[gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Dale]

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Howdy,

I know this sounds like a silly question and I never thought I would
have to ask such a basic question like this.  I bought a external hard
drive enclosure and was trying to install a hard drive I had laying
around.  The screws that come with the enclosure doesn't fit.  The
screws have a coarse thread and it seems the drive case has fine
threads.  It's the only screws that come with it so it has to be for
that purpose.  Anyway, I dug around my screw bin and found a few screws
that fit better but still not quite right.  I went to ebay and typed in
100 hard drive screws.  I want to buy a bag of them to have around when
I need them.  It's amazing what I got for results.  Some list a brand
they fit.  Some say laptop, few mention a desktop system.  Looking at
pics, some seem to be coarse thread, some sort of fine thread.  Some
standard, some metric.  Some are phillips head and some look like allen
type or star type heads.  I'm sitting here wondering, is this nuts or
what?  Pardon the pun there.  It's just crazy.  lol

Is there not a standard sized screw that should fit all 3.5" and even
2.5" drives??  Whether they are spinning rust, SSD or the outdated
floppy drives.  Are they THAT different or are the pictures misleading? 
If there is a standard or does WD take one size screw while Seagate
takes another and Toshiba yet another?  If someone has found a size that
fits them all, could you please share the sizes or a link so I can have
something to go by?  I already have a few hundred screws that don't
fit.  I really don't need yet another 100 to add to the don't fit
anything pile. 

What happened to the simple days where things would just fit like they
should??  ^_O

Thanks for any hints.

Dale

:-)  :-) 

P. S. The enclosure I got is a eSATA or USB type.  I use the eSATA
connector.  Found it on Amazon and it's a Rosewill.  The enclosure not
long ago was about $60 each.  I got two for $54 with free shipping.  It
has a temp controlled fan too.  I bought other USB only enclosures that
wasn't worth the shipping much less the cost of the item.  I think I had
one that worked fairly well but was really slow.  Maybe it was USB2 but
I suspect it was defaulting to USB1.  A few others failed after a short
time, I suspect USB issues myself.  I still need to run up on a good
deal on a PMR type 8TB drive, designed for 24/7 use.  I need to expand
/home.  It's at 70% right now.  o_O

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[William Kenworthy]

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No, there are a lot of different sizes used across brands - and there
are metric and imperial threads which is likely the cause of your almost
fitting ones.

What standard? - if don't like it, wait a few minutes and another will
come along ...

:)

BillK


On 6/6/20 10:06 am, Dale wrote:
> Howdy,
>
> I know this sounds like a silly question and I never thought I would
> have to ask such a basic question like this.  I bought a external hard
> drive enclosure and was trying to install a hard drive I had laying
> around.  The screws that come with the enclosure doesn't fit.  The
> screws have a coarse thread and it seems the drive case has fine
> threads.  It's the only screws that come with it so it has to be for
> that purpose.  Anyway, I dug around my screw bin and found a few
> screws that fit better but still not quite right.  I went to ebay and
> typed in 100 hard drive screws.  I want to buy a bag of them to have
> around when I need them.  It's amazing what I got for results.  Some
> list a brand they fit.  Some say laptop, few mention a desktop
> system.  Looking at pics, some seem to be coarse thread, some sort of
> fine thread.  Some standard, some metric.  Some are phillips head and
> some look like allen type or star type heads.  I'm sitting here
> wondering, is this nuts or what?  Pardon the pun there.  It's just
> crazy.  lol
>
> Is there not a standard sized screw that should fit all 3.5" and even
> 2.5" drives??  Whether they are spinning rust, SSD or the outdated
> floppy drives.  Are they THAT different or are the pictures
> misleading?  If there is a standard or does WD take one size screw
> while Seagate takes another and Toshiba yet another?  If someone has
> found a size that fits them all, could you please share the sizes or a
> link so I can have something to go by?  I already have a few hundred
> screws that don't fit.  I really don't need yet another 100 to add to
> the don't fit anything pile. 
>
> What happened to the simple days where things would just fit like they
> should??  ^_O
>
> Thanks for any hints.
>
> Dale
>
> :-)  :-) 
>
> P. S. The enclosure I got is a eSATA or USB type.  I use the eSATA
> connector.  Found it on Amazon and it's a Rosewill.  The enclosure not
> long ago was about $60 each.  I got two for $54 with free shipping. 
> It has a temp controlled fan too.  I bought other USB only enclosures
> that wasn't worth the shipping much less the cost of the item.  I
> think I had one that worked fairly well but was really slow.  Maybe it
> was USB2 but I suspect it was defaulting to USB1.  A few others failed
> after a short time, I suspect USB issues myself.  I still need to run
> up on a good deal on a PMR type 8TB drive, designed for 24/7 use.  I
> need to expand /home.  It's at 70% right now.  o_O

