pdg@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Paul Gootherts) (11/08/88)
I have a Starboard II connected to my A1000 and I'm thinking of adding
the Stardrive module so I can hook up a hard disk. I assume it isn't
the faster thing available and that's okay. I like the idea of not
adding another external box to my machine. Here are my questions:
(1) Does the Stardrive autoboot when you use 1.3 Kickstart/Workbench?
(2) Microbotics has only tested a couple of drives. Is there a more
complete list of drives that other people have already tried? (I'm
interested in those that *don't* work as well as those that do.)
(3) How fast does it go with the FFS? (Any numbers you've got will be
appreciated.)
(4) Where's a good place to go for the drive? (I'm in the Bay Area, and
I don't mind if the price isn't rock-bottom as long as the service
is top notch.)
Thanks in advance,
Paul Gootherts, Hewlett Packard Co, hpda!pdgmp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) (11/09/88)
> *Excerpts from ext.nn.comp.sys.amiga: 8-Nov-88 Microbotics Stardrive quest..* > *Paul Gootherts@hpcupt1.H (877)* > I have a Starboard II connected to my A1000 and I'm thinking of adding > the Stardrive module so I can hook up a hard disk. Sounds familiar. I've recently researched the subject, so perhaps I can help. > (1) Does the Stardrive autoboot when you use 1.3 Kickstart/Workbench? No. However, you can set up a minimal RAD: that can autoboot and transfer control to the Stardrive immediately. This is functionally identical with autoboot except that you can't autoboot from initial power-up. > (2) Microbotics has only tested a couple of drives. Is there a more > complete list of drives that other people have already tried? (I'm > interested in those that *don't* work as well as those that do.) If there is, I am not aware of it. The Microbotics literature that came with my Stardrive module (which arrived less than a week ago) still talked about setting your system up under AmigaDOS 1.1. It listed about four hard disks that were known to work with the Stardrive, all dinky little 20 or 30 MB drives. The Microbotics literature in general is not helpful -- no, let's just make that plain bad. You are advised to use some strange program of theirs called DHMount, which essentially does the same things the AmigaDOS MOUNT command does, except that it takes its parameters on the command line instead of from DEVS:Mountlist. No information is given about how to set up your Stardrive under FFS, the section about partitioning your hard disk is unclear, and NO help is given for constructing a Mountlist. From some information I received directly (or indirectly), it seems that the DHMOUNT command cannot be used for the FFS -- you have to use a Mountlist. So you might as well ignore it. > (3) How fast does it go with the FFS? (Any numbers you've got will be > appreciated.) I don't have my hard drive yet, so I can't tell you how fast it goes for me. If I ever get my hard drive, I will post diskperf figures for FFS. > (4) Where's a good place to go for the drive? (I'm in the Bay Area, and > I don't mind if the price isn't rock-bottom as long as the service > is top notch.) For the StarDrive module, the cheapest price it can be had (from the places I checked that were listed in AmigaWorld) is $79 from Creative Computers (800) 872-8882. Note that I have not done business with them, so I cannot vouch for their service or reliabiltiy. I purchased my Stardrive module for $95 from InterComputing (800) 531-4747, because they offered the lowest aggregate price for Starboard + Stardrive. I had no problems with InterComputing. For the hard disk itself, try FirstStop Computer (800) 832-4322. They offer the Seagate ST-277N (65 MB, 40 ms 5 1/4" SCSI) for around $437. I currently have a Seagate ST-157N on order from Lyco Computer, but like other people who ordered from them it seems I'm getting shafted (two weeks and they still haven't shipped-- claim is it'll be in stock Thursday). --M Michael Portuesi / Information Technology Center / Carnegie Mellon University ARPA: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu BITNET: mp1u+%andrew.cmu.edu@cmccvb UUCP: ...harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!mp1u+ "my friends say she's a dumb blonde, but they don't know she dyes her hair"
cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (11/09/88)
