Re: Will it break my AppleII?

["PZ" <skierpaul@yahoo.com>]

Apple II disk drives do make an unnatural noise at bootup (unnatural if
you're NEW to the Apple II scene, VERY natural if you're an Apple II
user) due to the method used to find Track zero.  Essentially the drive
head is repositioned to its maximum limit over a period of time, to
ensure that the head is infact at this Track zero location.  Thats what
this noise is at bootup.

The only other noise that you might hear is if the computer is looking
for a disk in the drive and there is no disk in the drive.  In this
case there might be a series of short "farting" type of noises
seperated by pauses.  (the disk spinning doesn't pause, the "farting"
does)

If there are other noises, other than the whisper of the media
spinning, during the drive's operation, then there may be some issues.
All in all, most Apple II 5.25" disk drives are pretty burly (with the
exception of the DuoDisk which had some issues) assuming the drive
speed is calibrated and you don't try to plug/unplug the drive while
the computer is powered on.

DuoDisk: http://www2.sunrem.com/sun01.w?pt=520-212

- Paul