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Jack]

Were you thinking about this?  https://xkcd.com/927/

On 2020.06.05 22:24, William Kenworthy wrote:
> No, there are a lot of different sizes used across brands - and there
> are metric and imperial threads which is likely the cause of your  
> almost
> fitting ones.
> 
> What standard? - if don't like it, wait a few minutes and another will
> come along ...
> 
> :)
> 
> BillK
> 
> 
> On 6/6/20 10:06 am, Dale wrote:
> > Howdy,
> >
> > I know this sounds like a silly question and I never thought I would
> > have to ask such a basic question like this.  I bought a external  
> hard
> > drive enclosure and was trying to install a hard drive I had laying
> > around.  The screws that come with the enclosure doesn't fit.  The
> > screws have a coarse thread and it seems the drive case has fine
> > threads.  It's the only screws that come with it so it has to be for
> > that purpose.  Anyway, I dug around my screw bin and found a few
> > screws that fit better but still not quite right.  I went to ebay  
> and
> > typed in 100 hard drive screws.  I want to buy a bag of them to have
> > around when I need them.  It's amazing what I got for results.  Some
> > list a brand they fit.  Some say laptop, few mention a desktop
> > system.  Looking at pics, some seem to be coarse thread, some sort  
> of
> > fine thread.  Some standard, some metric.  Some are phillips head  
> and
> > some look like allen type or star type heads.  I'm sitting here
> > wondering, is this nuts or what?  Pardon the pun there.  It's just
> > crazy.  lol
> >
> > Is there not a standard sized screw that should fit all 3.5" and  
> even
> > 2.5" drives??  Whether they are spinning rust, SSD or the outdated
> > floppy drives.  Are they THAT different or are the pictures
> > misleading?  If there is a standard or does WD take one size screw
> > while Seagate takes another and Toshiba yet another?  If someone has
> > found a size that fits them all, could you please share the sizes  
> or a
> > link so I can have something to go by?  I already have a few hundred
> > screws that don't fit.  I really don't need yet another 100 to add  
> to
> > the don't fit anything pile. 
> >
> > What happened to the simple days where things would just fit like  
> they
> > should??  ^_O
> >
> > Thanks for any hints.
> >
> > Dale
> >
> > :-)  :-) 
> >
> > P. S. The enclosure I got is a eSATA or USB type.  I use the eSATA
> > connector.  Found it on Amazon and it's a Rosewill.  The enclosure  
> not
> > long ago was about $60 each.  I got two for $54 with free shipping. 
> > It has a temp controlled fan too.  I bought other USB only  
> enclosures
> > that wasn't worth the shipping much less the cost of the item.  I
> > think I had one that worked fairly well but was really slow.  Maybe  
> it
> > was USB2 but I suspect it was defaulting to USB1.  A few others  
> failed
> > after a short time, I suspect USB issues myself.  I still need to  
> run
> > up on a good deal on a PMR type 8TB drive, designed for 24/7 use.  I
> > need to expand /home.  It's at 70% right now.  o_O
> 

