cssu@cdfc.utoronto ("Comp. Sci. Students' Union - Tak Ariga") (12/09/86)
Probably the best Disk Speed test has been the LockSmith series. It is
very flexible, in that it allows you to choose different speeds as you
need. (3 levels). It also gives you a choice to the number of passes
the disk requires to figure out the speed. (1, 2, or 3).
But probably my favorite aspect is that it is graphic. It draws a graph
on the Hi-res screen, of the disk speed. It makes it very easy to
judge how far you are off, and how steady your drive speed actually is.
Among other Disk Speed checks that I know of, are Diveri-Copy. It checks
the disk speed as it "writes" (makes copies)... It is fast, and it
works fine.
Many other copy programs incorporate the disk speed check, but they usually
throw numbers at you (+1.3 +1.2 ...) in rapid succession, and is difficult
to follow at best, and irritating at worst... but if you can't find
anything else, it's better than nothing.
Incidentally, some drives have "strobe" marking on the fly-wheel, inside
the disk drive case. If you take it apart, and shine a 60 Hz (or 50 Hz,
if you live in Europe or something), you can "set" the speed visually.
This is the same concept as record turntable strobes. My Shugart drive
has such markings.
I hope this helped.
--Tak Ariga
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------koko@uthub.toronto.edu (M. Kokodyniak) (12/19/86)
> > > Probably the best Disk Speed test has been the LockSmith series. > ... > > But probably my favorite aspect is that it is graphic. It draws a graph > on the Hi-res screen, of the disk speed. It makes it very easy to > judge how far you are off, and how steady your drive speed actually is. > ... > > --Tak Ariga This capability is great! I was able to determine that my Fourth Dimension drive has random speed variation -- it has a DC motor whose speed is controlled by an internal centrifugal switch (like a motor in a cheap 8-track tape deck) -- while my Shugart drive actually has an approximately 0.5-hertz oscillation in the servo motor feedback loop! Mike Kokodyniak