rb4572@leah.Albany.Edu (Ron Bangel) (07/23/90)
I recently purchased "Battle Squadron" from Innerprise Software, Inc. It's
one HELL of a great game, but it worries me because of a particular thing that
it does. You see, the disk drive runs ALL THE TIME, fromthe time you boot up
the machine until you (have to, there's no other way to get out of it) ctrl-
amiga-amiga to stop the drive and turn the machine off. I have three questions
about this.
1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've
been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running.
2. Is this harmful to the disk itself?
3. Does anyone know of any other games that incorporate this activity? Sure,
the game runs fast and there aren't very many delays to ruin play, but if I
had my choice, I'd buy a game that was a little easier on the disk drive...
Thanks!
--
<=-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-=>
{ Ron Bangel Computing Services Center State University of New York at Albany }
{ rb4572 or ronb@rachel.albany.edu "Speak softly and wield a loud guitar!" }
<=-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-=>bli@aludra.usc.edu (I are a college student.) (07/23/90)
In article <3387@leah.Albany.Edu> rb4572@leah.Albany.Edu (Ron Bangel) writes: > >I recently purchased "Battle Squadron" from Innerprise Software, Inc. It's >one HELL of a great game, but it worries me because of a particular thing that >it does. You see, the disk drive runs ALL THE TIME, fromthe time you boot up >the machine until you (have to, there's no other way to get out of it) ctrl- >amiga-amiga to stop the drive and turn the machine off. I have three questions >about this. > >1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've >been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. I don't think so, unless the HEAD is actually R/W'ing... What's most likely is that their disk routines at some point forgot to turn off the drive motor.. It is nothin bad... >2. Is this harmful to the disk itself? Again, no, unless you hear the head moving (or grinding).. if it is just the motor (sounds like a quiet fan), ignore it... Question 3 - -deleted, 'cus I had nothing to answer... ----- STRESS('stres)n: that confusion created when one's mind overrides the desire to choke the living daylights out of some jerk who really deserves it.
pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (Robert Pomeroy) (07/23/90)
In article <3387@leah.Albany.Edu>, rb4572@leah.Albany.Edu (Ron Bangel) writes... This is in reply to Battle Squadron always running df0: >1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've >been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. > >2. Is this harmful to the disk itself? > >3. Does anyone know of any other games that incorporate this activity? Sure, >the game runs fast and there aren't very many delays to ruin play, but if I >had my choice, I'd buy a game that was a little easier on the disk drive... Next time you're playing, put your fingers on the exposed edge of the disk... If you can't actually feel the disk seeking, I wouldn't worry about it. The drive light can be turned on without running the drive, and they may be doing this for some reason or another.... Since there is about 1.7 megs of data on that 880K floppy though, I am sure they are reading in data frequently. I played Battle Squadron non-stop for awhile, but now that my roommate and I can finish it every time (If you have never finished, keep playing - VERY COOL!), I don't play it anymore. Neither my disk, nor my drive ever showed any signs of wear and tear. Bob Pomeroy pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com
pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (Robert Pomeroy) (07/23/90)
In article <3387@leah.Albany.Edu>, rb4572@leah.Albany.Edu (Ron Bangel) writes... > >I recently purchased "Battle Squadron" from Innerprise Software, Inc. It's >one HELL of a great game, but it worries me because of a particular thing that >it does. You see, the disk drive runs ALL THE TIME. > >1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've >been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. > >2. Is this harmful to the disk itself? Sorry, I just wanted to add one more thing. Spinning the motor is not really all that bad for the motor. It will generally last alot longer than the rest of the drive. However, the R/W head is always in contact with the disk. Generally this is not bad, because the disk is not spinning unless data is being read. If the disk spins incessantly though, you will eventually wear out both the disk and the heads. (Disk first most likely...) It will take a long time as long as it it doesn't get hot, and the disk doesn't have junk on it. (if the disk is dirty it will obviously die that much faster.) Bob Pomeroy pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com
mapjilg@gdr.bath.ac.uk (J I L Gold) (07/25/90)
>This is in reply to Battle Squadron always running df0: >1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've >been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. > >2. Is this harmful to the disk itself? > >3. Does anyone know of any other games that incorporate this activity? Sure, >the game runs fast and there aren't very many delays to ruin play, but if I >had my choice, I'd buy a game that was a little easier on the disk drive... > I think the "problem" is caused by the programmers calling "Forbid()" to turn of multi-tasking whilst the game runs. This probably takes effect before the disk has an opportunity to "wind down" after loading and executing. The drive head will not be active, so there is no cause for concern. -- # J.Gold | mapjilg@uk.ac.bath.gdr # # University of Bath , UK | jilg@uk.ac.bath.maths # # "Take fate by the throat...shake your fist, shake your fist"-Mary My Hope #
borgen@sfd.uit.no (Borge Nost) (07/27/90)
In article <1990Jul25.133047.28605@gdr.bath.ac.uk> mapjilg@gdr.bath.ac.uk (J I L Gold) writes: >>This is in reply to Battle Squadron always running df0: >>1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've >>been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. >> >>2. Is this harmful to the disk itself? >> >>3. Does anyone know of any other games that incorporate this activity? Sure, Many games do it, and even more demos. > >I think the "problem" is caused by the programmers calling "Forbid()" to turn >of multi-tasking whilst the game runs. This probably takes effect before the >disk has an opportunity to "wind down" after loading and executing. >The drive head will not be active, so there is no cause for concern. I have tried to get some reaction to this(but I don't think it came out): Dig out your favourite assembler, bash the intena register directly by turning off ALL interrupts INCLUDING master interrupt. Does all your disk lights turn on? Mine does. The disk isn't active though. (And remember that you won't get back to the OS if you don't add a little more code to it) >-- ># J.Gold | mapjilg@uk.ac.bath.gdr # ># University of Bath , UK | jilg@uk.ac.bath.maths # ># "Take fate by the throat...shake your fist, shake your fist"-Mary My Hope # -- |//// ______________ don't use R/r(eply)! *mail* me ______________ \\\\| |/// ...and then there was AMIGA... \\\| |// internet: borgen%stud1@sfd.uit.no (Boerge Noest) \\| |/ studying at the worlds northernmost university \|