How Do You Use Your Spare Drive Bays? 135
red_flea asks: "I've got a couple of CDROM bays that I'm not using. Besides another CD or DVD ROM drive, what else can you put there? I know some people who use that space to cool their Cheetah or Raptor drives. Anything else? Please reply with gratuitous linking to products, articles or modder blogs."
Sandwich Warmer (Score:4, Funny)
Keeps my grilled cheese nice and tosty warm.
Re:Sandwich Warmer (Score:2, Insightful)
But on a more serious note; Using the drive bay for fan control is silly, there is software like SpeedFan that can do it for you. And at least for me hard drive cooling isn't an issue at all. Mine are always under 30C. Also, having a fan near the HDD bay would ruin the airflow that most PC's have.
I always wanted.. (Score:5, Informative)
On a more serious note, I'm considering one of these [gearlive.com]to help convert the mounds and mounds of greek cassette tapes my parents have from the 60's. If only something like that existed for 8-tracks..
Re:I always wanted.. (Score:1)
I always wanted a fu-fme, but sadly they aren't OS X compatible. :(
I would have love one of those back in my bachelor days. Mod parent up +5 funny
Re:I always wanted.. (Score:1)
big fan (Score:1, Interesting)
E-Z Bake (Score:4, Funny)
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/ezbake.shtml [thinkgeek.com]
wires (Score:3, Interesting)
Place holder (Score:4, Funny)
suspension (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, you could suspend [silentpcreview.com] your 3.5" drives in a 5.25" cage to get rid of vibration (reducing noise).
I was thinking of suspending a smallish 3.5" cage inside the 5.25" one.
Anyone knows where one can get old, possibly broken, computers for free in the Toronto area for such experiments?
Re:suspension (Score:1)
Usually around the 1st of the month.
Re:suspension (Score:2)
works a treat.
--
Simon
Re:suspension (Score:1)
It's a hard case with a thick foam lining. The HDD goes inside and you cap it with the power and data transfer cables coming out the cap. The enclosure+HDD then mounts into the 5.25" bay.
Re:suspension (Score:2)
Re:suspension (Score:2)
Re:suspension (Score:2)
Sound Blaster Platinum (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Sound Blaster Platinum (Score:2)
Ideas (Score:3, Funny)
Smoker? - Hummidor
CD Storage - duh
How about a drive bay book - about drive bays!
Re:Ideas (Score:3, Funny)
This is impossible. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This is impossible. (Score:3, Insightful)
AND you can't be calling them "Spare cd-rom drive bays". That kinda' limits them to being filled by cd drives doesn't it.
More seriously, _CRIKIES_ man. You can't ask someone "Hey dude... I wann'a ba a gekk. What can I stick in the empty slot so I can be ubercool". Also, If it involves any prepackaged item from Fries/CompUSA, you lose.
What do _you_ want in there? What are _you_ inerested in?
Dang man, be yourself.
Re:This is impossible. (Score:2)
Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:3, Interesting)
I always thought it'd be awesome if I could get a raid-array for laptop harddrives. I figure if you inserted them vertically they'd only take two bays and you could probably fit 5 of them... not that I've ever seen that.
But it would be realy nice, and what looks more 1337 than having redundant harddrives? With many nice large tower server cases with 5 or more drive bays open I think this could sell for the homeserver/self-hoste website crowd.
Anyone know if this actually exists somewhere?
Re:Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:2)
Re:Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:2)
Re:Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:2)
Re:Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:3, Informative)
If that is not enough for you, they even have a version that supports dual hosts [supermicro.com].
Re:Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:1)
MOD PARENT UP (Score:2)
Re:Is there a laptop harddrive RAID array? (Score:3, Informative)
I did find a five-into-one unit [rancho.com] though, check it out.
XT Harddisk. (Score:5, Funny)
Weight: 4 pounds,
Spin-up sound: Impressive,
Geekness factor: High,
Power Usage: Excessive,
Shutdown method: c:\dos\park.com,
Interface: ISA card,
Linux support: Yes,
Windows support: No,
Badsectors: Probably,
Transfer rates: Who cares?
