wtcx@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Tom Clodfelter) (06/05/90)
I recently purchased an NEC CDR35 CD-Rom drive. I had heard that the drive was really slow but I was prepaired to put up with that due to the price of the drive. I found out through testing that this drive is not tollerant of other SCSI devices. It slowed down the access to my hard disk by causing SCSI errors and disk timeouts. With this device powered up, the speed of my systems IO was cut to 25%. Turn the device off and everything was normal. The addresses and termination of my SCSI were set up correctly. This device selected any time any SCSI device was used. It would hold the bus until it had spun up, even though it was not being accessed. This was a real diappointment. I really like the idea of the portable drive. It was totally useless on my Mac IIcx and while it was turned on it made my Mac totally useless as well. Needless to say it is on its way back to MacConnection. A cryptic note in the NEC package seems to indicate that the device is designed to be the sole device on the SCSI bus. This makes it somewhat useless on a Mac.
phil@vaxphw.enet.dec.com (Phil Hunt) (06/05/90)
In article <10365@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>, wtcx@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Tom Clodfelter) writes... } }I recently purchased an NEC CDR35 CD-Rom drive. I had heard that the }drive was really slow but I was prepaired to put up with that due }to the price of the drive. I found out through testing that this }drive is not tollerant of other SCSI devices. It slowed down the }access to my hard disk by causing SCSI errors and disk timeouts. }With this device powered up, the speed of my systems IO was cut to 25%. }Turn the device off and everything was normal. The addresses and }termination of my SCSI were set up correctly. This device selected }any time any SCSI device was used. It would hold the bus until }it had spun up, even though it was not being accessed. } }This was a real diappointment. I really like the idea of the portable }drive. It was totally useless on my Mac IIcx and while it was }turned on it made my Mac totally useless as well. Needless to say }it is on its way back to MacConnection. } }A cryptic note in the NEC package seems to indicate that the device is }designed to be the sole device on the SCSI bus. This makes it somewhat }useless on a Mac. I have had the same problem with other devices. You might find that the drive had a built in terminator or something real stupid like that. I have 3 hard disks, an Apple CDROM, and an EMAC tape connected to my mac. Yes, connecting in just the right order works, every other type of connection causes problems just like you describe. Try connecting the CDROM AFTER the HD. ================================================================== Phil Hunt "Wherever you go, there you are!!!" Digital Equipment Corporation Phone: (508)486-2164 ENET: VAXPHW::PHIL USENET: phil@vaxphw.enet.dec.com MOREUSENET: phil%vaxphw.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com EVENMORE: ....!decwrl!dec-vaxphw!phil
wtcx@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Tom Clodfelter) (06/05/90)
>Try connecting the CDROM AFTER the HD.
The CDR35 must go at the end of the chain. It only has one SCSI port
and is only at address "1". In an attempt to make it work, I trimed
the bus down to just my internal drive and the CDR35. All addresses
were correct as was the termination. No joy! It was obvious from the
bevahiour of the thing that it was not selecting correctly. Even the
docs seem to indicate that it had better be alone on the bus. Too bad
they don't say that in the ad ;-{. No it is on the way back and I have
already ordered my AppleCD SC. Should have purchased the Apple one in
the first place.kehr@felix.UUCP (Shirley Kehr) (06/07/90)
:The CDR35 must go at the end of the chain. It only has one SCSI port
:and is only at address "1". In an attempt to make it work, I trimed
:the bus down to just my internal drive and the CDR35. All addresses
:were correct as was the termination. No joy! It was obvious from the
:bevahiour of the thing that it was not selecting correctly. Even the
:docs seem to indicate that it had better be alone on the bus. Too bad
:they don't say that in the ad ;-{. No it is on the way back and I have
:already ordered my AppleCD SC. Should have purchased the Apple one in
:the first place.
I had already eliminated the NEC, but I'm still debating between the
Toshiba (also sold by MacConnection) and the Apple. Why did you choose
Apple over Toshiba? Any reasons other than price?
P.S. (I know this discussion belongs in the hardware group, but I thought
the original poster might not get that group, so I've continued it here.)
Shirley Kehrphil@vaxphw.enet.dec.com (Phil Hunt) (06/08/90)
}I had already eliminated the NEC, but I'm still debating between the }Toshiba (also sold by MacConnection) and the Apple. Why did you choose }Apple over Toshiba? Any reasons other than price? } }P.S. (I know this discussion belongs in the hardware group, but I thought }the original poster might not get that group, so I've continued it here.) } }Shirley Kehr Hi, I bought the Apple for alot of reasons. 1) I work for DEC, so I got a 30% discount off of a discounted price! 2) Alot of disks that are interactive say they require the Apple if you want Audio output by program command. Whether this is true or not, I don't know, but with my money I didn't want to find out. 3) Apple will ALWAYS support in their drivers a released product. You cannot always say this about other vendors. A new mac may come out and your drive no longer works. ================================================================== Phil Hunt "Wherever you go, there you are!!!" Digital Equipment Corporation Phone: (508)486-2164 ENET: VAXPHW::PHIL USENET: phil@vaxphw.enet.dec.com MOREUSENET: phil%vaxphw.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com EVENMORE: ....!decwrl!dec-vaxphw!phil
wtcx@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Tom Clodfelter) (06/08/90)
}I had already eliminated the NEC, but I'm still debating between the }Toshiba (also sold by MacConnection) and the Apple. Why did you choose }Apple over Toshiba? Any reasons other than price? } I picked the Apple Drive for many of the same reasons as Phill Hunt. I got a good price and the apple drive has the best software. I also will be needing to use the drive under V6 , V7 and A/UX so I decided that it would be a good idea to buy the "official" one. Besides... I kind of like the little "Apple" on it 8-). When I purchased the NEC I was going for price and flexability. Turned out it did not work do I decided to do it right this time.
dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt) (06/09/90)
In article <12311@shlump.nac.dec.com> phil@vaxphw.enet.dec.com (Phil Hunt) writes: > 2) Alot of disks that are interactive say they require the Apple if you want > Audio output by program command. Whether this is true or not, I > don't know, but with my money I didn't want to find out. The Toshiba driver (actually written by OMI) supports the same audio-track-control interface that the Apple driver provides. Programs which invoke the driver and issue Play commands, etc. work just fine with the OMI driver and the Toshiba drive. I typed in the sample audio-play program from the Apple CD-SC technical manual (available from APDA), and found that it functions properly with the Toshiba drive. The only feature that I'm aware of that's available in the Apple drive, and not in the Toshiba drive, is the skip-search capability (fast-forward and fast-reverse). The Toshiba drive's SCSI command set doesn't support these commands; if you issue them, the Toshiba resets itself. I have yet to find a mixed-mode (CD-ROM/audio) disc which does not work correctly with the Toshiba XM-3201. > 3) Apple will ALWAYS support in their drivers a released product. You cannot > always say this about other vendors. A new mac may come out and your > drive no longer works. Ahem. As I recall, some of the Apple CD-ROM software did not work correctly with the IIci; owners of this new machine had to wait for quite some time (a couple of months?) for the 3.01 driver set to be released. -- Dave Platt VOICE: (415) 493-8805 UUCP: ...!{ames,apple,uunet}!coherent!dplatt DOMAIN: dplatt@coherent.com INTERNET: coherent!dplatt@ames.arpa, ...@uunet.uu.net USNAIL: Coherent Thought Inc. 3350 West Bayshore #205 Palo Alto CA 94303