[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Help with Seagate ST238 and WD RLL controller

ted@mitre-bedford.ARPA (Edward J. Ede) (09/01/88)

About 15 months ago I purchased a 30 Meg hard drive for my Leading
Edge Model M.  At that time, I did not give much thought to the drive
& controller; I just plugged it in.  The other day I was pulling the
machine apart and noticed that I had an ST238 (Normally 30 Meg) and an
RLL controller.  I know RLL can pack more data onto a disk than MFM,
my question is, can I get more than 30 Meg out of the ST238?  Will it
be reliable?  I'm only using 20 out of the 30 meg, so space isn't an
issue yet, but if I can get more (with no decrease in reliability),
why not?


Here's my setup:

- Leading Edge Model M
- Seagate ST238
- Western Digital WD1002-27X controller
  (RLL Format Revision 1.0)
  - 56784321 has a jumper at 6
  - W4,W8,W6 have jumpers between 2 and 3
  - W3 has a jumper installed
  - W9 has no jumper
- IBM PC DOS version 3.1


Also, what's a good backup to use for this type of drive?  Currently,
I only backup "critical" data directories using DOS backup, other SW
can be re-installed from floppies.  I was thinking about FastBack, but
heard that it only works with MFM controllers.  Can anyone recommend a
reliable/efficient package to use with my setup?

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Ted Ede -- ted@mitre-bedford.arpa -- The MITRE Corporation -- Burlington Road  
| linus!mbunix!ted -- Bedford MA, 01730 -- Mail Stop B015 -- (617) 271-2524 |
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richard@neabbs.UUCP (RICHARD RONTELTAP) (09/02/88)

[ WD 1002-27X controller with Fastback ]
 
I would be surprised is your controller wasn't very compatible with
the standard WD 1002. I use a RLL modified WD1002 controller too, and
it works like a charm with Fastback.
 
I would also recommend Fastback PLUS. It has loads of features, good
error correction and writes disks in DOS compatible format.
 
Greetings,
Richard
(...!mcvax!neabbs!richard)

pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) (09/02/88)

In article <39434@linus.UUCP> ted@mitre-bedford.ARPA (Ede) writes:
...About 15 months ago I purchased a 30 Meg hard drive for my Leading
...Edge Model M.  At that time, I did not give much thought to the drive
...& controller; I just plugged it in.  The other day I was pulling the
...machine apart and noticed that I had an ST238 (Normally 30 Meg) and an
...RLL controller.  I know RLL can pack more data onto a disk than MFM,
...my question is, can I get more than 30 Meg out of the ST238?  Will it
...be reliable?  I'm only using 20 out of the 30 meg, so space isn't an
...issue yet, but if I can get more (with no decrease in reliability),
...why not?
...

The ST238 you have is already formatted RLL for 30MB, period.  The ST238
is an ST225 (20 MB, MFM) that has been tested for RLL formatting.

Pete Holsberg                   UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh
Technology Division                   ...!att!jonlab!mccc!pjh
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