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Dale]

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Jack wrote:
> Were you thinking about this?  https://xkcd.com/927/
>
> On 2020.06.05 22:24, William Kenworthy wrote:
>> No, there are a lot of different sizes used across brands - and there
>> are metric and imperial threads which is likely the cause of your almost
>> fitting ones.
>>
>> What standard? - if don't like it, wait a few minutes and another will
>> come along ...
>>
>> :)
>>
>> BillK
>>


While sad, this is sort of funny.  It confirms my thinking tho, a hard
drive screw is not a hard drive screw unless it says Dell, Gateway, WD,
Seagate, Toshiba etc etc etc on it.  This means I may have to buy one of
those divider thingys that is larger just for me to be able to keep the
hard drive screws separate, since they are different. 

We have reds, purples, greens and all sort of color codes for hard
drives, maybe they need to color code their screws as well.  :/ 

Now to go find a grab bag or something.  This sucks.

Dale

:-)  :-) 

P. S. It seems those older not working enclosures may have caused issues
with my drive.  I'm having to dd the first one, redo the partitions and
still having issues getting it to work.  May be a doorstop when this is
over.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Michael]

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On Saturday, 6 June 2020 04:06:54 BST Dale wrote:

> We have reds, purples, greens and all sort of color codes for hard
> drives, maybe they need to color code their screws as well.  :/ 
> 
> Now to go find a grab bag or something.  This sucks.

Yes, getting the thread wrong and damaging the female thread in the enclosure, 
while thinking this /almost/ fits, is not good for your nerves.  There are 
thread gauges which you can match the pitch of a screw/bolt and help determine 
the thread specification, but they are typically used for larger screws/holes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_pitch_gauge

A way to determine a *potential* match between screw and hole, is to count the 
turns per unit of length and of course the diameter of the hole.  Use a 
magnifying glass and measure how many turns you can see inside the whole, 
while holding a piece of thin wire in it.  You need only dip the wire up to 
the first 3 threads, but if you can see further in, even better.  Then offer 
*exactly* the same length of wire against your screws and see which of these 
matches.

Then use a reference table to find out from your thread pitch and diameter a 
likely specification for your screws; e.g.

http://theoreticalmachinist.com/Threads_UnifiedImperial.aspx


P.S. if you have no magnifying glass you can use binoculars or a scope, 
looking from the far end, or the camera of a smart phone, or an SLR.


> P. S. It seems those older not working enclosures may have caused issues
> with my drive.  I'm having to dd the first one, redo the partitions and
> still having issues getting it to work.  May be a doorstop when this is
> over.

You're not saying what problems these are, but smartctl should report anything 
amiss with the drive internals.  Otherwise, check power supply and loose 
connectors.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[karl]

Dale:
...
> Is there not a standard sized screw that should fit all 3.5" and even
> 2.5" drives??
...

The threads used is UNC 6-32 [1] and M3 [2], where the UNC ones are used 
for 3.5" hard drives and M3 for CD and 2.5" drives. There might be others
also, but I havn't seen thoose.

The above just tells us how the thread is done, but not how long it is.

Regards,
/Karl Hammar

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_metric_screw_thread

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[antlists]

On 06/06/2020 09:23, Michael wrote:
> Yes, getting the thread wrong and damaging the female thread in the enclosure,
> while thinking this/almost/  fits, is not good for your nerves.  There are
> thread gauges which you can match the pitch of a screw/bolt and help determine
> the thread specification, but they are typically used for larger screws/holes:

I've never had any trouble BUT ... there are two different incompatible 
threads. Drive screws don't fit the case, and case screws don't fit the 
drive, despite them looking pretty similar ...

