darren@ethos.UUCP (01/28/87)
I just read about the RLL (Run Length Limited) controlers in the
Febuary issue of Computer Shoper. It seems almost too good to be
true. Has anyone tried these controlers that could report on their
performance/compatibility? And the big question, will it work with
MINIX?
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// Darren Friedlein, ANSI-FX software Phone: 919/596-7746 \\
(( Rt 4 Box 416, Durham, NC 27703 919/596-9492 ))
\\ ...{burl,cbosgd,ihnp4,mcnc}!ethos!darren //
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Zaphod Beeblebrox is now appearing in "No Sex Please, We're
Amoeboids and Gatularians" at the Bruntos Vogon Star House.perkins@bnrmtv.UUCP (01/29/87)
> I just read about the RLL (Run Length Limited) controlers in the > Febuary issue of Computer Shoper. It seems almost too good to be > true. Has anyone tried these controlers that could report on their > performance/compatibility? > // Darren Friedlein ...{burl,cbosgd,ihnp4,mcnc}!ethos!darren // I'm using an Adaptec RLL controller with a generic (i.e., cheap) hard disk in my Compaq DeskPro. It works fine, and I'm now getting 30 Mb instead of 20 Mb ... BUT I can't boot from hard disk anymore, since Compaq's boot ROM (and Compaq DOS, too, but that's another story) assumes 17 sectors/track. RLL encoding gives 25 sectors/track instead of 17. -- {hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!perkins --Henry Perkins It is better never to have been born. But who among us has such luck? One in a million, perhaps.
sjk@onecom.UUCP (01/30/87)
> I just read about the RLL (Run Length Limited) controlers in the > Febuary issue of Computer Shoper. It seems almost too good to be > true. Has anyone tried these controlers that could report on their > performance/compatibility? And the big question, will it work with > MINIX? I have been using an OMTI RLL controller with a Seagate ST238 drive to give me 30Mb on my Columbia MPC (IBM-PC compatable). I works perfectly and I see a noticeable performance improvement over my old 10Mb Tandon drive. I bought mine from Command Systems, a company I recommend highly for all disk products. They are very knowledgeable and very reliable. Command Systems 7143 Henry Clay Blvd. Liverpool, NY 13088 (800) 782-5500 Usual disclaimers apply. -- Scott J. Kamin {stcvax, isis, ihnp4}!onecom!sjk TelWatch Inc. (formerly OneCom, Inc.) 2905 Wilderness Place (303) 440-4756 (switchboard) Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 938-6726 (direct)
alexande@drivax.UUCP (02/02/87)
In article <244@onecom.UUCP> sjk@zeus.UUCP (Scott J. Kamin) writes: >> I just read about the RLL (Run Length Limited) controlers in the >> Febuary issue of Computer Shoper. It seems almost too good to be >> true. >I have been using an OMTI RLL controller with a Seagate ST238 drive to > give me 30Mb on my Columbia MPC (IBM-PC compatable). I works > perfectly and I see a noticeable performance improvement over my old > 10Mb Tandon drive. I believe there is a problem using the RLL controllers with older drives. The RLL controllers require new drives with better specs. They may appear to work at first with old drives, but eventually you get disk errors that can't be recovered. The Seagate ST238 was designed to work with RLL controllers, I think. Maybe some knowledgable person out there can give us a list of other drives that work, too. -- Mark Alexander ...{hplabs,ucbvax!decvax}!decwrl!pyramid!amdahl!drivax!alexande "This then is my story. I have reread it. It has bits of marrow sticking to it, and blood, and beautiful bright-green flies." --Nabokov
rwwetmore@watmath.UUCP (02/03/87)
From article <1083@ethos.UUCP>: > I just read about the RLL (Run Length Limited) controlers in the > Febuary issue of Computer Shoper. It seems almost too good to be > true. Has anyone tried these controlers that could report on their > performance/compatibility? I have known of them for some time, but never seemed to get any detailed information on them. Since there seem to be a number of users on the net with them, perhaps this is a good time and place to ask the following: 1) What (if any) specific hardware upgrades are required to use RLL controllers besides the controller itself and compatible disk? Are there any modifications to the disk to enable it to run with an RLL (as opposed to normal) controller? 2) Corollary: how does a standard ROM expecting 17 sectors/track manage to deal with the RLL sectoring? 3) Are there special software programs supplied with the disk for formatting, disk partitionning and setup, or device drivers? 4) What OS do you use? Has anyone used RLL disks with MicroPort Unix? Xenix? Are there any problems with interaction or incompatibility with the OS itself, or distributed programs? 5) Has anyone used RLL with the 86Mb Toshiba drives? any other drives >32Mb capacity? I will be happy to summarize any mail sent directly to me to the net. Ross W. Wetmore | rwwetmore@water.NetNorth University of Waterloo | rwwetmore@math.waterloo.edu Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 | {clyde, ihnp4, ubc-vision, utcsri} (519) 885-1211 ext 3491 | !watmath!rwwetmore
