Maxtor drives (every one I have had) have been set to quiet out of the factory now.
Just tested my new 6Y120L0, out of the box the acoustic setting is "performance", not quiet.
You're both right!
A couple of months ago I bought two identical Maxtor DiamondMax drives from the same supplier, with about a week in between buying each one. One of them I put in the computer and the other went in the Sky+ box.
One of them was set to "Performance" mode out of the box and the other was set to "Quiet" mode. Go figure!
I can't detect any noticeable difference in performance, but you can sure as hell hear the difference! It is absolutely essential to make sure your drive is in quiet mode if you're putting it into a Sky+ box.
You're both right!
I can't detect any noticeable difference in performance, but you can sure as hell hear the difference! It is absolutely essential to make sure your drive is in quiet mode if you're putting it into a Sky+ box.
The 6Y120L0 is now in the Sky+ and works like a dream. I can't hear anything in quiet mode, not even dual recording and playing back at 30x which used to click like crazy.
What I have found though is that the whole Sky+ box is humming louder than it used to. If I lift the box by a couple of mm, it stops. I don't even need to lift the box, just put a finger under the front and apply a bit of upwards pressure and the humming stops. I've tried putting felt pads under, etc, but as soon as the weight of the box goes onto them, it starts to hum again.
I'm tempted to open it up again and remove the metal drive cover. The drive was such a tight fit in the rubber stoppers I don't think I need the cradle cover (and suspect it is this which is passing vibrations on to the rest of the box).
If I have no drive cover, the IDE cable will run across the top of the drive. Is this a problem, or can these cables withstand high temperatures?
chrisw99 - I tried it without the metal cover and overall it was much noisier.
Regards
Just tried it without the metal cover and it doesn't seem to have made any difference to the humming noise.
However, I've discovered I can get rid of the humming noise by just having 1 felt pad under the front right side of the Sky+ box. Makes it look a bit lop-sided in my cabinent, but never mind.
I just installed a Maxtor 6Y120PO 120Gb/7200rpm drive in a v2 box without problems. The new drive is significantly thicker than the old one and so there is less ventilation space between the drive and the lid. The drive is very quiet and there is no noticeable increase in heat so far, approximately 2 hours use. Everything functions as normal so far, dual recording, pause and rewind etc. etc. and no 17min bug.
Make: Maxtor
Size: 120Gb
Speed: 7200rpm
Model: 6Y120L0
Works: Yes
How Long For: 2 days
Comments: very quiet. still cool after 2 days. hum due to vibration fixed by felt pad under front right of Sky+ V1 box.
I have been reading a lot about upgrading my HD and everyone has mentioned sky+ boxes V1 & v2. if I look at me EPG Version it it sky+ 1.26.v3. Does this mean that my box is V3? And if so, anyone know any complications in upgrading the HD?
Just installed a 160Gb Maxtor. Upgrade was easy enough, but the noise level is now noticeable. I'm going to try the acoustic software and see if it makes any difference.
Drive was a maxtor Diamond Max Plus 9 160Gb with FBD.
Just installed a 160Gb Maxtor. Upgrade was easy enough, but the noise level is now noticeable. I'm going to try the acoustic software and see if it makes any difference.
Drive was a maxtor Diamond Max Plus 9 160Gb with FBD.
I don't believe a 160GB drive will work properly. The overflow that occurs when working above 2^37 bytes (137438953472bytes = 137GB in drive-marketing-speak) is ignored and so recording beyond this point will overwrite the directory structure of the disk and crash your box. Since the box probably uses the space in a cyclical manner, it won't help to delete recordings to stay below 137GB space used. Once you've made 137GB worth of recordings (deleted or not), it will crash.
I don't believe a 160GB drive will work properly. The overflow that occurs when working above 2^37 bytes (137438953472bytes = 137GB in drive-marketing-speak) is ignored and so recording beyond this point will overwrite the directory structure of the disk and crash your box. Since the box probably uses the space in a cyclical manner, it won't help to delete recordings to stay below 137GB space used. Once you've made 137GB worth of recordings (deleted or not), it will crash.
That's why everyone uses 120GB.
OK. Good to know. What I need in that case is a quiet 120Gb drive that will work. The 160Gb works fine (so far up to about 15% or so and all is fine) but as you predict it'll give trouble...
The 160Gb does put out a lot of noise so it won't be staying anyways! Tried using the maxtor utility but didn't make any difference
BTW, why the limit? Is it due to the on disk format?