Cheers,

Wol

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[J. Roeleveld]

On 6 June 2020 16:22:49 CEST, antlists <antlists@youngman.org.uk> wrote:
>On 06/06/2020 09:23, Michael wrote:
>> Yes, getting the thread wrong and damaging the female thread in the
>enclosure,
>> while thinking this/almost/  fits, is not good for your nerves. 
>There are
>> thread gauges which you can match the pitch of a screw/bolt and help
>determine
>> the thread specification, but they are typically used for larger
>screws/holes:
>
>I've never had any trouble BUT ... there are two different incompatible
>
>threads. Drive screws don't fit the case, and case screws don't fit the
>
>drive, despite them looking pretty similar ...
>
>Cheers,
>
>Wol

One of my old cases had plastic strips with little sticks on them that would fit into the screwholes. Those strips would then slot into the mounting points for the disks.

No messing around with screws and really easy to swap drives. They would be perfectly mounted as well.

Too bad I don't see the same with most other cases.

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[antlists]

On 06/06/2020 20:14, J. Roeleveld wrote:
> One of my old cases had plastic strips with little sticks on them that would fit into the screwholes. Those strips would then slot into the mounting points for the disks.
> 
> No messing around with screws and really easy to swap drives. They would be perfectly mounted as well.
> 
> Too bad I don't see the same with most other cases.

I remember that. Compaqs with 75 MEGA Hz cpu's iirc.

Cheers,
Wol

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[J. Roeleveld]

On 7 June 2020 09:41:16 CEST, antlists <antlists@youngman.org.uk> wrote:
>On 06/06/2020 20:14, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>> One of my old cases had plastic strips with little sticks on them
>that would fit into the screwholes. Those strips would then slot into
>the mounting points for the disks.
>> 
>> No messing around with screws and really easy to swap drives. They
>would be perfectly mounted as well.
>> 
>> Too bad I don't see the same with most other cases.
>
>I remember that. Compaqs with 75 MEGA Hz cpu's iirc.
>
>Cheers,
>Wol

Not just Compaq. I think mine was a coolermaster case at the time.

Toolless hotswap is a useful feature when regularly swapping drives.

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[antlists]

On 07/06/2020 10:50, J. Roeleveld wrote:
> On 7 June 2020 09:41:16 CEST, antlists <antlists@youngman.org.uk> wrote:
>> On 06/06/2020 20:14, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>>> One of my old cases had plastic strips with little sticks on them
>> that would fit into the screwholes. Those strips would then slot into
>> the mounting points for the disks.
>>>
>>> No messing around with screws and really easy to swap drives. They
>> would be perfectly mounted as well.
>>>
>>> Too bad I don't see the same with most other cases.
>>
>> I remember that. Compaqs with 75 MEGA Hz cpu's iirc.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Wol
> 
> Not just Compaq. I think mine was a coolermaster case at the time.
> 
> Toolless hotswap is a useful feature when regularly swapping drives.
> 
These weren't hotswap (just ordinary IDE), but it's a damn sight easier 
putting the rails on a drive on a desk, rather than putting the screws 
in a drive in a case :-)

Cheers,
Wol

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Dale]

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antlists wrote:
> On 07/06/2020 10:50, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>> On 7 June 2020 09:41:16 CEST, antlists <antlists@youngman.org.uk> wrote:
>>> On 06/06/2020 20:14, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>>>> One of my old cases had plastic strips with little sticks on them
>>> that would fit into the screwholes. Those strips would then slot into
>>> the mounting points for the disks.
>>>>
>>>> No messing around with screws and really easy to swap drives. They
>>> would be perfectly mounted as well.
>>>>
>>>> Too bad I don't see the same with most other cases.
>>>
>>> I remember that. Compaqs with 75 MEGA Hz cpu's iirc.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Wol
>>
>> Not just Compaq. I think mine was a coolermaster case at the time.
>>
>> Toolless hotswap is a useful feature when regularly swapping drives.
>>
> These weren't hotswap (just ordinary IDE), but it's a damn sight
> easier putting the rails on a drive on a desk, rather than putting the
> screws in a drive in a case :-)
>
> Cheers,
> Wol
>
>


My Cooler Master HAF-932 has no screws for drives either.  It has those
plastic frames with these rubber and metal pins that take the place of
screws.  Once the frame is inserted into the drive cage, those pins
can't let go of the drive.  I might add, if the pins are inserted
properly, the plastic frame won't go into the cage either. I like the
design part but I hope the plastic part never breaks.  They ain't cheap
or easy to find at times. 

