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Upgrading emac hdd
- Thread starter datalok
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Not even close Bubba... For one thing, the only items that are user installable on the eMac are memory, an airport card and the tilt stand.
To upgrade/replace the hard drive, you have to take the entire case/housing OFF of the computer, access the drive carrier (holds both the hard drive and optical drive, pull the old drive, install the new drive, with thermal pads, without those, you can kiss your hard drive goodbye (and you can also kiss your warranty goodbye when you do this).
Unless you have access to the actual resources that tell you how to do these things, refrain from commenting (I actually DO have access to the resources
).
Skip replacing the internal drive, go external.
Looking at a picture of the eMac HD carrier, I could see people skipping those thermal pads when putting in a new HD.
This looks like it may be a little harder to get access to the HD than on the LCD iMac, looks rather packed in there - considering you're working next to the CRT which can hold a rather large charge.
Looking at a picture of the eMac HD carrier, I could see people skipping those thermal pads when putting in a new HD.
This looks like it may be a little harder to get access to the HD than on the LCD iMac, looks rather packed in there - considering you're working next to the CRT which can hold a rather large charge.
For one thing, there were no thermal pads on the old iMac hard drives. For another, you didn't have to expose all of the inner workings on the older iMac's. I have replaced/pulled drives from both the slot load and tray loading iMacs and neither one requires pulling the entire shroud off (only the lower halfs). Both of them have their own unique tricks, with the slot loading iMac being easier then the older ones (you had to put the optical drive back just right or it wouldn't eject properly).
I would never recommend doing ANYTHING that will obviously void your Apple warranty (especially if you get the AppleCare plan). If you do replace the drive on an eMac and don't use the Apple part number thermal pads, if/when you have to take it in for service, your warranty is gone.
Upon additional investigation, it appears that even the Airport card is not on the list of user installable parts for the eMac... Considering what you have to do to install it, I'm not all that surprised. While it might be doable by some of the more technically savy/mechanically adept users, it's not for Joe Blow average user.
BTW, paolo, YOU are the one that assumed that the eMac was the same as the older iMac for installing/replacing hard drives... Who's the one that f*cked up there??
External drive options, especially FireWire ones, are always a safer bet... If it starts to fail, there are better chances of recovering your data before it dies.
I'd say get a external drive (or enclosure) that uses the 3-1/2" drives (if you want speed). You can install 160GB drives into some of the external enclosures, which the Mac still won't access all of if you put it inside the computer (maxes out at 120GB).
AlphaTech was being kind, the darn HDs tucked behind a faraday cage, fan, and digital module assembly in addition to just popping the lid.
The CRT iMac was made with a lot of open space and looks pretty from the outside, the eMac tucks stuff in around the CRT, and most likely wouldn't look good with a clear top.
The CRT iMac was made with a lot of open space and looks pretty from the outside, the eMac tucks stuff in around the CRT, and most likely wouldn't look good with a clear top.
I'm not having a good day today!
Okay the old iMac and the emac are not exact but there pretty similar in replacing, yeah you've got to use thermal pads but hey that's not a huge worry, and the working near the monitor doesn't matter you just discharge it when you open her up.
Also I've worked with replacing iMacs (it sounds like you and I have similar jobs alphaTech) I haven't had a chance to work on an emac yet, but hard drive replacement is never that difficult. It's just time consuming at worst.
But sorry alphatech your obviously far better than I, I was just offering my help, nothing more, nothing less. So please lay off!
Exactly..
Oh, and Paolo, I am being easy on you... As for the thermal pads being "but hey that's not a huge worry" I wonder if you will say that after you cause the hard drive to fail from excess heat (generated by the other components such as the crt).
If you feel like voiding any warranty, go ahead, but don't come crying to this site that you lost all your work, and hard drive after you changed it, without placing sufficient thermal pads on the drive (the Apple doc mentions three pads, but only shows two).
Unless you are an AASP certified tech, you shouldn't be opening up the Mac's. There are reasons why Apple chooses to limit how much users, and non-AASP certified tech's can do WITHOUT voiding any/all warranties.
play nice!
well thank you all for the advice - guess i was just lookin at the possibilities of upgrading stuff on the emac - love a g4 but prohibitively expensive here in Australia - yeah I'll go with the firewire hdd - got a small one at present - just store a lotta stuff on it and use the 40Gb emac hdd to capture video to.
Thanks again!
well thank you all for the advice - guess i was just lookin at the possibilities of upgrading stuff on the emac - love a g4 but prohibitively expensive here in Australia - yeah I'll go with the firewire hdd - got a small one at present - just store a lotta stuff on it and use the 40Gb emac hdd to capture video to.
Thanks again!