BTW, why the limit? Is it due to the on disk format?
I don't believe the on-disk layout has a problem; it's the way OS/BIOS/ATA controller tell each other the block address for a disk transfer that is limited to 28 bits. Disk blocks are 2^9 bytes; 28+9=37.
If you decide to put your old 40gig HDD back in, does it retain what was on there when you took it out? Or does the Sky+ box wipe everything?
Just that I have a few things I have watched but want to keep, and may do this when I get myself a dvd recorder....
Everthing you recorded on your old drive will still be there when you put it back in. You will need to remain subscribed to the channels to watch though.
This forum has been most helpful for me to find information about upgrading my Sky+
I just upgraded my Sky+ V2 on 4th July 2004 after reading the messages posted here.
I opted for a Maxtor 6Y120L0 ( ATA133, 7200rpm),
One 40mm fan,
One Y spliter HD Power cable
& Fanmate (speed control)
Also I removed the expansion cover plate at the back of the Sky+ box,
which I replaced with a piece of wire mesh that now makes this an extra air vent for the fan mounted behind the mesh inside of the box.
I trimmed the mesh to the size of the old plate, and bent lose ends back on themselves so it can`t fall apart, and then pushed the screws from the old plate through the mesh into the holes in the box.
My upgrade has been running fine for over a week now, and all seems ok.
The top of the Sky+ box remains cool.
Thank you to all who have posted helpful infomation.
My upgrade as been running fine, quiet & cool for 6 months. I just took the old drive out and put in an IBM/Hitachi 120G 7200RPM drive.
As regards fiddling with cooling, the airflow in a box with a fan has to be designed. Leaving the cover off or creating extra vent holes can result in increased temperatures for some components when airflow is short circuited by easier paths. If there is a temperature sensor controlling fan speed, it may be thrown off its correct behaviour.
After having my original drive fail, shortly after the warranty expired, I have installed the Maxtor 6Y120L0. It was the only one I could find of those reported to work. I followed instructions from the hummer website.
The good news is that is is working well so far (nearly 2 weeks) there is no fan noise. (I didn't put a new fan in or use fanmate).
It does however make a clicking noise when fast forwarding - the sound a pc drive makes when it is accessing a drive. I didn't get this with the 40gb drive - is this normal with a bigger drive?
I am really enjoying the extra storage space (fingers crossed re 17 min bug)!
I'll keep you all updated.
Any thoughts on the clicking?
Clicking is normally the heads being moved from one cylinder to another. The heads are moved by an electromagnet, just like in a loudspeaker (in fact they were called "voice coil" head servos years ago). To get short seek times the heads have to accelerate and stop pretty sharpish, making a clicking noise. When transferring data continuously from one area of the disk, the heads are only moving one track at a time, and don't make a significant sound because the tracks are so close together that the head never gets up any speed.
The most likely reason for clicking would be that you are actually recording at the same time. The heads have to move backwards and forwards between the two areas. I can't actually think of another reason for steady clicking during fast forward.
I would expect less clicking with a 120G drive because the heads don't have to move so far to traverse the same amount of data.
It does however make a clicking noise when fast forwarding - the sound a pc drive makes when it is accessing a drive. I didn't get this with the 40gb drive - is this normal with a bigger drive?
If you have access to a PC it may be worth checking if the drive is in quiet mode (and if not then set it).
Removed the noisy 160Gb and replaced with a Maxtor 120Gb, which is much quieter. Upgrade was very easy again (thanks to the instructions). Seems much happier and I can live with the noise level :-)
I also get the 'clicking' during playing. Sometimes even when nothing else is recording.
I'm not bothered about the noise , the tv drowns it out, I am worried that it is an indication of a faulty drive.
Comments
Just tested my new 6Y120L0, out of the box the acoustic setting is "performance", not quiet.
Also, write verify is disabled, not set to 10 cycles as I'd read earlier in this thread.
A couple of months ago I bought two identical Maxtor DiamondMax drives from the same supplier, with about a week in between buying each one. One of them I put in the computer and the other went in the Sky+ box.
One of them was set to "Performance" mode out of the box and the other was set to "Quiet" mode. Go figure!
I can't detect any noticeable difference in performance, but you can sure as hell hear the difference! It is absolutely essential to make sure your drive is in quiet mode if you're putting it into a Sky+ box.
