cline@leadsv.UUCP (Ed Cline) (10/14/87)
I saw in an ad recently a name I hadn't seen before in the Macintosh Hard-disk
drive suppliers list: CMS drives. Has anybody heard of them? How is the
drive? They are specially designed for portability (100g shock rating)
with a fold away handle, etc. They claim to have been a major supplier of
drives to the PC side of the computing world.
I would appreciate it if anyone who knows about the company or these set
of Macintosh drives by CMS, I would appreciate your comments ASAP as I
plan on ordering within a week. Either email or follow-up, but I would
prefer email. :-)
Thanks in advance.
--
Edward A. Cline Voice: (408) 756-4876
Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. ( cline@leadsv.UUCP )
Sunnyvale, CA ...{cae780,lll-lcc,sun!sunncal,savax}!leadsv!clinemike@ivory.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Michael Lodman) (10/15/87)
We purchased a CMS drive at the recommendation of our local
PC distributor, SD DOS. We never did get it work, but, of
course, there "was nothing wrong with the drive." I really
think you would be better off looking around some more.
--
Michael Lodman (619) 485-3335
Advanced Development NCR Corporation E&M San Diego
mike.lodman@ivory.SanDiego.NCR.COM
{sdcsvax,cbatt,dcdwest,nosc.ARPA,ihnp4}!ncr-sd!ivory!lodman
When you die, if you've been very, very good, you'll go to ... Montana.cm450s02@uhccux.UUCP (jeff t. segawa) (10/16/87)
I've owned a 20 meg SCSI Mac drive by CMS, and have had no problems with it. I've used this drive on both my old Mac Plus and Mac II without incident. Support has been OK. Charles McConathy of CMS is a regular on CompuServe (MAUG, in particular), and he's sent me literature, answered questions and sent me free software updates in the past. My next drive (probably an 80 meg internal) will almost certainly be a CMS.
dave@westmark.UUCP (Dave Levenson) (10/18/87)
In article <1782@leadsv.UUCP>, cline@leadsv.UUCP (Ed Cline) writes: > > I saw in an ad recently a name I hadn't seen before in the Macintosh Hard-disk > drive suppliers list: CMS drives. Has anybody heard of them? How is the > drive? I have purchased CMS drives for IBM PC-AT equipment. CMS, apparently, buys disks from Seagate, Miniscribe, and Rodime and packages them with controller, cables, and a diskette containing a menu-driven low-level formatter program. I don't think they make a disk drive, but they sell a convenient kit built around other people's disks. -- Dave Levenson Westmark, Inc. A node for news. Warren, NJ USA {rutgers | clyde | mtune | ihnp4}!westmark!dave
jww@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Joel West) (10/19/87)
CMS sells an 80 Mb internal for the Mac II that uses a Quantum.
That's the same spindle as in Apple's HD-80SC, which makes
me think it might be A/UX compatible. My understanding
is that A/UX does run on both the Apple and Jasmine 80, both
of which use the Quantum.
--
Joel West (c/o UCSD)
Palomar Software, Inc., P.O. Box 2635, Vista, CA 92083
{ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!jww jww@sdcsvax.ucsd.edujons@islenet.UUCP (Jonathan Spangler) (10/20/87)
>I have purchased CMS drives for IBM PC-AT equipment. CMS, >apparently, buys disks from Seagate, Miniscribe, and Rodime and >-- >Dave Levenson >{rutgers | clyde | mtune | ihnp4}!westmark!dave Dave, This is nothing new. Everex does this as well with mostly Seagate drives and WD controllers. They include a nice little kit that has a diskette and AT rails with screws and a manual. I suspect that there are probably others besides CMS and Everex doing this as well. Aloha, Jonathan Spangler UUCP: {ihnp4,vortex,dual}!islenet!jons OPUS/FIDONET: Sysop@(12/6) HTCS BBS (808)531-2659, 24 hrs., Honolulu -- Jonathan Spangler UUCP: {ihnp4,vortex,dual}!islenet!jons OPUS/FIDONET: Sysop@(12/6) HTCS BBS (808)531-2659, 24 hrs., Honolulu
dennisg@pwcs.StPaul.GOV (Dennis Grittner) (10/21/87)
In article <4127@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU> jww@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Joel West) writes: >CMS sells an 80 Mb internal for the Mac II that uses a Quantum. >That's the same spindle as in Apple's HD-80SC, which makes >me think it might be A/UX compatible. I have a CMS 80 and I don't really know about A/UX but you have to use a different driver with regular Mac software - the Apple one won't work and I'm waiting for a ROM upgrade ( that I guess I'll be paying for ) to take advantage of the Mac II speed. In the meantime I'm running a disk set up for a Mac Plus ( apparently slow interleave ). I don't know where to point finger(s) ( dealer? CMS ?Apple? ) but I do know that early CMS 80's like mine had a few problems working correctly in a Mac II. I would be pretty leeeeery about running a CMS 80 with A/UX untill I knew more. -- Dennis Grittner City of Saint Paul, Minnesota (612) 298-4402 Room 700, 25 W. 4th St. 55102 "Let's just put Ollie, Ronnie, and the rest in jail!"
