[comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware] ESDI Question

jerry@polygen.uucp (Jerry Sheckel) (11/21/90)

Hello out there.  I have a question about ESDI drives.  Do they have
the same hardware connections as MFM and RLL drives (two card-edge
connectors, one for control, and one for data)?  Can I use my old
MFM cables with ESDI?  I know SCSI is different, but I'm wondering
about ESDI.  Any info will be appreciated.
--
+-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+
| JERRY J. SHEKHEL  | POLYGEN CORPORATION  | When I was young, I had to walk |
| Drummers do it... | Waltham, MA USA      | to school and back every day -- |
|    ... In rhythm! | (617) 890-2175       | 20 miles, uphill both ways.     |
+-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+
|           ...! [ princeton mit-eddie bu sunne ] !polygen!jerry             |
|                            jerry@polygen.com                               |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

my@dtg.nsc.com (Michael Yip) (11/22/90)

Well, I don't know much about the topic, but here is my $0.02.

ESDI uses two cables to connect the disk controller card and
the ESDI drives.  Yes, one for data and one for control.
However, you cannot put MFM drives on any ESDI controller.
They are electrically different.  Unlike SCSI, you cannot
daisy-chain ESDI drives and I don't see anything like ESDI
tape or ESDI CD.  If I buy my equipments all over again, I
will probably pick SCSI instead of ESDI, at least you are the
possibility to put more devices on the same controller. ;)

-- Mike