The 6Y120L0 is now in the Sky+ and works like a dream. I can't hear anything in quiet mode, not even dual recording and playing back at 30x which used to click like crazy.
What I have found though is that the whole Sky+ box is humming louder than it used to. If I lift the box by a couple of mm, it stops. I don't even need to lift the box, just put a finger under the front and apply a bit of upwards pressure and the humming stops. I've tried putting felt pads under, etc, but as soon as the weight of the box goes onto them, it starts to hum again.
I'm tempted to open it up again and remove the metal drive cover. The drive was such a tight fit in the rubber stoppers I don't think I need the cradle cover (and suspect it is this which is passing vibrations on to the rest of the box).
If I have no drive cover, the IDE cable will run across the top of the drive. Is this a problem, or can these cables withstand high temperatures?
Regards
Just tried it without the metal cover and it doesn't seem to have made any difference to the humming noise.
However, I've discovered I can get rid of the humming noise by just having 1 felt pad under the front right side of the Sky+ box. Makes it look a bit lop-sided in my cabinent, but never mind.
Thanks for all the info.
best
dmo
Size: 120Gb
Speed: 7200rpm
Model: 6Y120L0
Works: Yes
How Long For: 2 days
Comments: very quiet. still cool after 2 days. hum due to vibration fixed by felt pad under front right of Sky+ V1 box.
I have been reading a lot about upgrading my HD and everyone has mentioned sky+ boxes V1 & v2. if I look at me EPG Version it it sky+ 1.26.v3. Does this mean that my box is V3? And if so, anyone know any complications in upgrading the HD?
Al.
Drive was a maxtor Diamond Max Plus 9 160Gb with FBD.
Be sure to tell us when you've filled it!
Dave
That's why everyone uses 120GB.
OK. Good to know. What I need in that case is a quiet 120Gb drive that will work. The 160Gb works fine (so far up to about 15% or so and all is fine) but as you predict it'll give trouble...
The 160Gb does put out a lot of noise so it won't be staying anyways! Tried using the maxtor utility but didn't make any difference
BTW, why the limit? Is it due to the on disk format?
I don't believe the on-disk layout has a problem; it's the way OS/BIOS/ATA controller tell each other the block address for a disk transfer that is limited to 28 bits. Disk blocks are 2^9 bytes; 28+9=37.
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/bios/sizeGB128-c.html
I guess the firmware in the sky box only uses LBA32
Just that I have a few things I have watched but want to keep, and may do this when I get myself a dvd recorder....
This forum has been most helpful for me to find information about upgrading my Sky+
I just upgraded my Sky+ V2 on 4th July 2004 after reading the messages posted here.
I opted for a Maxtor 6Y120L0 ( ATA133, 7200rpm),
One 40mm fan,
One Y spliter HD Power cable
& Fanmate (speed control)
Also I removed the expansion cover plate at the back of the Sky+ box,
which I replaced with a piece of wire mesh that now makes this an extra air vent for the fan mounted behind the mesh inside of the box.
I trimmed the mesh to the size of the old plate, and bent lose ends back on themselves so it can`t fall apart, and then pushed the screws from the old plate through the mesh into the holes in the box.
My upgrade has been running fine for over a week now, and all seems ok.
The top of the Sky+ box remains cool.
Thank you to all who have posted helpful infomation.
Hodgy.....
As regards fiddling with cooling, the airflow in a box with a fan has to be designed. Leaving the cover off or creating extra vent holes can result in increased temperatures for some components when airflow is short circuited by easier paths. If there is a temperature sensor controlling fan speed, it may be thrown off its correct behaviour.
The good news is that is is working well so far (nearly 2 weeks) there is no fan noise. (I didn't put a new fan in or use fanmate).
It does however make a clicking noise when fast forwarding - the sound a pc drive makes when it is accessing a drive. I didn't get this with the 40gb drive - is this normal with a bigger drive?
I am really enjoying the extra storage space (fingers crossed re 17 min bug)!
I'll keep you all updated.
Any thoughts on the clicking?
The most likely reason for clicking would be that you are actually recording at the same time. The heads have to move backwards and forwards between the two areas. I can't actually think of another reason for steady clicking during fast forward.
I would expect less clicking with a 120G drive because the heads don't have to move so far to traverse the same amount of data.
Although it never did it with the 40gb? Strange.
Download the AMSET Utility to check/set.
I'm not bothered about the noise , the tv drowns it out, I am worried that it is an indication of a faulty drive.