[comp.sys.mac] DiskFit 1.5 Upgrade Blues

isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Ken Hancock) (02/04/89)

Well, after an hour + of being on the phone with SuperMac tech support,
I can't say I'm too thrilled with Disk Fit 1.5.

Why?  Well, I happen to use a DataStream tape drive, and I've
yet to see a driver from them that actually works.

My System: Mac Plus, 30 Meg SCSI, System 6.0.2.

I bought Disk Fit 1.4.  Worked fine, except for a couple major hangups.
With the old DataStream drivers, when you want to eject a tape, you
get a dialog box which asks you to eject a tape.  Press the eject
button, the tape pops out, but the dialog box doesn't go away.  *sigh*
Another nice bug was that having the DataStream connected after a
backup and restarting sometimes corrupted the desktop file.  Why?
You've got me.  Tech support didn't know why either.  (This problem was
repeated twice.  Final solution: after the system hangs on ejecting the
tape, turn the mac off, disconnect the DataStrem.)

Well, now I paid my $20 and got my DiskFit 1.5 upgrade with the
DataStream 2.02 driver.  Brought it home, stuck in the driver,
rebooted, inserted a tape.  ID=02.  *sigh* Tried it again.  ID=02.
Booted off the distribution disk with the driver in the System
Folder.  ID=02.  *sigh*  It seems the new driver bombs when
it tries to mount a tape under Finder.  Works ok under Multifinder.

So, after an hour with tech support:

ULDataStream 2.02 works with:  Mac Plus: under Multifinder
                               Mac SE: under Finder/Multifinder
                               Mac II: under Finder/Multifinder.


On the positive side, I must compliment SuperMac's tech support.
The person I spoke with was incredibly helpful, patient, and
understanding of a product of theirs that didn't work.

After over $70 on DiskFit, I just wish they'd send me a driver
that really does work -- no kludging on my part.

Ken


Ken Hancock  '90                   | BITNET/UUCP/
Personal Computing Ctr Consultant  |   INTERNET:  isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu
-----------------------------------+----------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER?  I don't get paid enough to worry about disclaimers.

werner@utastro.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) (02/04/89)

Fabian, our friendly SuperMac representative here on Usenet, was kind enough
to mail me a floppy with the latest SuperMac software and I uploaded what
I did not already have online to the FTP-archives on RASCAL.ICS.UTEXAS.EDU.

I also offered to mail the latest versions of DiskFit, DataStream and the
Help-stack to Roger, our heroic comp.binaries.mac moderator, but I have not 
heard back from him.  If you'd like to see this software circulated on Usenet or
made available on the Bitnet or other archives, please inform the respective
moderator/maintainer who can request the files from me by email if s/he has
no direct FTP-access to RASCAL.

-- 
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(INTERNET)     werner%rascal.ics.utexas.edu@cs.utexas.edu
(UUCP)	..!utastro!werner   or  ..!uunet!rascal.ics.utexas.edu!werner

ngg@bridge2.3Com.Com (Norman Goodger) (02/10/89)

In article <12080@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Ken Hancock) writes:
>Why?  Well, I happen to use a DataStream tape drive, and I've
>yet to see a driver from them that actually works.
>My System: Mac Plus, 30 Meg SCSI, System 6.0.2.
>I bought Disk Fit 1.4.  Worked fine, except for a couple major hangups.
>With the old DataStream drivers, when you want to eject a tape, you
>get a dialog box which asks you to eject a tape.  Press the eject
>button, the tape pops out, but the dialog box doesn't go away.  *sigh*
>Another nice bug was that having the DataStream connected after a
>backup and restarting sometimes corrupted the desktop file.  Why?
>You've got me.  Tech support didn't know why either.  (This problem was
>repeated twice.  Final solution: after the system hangs on ejecting the
>tape, turn the mac off, disconnect the DataStrem.)
>Ken Hancock  '90                   | BITNET/UUCP/

I used to own a Datastream for almost a year, and never ever had the problems
you described with the old drivers. You must have something installed, INIT,
or something that is conflicting with the Datastream drivers. Whenever I
ejected the tape, the dialog always disappeared. It never corrupted the
desktop file, after hundreds of backups....there is a possibility perhaps
that the hardware is failing to send some signal back that the software
looks for to determine that you have ejected the tape..or the cable is
bad.. Since I sold it before the new drivers came out, and you say they
crash, this indicates at least to me that you must have something installed
that is conflicting with the Datastream INIT, perhaps renaming it so that
it loads in a different order will solve the problem...as Its getting impossible
for software companies to test compability withh everything we toss in our
system folders....



-- 
Norm Goodger				SysOp - MacInfo BBS @415-795-8862
3Com Corp.				Co-Sysop FreeSoft RT - GEnie.
Enterprise Systems Division             (I disclaim anything and everything)

Fabian@cup.portal.com (Fabian Fabe Ramirez) (02/16/89)

Ken,

With whom did you speak with?  Respond via E-Mail if appropriate.

As Norm has indicated is it possible that you might either have something that
might be conflicting with the ULDataStream INIT?  I really cannot think of any
specific INIT or cdev that could be a problem.

Version 1.15 of the ULDataStream INIT did have a problem with System 6.0.x upon
ejecting a tape cartridge.  It hung and this was a known problem.  That's why
there's version 2.02 to fix this particular problem with the way System 6.0.0
handled a particular SysBeep call.  2.02 also incorporates all of the features
of DataForm 1.0d (and gets rid of that "brain dead" application).

We use the 2.02 INIT to backup our BBS that runs on a Mac Plus (or is it a
Mac 512Ke with a 1 Mb and SCSI upgrade...?) with no problems.

Any possibility of a bad INIT or corrupted System software?

Fabian Ramirez
SuperMac Technology

fabian@cup.portal.com
sun!cup.portal.com!fabian

pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (Paul G. Nevai) (02/17/89)

I started to use DiskFit 1.5d (It was free and fortunately one of my hard-
drives is a DataFrame so it works). A backup to 45Meg cartridges. It's
fine, but according to the description it is supposed to be way faster
than version 1.41. Well, it isn't. Both versions are fast, but they are
more or less the same.
Anyway, it's a great product.
(Unlike ... (I am waiting for my money back, so I won't hurt anyones'
feelings)...)


Paul Nevai                                pgn@osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu
Department of Mathematics                 TS1171@ohstvma.BITNET
The Ohio State University                 73057,172.Compu$erve
231 West Eighteenth Avenue                1-(614)-292-5310.office
Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A.                1-(614)-292-4975.department

chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (02/18/89)

> It's
>fine, but according to the description it is supposed to be way faster
>than version 1.41. Well, it isn't. Both versions are fast, but they are
>more or less the same.

It is here. I sat down and timed it. I'm averaging about 35% improvement on
my disks.



Chuq Von Rospach       -*-      Editor,OtherRealms      -*-      Member SFWA
chuq@apple.com  -*-  CI$: 73317,635  -*-  Delphi: CHUQ  -*-  Applelink: CHUQ
      [This is myself speaking. No company can control my thoughts.]

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