straka@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (richard.j.straka) (11/15/89)
I just received a "POWERDrive" 80 from Hard Disks International. Can't complain about the price, and it's NOT a Quantum (sorry about the editorializing). It's a Seagate ST296N (82MB) external. However, I seem to have the problem of the HD not booting UNLESS the Mac Plus (actually 1024KE w/SuperMac SCSI interface) is turned on AFTER the HD is FULLY spun up. If the drive is not spun up, the "?" icon just keeps flashing, even after the drive spins up. RATHER inconvenient, if you ask me. I did NOT have this problem with my old Dataframe XP20 (SMS OMTI 310x controller) or a Jasmine DD70 (Rodime) that I hooked up once. In addition, if I boot off of a floppy and then do a restart, the HD will boot as normal. I seem to remember that some early Mac Plus ROMs had a "UNIT ATTENTION" lead problem where when the Mac is first powered up and the drive is not ready, the Mac will not go out and attempt to poll the drive again (or something of that nature. My ROMs (per MacEnvy) are Rev.2 (Lonely Heiffer). Is this my problem? If so, I presume that my Apple dealer can take care of me with new ROMs. Or, is it a Drive problem that a) needs replacement (unlikely) or b)needs a jumpering change of some kind. By the way, the tech support at HDI, OnTrack (driver software), and Seagate were ignorant, finger pointing, and ignorant, in that order. The finger pointing by OnTrack was appropriate in my opinion, by the way. I didn't like their drivers anyway, and I am now using other drivers anyway (no difference in the above problem with either driver). The drivers I am using are from LaCie, and I must commend them about their software and manual. Nice job! Sorry for the long-winded posting, but my memory needs some refreshing. AdvTHANKSance! -- Rich Straka att!ihlpf!straka MSDOS: All the wonderfully arcane syntax of UNIX(R), but without the power.