toml@xrxedds.UUCP (Tom Love) (05/09/90)
i have found the xe to run for about 2 hours with pretty heavy hard
disk usage. i have the auto-spindown set to 5 min, and find that it
rarely spins down given my recent usage patterns. i bought two extra
batteries to accomodate any inadequacy due to hard disk. i'm
comfortable with six hrs of battery use.
questions - i find that the 5 minutes of use before auto-spindown on
the HD to be very wasteful. i would like to be able to either reduce
that interval, or manually force a spindown. the setup10 and popup
window interfaces both provide for a minimum interval of 5 min, the
other options being either > 5 min (totally useless, in my opinion),
or none at all. does anyone know how to do either less than 5 min or
a manual spindown? anyone got the stomache to use find the tsr which
implements the popup window, disassemble it to determine its logic and
solve this problem?
one more question - i installed a 'megahertz' (brand) 2400 bit/sec
internal modem. i have had no luck using the thing - although i can
make it dial ok, it seems to be incapable of running a clean session
with a sun 3 host. the modem i'm connecting to may be a little funky,
but it works with other (dialing) modems. here's the really
interesting bit of info - i kept retrying and retrying, occassionally
getting connected but generally not, when WHAM the hard disk spun down
(timed out at 5 min), and ALL OF A SUDDEN i was able to get a cleaner
connection. unfortunately it still was not clean enough to use - but
i found the link between hd activity and line noise interesting.
anyone using an internal modem on the XE? what brand? how successful
have you been? any suggestions? should i try a toshiba modem?
(twice the price, same bandwidth).
someone asked about a good price on xe and se. i just got mine from
micro usa in los angeles. main reasons i dealt with them: good price
($1899, i think), they took a corporate PO, and (most important) they
were the ONLY source in the entire USA i could find for the external
3.5" floppy. i dealt with Danny; mention me (Tom from Xerox) if you
call him. phone number is 213-473-2535.
good luck.
tom love
xerox edds, herndon va
uunet!xrxedds!toml
--
tom love
Xerox Engineering Design and Documentation Systems
607 Herndon Pkwy, Herndon, VA 22070 703-787-2027
ARPA: toml.herndon@xerox.com
XNS: toml:herndon:xerox
UUCP: uunet!xrxedds!toml
{sun|rlgvax|hadron}!sundc!ra!toml
GENIE: tomlove (infrequently used)
Disclaimer: they didn't do it, i did, so leave them alone.tracy@uucp (Tracy Tims) (05/25/90)
As far as I know, the T1000XE uses a Conner 2" disk. I read an article on this disk once that said that it is not a Winchester disk because it unloads the heads from the surfaces before spinning down. A triangular ramp catches the head support arms when the seek mechanism draws the heads back off the surface (back past track 0). The triangular ramp passively unloads (and loads) the heads. There were three reasons for engineering the drive this way: 1. No media/head wear, which means that the drive can be spun up and down a large number of times, 2. Smaller motor starting current, because the motor does not have to overcome the media/head friction on startup, and 3. Greater shock resistance when the drive is spun down, as there is no risk of media/head chatter. All of these properties are good for laptops.