DO NOT COVER THIS HOLE!

BossBorot · 06-15-07, 03:18 AM

HDDs always say somewhere on them do not cover this hole. However that only makes me want to plug it up and then laugh for a good 5 minutes like some evil genius from a movie.

But really what the heck is this hole for? If it allowed dust to get in then the drive would fubar so then how can it be used for anything?

I have plugged it before on two old 40gb hdd that I wraped with duct tape to fit into a ramen box and.... they worked fine. Its not like covering the hole made the drives implode or anything.

My only two guesses are that they allow it to cool better, but then again how could one little hole that cant allow dust in cool anything for #$%^, or that it allows the drive to equalize pressure with the outside.

so my question basically is what the heck is the hole for and does it matter if you cover it?

thideras · 06-15-07, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossBorot

HDDs always say somewhere on them do not cover this hole. However that only makes me want to plug it up and then laugh for a good 5 minutes like some evil genius from a movie.

But really what the heck is this hole for? If it allowed dust to get in then the drive would fubar so then how can it be used for anything?

I have plugged it before on two old 40gb hdd that I wraped with duct tape to fit into a ramen box and.... they worked fine. Its not like covering the hole made the drives implode or anything.

My only two guesses are that they allow it to cool better, but then again how could one little hole that cant allow dust in cool anything for #$%^, or that it allows the drive to equalize pressure with the outside.

so my question basically is what the heck is the hole for and does it matter if you cover it?

I think it is there to equalize pressure. When I took one apart, it has a very large small micron filter on it to prevent dust from entering.

Murdochs_mad · 06-15-07, 01:41 PM

Thideras is right, hard drives are designed so that when the platters are spinning the air inside creates a kind of cusion which the heads "float" on, giving the correct clearance from the platters, the small hole allows the air pressure inside stay the same as the outside world. I don't think small variations make a lot of difference.

DanFraser · 06-15-07, 08:04 PM

As the hard drive heats up under use, the air inside must be able to exit, otherwise pressure builds up, and actually forces the heads further from the platter, which makes them read incorrectly (or lift high enough to disturb the platter above.

Madwand · 06-15-07, 11:11 PM

Reminds me of this, which is credited to Terry Pratchett:

Quote:

If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying, "End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH," the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.

http://lancemannion.typepad.com/lanc...int_would.html

06-15-07, 03:18 AM	#1
BossBorot Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: SCU Santa Clara CA	DO NOT COVER THIS HOLE! HDDs always say somewhere on them do not cover this hole. However that only makes me want to plug it up and then laugh for a good 5 minutes like some evil genius from a movie. But really what the heck is this hole for? If it allowed dust to get in then the drive would fubar so then how can it be used for anything? I have plugged it before on two old 40gb hdd that I wraped with duct tape to fit into a ramen box and.... they worked fine. Its not like covering the hole made the drives implode or anything. My only two guesses are that they allow it to cool better, but then again how could one little hole that cant allow dust in cool anything for #$%^, or that it allows the drive to equalize pressure with the outside. so my question basically is what the heck is the hole for and does it matter if you cover it? __________________ Heatware Steve Jobs: "We're better then you are.... we have better stuff." Bill Gates: "You don't get it Steve, that doesn't matter." -Pirates of Silicon Valley

06-15-07, 01:41 PM	#3
Murdochs_mad Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Cornwall	Thideras is right, hard drives are designed so that when the platters are spinning the air inside creates a kind of cusion which the heads "float" on, giving the correct clearance from the platters, the small hole allows the air pressure inside stay the same as the outside world. I don't think small variations make a lot of difference. __________________ Main Rig - Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 : Gigabyte EP35-DS3R : 2Gb Corsair TwinX DDR2 6400 : Gigabyte 8600 GT : 80Gb - 80Gb - 120Gb - XP Pro -{Zoe}- Media Center - Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 : Gigabyte P35-DS3L : 2gb DDR2 6400 : Asus 9400GS : 160Gb - Vista Ultimate -{Mary-v4}- Server - Athlon XP 2400 : Gigabyte GA-7n400 Pro2 : 1Gb DDR 3200 : Radeon 9600 : 1000Gb - 1000Gb - 250Gb - 160Gb - 80Gb - 30Gb - 8Gb - Win2K -{Jenny}-

06-15-07, 08:04 PM	#4
DanFraser Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Derby UK	As the hard drive heats up under use, the air inside must be able to exit, otherwise pressure builds up, and actually forces the heads further from the platter, which makes them read incorrectly (or lift high enough to disturb the platter above. __________________ Q6600 2.4GHz G0 Stepping @3.6GHz 400 x 9 1.425v 8192MB DDR2 @800MHz Ram Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R Innovision 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 160GB 320GB 500GB 1TB 1TB Lian Li PC65 500W Huntkey PSU Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit Running With NO issues whatsoever - Guess I must be lucky! The performance problem in Vista is only noticable by staring at the FPS counter instead of playing the game