Maintenance?

[Schubunny]

I don't mean to pick nits, but you really should move that stuff under your iMac.

The computer draws cool air in from the bottom of the computer (because heat rises). You are (partially) suffocating your iMac and making it work harder to cool itself.

Not to mention muffling the speakers and (possibly) disabling the ambient light sensor, all of which is on the bottom of the machine.

Thank you, will do. It's mainly my backup hard drives which I was planning on moving somewhere else anyway. Unfortunately one lead is very short so they can't go too far from the Mac, although I think I might have an USB extension lead somewhere.

 

[Rottie]

Unfortunately one lead is very short so they can't go too far from the Mac, although I think I might have an USB extension lead somewhere.

Hi there,

If you don't have a USB extension lead, then another alternative would be to purchase a powered USB hub and use your peripherals from that.

Hope this helps.

 

[Schubunny]

Thank you, I've found the lead. Two in fact!

I have another (probably daft) question regarding HD's. Do you think it'll be an issue if I stack them one on top of the other? I could pop them behind my mac but then I wont be able to easily get to the on off button for my larger one which I only turn on when backing up or when I need the original raw file of a photo.

 

[osxx]

A widget I found useful. Maintidget - The OS X Maintenance Scripts Widget

 

[Rottie]

Thank you, I've found the lead. Two in fact!

I have another (probably daft) question regarding HD's. Do you think it'll be an issue if I stack them one on top of the other? I could pop them behind my mac but then I wont be able to easily get to the on off button for my larger one which I only turn on when backing up or when I need the original raw file of a photo.

Hi again,
I wouldn't recommend stacking drives, unless they're specifically designed to be stacked - Again, airflow plays a major part.

In your situation, I would again suggest using a USB hub and a longish A-B lead, thereby you can locate the hub further from the Mac (IE on a shelf beneath/beside the desk) and run your peripherals from the USB hub.

Hope this helps.

 

[toMACsh]

Um, what?

??? Gotta give me a better clue. Which part threw you for a loop?

 

[Schubunny]

Hi again,
I wouldn't recommend stacking drives, unless they're specifically designed to be stacked - Again, airflow plays a major part.

In your situation, I would again suggest using a USB hub and a longish A-B lead, thereby you can locate the hub further from the Mac (IE on a shelf beneath/beside the desk) and run your peripherals from the USB hub.

Hope this helps.

At the moment I have no shelves to speak of as I have cleared a load of stuff out to get a bit prepared for decorating. I also have to be careful of wires due to little rabbit teeth! I just thought of something though. Time machine disk behind imac towards the corner of the desk and secondary backup to the left of desk, that way the one I need to access regularly I can reach and the one I don't is tucked out the way.

I do have a USB hub, it makes the transfers painfully slow though, I'm guessing that's cos it's not powered?

 

[Rottie]

At the moment I have no shelves to speak of as I have cleared a load of stuff out to get a bit prepared for decorating. I also have to be careful of wires due to little rabbit teeth! I just thought of something though. Time machine disk behind imac towards the corner of the desk and secondary backup to the left of desk, that way the one I need to access regularly I can reach and the one I don't is tucked out the way.

I do have a USB hub, it makes the transfers painfully slow though, I'm guessing that's cos it's not powered?

It's likely your USB hub is USB 1.1, not the more up-to-date USB 2.0.
The fact that it is not powered, means that your hub has to draw its power from the Mac that it's connected to, so this would account for some of the slow down.

Briefly, USB 1.1 is okay for Peripherals like keyboards and mice, which do not require a lot of power, but if you have other peripherals, such as printers, hard drives or scanners attached, then invariably you're talking about USB 2.0.

Hope this helps.

 

[p3ezi(moto)]

that's sweet