on the
- system board to reflect the addition
- of a drive. The switch settings for
- three or four drives are as follows:
-
- Switch Block 1 3 Drives 4 Drives
- -------------------------------------
- Switch 7 On Off
- Switch 8 Off Off
-
- When looking at the drive from the
- top you can see a small plastic
- receptacle with four male pins.
- Connect a matching female power lead
- to it.
-
- Take the plug running from the disk
- controller card and plug it into the
- card edge on the back of the drive.
- Most of the plugs supplied by
- companies other than IBM lack the
- pieces which fit into the slot on the
- mating card, making it possible to
- install the plug wrong. Look at your
- A drive for the proper way to install
- it.
-
- The last step is to install the
- brackets which hold down the drives,
- and run the diagnostics to check out
- the installation. When you insert a
- diskette into your drive, make sure
- the drive is in the proper location.
- Half-height drives have a motor
- flywheel close to the bottom, and, if
- the drive is not properly located it
- will rub the surface the drive is
- sitting on. This makes a terrible
- noise and eventually could damage the
- drive.