rb4572@leah.Albany.Edu (Ron Bangel) (07/23/90)
I recently purchased "Battle Squadron" from Innerprise Software, Inc. It's
one HELL of a great game, but it worries me because of a particular thing that
it does. You see, the disk drive runs ALL THE TIME, fromthe time you boot up
the machine until you (have to, there's no other way to get out of it) ctrl-
amiga-amiga to stop the drive and turn the machine off. I have three questions
about this.
1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've
been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running.
2. Is this harmful to the disk itself?
3. Does anyone know of any other games that incorporate this activity? Sure,
the game runs fast and there aren't very many delays to ruin play, but if I
had my choice, I'd buy a game that was a little easier on the disk drive...
Thanks!
--
<=-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-=>
{ Ron Bangel Computing Services Center State University of New York at Albany }
{ rb4572 or ronb@rachel.albany.edu "Speak softly and wield a loud guitar!" }
<=-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-_-=-_-\-~-=-~-/-=>bli@aludra.usc.edu (I are a college student.) (07/23/90)
In article <3387@leah.Albany.Edu> rb4572@leah.Albany.Edu (Ron Bangel) writes: > >I recently purchased "Battle Squadron" from Innerprise Software, Inc. It's >one HELL of a great game, but it worries me because of a particular thing that >it does. You see, the disk drive runs ALL THE TIME, fromthe time you boot up >the machine until you (have to, there's no other way to get out of it) ctrl- >amiga-amiga to stop the drive and turn the machine off. I have three questions >about this. > >1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've >been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. I don't think so, unless the HEAD is actually R/W'ing... What's most likely is that their disk routines at some point forgot to turn off the drive motor.. It is nothin bad... >2. Is this harmful to the disk itself? Again, no, unless you hear the head moving (or grinding).. if it is just the motor (sounds like a quiet fan), ignore it... Question 3 - -deleted, 'cus I had nothing to answer... ----- STRESS('stres)n: that confusion created when one's mind overrides the desire to choke the living daylights out of some jerk who really deserves it.
colas@avahi.inria.fr (Colas Nahaboo) (07/23/90)
In article <10980@chaph.usc.edu>, bli@aludra.usc.edu (I are a college student.) writes: > >1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've > >been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. > > I don't think so, unless the HEAD is actually R/W'ing... I think so. On most floppy disk drives, you cannot park the head, and so the head is in CONTACT with the media as soon as you insert the disk. (at least it was on the ones I opened). So this will surely erase your disk and may damage, our at least put dirt on your drive head prematurely. Try opening your disk drive and inserting a disk, you will see if it is the case... This results from people doing too intricate disk protections, and messing with timers. My solution: eject the disk when it's not in use, put it back when in use, and write a irate letter to the editor. moral: DOWN WITH DISK-BASED PROTECTIONS! Colas Nahaboo, Bull Research France -- Koala Project -- GWM X11 Window Manager colas@avahi.inria.fr Phone: (33) 93.65.77.70, Fax: (33) 93 65 77 66 INRIA - Sophia Antipolis, 2004, rte des Lucioles, 06565 Valbonne Cedex, FRANCE
pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (Robert Pomeroy) (07/23/90)
In article <3387@leah.Albany.Edu>, rb4572@leah.Albany.Edu (Ron Bangel) writes... This is in reply to Battle Squadron always running df0: >1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've >been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. > >2. Is this harmful to the disk itself? > >3. Does anyone know of any other games that incorporate this activity? Sure, >the game runs fast and there aren't very many delays to ruin play, but if I >had my choice, I'd buy a game that was a little easier on the disk drive... Next time you're playing, put your fingers on the exposed edge of the disk... If you can't actually feel the disk seeking, I wouldn't worry about it. The drive light can be turned on without running the drive, and they may be doing this for some reason or another.... Since there is about 1.7 megs of data on that 880K floppy though, I am sure they are reading in data frequently. I played Battle Squadron non-stop for awhile, but now that my roommate and I can finish it every time (If you have never finished, keep playing - VERY COOL!), I don't play it anymore. Neither my disk, nor my drive ever showed any signs of wear and tear. Bob Pomeroy pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com
pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (Robert Pomeroy) (07/23/90)
