i'm haveing problems crashing hd on a desktop using it in an 18-wheeler. i'm running a gps and playing mp3's while driving and keep crashing hd's. i've tried using laptop drives, no better. can anyone give advice on how to mount a drive that can take many violient jolts and not crash.
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shock problems with hd 1
- Thread starter genegold2
- Start date
Even if you used an external drive and cushioned it somehow, I think you'd still have the same problems. And you'd have to set it up to boot from the external drive.
Maybe something more "solid-state" like an mp3 player would be a better solution. But then you'd lose the gps (presuming it's a program running on the PC).
AckNack
Maybe something more "solid-state" like an mp3 player would be a better solution. But then you'd lose the gps (presuming it's a program running on the PC).
AckNack
Arrange that the keyboard part of the notebook computer is supported in a vertical position and make sure the screen part is supported so that it doesn't put undue strain on the hinges - or get a softer suspension for your truck 
. Maybe consider an alternate route with better roads...
. Or use a USB flash drive to hold your MP3 files. Some machines can be made to boot from USB - possibly have the whole OS and music collection on Flash drive(s)?
.bh.
He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -- Thomas Paine.
. Maybe consider an alternate route with better roads.... Or use a USB flash drive to hold your MP3 files. Some machines can be made to boot from USB - possibly have the whole OS and music collection on Flash drive(s)?
.bh.
He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -- Thomas Paine.
My first step would be to mount it in an external frame where the drive was spring cushioned and free to move an inch or so in all directions. Should allow enough vibration resistance to protect the drive. And if the drive hits the frame on rough spots you can increase the spring strength.
Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.
Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.
dbData
IS-IT--Management
- Jan 2, 2004
- 118
Buy an iPod for your MP3's and park the truck when you want to use the computer.
My uncle asked the same question (same situation), no matter what we tried the drives crashed more often than commuters. The best results we could get; get a box that will hold the computer (laptop in our case) length and width. Insert a 6 inch peice of foam across the bottom of the box. Put the laptop on top of that. The back of the box was cut a little higher to support the open laptop screen and the front cut to just a hair below the front edge of the laptop. At first he had problems with the laptop and box flipping over in a tight turn so he put a steel plate in the bottom of the box to hold it down. It only crashed every other month this way as opposed to every 2-3 weeks.
Good Luck!
dbData
My uncle asked the same question (same situation), no matter what we tried the drives crashed more often than commuters. The best results we could get; get a box that will hold the computer (laptop in our case) length and width. Insert a 6 inch peice of foam across the bottom of the box. Put the laptop on top of that. The back of the box was cut a little higher to support the open laptop screen and the front cut to just a hair below the front edge of the laptop. At first he had problems with the laptop and box flipping over in a tight turn so he put a steel plate in the bottom of the box to hold it down. It only crashed every other month this way as opposed to every 2-3 weeks.
Good Luck!
dbData
jdunderhill
Technical User
I heard that it is a good idea to mount the Hard Drive in a vertical position also
I assume your truck interior is something you can modify without penalty. Try installing a swing-arm tray of some kind, perhaps a modified lamp arm like those used over drafting tables. The tray end with the laptop on it will convert shocks to swaying motion. You can also position the laptop at favorable viewing angles (really, not a great idea while you're driving). And finally, you can fiddle around with the swing-arm with adding springs, purchased at a hardware shop.
Bottom line is that no hard drive I know of is designed to take that kind of punishment.
It'll just keep ruining hard drives.
Sorry I can't come up with a solution for you.
AckNack
It'll just keep ruining hard drives.
Sorry I can't come up with a solution for you.
AckNack
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1
- #9
oisnds:
Have you successfully loaded an OS to a thumb drive?
I'd really like to know how to do this and I can't find any info on it.
Thanks
AckNack
Have you successfully loaded an OS to a thumb drive?
I'd really like to know how to do this and I can't find any info on it.
Thanks
AckNack
I would set it up so that the machine doesn't read/write to the HDD after booting.
If the drive is locked (powered down), it's fairly robust.
You can setup a RAMdrive for your GPS if it keeps writing temp files.
The MP3 files are less easy to accomodate, but if you have lots of RAM you can load them from the HDD to RAMDrive on startup aswell.
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Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam
If the drive is locked (powered down), it's fairly robust.
You can setup a RAMdrive for your GPS if it keeps writing temp files.
The MP3 files are less easy to accomodate, but if you have lots of RAM you can load them from the HDD to RAMDrive on startup aswell.
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Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam
Not to steal his thunder, but Stormbind's idea sounds very fruitful, in that it is one of the solutions with the widest range of hardware it can function on. You can go grab a 1GB thumbdrive for $100 if you shop around (some of those "price watch" sites are amazing help), and and then experiment with any USB laptop. You'd have to get creative, by trying to get the hard drive to boot the minor stuff that allows you to use an OS from the thumbdrive. This should be an interesting project ... until it becomes an industry standard way of making a rugged laptop, which will make it a commodity.
Not sure a thumbdrive solution is the best idea. It's possible, but the max read transfer rates that most of these drives have are 5-6 MB/s which is about 7 times slower than the average hard drive (and I'm talking USB 2.0 thumbdrives). Plus, write times are even slower.
Definitely worth a shot as this speed is fast enough to play MP3's no doubt. It will just take a while to load the OS. At the very least, use a smaller OS like Win98SE if you decide to try it.
The RAMdrive idea might be a better solution.
~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
Definitely worth a shot as this speed is fast enough to play MP3's no doubt. It will just take a while to load the OS. At the very least, use a smaller OS like Win98SE if you decide to try it.
The RAMdrive idea might be a better solution.
~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
Acknack,
No, I haven't played with this much, but this link shows promise.
No, I haven't played with this much, but this link shows promise.
Knoppix is definitely another good solution. However, the downside for anyone is having to learn a new system. It's not that hard if you have the time.
~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
By RAM drive, I meant the regular PC RAM. You can setup a fake drive in memory.
So you boot from regular HDD, load the RAMdrive and use that for read/write.
That way the HDD doesn't have to do anything, and it can powerdown and lock safely. You would need to boot and shutdown while not moving.
It's a lot cheaper, and lot faster, than a USB drive.
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Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam
So you boot from regular HDD, load the RAMdrive and use that for read/write.
That way the HDD doesn't have to do anything, and it can powerdown and lock safely. You would need to boot and shutdown while not moving.
It's a lot cheaper, and lot faster, than a USB drive.
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Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam
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