Oh, my mobo supports hot swap SATA so all are hot swappable too.  I'm
not sure if I have a IDE connector.  It might but I'm not sure. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[james]

On 6/7/20 5:24 PM, Dale wrote:
> antlists wrote:
>> On 07/06/2020 10:50, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>>> On 7 June 2020 09:41:16 CEST, antlists <antlists@youngman.org.uk> wrote:
>>>> On 06/06/2020 20:14, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>>>>> One of my old cases had plastic strips with little sticks on them
>>>> that would fit into the screwholes. Those strips would then slot into
>>>> the mounting points for the disks.
>>>>>
>>>>> No messing around with screws and really easy to swap drives. They
>>>> would be perfectly mounted as well.
>>>>>
>>>>> Too bad I don't see the same with most other cases.
>>>>
>>>> I remember that. Compaqs with 75 MEGA Hz cpu's iirc.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Wol
>>>
>>> Not just Compaq. I think mine was a coolermaster case at the time.
>>>
>>> Toolless hotswap is a useful feature when regularly swapping drives.
>>>
>> These weren't hotswap (just ordinary IDE), but it's a damn sight 
>> easier putting the rails on a drive on a desk, rather than putting the 
>> screws in a drive in a case :-)
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Wol
>>
>>
> 
> 
> My Cooler Master HAF-932 has no screws for drives either.� It has those 
> plastic frames with these rubber and metal pins that take the place of 
> screws.� Once the frame is inserted into the drive cage, those pins 
> can't let go of the drive.� I might add, if the pins are inserted 
> properly, the plastic frame won't go into the cage either. I like the 
> design part but I hope the plastic part never breaks. They ain't cheap 
> or easy to find at times.
> 
> Oh, my mobo supports hot swap SATA so all are hot swappable too. I'm not 
> sure if I have a IDE connector.� It might but I'm not sure.
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)� :-)

Dale,

It's a bit late now, but here goes. When I spend money, I always request 
the entire box of parts, for the mobo, drives, gpu cards, etc etc. Most 
vendors will talk to direct, over email, chat etc. I then have plastic 
organizer boxes with dozens or more small compartments and lids to these 
boxes. So I save all sorts of screws, from 30 years back to now, always. 
It's a bit of an extreme, but as an avid hardware hacker, I use those 
collections, almost weekly to fix/enhance mounts, cases, antennas and 
all sorts of custom rigs.......

Also, you can find collections of such for less than $50 on the net. 
Great to have, but I have over 1,000 sq. ft. or more of all sorts of new 
and old hardware I've collected up over the decades. Skycraft in Orlando 
is just one of many great places to purchase inexpensive excess hardware.

https://skycraftsurplus.com/

Also, local computer shops will sell you hordes of excess screws and 
such; just talk to them. When you are spending money, it is real easy to 
collect up excess screws and such from most vendors, for next to nothing.