jww@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Joel West) (10/23/87)
We got a CMS 80 internal this week (good developer price) and it
seems to be working just fine. I can't speak for CMS, but
I've used a Jasmine 80 external for A/UX; of course, Apple installs
all the drivers on any A/UX disk.
--
Joel West (c/o UCSD)
Palomar Software, Inc., P.O. Box 2635, Vista, CA 92083
{ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!jww jww@sdcsvax.ucsd.edugillies@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu (10/30/87)
Supposedly, the CMS drive is supposed to have more efficient firmware
than the Apple drive, making it incompatible with the Apple system
drivers. My dealer's literature states the 80Mb CMS average seek time
is 26ms. I've seen adds (MacWeek) that state the transfer rate is
exactly 1Mb/sec, fully saturating the SCSI port.
Can anyone confirm this? Does anyone really know if this drive is
faster than Apple, and if so, how much so? Does the apple backup
software (bundled w/Mac II) work with this drive?
Don Gillies {ihnp4!uiucdcs!gillies} U of Illinoismaddie@pnet01.cts.com (Tom Schenck) (10/31/87)
Well, considering that the maximum data transfer rate is 1.5 meg/sec, and
that Apple is supposed to have an 80-meg drive at about the same speed as the
CMS (seeing that they both use the same mechanical, and the EPROM contains
similar code), I really don't see any difference in the two. In MY opinion, 26
ms is rather slow for an 80-meg drive, and BORDERLINE for a 40-meg...
That *IS* just my opinion.
UUCP: {cbosgd, hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!pnet01!maddie
ARPA: crash!pnet01!maddie@nosc.mil
INET: maddie@pnet01.CTS.COMcswarren@enzyme.berkeley.edu.BERKELEY.EDU (Warren Gish) (11/01/87)
I've heard the 80 MB CMS drives contain a 64 KB cache that drops the average access time from 26 ms down to 18 ms, which is good for a drive of this size. The CMS drivers were recently updated to perform "blind" reads and writes, which is how the SCSI port is purportedly saturated. This drive definitely *seems* faster than the 40 MB Apple drive. Apple's HD Backup (System 4.1 and 4.2) work fine; I've only used the verify function of Apple's First Aid and it seemed to work also. I've had my Pro80ii for almost 2 mos. now and had zero problems with it. The CMS drives are significantly less expensive than any other manufacturers' I've found. (Try M.A.C. in Berkeley where the Pro80i internal sells for $1180, or if you're an Apple Certified Developer you can buy the same drive for $999 directly from CMS [Tustin, CA]). --Warren Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with CMS, M.A.C., or Apple, and any opinions expressed herein are in the public domain.
alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen) (11/15/88)
In article <3211@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> ccm022@deneb.ucdavis.edu writes: > > Do CMS drives have problems with the Mac System or just certain versions >I want to buy a CMS internal hd 30 for my SE but I've seen a lot of bitching >about the CMS and System Software. Do I buy CMS and use only certain sys >versions or forget CMS all together? > Leme Know, Mark Malone. You have not "seen a lot of bitching about the CMS and System Software." There was some, concerning only the 80 MB models, only with system 6.0, only with old versions of the formatter & installer. None of the other models have had any problems (to the best of my knowledge. I use a lot of CMS stuff, so I guess I should know fairly well). CMS drives are good reliable equipement. Not flashy, but very solid and very cheap. ---- Alexis Rosen alexis@dasys1.UUCP or alexis@ccnysci.UUCP Writing from {allegra,philabs,cmcl2}!phri\ The Big Electric Cat uunet!dasys1!alexis Public UNIX {portal,well,sun}!hoptoad/
blm@cxsea.UUCP (Brian Matthews) (11/18/88)
Alexis Rosen (alexis@ccnysci.UUCP) writes: |In article <3211@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> ccm022@deneb.ucdavis.edu writes: |> Do CMS drives have problems with the Mac System or just certain versions |>I want to buy a CMS internal hd 30 for my SE but I've seen a lot of bitching |>about the CMS and System Software. Do I buy CMS and use only certain sys |>versions or forget CMS all together? |You have not "seen a lot of bitching about the CMS and System Software." |There was some, concerning only the 80 MB models, only with system 6.0, |only with old versions of the formatter & installer. As I was doing the "bitching" - actually just a couple of messages asking for info - I'd like to agree with Alexis. I couldn't get my CMS SD80 to work with System 6.0 and beyond, but it just turned out I had an ancient installer (and presumably ancient drivers). After getting the newest installer, 6.0.2 works great, as does my CMS drive. |CMS drives are good reliable equipement. Not flashy, but very solid and very |cheap. Agreed completely. -- Brian L. Matthews blm@cxsea.UUCP ...{mnetor,uw-beaver!ssc-vax}!cxsea!blm +1 206 251 6811 Computer X Inc. - a division of Motorola New Enterprises
kehr@felix.UUCP (Shirley Kehr) (11/18/88)
In article <986@ccnysci.UUCP> alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen) writes: <In article <3211@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> ccm022@deneb.ucdavis.edu writes: <> <> Do CMS drives have problems with the Mac System or just certain versions <>I want to buy a CMS internal hd 30 for my SE but I've seen a lot of bitching <>about the CMS and System Software. Do I buy CMS and use only certain sys <>versions or forget CMS all together? <> Leme Know, Mark Malone. < <You have not "seen a lot of bitching about the CMS and System Software." There <was some, concerning only the 80 MB models, only with system 6.0, only with <old versions of the formatter & installer. None of the other models have had <any problems (to the best of my knowledge. I use a lot of CMS stuff, so I guess <I should know fairly well). < <CMS drives are good reliable equipement. Not flashy, but very solid and very <cheap. < <Alexis Rosen alexis@dasys1.UUCP or alexis@ccnysci.UUCP On the other hand, we're having problems every week getting the drives to boot. Just yesterday it happened on an SE that has been running System 5. At this point the toll is 2 60 MByte internals in Mac II's on System 6.0 had to be reformatted to boot. Mine was completely reformatted with Apple software instead of CMS and I have had no problems for nearly a week now. 2 SEs with 20 or 30 Mbyte drives - one had to go back for repair (takes at least a week) and the other just started acting up yesterday. One clearing of parameter RAM did it. (I had to stop typing to hunt the system diskette for the same machine just now, but by the time he waited several minutes to see if it would boot, then came to borrow my diskette, it did finally boot by itself.) One 102 Mbyte disk had to go back for repairs. All of these drives are less than a year old. I'm fairly convinced its not the hardware. After my 60 Mbyte worked flawlessly for five months and then started having problems only when I upgraded from 6.0 to 6.0.2, I can't blame the drive itself. After a week of zapping PRAM to get it to boot or even show up, it finally seemed to bite the dust completely. Reformatting it with Apple software seemed to be the magical cure. No problems all week. Personally, I would not buy a CMS drive unless I could get it reformatted similarly. On the other hand, I've used the same Seagate drive at home for over a year, but it is in an external box. I bought it from the place that upgraded my 512 to 2 Mbytes and don't even know what kind of software formatted it. Shirley Kehr