[comp.sys.atari.st] Hard-drive on a 520ST?

lch3e@holmes.acc.Virginia.EDU (Lauren C. Howard) (06/06/91)

Can a hard-drive (spec. Megafile 30) be used with a stock 520ST?
Will there be enough memory left to run WordPerfect? Timeworks DTP?

Why are the Megafile 30's being sold off so cheap right now?  I know
they're discontinued; but is there anything wrong with them?  Are
they upgradeable?

lch3e@holmes.acc.virginia.edu

SYSPMZT@gecrdvm1.crd.ge.com (06/06/91)

In article <1991Jun5.181758.4095@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>,
lch3e@holmes.acc.Virginia.EDU (Lauren C. Howard) says:
>
>Can a hard-drive (spec. Megafile 30) be used with a stock 520ST?
>Will there be enough memory left to run WordPerfect? Timeworks DTP?
>
>Why are the Megafile 30's being sold off so cheap right now?  I know
>they're discontinued; but is there anything wrong with them?  Are
>they upgradeable?
>
I can't answer most of the questions, but having been in the market for
a hard drive recently, I can tell you that every dealer I've talked to
about the Megafile 30 has had the same response: "They're really slow.
Most of my customers can't deal with anything this slow."

Mind that they're dealers with non-Atari drives to sell, but it became
the expected response whenever I talked to one of them.  I found a
49M 28ns drive from Carter Graphics for $414 that I'm waiting for now.
Atari's Megafile was $365 at most places that would touch them.  Seemed
like a simple choice to me.

Phil Z

scale@abode.ttank.com (Luis Outumuro) (06/07/91)

	Hi Lauren,
		Yes, a hard drive such as the Megafile 30 can be used with a
"stock" 520ST, although I doubt there would be enough memory left to run 
either WordPerfect or Publisher ST.  You could however run the likes of 
WordWriter and Publishing Partner.  Having a hard drive connected to a 512k ST
really restricts which programs you can use; this would be an excellent time to
upgrade your computer.
	Megafiles are so cheap now, because hard drive prices are at an
all-time low; and this is industry wide (not just Atari).  There is nothing
wrong with the Megafile 30's; low OEM prices of the mechanism and market
competition allow the price to be low.  Yes, the Megafile 30's are upgradeable;
one of the most popular replacement mechanisms for the Megafile 30 is the 
Mitsubishi MR535.  The MR535 (when connected to a RLL controller, like the 
Megafile 30 has) is a 65m, 25ms hard drive; it simply plugs and mounts in the
same place as the Megafile 30's Seagate ST238R mechanism, although you will
need different software to format and partition the drive with (such as Supra's
Hard Drive Utilities, Diamond Cache would be nice too).  I hope this helps,
take care.  Bye................

					Luis

slammy@admiral.UUCP (Dave Litchman) (06/12/91)

lch3e@holmes.acc.Virginia.EDU (Lauren C. Howard) writes:

> Can a hard-drive (spec. Megafile 30) be used with a stock 520ST?
> Will there be enough memory left to run WordPerfect? Timeworks DTP?
You will have almost the same amount of free memory with a hard drive as 
without. The driver only takes up a few bytes. If you could run Word 
Perfect and Timeworks DTP before (which I suspect you could) you can 
still run them with a hard drive, only MUCH, MUCH faster.

/e
> 
> Why are the Megafile 30's being sold off so cheap right now?  I know
> they're discontinued; but is there anything wrong with them?  Are
> they upgradeable?
> 
> lch3e@holmes.acc.virginia.edu


slammy@admiral.UUCP (Dave Litchman) <uunet!areyes!admiral!slammy>
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la_carle@sol.brispoly.ac.uk (Les Carleton) (06/16/91)

In article <VJJe41w164w@admiral.UUCP> slammy@admiral.UUCP (Dave Litchman) writes:
   You will have almost the same amount of free memory with a hard drive as 
   without. The driver only takes up a few bytes. If you could run Word 
   Perfect and Timeworks DTP before (which I suspect you could) you can 
   still run them with a hard drive, only MUCH, MUCH faster.