But then, I hardware hack of hundreds/thousands of different hardware 
systems.


hth,
James

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Dale]

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james wrote:
> On 6/7/20 5:24 PM, Dale wrote:
>> antlists wrote:
>>> On 07/06/2020 10:50, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>>>> On 7 June 2020 09:41:16 CEST, antlists <antlists@youngman.org.uk>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On 06/06/2020 20:14, J. Roeleveld wrote:
>>>>>> One of my old cases had plastic strips with little sticks on them
>>>>> that would fit into the screwholes. Those strips would then slot into
>>>>> the mounting points for the disks.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No messing around with screws and really easy to swap drives. They
>>>>> would be perfectly mounted as well.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Too bad I don't see the same with most other cases.
>>>>>
>>>>> I remember that. Compaqs with 75 MEGA Hz cpu's iirc.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Wol
>>>>
>>>> Not just Compaq. I think mine was a coolermaster case at the time.
>>>>
>>>> Toolless hotswap is a useful feature when regularly swapping drives.
>>>>
>>> These weren't hotswap (just ordinary IDE), but it's a damn sight
>>> easier putting the rails on a drive on a desk, rather than putting
>>> the screws in a drive in a case :-)
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Wol
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> My Cooler Master HAF-932 has no screws for drives either.� It has
>> those plastic frames with these rubber and metal pins that take the
>> place of screws.� Once the frame is inserted into the drive cage,
>> those pins can't let go of the drive.� I might add, if the pins are
>> inserted properly, the plastic frame won't go into the cage either. I
>> like the design part but I hope the plastic part never breaks. They
>> ain't cheap or easy to find at times.
>>
>> Oh, my mobo supports hot swap SATA so all are hot swappable too. I'm
>> not sure if I have a IDE connector.� It might but I'm not sure.
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> :-)� :-)
>
> Dale,
>
> It's a bit late now, but here goes. When I spend money, I always
> request the entire box of parts, for the mobo, drives, gpu cards, etc
> etc. Most vendors will talk to direct, over email, chat etc. I then
> have plastic organizer boxes with dozens or more small compartments
> and lids to these boxes. So I save all sorts of screws, from 30 years
> back to now, always. It's a bit of an extreme, but as an avid hardware
> hacker, I use those collections, almost weekly to fix/enhance mounts,
> cases, antennas and all sorts of custom rigs.......
>
> Also, you can find collections of such for less than $50 on the net.
> Great to have, but I have over 1,000 sq. ft. or more of all sorts of
> new and old hardware I've collected up over the decades. Skycraft in
> Orlando is just one of many great places to purchase inexpensive
> excess hardware.
>
> https://skycraftsurplus.com/
>
> Also, local computer shops will sell you hordes of excess screws and
> such; just talk to them. When you are spending money, it is real easy
> to collect up excess screws and such from most vendors, for next to
> nothing.
>
> But then, I hardware hack of hundreds/thousands of different hardware
> systems.
>
>
> hth,
> James
>
>


I have a small toolbox that I take if I go work on someone else's
computer somewhere.  It has a small plastic compartment box in it along
with a few other common things.  I have a lot of screws, bolts, nuts and
washers that I've pulled from puters over the years.  Hard drives,
floppys, cases, fans and no telling what else.  Thing is, when I was
trying to install that drive, not one of the thousands of screws I have
would fit.  I have them sorted somewhat by size and thread.  Still, none
seemed to fit right.  The one thing I didn't want to do was mess up the
threads.  Worse yet, the hard drive come lose and start flopping around
in the enclosure doing who knows what damage wise.  That's not to
include all the stuff I have in a 20x40' shop.  Then I have another
10x10' building that I keep quite a bit of electronic gear in.  Still,
couldn't find a screw to fit.

It would seem to me that there would be some sort of standard for this
sort of thing.  They have a standard width and even length.  Heck, most
are the same thickness as well.  Why not use the same type of screws?? 
lol 

I guess I need to put the word out that I need newer junked puters to
tear apart.  I may not be able to use the cases or anything but at least
maybe I can get some hard drive screws out of it.  Be my luck, I'd get
all the same brand and them be some weird size no one else uses.  :/

I'll check out that link tho.  I just may have to invest in larger bins. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Dale]