In article <6080008@hpcupt1.HP.COM> pdg@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Paul Gootherts) writes: >I have a Starboard II connected to my A1000 and I'm thinking of adding >the Stardrive module so I can hook up a hard disk. I assume it isn't >the faster thing available and that's okay. I like the idea of not >adding another external box to my machine. Here are my questions: >(1) Does the Stardrive autoboot when you use 1.3 Kickstart/Workbench? No, you can "psuedo boot" using RAD: but there are no ROMs on the StarDrive that it could boot from. >(2) Microbotics has only tested a couple of drives. Is there a more > complete list of drives that other people have already tried? (I'm > interested in those that *don't* work as well as those that do.) I've been pretty successful with most kinds of drives. Sometimes it is tricky though. I am looking at the way the bus is terminated to see if that can cause problems. I've used Seagates (157N, 225N), Miniscribes (8052S), and Quantum drives (80S) with it and haven't had any problems _once it worked once_. That first time can be tricky since various disks do various things when the bus resets. >(3) How fast does it go with the FFS? (Any numbers you've got will be > appreciated.) No numbers but it seems very fast. Compared to floppies there is of course no comparison. >(4) Where's a good place to go for the drive? (I'm in the Bay Area, and > I don't mind if the price isn't rock-bottom as long as the service > is top notch.) Well you have a couple of choices. HT Electronics will sell you one of the seagate drives or a miniscribe. They also have a "box" that has a powersupply and mounting plates for a full height drive, SCSI Adapter (if required), for $95. --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
scotth@harlie.SGI.COM (Scott Henry) (11/09/88)
From article <6080008@hpcupt1.HP.COM>, by pdg@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Paul Gootherts): > I have a Starboard II connected to my A1000 and I'm thinking of adding > the Stardrive module so I can hook up a hard disk. I assume it isn't > the faster thing available and that's okay. I like the idea of not > adding another external box to my machine. Here are my questions: > > (1) Does the Stardrive autoboot when you use 1.3 Kickstart/Workbench? No, there are no ROM's associated with the controller, therefore the driver must be loaded from some other disk. It does, however, work to auto-boot off of a very small RAD: partition. I just finished installing 1.3 on my 1000 last night (and, of course, rebooted 3 or 4 times marvelling at no "workbench hand" prompt to re-boot!). I am using a RAD: mountlist of only 9 cylinders, you might squeeze it to 8 wit a little more work than I did. > > (2) Microbotics has only tested a couple of drives. Is there a more > complete list of drives that other people have already tried? (I'm > interested in those that *don't* work as well as those that do.) I am using mine with an Adaptec 4070 (RLL) SCSI controller card, and it works fine. Given the Adaptec card, any ST506/ST412 drive will work with it. I am using a Miniscribe 3.5" 30MB RLL (I don't remember the model number off hand) in a Fry's hard-disk cabinet, and I have room for another drive. > > (3) How fast does it go with the FFS? (Any numbers you've got will be > appreciated.) Faster than with OFS! No numbers, sorry, but noticeably faster response, especially doing directories. > > (4) Where's a good place to go for the drive? (I'm in the Bay Area, and > I don't mind if the price isn't rock-bottom as long as the service > is top notch.) I got my drive at Sunnyvale Memories - good price, but cash only; I didn't have any problems. The drive was in stock (but I didn't get the real drive manual, either). > > Thanks in advance, > Paul Gootherts, Hewlett Packard Co, hpda!pdg Scott Henry, Silicon Graphics, scotth@sgi.com -- Scott Henry <scotth@harlie.sgi.com> {or, also on the Internet:} <skywalker@cup.portal.com> #include <std_disclaimer.h>
dyl@cory.Berkeley.EDU (dylan mcnamee) (11/10/88)
In article <21816@sgi.SGI.COM> scotth@harlie.SGI.COM (Scott Henry) writes: >From article <6080008@hpcupt1.HP.COM>, by pdg@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Paul Gootherts): > I have a Starboard II connected to my A1000 and I'm thinking of adding > the Stardrive module so I can hook up a hard disk. I assume it isn't > the faster thing available and that's okay. I like the idea of not > adding another external box to my machine. Here are my questions: > > (2) Microbotics has only tested a couple of drives. Is there a more > complete list of drives that other people have already tried? (I'm > interested in those that *don't* work as well as those that do.) > I'm using mine with an Adaptec 4070 controller,er,efter 2 weeks of debugging (it ended up being a faulty cable) I finally had a hard disk. It's been two months with no troubles. The drive is a fujitsu 2242 (40M) which I got in Silicon Valley for ~$250. > (3) How fast does it go with the FFS? (Any numbers you've got will be > appreciated.) Here's my diskperf numbers. If anyone sees anything wrong with them, it could be that I did something wrong. (Question, can the Stardrive handle an interleave of 1?) Fujutsu w/ FFS sun (for comparison) creations 9 6 deletions 30 11 scan 100 350 seek/read 55 298 read (512 buf) 37991 240499 write (512) 28187 215166 read (4096) 47662 234057 write (4096) 51400 182466 read (8192) 47662 write (8192) 50412 I quit there... hope this is useful. dylan mcnamee dyl@cory.berkeley.edu #!
