cjl@ecsvax.UUCP (Charles Lord) (05/31/85)
Now that the hoopla has died down, I would like to
know just how good/bad the Sider 10Mb drive is with
the Apple. To wit:
* Any problems?
* Does it really work with DOS3.3,Prodos,CP/M2.2,Pascal?
* How easily do the aforementioned op systems co-exist?
* How easily can you boot from one system to the other?
.. please mail responses to:
Charles Lord
...!decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!cjl
THANKS!strauss@utai.UUCP (Patrick E. Strauss) (06/04/85)
> > Now that the hoopla has died down, I would like to > know just how good/bad the Sider 10Mb drive is with > the Apple. To wit: > > * Any problems? > * Does it really work with DOS3.3,Prodos,CP/M2.2,Pascal? > * How easily do the aforementioned op systems co-exist? > * How easily can you boot from one system to the other? > > .. please mail responses to: > > Charles Lord > ...!decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!cjl > THANKS! Please post the responses in net.micro.apple, since I am sure that very many people (including myself) are also very interested! Thanks Patrick Strauss
meier@sipunix.UUCP (C Michael Meier) (06/04/85)
Can the Sider info be posted (again?), instead of mailed? I for one missed anything about it so far, because we just netted up. I would appreciate it if this is done. (Or better yet, C Lord mail it to me?) Thanks.. Christopher Meier
cjl@ecsvax.UUCP (Charles Lord) (06/14/85)
Quick update: 12 responses so far- 3 users (all favorable) 9 "please post the results" PLEA # 2: IF YOU HAVE OR USE A FCP SIDER, PLEASE POST OR MAIL GOOD AND BAD COMMENTS. THE MASSES WANT TO KNOW!!! (ahem) Thank you. Charles Lord ..!decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!cjl
david@prism.UUCP (06/20/85)
I bought a Sider last January; to my great disappointment,
the first one arrived DOA, so I had to ship it back. The
turnaround on the replacement was about two weeks.
Since then, its been wonderful, and I urge anyone with an
interest to forget about that CD player, VCR, or whatever
other conspicuous consumable you've been coveting and get
serious about your computer. I can't believe I've lived
so long without it.
The operating system software, partioning the disk into
DOS, ProDOS, Pascal, and CP/M regions is generally excellent
-- I've experienced no glitches attributable to its presence.
(I didn't configure a usable CP/M partition so I can't vouch
for it.)
The most serious drawback to the system is there is no documentation
of the low-level device control; I have some non-standard operating
routines (the DOS version of ORCA/M) which require custom disk
drivers (the ProDOS version of ORCA works fine). Supposedly,
FCP is working on a technical manual (an OK installation manual
comes with the system).
The other problem, more-or-less generic to such hard disks,
is there is no way to write-protect the drive while debugging
to secure against wild code causing spurious writes to the drive.
It doesn't seem to be as easy to turn on the drive as a disk ii
(what could be), and I seem to have been lucky so far.
Now if only someone would come out with a cheap *backup* device,
we'd be all set.
P. S. FCP just did a mailing to its customer list, with
coupons offering a $50.00 kickback to owners who refer new
business to them. Find someone who already has a Sider,
and work out a deal with them!
I have no connection to FCP; just a reasonably satisfied
customer.
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David Eyes {cca, datacube, ihnp4, inmet, mit-eddie, wjh12}...
Mirror Systems, Inc. ...mirror!prism!david
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