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Dale wrote:
> Howdy,
>
> I know this sounds like a silly question and I never thought I would
> have to ask such a basic question like this.  I bought a external hard
> drive enclosure and was trying to install a hard drive I had laying
> around.  The screws that come with the enclosure doesn't fit.  The
> screws have a coarse thread and it seems the drive case has fine
> threads.  It's the only screws that come with it so it has to be for
> that purpose.  Anyway, I dug around my screw bin and found a few
> screws that fit better but still not quite right.  I went to ebay and
> typed in 100 hard drive screws.  I want to buy a bag of them to have
> around when I need them.  It's amazing what I got for results.  Some
> list a brand they fit.  Some say laptop, few mention a desktop
> system.  Looking at pics, some seem to be coarse thread, some sort of
> fine thread.  Some standard, some metric.  Some are phillips head and
> some look like allen type or star type heads.  I'm sitting here
> wondering, is this nuts or what?  Pardon the pun there.  It's just
> crazy.  lol
>
> Is there not a standard sized screw that should fit all 3.5" and even
> 2.5" drives??  Whether they are spinning rust, SSD or the outdated
> floppy drives.  Are they THAT different or are the pictures
> misleading?  If there is a standard or does WD take one size screw
> while Seagate takes another and Toshiba yet another?  If someone has
> found a size that fits them all, could you please share the sizes or a
> link so I can have something to go by?  I already have a few hundred
> screws that don't fit.  I really don't need yet another 100 to add to
> the don't fit anything pile. 
>
> What happened to the simple days where things would just fit like they
> should??  ^_O
>
> Thanks for any hints.
>
> Dale
>
> :-)  :-) 
>
> P. S. The enclosure I got is a eSATA or USB type.  I use the eSATA
> connector.  Found it on Amazon and it's a Rosewill.  The enclosure not
> long ago was about $60 each.  I got two for $54 with free shipping. 
> It has a temp controlled fan too.  I bought other USB only enclosures
> that wasn't worth the shipping much less the cost of the item.  I
> think I had one that worked fairly well but was really slow.  Maybe it
> was USB2 but I suspect it was defaulting to USB1.  A few others failed
> after a short time, I suspect USB issues myself.  I still need to run
> up on a good deal on a PMR type 8TB drive, designed for 24/7 use.  I
> need to expand /home.  It's at 70% right now.  o_O


I wanted to update with some info. I ordered one bag of screws, threads
weren't right.  I then ordered a different size and got them today.  I
tested them on a few hard drives I had laying around, some old and some
fairly new ones.  Those fit.  I could screw them in with my fingers so
the threads seem to be dead on.  The size I bought was 6-32UNC x 1/8". 
I'm not sure what the UNC means or if it matters.  The one I bought that
did NOT fit, it didn't give a screw size but mentioned both SDD and HDD
and laptop, if that helps anyone any searching. 

BTW, I paid about $10 for 100 screws. Sort of pricey I think but it was
the best deal I could find.  I'll likely drop and lose half of those.  LOL 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[karl]

Dale:
...
> The size I bought was 6-32UNC x 1/8". 
> I'm not sure what the UNC means or if it matters.
...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard

If you had read my answer to your original question:
 https://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-user/message/b0a1914dac2d0e985e7e1d66ada02f2b
you'd know that by now.

Regards,
/Karl Hammar

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Dale]

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karl@aspodata.se wrote:
> Dale:
> ...
>> The size I bought was 6-32UNC x 1/8". 
>> I'm not sure what the UNC means or if it matters.
> ...
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard
>
> If you had read my answer to your original question:
>  https://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-user/message/b0a1914dac2d0e985e7e1d66ada02f2b
> you'd know that by now.
>
> Regards,
> /Karl Hammar
>
>
>


I recall reading the reply.  Thing is, the first bag of screws I ordered
didn't have any size info only that they should fit a hard drive, SDD
and possibly a laptop, if there is any difference between a hard
drive/SDD going in a laptop as opposed to a desktop.  ;-)  On the second
order, I used the info from your reply to order another set of screws.
So the email was to confirm what was shared, although I couldn't recall
who shared it on the list earlier, was the correct size at least for
several hard drives I have laying around here.  Perhaps most hard drives
do follow some sort of standard after all.  :-)

