Installing HDD Upside Down


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vince123123

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Hi guys,

Anyone knows if there is anything wrong installing a HDD upside down - ie circuit board side facing up instead of facing down.

Will any long term / short term damage occur?

I once read that HDDs should not be installed on their sides - something about the heads being pulled down by gravity (but that was long long ago) - maybe things have changed since then.
 

I don't think so. The heads are on both suface of the disk. So one side of the head is always subjected to the gravity pull.
 

The only reason I find not to install up-side down is when you turn on/off air-con, there is a change of temperature which will condense water on the PCB.
 

don't worry too much about condensation inside the PC, for normal PCs that are cased up, the inside is much warmer than outside, this drives water moisture out, and also, condensation occurs on cooler surfaces so it isn't a big problem.

I won't say for those who pumps air con into their casings :bsmilie:
 

For gravity pull, I understand it applies when the disk is put on its side, what I've read (may not be reliable) is that gravity may "drag" the head when it is flying across the surface, and drag it in the wrong direction.

As for condensation - shouldn't be a problem as the PC is on 24/7 - so inside shd be as hot as hell :p Anyway, woudln't condensation apply on both sides? The only difference is that condensation on bottom MAY drip away, if there's hell a lot of it.

From the feedback, it looks like I can install the HDD upside down then - this would help a lot in terms of cabling as those IDE cables can get twisty otherwise (and no, I'm not shelling out $$$ for round IDE cables :p.
 

....this would help a lot in terms of cabling as those IDE cables can get twisty otherwise (and no, I'm not shelling out $$$ for round IDE cables :p.

go SATA :bsmilie:
 

shouldn't be a problem. some servers put them upside down, and some servers on their side
 

For gravity pull, I understand it applies when the disk is put on its side, what I've read (may not be reliable) is that gravity may "drag" the head when it is flying across the surface, and drag it in the wrong direction.
utter myth. They grad from FuJian University?

The harddisk head have to do position correction even if placed in a flat and 'corect up' position because there is no PERFECT circle in this world. the head have to follow ('track') the track and adjust for all imperfections on the disk platter. Putting is in various other positions doesn't not affect the head's reading/writing ability. As it is the job of the head controller to track it's position and make adjustments.
 

I don't think that should be a problem, infact, inside my Mac G4 MDD, I can only put the HDD in, 2 in upside down position and 2 on their sides !! :)
 

as long it is perpendicular regardless which side its still ok..not advisable for HDD to be running at a tilted angle..
 

not too sure oso..but this is the requirement for machines made by my company, and its from Japan spec..which we have to custom make brackets to make sure its perpendicular..

I see.. i worked with seagate and maxtor before and I'm sure the HDs can operate in all directions and is not affected by it's orientation. I still have friends working inside and developing the firmware of the HD and can safely say the the operation is orientation independent.
 

:bsmilie:
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U can put the HDD up down left right tilt also can, as long as u dun shake it while it is reading/writing data...
 

writing also can shake lah. just not recommended as during the shaking process, the head will contact the disk platter more often then while not shaking. This wears out the lubricant on the surface faster.
 

Upside, downsite, side-by-side, vertical side and horizontal side, I think I have them all in my office, no problem one lah ;)
 

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