Careful here ... the ICD boot system I have does take up a lot of
memory if you use the disk seriously (extra 500-1000 folders). I have
up to now lost ~100K (out of 1Mb (yes I know I should get more :-))
with all caching off.

...Les...
"6x uudecode at the same time"
--
+---------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| Les Carleton              | la_carle@uk.ac.bristol-poly.gould2 (JANET) |
| MCI#4 Bristol Polytechnic | "My Life - My Opinions - ALL MINE!!!"      |
| Brissle, England          | "I love children ... but I couldn't eat a  |
| "UNIX troubleshooter"     | whole one"                                 |
|    Moving soon ... redirect to les@decuk.uvo.dec.com after July 1st    |
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Roger.Sheppard@actrix.gen.nz (Roger Sheppard) (06/16/91)

In article <LA_CARLE.91Jun15170545@sol.brispoly.ac.uk> la_carle@sol.brispoly.ac.uk (Les Carleton) writes:
> In article <VJJe41w164w@admiral.UUCP> slammy@admiral.UUCP (Dave Litchman) writes:
>    You will have almost the same amount of free memory with a hard drive as 
>    without. The driver only takes up a few bytes. If you could run Word 
>    Perfect and Timeworks DTP before (which I suspect you could) you can 
>    still run them with a hard drive, only MUCH, MUCH faster.
> 
> Careful here ... the ICD boot system I have does take up a lot of
> memory if you se the disk seriously (extra 500-1000 folders). I have
                                             ^^^ ^^^^
Why not get TOS 1.4, then there would be no need for all these extra folders.

> up to now lost ~100K (out of 1Mb (yes I know I should get more :-))
> with all caching off.
> 
> ...Les...
> "6x uudecode at the same time"
> --
> +---------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
> | Les Carleton              | la_carle@uk.ac.bristol-poly.gould2 (JANET) |
> | MCI#4 Bristol Polytechnic | "My Life - My Opinions - ALL MINE!!!"      |
> | Brissle, England          | "I love children ... but I couldn't eat a  |
> | "UNIX troubleshooter"     | whole one"                                 |
> |    Moving soon ... redirect to les@decuk.uvo.dec.com after July 1st    |
> +---------------------------+--------------------------------------------+

The ICD booter uses a lot more memory that most, and some this is not
needed from looking at the code,  German Text, and 'TT' support ? 
Try the Supra Booter , this will give you far more memory.
-- 
***  Roger W. Sheppard        *    Roger.Sheppard@bbs.actrix.gen.nz  ***
***  85 Donovan Rd          *  *   At least I don't Flicker, not     ***
***  Kapiti New Zealand..    *     like a dying light globe. !       ***

la_carle@sol.brispoly.ac.uk (Les Carleton) (06/17/91)

In article <1991Jun16.132202.24282@actrix.gen.nz> Roger.Sheppard@actrix.gen.nz (Roger Sheppard) writes:
   In article <LA_CARLE.91Jun15170545@sol.brispoly.ac.uk> la_carle@sol.brispoly.ac.uk (Les Carleton) writes:
   > Careful here ... the ICD boot system I have does take up a lot of
   > memory if you se the disk seriously (extra 500-1000 folders). I have
						^^^ ^^^^
   Why not get TOS 1.4, then there would be no need for all these extra folders

I'm upgrading to an STE (or maybe a PC) soon. Life is tough when your
machine is outmoded.

...Les...
"Thanks for the tip"
--
+---------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| Les Carleton              | la_carle@uk.ac.bristol-poly.gould2 (JANET) |
| MCI#4 Bristol Polytechnic | "My Life - My Opinions - ALL MINE!!!"      |
| Brissle, England          | "I love children ... but I couldn't eat a  |
| "UNIX troubleshooter"     | whole one"                                 |
|    Moving soon ... redirect to les@decuk.uvo.dec.com after July 1st    |
+---------------------------+--------------------------------------------+