OC.LEE@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU (Tim Lee) (11/06/86)
To All Kind Souls: I have a micro-vax I and want to replace the internal floppy disk drive with an internal hard disk. So there will be two internal hard disks when I am finished. Does anybody know where I can order the second internal hard disk from? Has anybody done this before ? I would appreciate it if hardware instructions can be provided for mounting the internal disk drive. Additional information for configuring the second hard disk softwarewise is needed too. Thanking everybody in advance, Tim Lee oc.lee@cu20b.arpa sy$lee@cuchem.bitnet -------
LEICHTER-JERRY@YALE.ARPA (11/07/86)
I have a micro-vax I and want to replace the internal floppy disk drive
with an internal hard disk. So there will be two internal hard disks when
I am finished. Does anybody know where I can order the second internal
hard disk from?
DEC sells drives that can attach to the controller in the system you already
have. I don't believe anyone else does - there are certainly other drive
makers, but their drives are likely to need their own controllers. However,
it's always possible....
HOWEVER, the configuration you describe - two hard disks, no floppies - would
be unsupported by DEC - there's no way to get any software (e.g., diagnostics)
into it! It would also provide no way to do backups, and no way to recover
should you ever suffer a head crash.
If there's some other kind of removable medium in the system, the story might
be different.
Has anybody done this before?
Well, maybe something like it. A hard-disk ONLY system seems a bit unlikely.
I would appreciate it if hardware instructions can be provided for
mounting the internal disk drive. Additional information for configuring
the second hard disk softwarewise is needed too.
From the tone of your letter, it sounds as if you have limited if any expe-
rience with configuring hardware or software. I would not advice what you
propose to do as an initiation - you will almost certainly end up with a non-
functional system, and it's unlikely that long-distance help on this mailing
list will help you get it working again. I would strongly advise you to get
help from someone with the requisite experience - whether from DEC or an
independent consultant. (No, I don't do that kind of work. :-))
-- Jerry
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