So to recap, the info you provided was correct and my update was to
confirm that.  I sometimes do this sort of thing just in case it might
help others in the future.  After all, the first bag of screws wasn't
free and it turned out to be a waste of money and time unless I
eventually find a use for them, which may or may not happen.  I'm just
glad I finally got some screws for this since I'm tired of having to go
dig and even remove screws from other things to install new drives.  I
guess two screws will hold a hard drive in place in most cases.  I hope
because I have a few of those at the moment. o_O

Thanks for the info.  It was good and correct info and I was able to
confirm it as being so.  Maybe that will help someone else in the
future.  :-D

Dale

:-)  :-) 

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[karl]

Dale:
...
> the first bag of screws I ordered didn't have any size info
...

To figure out which thread one have, one usually use:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calipers
to get the diameter. Given the diameter, and possible the table of thread
sizes, one can sufficiently well infer which thread it is.

You can use a thread gauge if unsure:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_gauge

Regards,
/Karl Hammar

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard drive screws

[Dale]

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karl@aspodata.se wrote:
> Dale:
> ...
>> the first bag of screws I ordered didn't have any size info
> ...
>
> To figure out which thread one have, one usually use:
>  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calipers
> to get the diameter. Given the diameter, and possible the table of thread
> sizes, one can sufficiently well infer which thread it is.
>
> You can use a thread gauge if unsure:
>  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_gauge
>
> Regards,
> /Karl Hammar
>
>
>


I been meaning to buy a thread gauge or even better, one of those boards
like they have at Lowe's that is really nice to use.  It has all sorts
of sizes and threads.  Anyway, I just keep putting it off because it is
one of those things I won't use to often but it would be nice to have. 
It'll work its way up the list eventually.

At the moment I got some good screws to mount hard drives and they won't
mess up the threads so that no screw really fits.  ;-)

Dale

:-)  :-) 

P. S.  I also replaced the crankshaft seal, timing belt, drive belts and
did some clean up from a oil leak my old car has had for a while.  While
doing that, noticed the cam cover was leaking as well.  I replaced it
too.  The old one was hard and brittle pretty much everywhere.  It was
leaking and may have been the leak instead of the crankshaft seal. I
know the camshaft seal was leaking when I replaced them a year or so
back.  Given the recent increase in temps, I also added a few ounces of
R134 to the A/C.  In the middle of that, the blood donation bus showed
up.  It's been a busy week.  I'm beat. 

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[gentoo-user] Re: Hard drive screws

[Grant Edwards]

On 2020-07-18, Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thing is, the first bag of screws I ordered didn't have any size
> info only that they should fit a hard drive, SDD and possibly a
> laptop, if there is any difference between a hard drive/SDD going in
> a laptop as opposed to a desktop.

"Laptop" drives are traditionally 2.5" platters and use metric (M3) screws.

"Desktop" drives are traditionally 3.6" platters and use SAE (6-32) screws.

--
Grant

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Hard drive screws

[Dale]

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Grant Edwards wrote:
> On 2020-07-18, Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thing is, the first bag of screws I ordered didn't have any size
>> info only that they should fit a hard drive, SDD and possibly a
>> laptop, if there is any difference between a hard drive/SDD going in
>> a laptop as opposed to a desktop.
> "Laptop" drives are traditionally 2.5" platters and use metric (M3) screws.
>
> "Desktop" drives are traditionally 3.6" platters and use SAE (6-32) screws.
>
> --
> Grant

Well, that explains that. If I ever get a laptop, I likely have some
hard drive screws.  I'll mark the other screws as laptop drive screws. 
I already marked the other bag. 

Thanks for the info. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

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