doc@holin.ATT.COM (David Mundhenk) (07/10/89)
A Q U E S T I O N re.: RLL, MFM, etc. I am currently using 2 CDC 9415-86 drives in my AT Compatible, on a Western Digital (I believe) MFM controller (16 bit card). The drives format out to about 70MB each. This is a total of about 140MB's, but I'm a space hog and WANT MORE! (I am also interesting in putting XENIX up on my machine but don't want to forfeit Messy-DOS space.) They are fairly fast (~28ms.) so I am happy with the speed. However, I may want to upgrade to 80386 later so I'm considering future speed requirements also... My question is, are these drives capable of supporting RLL encoding? I am tempted to get an RLL controller and try it, but thought I'd ask first. Would I be better of selling the drives and getting either: 1. Bigger MFM drive(s). 2. RLL certified drive(s). 2. Big ESDI or SCSI drives and controller? Any advice on this topic would be appreciated. Dave Mundhenk :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: EMAIL: ...!att!holin!doc | "I can't complain but | /^, VOICE: (201)-580-4943 | sometimes I still do"| / } _, , , __ #include <std.disclaimer> | - Joe Walsh | /_./ (_l |/ <~_ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: EMAIL: ...!att!holin!doc | "I can't complain but | /^, VOICE: (201)-949-5308 | sometimes I still do"| / } _, , , __ #include <std.disclaimer> | - Joe Walsh | /_./ (_l |/ <~_
karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger) (07/12/89)
>Item 4237 (0 responses) by doc at holin.ATT.COM on Mon 10 Jul 89 17:16 >[David Mundhenk] Subject: Are CDC 9415-86's RLL capable? >I am currently using 2 CDC 9415-86 drives in my AT Compatible, >on a Western Digital (I believe) MFM controller (16 bit card). >The drives format out to about 70MB each. This is a total of >about 140MB's, but I'm a space hog and WANT MORE! .... >My question is, are these drives capable of supporting RLL >encoding? I am tempted to get an RLL controller and try it, >but thought I'd ask first. Would I be better of selling the MOST CDC drives are capable of dealing with RLL format. You have no way to be sure except try it and see. Note that doing so will void your warranty (:-) (it also can't damage the drives; it just may not work. If not reformat MFM again..) XENIX will deal with most RLL boards. If you want a hint -- buy a GOOD controller; it contributes to the overall reliability of the subsystem. Good, in this case, means Western Digital WD1006-V/SR2. We have a person in our local area using one of these boards with a CDC drive; it works fine for him. No problems in over 6 months of use. If you do this -- KEEP GOOD BACKUPS. If it doesn't work, you'll be awfully pissed if you lose everything on the disk and don't have a backup! -- Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, <well-connected>!ddsw1!karl) Public Access Data Line: [+1 312 566-8911], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910] Macro Computer Solutions, Inc. "Quality Solutions at a Fair Price"