In article <3387@leah.Albany.Edu>, rb4572@leah.Albany.Edu (Ron Bangel) writes... > >I recently purchased "Battle Squadron" from Innerprise Software, Inc. It's >one HELL of a great game, but it worries me because of a particular thing that >it does. You see, the disk drive runs ALL THE TIME. > >1. Is this harmful to the drive? Because the game supports two players, we've >been up late playing this thing for hours... and the drive keeps running. > >2. Is this harmful to the disk itself? Sorry, I just wanted to add one more thing. Spinning the motor is not really all that bad for the motor. It will generally last alot longer than the rest of the drive. However, the R/W head is always in contact with the disk. Generally this is not bad, because the disk is not spinning unless data is being read. If the disk spins incessantly though, you will eventually wear out both the disk and the heads. (Disk first most likely...) It will take a long time as long as it it doesn't get hot, and the disk doesn't have junk on it. (if the disk is dirty it will obviously die that much faster.) Bob Pomeroy pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com
amhartma@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Andy Hartman - AmigaMan) (07/24/90)
In article <8490@mirsa.inria.fr> colas@avahi.inria.fr (Colas Nahaboo) writes: >I think so. On most floppy disk drives, you cannot park the head, and so the >head is in CONTACT with the media as soon as you insert the disk. >(at least it was on the ones I opened). So this will surely erase your disk >and may damage, our at least put dirt on your drive head prematurely. How do you figure that it erases a disk? It may wear on the track that the head is sitting on, but just having the head on the disk doesn't erase anything You are right about not parking the head. No, the situation described WON'T hurt the drive/disk - only if the head is writing at the time of ejection (prematurely ! :-) >moral: DOWN WITH DISK-BASED PROTECTIONS! I agree totally! >Colas Nahaboo, Bull Research France -- Koala Project -- GWM X11 Window Manager AMH * Andy Hartman | I'd deny half of this crap anyway!| "Somedays, you just * Indiana University |-----------------------------------| can't get rid of a * // Amiga Man | amhartma@silver.ucs.indiana.edu | bomb!" * \X/ At Large! | AMHARTMA@rose.ucs.indiana.edu | - Batman (original)
colas@avahi.inria.fr (Colas Nahaboo) (07/24/90)
In article <51878@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>, amhartma@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Andy Hartman - AmigaMan) writes: > How do you figure that it erases a disk? > but just having the head on the disk doesn't erase anything Sorry, I wanted to say "wear" instead of erase, but couldn't find the right English (a non-native language for me) verb at the time of my posting. If the drive is spinning, (not only the led lit, which is independent), it will wear you disk, and where the oxyde will go? on your drive head... A game I know which is doing that is Tennis Cup on the atari. This is a great incentive to find a cracked version! Colas.
pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (Robert Pomeroy) (07/24/90)
In article <8490@mirsa.inria.fr>, colas@avahi.inria.fr (Colas Nahaboo) writes... >I think so. On most floppy disk drives, you cannot park the head, and so the >head is in CONTACT with the media as soon as you insert the disk. >(at least it was on the ones I opened). So this will surely erase your disk This will not "surely" erase the disk. >and may damage, our at least put dirt on your drive head prematurely. >Try opening your disk drive and inserting a disk, you will see if it is the >case... > >This results from people doing too intricate disk protections, and messing >with timers. My solution: eject the disk when it's not in use, put it back >when in use, and write a irate letter to the editor. > >Colas Nahaboo, Bull Research France -- Koala Project -- GWM X11 Window Manager There is no such thing as "parking heads" on floppy disks. On older 8" floppies, the disk always spun, but the head was lifted away from the surface of the disk when not R/Wing. A solenoid "loaded" the heads when it needed to access the disk. With the advent of 5.25 and 3.5" disks (with 12V motors), the head is always in contact with the disk, but the disk doesn't always spin. If Battle Squadron endlessly spins the disk, it doesn't mean that your disk will be erased, or that the heads will get dirty (unless you have a dirty disk). The heads, and the disk, can spin like that for more revolutions than you would care to wait for without wearing down. 3.5" disks are pretty durable, and so are the drive mechanisms. bob pomeroy pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com coop student from Northeastern University, Boston Ma USA presently a senior in computer (hardware) engineering