scott@applix.UUCP (Scott Evernden) (11/11/88)
In article <6080008@hpcupt1.HP.COM> pdg@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Paul Gootherts) writes: >I have a Starboard II connected to my A1000 and I'm thinking of adding >the Stardrive module so I can hook up a hard disk. > >(3) How fast does it go with the FFS? (Any numbers you've got will be > appreciated.) With 1:3 hard interleave on my ST277N, in an empty 40Meg FFS partition, with 30 buffers, using the StarDrive's FASTMODE, my best 68010 diskperfa times were: File create/delete: create 16 files/sec, delete 50 files/sec Directory scan: 106 entries/sec Seek/read test: 108 seek/reads per second r/w speed: buf 512 bytes, rd 84562 byte/sec, wr 27887 byte/sec r/w speed: buf 4096 bytes, rd 137970 byte/sec, wr 124830 byte/sec r/w speed: buf 8192 bytes, rd 187245 byte/sec, wr 154202 byte/sec r/w speed: buf 32768 bytes, rd 291271 byte/sec, wr 187245 byte/sec That partition is now about 33% full, I suspect fairly fragmented, and the times are now: File create/delete: create 14 files/sec, delete 37 files/sec Directory scan: 96 entries/sec Seek/read test: 95 seek/reads per second r/w speed: buf 512 bytes, rd 84562 byte/sec, wr 27025 byte/sec r/w speed: buf 4096 bytes, rd 131072 byte/sec, wr 104857 byte/sec r/w speed: buf 8192 bytes, rd 187245 byte/sec, wr 131072 byte/sec r/w speed: buf 32768 bytes, rd 238312 byte/sec, wr 145635 byte/sec -scott
gmg@hcx.uucp (Greg M. Garner) (11/11/88)
I recently (Ok, Today is recently, right? :-) purchased a st277n scsi
hardrive, and a supra scsi controller. Given that I see so many questions
here on hard drives, I will ad my two cents.
I am _VERY_ impressed with the supra controller, its construction, its
manual, its performance, in short, everything about it. I am glad
I decided to get this combination over the starboard scsi, as I have
no complaints about Supra.
The only thing I had even a small problem with was their startup
sequence, but I chunked it, and wrote my own. To be fair, theirs would
probably work if I had made dh0: larger then 1 meg.
I hooked all the components up, and then turned them on, (with
microbotics 2 meg), and all of it works perfect. The supraformat
program is a dream, very well thought out. It even somehow (magic
I guess :-) figured out that I had a st277n drive hooked up to it.
The manual talks about how to install ffs, and the boot disk is
even a 1.3 workbench disk.
I am able to recommend this configuration to anyone owning an A1000
and looking for a harddrive. I also managed to get a 65 meg setup
for less than 800 Clams, including blue label UPS shipping.
The hard drive came from Lyco Computers, costing me in the end
464.00 with shipping. The Supra interface came directly from
Supra, 205.00$$$. and a hard drive enclosure from wetek, for
90.00 rounds it out. Try it, you'll like it!
/* I am not associated with any of these companies except as a
satisfied customer. */
Greg Garner
gmg@hcx.uucp USENET: ...!uunet!harris.cis.ksu.edu!hcx!gmg
501-442-4847 mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) (11/12/88)
> *Excerpts from ext.nn.comp.sys.amiga: 11-Nov-88 Re: Microbotics Stardrive q..* > *Greg M. Garner@hcx.uucp (1607)* > I am _VERY_ impressed with the supra controller, its construction, its > manual, its performance, in short, everything about it. I am glad > I decided to get this combination over the starboard scsi, as I have > no complaints about Supra. > . I also managed to get a 65 meg setup > for less than 800 Clams, including blue label UPS shipping. > The hard drive came from Lyco Computers, costing me in the end > 464.00 with shipping. The Supra interface came directly from > Supra, 205.00$$$. and a hard drive enclosure from wetek, for > 90.00 rounds it out. Try it, you'll like it! For $337 I got a Starboard II + SCSI controller + 512K memory on board (InterComputing, Dallas TX, (800) 531-4747) and sockets for another 512K worth of chips. I purchased a Seagate ST-157N from FirstStop Computer ((800) 832-4322) for $430, and I purchased a 3 1/2" HD enclosure + power supply from IB Computing in Oregon ((503) 297-8425) for about $90. Total cost of my HD setup is about $857, not including cable (which I haven't done anything about yet). Compared to the Supra controller setup, I paid about $100 more for 512K of memory plus the option to add another 512K simply by purchasing the chips, not to mention the fact that the Starboard also takes an additional $35 1 MB option card (sans chips, of course). I don't know if the Supra controller has this option, but the Starboard SCSI module also has a battery-backed clock. My HD is 48 meg, but FirstStop offers the ST-277N for less money than Lyco. You are also more likely to get the drive if you order from FirstStop -- I originally had my drive on order from Lyco, and they billed my Visa card despite the fact they STILL hadn't shipped the drive TWO WEEKS after I ordered it. I cancelled my order and placed it with FirstStop. With the exception of the support software and documentation (the Supra sounds definitely superior to the dreck Microbotics gave me), I think the Starboard is a better buy. I still don't have my HD yet, but the memory expansion and the clock aboard the SCSI module work flawlessly. --M Michael Portuesi / Information Technology Center / Carnegie Mellon University ARPA: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu BITNET: mp1u+%andrew.cmu.edu@cmccvb UUCP: ...harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!mp1u+ "my friends say she's a dumb blonde, but they don't know she dyes her hair"