mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) (10/28/89)
I posted a question, a while back, asking whether or not the Miniscribe
3675 autoparked. I don't have the original text anymore, but I do
remember most of the answers (sorry, we had a disk crash that trashed
most of the user directories, including the file I had the compiled
replies in).
Some of the answers said "Yes, it does autopark". Some answers said
"No, it doesn't autopark". Some answers said that they weren't quite
sure, and still others said some generalized statement about "Voice
coil drives autopark; stepper drives don't" (and leaving me to figure
out which one the 3675 is).
One answer told me to call Miniscribe Tech Support, and ask them. I
did, and the tech who answered the phone told me that no, it doesn't
have an option to automatically park the heads when power it cut...
But it does have an option to automatically park the heads after 30
seconds of drive inactivity ("Low-Power Mode", I think he called it).
You set jumper JP3 to activate this mode. When in effect, after 30
seconds without a drive access, the drive will park the heads, and
the front access light will turn orange, and stay on. The next time
the system tries to access the drive, it will automatically unpark.
I also asked them to send me the REAL manual for this drive, to replace
the drivel that CompuAdd packages with their drives. Hopefully, this
will tell me all about the other "hidden features" that CompuAdd didn't
see fit to inform me of.
--
Marc Unangst
Internet: mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us
UUCP : ...!uunet!sharkey!mudos!mju
Fidonet : Marc Unangst of 1:120/129.0
BBS : The Starship Enterprise, 1200/2400 bps, +1 313-665-2832wayne.ho@f526.n250.z1.fidonet.org (wayne ho) (11/01/89)
Hello,
Regarding the Miniscribe 3675 and its timed park feature.. I have
heard that after using this option the drive develops bad sectors,etc.
I don't know if it is true. I do know that I had a Miniscribe 3425
(the 20 meg drive) and I believe I had the autopark jumper on (because
I had a red LED go on every once and awhile). After a month or so,
my drive stopped working. I do not know if it was do to the parking
but in other conferences I have been warned not to use it (so I don't
on my 3650).
Wayne
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