Re:XT Harddisk. (Score:2)
For the last 2 years of its life, I had to smack it on the faceplate while simultaneously flipping the power switch to get it to spin up.
Still have an XT system in the attic though, but just a dual 5.25" floppy system, no HDD. Maybe in a couple hundred years it'll be a collectible.
Re:XT Harddisk. (Score:2)
Re:XT Harddisk. (Score:2)
Spare drive bays? (Score:2)
But if I had an extra drive bay and all the hard drive space I needed, I'd go with a tape deck.
Alex.
nothing? (Score:2)
You could try to stop (gasp!) adding to your machine.
An opening (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:An opening (Score:2)
Until the metal edge slices into your fingers. And then you realize the value of good cases.
Yes, this is sick (Score:4, Funny)
With that in mind, I propose making a drive bay mounting system for a fleshlight.
Hey, at least it would be nice and warm all the time.
Re:Yes, this is sick (Score:1)
Re:Yes, this is sick (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Yes, this is sick (Score:2)
It's disturbing that I know exactly what you're talking about.
Mac Mini (Score:2)
Re:Mac Mini (Score:2)
Great way to make easy to upgrade hardware. Had a CD-rom drive on it first. Replacing it with the DVD drive took half a minute. No need for a screwdriver.
Re:Mac Mini (Score:2, Interesting)
Four drive bays required. (Score:3, Funny)
Jelly bean draw ... (Score:1)
Unfortunately the kilo (~2.2lb for you un-metric types out there) of Jelly Belly jelly beans only lasted until the morning of the third day in the office, so it was a jelly bean draw for only a short time...
Bryn
you could put... (Score:1)
floppy storage (Score:2)
Matrix Orbital (Score:1)
'nuff said [matrixorbital.ca]
What drivebay? (Score:2)
My P3 has 3 drive bays:
1) DVD reader
2) SCSI 4x CDR
3) 3.5" drive in a 5.25" drive enclosure bay
(I couldn't put the 3.5" floppy in the usual position because I have 3 hard disks)
Once I put my 100MB Iomega Zip drive (external parallel-port) into an empty drive bay. It looked pretty ugly because the Zip drive I have is not nicely rectangular. But it did what I wanted at the time (less clutter, less cables, always available, freed power point).
Not Enough! (Score:2)
I actually didn't have enough in case room, so I built an external water cooler.
-Rick
Too basic... (Score:2, Informative)
I keep music CD's there.
With link ... (Score:2)
there is no such thing as an unused bay (Score:1)
In reality mine contain tapes, CD's, screwdrivers & whatever else should be very close to the computer without getting lost.
Who has spare bays? (Score:1)
5 1/2" floppy (Score:5, Interesting)
I love that these have a mechanical lever and they make mechanical farts when booting. Retro cool and functional.
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:1, Funny)
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2)
If you are right (and I'm too lazy to get a ruler and fact-check you), one could always manufacture a floppy drive that took the disk in on the diaganol.
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2)
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2)
Anyway, I hooked one into my system for a while and ripped images of old DOS disks I had lying around so as to presere them for the future. But one day I turned the power to my system back on after an outage and there was a flash of light, white smoke and the sweet smell of burnt silicon. The only thing that fried was the 5 1/4 floppy drive, so I count myself lucky.
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2)
The drive itself is 5 7/8" I'll be cashing out those bonus points now. I'm starting to regret not getting the 5.25" 3.5" combo drive I saw at the Trenton Computer Festival, it would have went well with the Netgear 16port hub and the 486DX&SX chips.
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2)
Holy crap. My PC-XT drive matches my black case!
That's going in!
5 1/4" 360k DSDD here we come!
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2)
Of course that really amateur stuff compared to a very elderly man I met recently. He was sitting next to me, and striking up a
Re:5 1/2" floppy (Score:2)
My recommendation (Score:2)
I like to fill my spare drive bays with these [yahoo.com] on my beige boxes, and these [xoxide.com] for my more modern and stylish systems. When these devices occupy your extra drive bays, you may have some money leftover when you find something useful to put in their place.
