jackin@vehka.uta.fi (Markku M{enp{{) (04/11/90)
Has anybody had any experiences using HD controller (made by
Perstor Systems Inc) PS180-FN. It is supposed to increase
the capacity of MFM harddisks by 90%. This is achieved by
formatting 31 sectors/track.
I think it does what it promises, but is it reliable ??
Markku M{enp{{
jackin@vehka.uta.fi.uucp
PS. Does anybody have the FAX-number of Digital Research, USA ?dlucy@tropez.UUCP (Doug Lucy) (04/12/90)
In article <1124@kielo.uta.fi>, jackin@vehka.uta.fi (Markku M{enp{{) writes: > Has anybody had any experiences using HD controller Yes. We use a Perstor PS180-16FN for DOS and Xenix. It works fine in both os's. > It is supposed to increase the capacity of MFM harddisks by 90%. > This is achieved by formatting 31 sectors/track. The ADRT (Advanced Disk Recording Technology, what a great name) very simply changes the sector per track of MFM and RLL drives from 17 to 31, which gives about 90% storage increase. There are two additional imporvements worth note: data transfer of 9 mbit/sec instead of 5 with MFM and 7.5 with RLL; and 56 bit ECC > I think it does what it promises, but is it reliable ?? Yes, it does do a godd job of working, but Perstor is very specific about the drives that will work. Down to the _serial_ number of certain models by certain manufacturers. Some example of increased storage: Drive Original w/ Perstor ----- ------- ---------- Seagate ST225 20mb 39mb Seagate ST4096 80mb 146mb Micropolis 1335 72mb 130mb Priam ID130 160mb 244mb A fews words of caution: The typical disk test utilities in DOS will have a hard time "seeing" the "data read using ECC reconstruction" flag when reading errors. This will fool such programs as Spinrite II and Norton Disk Test. I've got a marginal sector on my DOS system that the Perstor will (audibly) have trouble reading but the test programs will (eventually) get good read results from. We could not install AT&T Unix V/386 3.2 with the Perstor even tho the Perstor is "WD" command compatible. After the initial surface scan, the install program died with "Could not verify sector already marked as good". Anyone know how to bypass the INSTALL and INSTALL2 portions of the boot disk and STILL get Unix on the disk? Intel doesn't. (We bought the Intel shrink-wrapped version) Other than this, we've had good results. The installation can be a little tricky if you haven't installed 10 gaskillion drives before (just the usual "if your cable has a twist, do this" garbage). You should be able to get a 16FN for $275-300, maybe a little higher retail. We don't sell hardware, but I'd be glad to point any price sensative soul in the right direction. Perstor Systems, Inc. 1335 South Park Lane Tempe, AZ 85281 602.894.3494 -- "It's such a fine line between stupid..." | Doug Lucy 703.820.3922 "...and stupid." | DC Pro, Falls Church, VA "Yeah, stupid." | uunet!tropez!dlucy