dick@zaphod.UUCP (Dick Flanagan) (02/04/87)
In article <860@drivax.UUCP> alexande@drivax.UUCP (Mark Alexander) writes: >In article <244@onecom.UUCP> sjk@zeus.UUCP (Scott J. Kamin) writes: >>I have been using an OMTI RLL controller with a Seagate ST238 drive to >> give me 30Mb on my Columbia MPC (IBM-PC compatable). I works >> perfectly and I see a noticeable performance improvement over my old >> 10Mb Tandon drive. I'm sorry, folks, but you've just managed to confuse the kid here (me): I thought the Seagate ST238 started out life as a 38MB (unformatted) drive that, after normal formatting, could be expected to give you 30MB usable. What is special about the RLL controller giving Scott 30MB? I think I have missed something here, but I'm not sure what! -- Dick Flanagan, W6OLD ...!ucbvax!decwrl!sun!plx!dick (The usual disclaimers apply)
ben@catnip.UUCP (02/06/87)
In article <4791@watmath.UUCP> rwwetmore@watmath.UUCP (Ross Wetmore [ICR]) writes: >From article <1083@ethos.UUCP>: > >> I just read about the RLL (Run Length Limited) controlers in the >> Febuary issue of Computer Shoper. It seems almost too good to be >> true. Has anyone tried these controlers that could report on their >> performance/compatibility? > > I have known of them for some time, but never seemed to get any detailed >information on them. Since there seem to be a number of users on the net >with them, perhaps this is a good time and place to ask the following: > >1) What (if any) specific hardware upgrades are required to use RLL > controllers besides the controller itself and compatible disk? Are > there any modifications to the disk to enable it to run with an RLL > (as opposed to normal) controller? There are no specific hardware upgrades required. All you need is a PC or XT clone and a compatible drive. Generally, most drives with plated media will work. I believe Adaptec has also published a list. >2) Corollary: how does a standard ROM expecting 17 sectors/track manage > to deal with the RLL sectoring? Simple. The only ROM on a PC or XT that knows about how many sectors there are per track is the one on the controller card. Since the RLL controller comes with the proper ROM installed this is not a problem. Note that the reason you haven't seen RLL controllers for the AT and AT clones is that these machines has 17 sector specific code in ROMs on the motherboard. >4) What OS do you use? Has anyone used RLL disks with MicroPort Unix? > Xenix? Are there any problems with interaction or incompatibility > with the OS itself, or distributed programs? Microport Unix runs only on the AT, hence it is incompatible with the current crop of RLL cards. I don't know about Xenix, but I can tell you that it isn't in the list of compatible controller in the release notes. -- Ben Broder {ihnp4,decvax} !hjuxa!catnip!ben {houxm,clyde}/
milos@inmet.UUCP (02/06/87)
>>I thought the Seagate ST238 started out life as a 38MB (unformatted) >>drive that, after normal formatting, could be expected to give >>you 30MB usable. What is special about the RLL controller giving >>Scott 30MB? I think I have missed something here, but I'm not >>sure what! My understanding is as follows: The ST238 is *actually* an ST225 which has undergone a more stringent certification process, resulting in fewer bad sectors. A standard (MLM?) controller yields a 20MB capacity, while the RLL controllers can pack 30MB in the same physical area, assuming that the number of bad sectors is small enough to allow this. Thus, in this case, it is the controller (rather than the drive itself) which determines the storage capacity. Bob Milosavljevic ihnp4!inmet!milos
berger@clio.UUCP (02/07/87)
The ST-238 is an ST-225 with special read/write electronics. I've used RLL controllers for a year and a half with good success. I've used it with older drives, and haven't had any problems related to RLL yet. Specifically, I've run the Adaptec 4000 series RLL SCSI con- troller, the Adaptec 2070 for the PC, and OMTI 5527 for the PC. They worked well with the Seagate ST-238, as expected, but also worked with the CDC Wren-86, Maxtor 1065, Maxtor 1140, Seagate ST-4026, an ancient CMI 10 megabyte drive, and an ancient Miniscribe 10 megabyte drive. I experienced a little flakiness with a Syquest 306R cartridge drive, but that may have been my own fault. Despite rumors to the contrary, I've had no trouble reformatting a drive for MFM after using it with RLL. Seagate drives apparently have the most restrictive interface requirements (ie: step rates, etc. must be within tight tolerance to specs), and have given me the most troublesome performance (also true with standard MFM encoders). Also, Seagate won't honor the warranty on any drive used with RLL that's not specifically designed for it. ihnp4!uiucuxc!clio!berger
berger@clio.UUCP (02/07/87)
Add an older Nippon 27 megabyte disk drive and NEC 3.5" 20 meg disk drive to the list.