Drive cooling (Score:2)
The better solution is of course a case that doesn't suck and let your drives melt, but finding them can be tricky, especially when you want them to be fairly cheap and not suck in other ways.
Obligatory Reference (Score:5, Interesting)
Personally, i've always liked the idea of putting an LCD screen [earthlcd.com] that can pop out the front of your drive bay [logitec.co.jp]...
Kanzake!!! (Score:2)
Warm sake has been enjoyed in Japan for hundreds of years. Warm or hot sake is referred to in general as "kanzake." Warmth increases the effect of the alcohol in sake, which is probably why most westerners who have enjoyed warm sake say that it "packs a punch." In actual fact, most sake has about 18 percent alcohol, similar to most wines. The flavor of the sake is increased by heating, as is its dryness. Because of this dryness, warm or hot sake is the perfect companion
Re:Kanzake!!! (Score:1)
But come on, most wine doesn't even go over 14% alcohol by volume. The difference between 14% and 18% is nearly as much as the difference between good Jack Daniels and crap [drunkard.com].
So how much of the rest of what you're saying's true, and how much is BS?
I've never been to Japan, but I once ate some tuna that was slightly undercooked, so that makes me an authority on calling you out, naturally.
Aren't most sakes of quality (i.e. expensive) supposed to be served chilled?
Slap another computer in there. (Score:4, Insightful)
removable PATA/SATA caddy/racks (Score:2)
Some allow hotswap. Some don't.
Some are a bit flaky (but others are pretty reliable) so be warned - test first before you buy a whole bunch of them.
if you need a light... (Score:2, Informative)
Sand Dollar (Score:1)
My grandfather's funeral notice is in there too...
On a related note... (Score:2)
Re:On a related note... (Score:2)
Re:On a related note... (Score:2, Interesting)
combo drive (Score:2)
Re:combo drive (Score:2)
Hell, even LS-120 drives won't do 2.88's. Good luck!
Re:combo drive (Score:2)
Hiding presents. (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, I make sure nothing I put in there can melt/burn/dissolve/explode
Re:Hiding presents. (Score:2)
Nothing fancy in mine (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm serious about my cooling, but like to turn down the auxiliary fans when I'm watching a movie.
Car style 12V cigarette lighter (Score:2)
I don't have any spare drive bays (Score:2)
After that, I went to a Shuttle XPC system. Plenty of internal space for what I need, and no wasted space. If I for some reason need more then 3 hard disks inside my box, it's probably time to add more space to the network server that sits in my basement instead of getting a bigger desktop case.
CD-Rom Bay? (Score:2)
Err, wait...
Ok, yes I once owned 5.25" 4MB MFM RLL drives. Shut up.
What? (Score:2)
Hardware specific software (Score:2)
Keeping the CD's and keys with the machine makes a software audit easier. This copy and key are installed on this machine.
It's like New Orleans.. It's not if the system will get hit hard, but when.
Re:Hardware specific software (Score:2)
The average Slashdotter has more than one PC. Organizational skills in fileing stuff is rare. Needing the stuff for immediate use after shuffeling over a year's time raises the panic level. Been there/done that.
Just for grins, try to uninstall MS Office 97, but using another CD of the program with the wrong serial number.. Tried it once. It doesn't work. Having a box of a dozen copies of Office 9
Re:Hardware specific software (Score:2)
Domestic Appliances (Score:2)
In the mid 90's, the small British computer manufacturer Acorn (the company whose engineers originally invented the ARM Architecture [wikipedia.org]) wanted to demonstrate the adaptability of their case design [wikipedia.org].
The stackable, expandable case, meant that a supposedly unlimited number of drive bays could be added - effectively a stand-alone rack for the home.
Naturally, just adding a few extra drives is a bit deja vu, so instead,
Re:Go Retro (Score:2)
Re:Go Retro (Score:1)
-Rusty
Re:Go Retro (Score:1)
BTW, for the uninitiated, if someone who is not a slobbering little brat says they like Sponge Bob, you can be assured with 99.9% confidence they are a gigantic stoner. If you are in the 0.1% [the transitional period], well, because you are a stoner kind of person by definition, its just a matter of time before you join the rest.
Re: (Score:1)