nickj@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Nick Jagger) (02/18/91)
A while back ( before alt.desert-storm -)) I posted the following query. What follows is a summary of responses. >I have a IBM PS/2 70 A21 for which I would like an additional large >hard drive (between 300 and 600 Mbytes). As far as I can tell I cant >add another drive internally, anyway the bay appears to be a 3.5" bay >and the only large drives I have seen are 5.25". Is this true, also if >I buy an external hard drive will it have to be ESDI to be compatible >with the existing 120Mbyte drive? Will a standard controller work with >the relatively longer cables that an external drive implies? Also does >anyone know a a good UK supplier of cases for external drives. >I will post a summary of responses. hh>From hh2@prism.gatech.edu Thu Jan 10 15:30:59 1991 hh>The "ESDI" controller for your hard drive is actually on the drive hh>itself, so you cannot use this controller with another drive. You hh>will have to hh> 1.) Replace the internal drive that you have, hh> or hh> 2.) Add another controller card. hh>There are several manufacturers that make addition drives for the hh>PS/2. The Model 70 BIOS directly supports the IBM 30 MB, 60 MB, and hh>120 MB ESDI/Drive integrated drives (and IBM compatible drives). I hh>cannot say for sure if someone makes an IBM compatible integrated hh>drive/controller combo that is greater than 120MB. I can say that hh>many people make ESDI, MFM, SCSI, etc. cards that support larger hh>drives. hh>I was faced with the same situation. Since the Model 70 has only hh>THREE slots, I decided that the smartest thing to do was to get hh>a SCSI controller. Since SCSI is actually a bus, you can add seven hh>more devices without using more than one slot. I bought the IBM hh>non-cache SCSI controller for $(US)350.00 (IBM to be sure it would hh>work with AIX), but the Adaptec controller is reported to be a good hh>choice as well. hh>Good luck. Harry Haas Georgia Institute of Technology tl>From me%no.uib.fiol@ifi.uio.no Mon Jan 14 15:01:16 1991 tl>Hi tl>I wouldn't advise replacing it, the cost would be prohibitive (here in Norway tl>the 120 meg drive is NOK15000). What I did was buy an IBM SCSI card (under tl>$500) and a TULIN A-Hive with a 105 meg Connor SCSI drive and room for a half tl>height drive again. On the IBM ESDI controller you cannot use anything else tl>but 60 or 120 Meg - period! . IBM usually uses Micropolis or Miniscribe tl>drives as original equipment. tl>If your still using DOS (gasp!) you may have to find a driver. Under OS/2 tl>1.2 and 1.3 the driver is in the OS (as far as I understand it), and there tl>is no problem having both SCSI and ESDI controllers. It does get a bit tl>strange when you start partitioning, though. tl>Thor-Lee Legvold University of Bergen NORWAY aj>From aj4640@dean1.acd.usma.edu Fri Jan 11 03:37:49 1991 aj>No can do. If yours is like mine, you've maxed out the system. aj>Here ares some alternatives: aj>1. If a slot is open, put a SCSI card in and run a big SCSI drive. aj>2. Install PC-NFS and become a client from a server. aj>I took option 2. It works. Not too fast, but gets the job done. aj> Best, Jack te>From teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk Sat Jan 12 00:13:27 1991 te>Why not just upgrade (ie replace) your existing disk? External disks te>mean _another_ box, yet another power lead, and so on. te>What about the data on my current disk? (I hear you ask) - use Laplink te>(parralell connection takes about an hour for 60Mb) or other te>proprietary link to transfer to spare capacity on anther machine, then te>transfer your data back when you have installed your new disk. te>Obviously this approach is not so easy if you dont have another te>machine handy. [So I am going to buy the 16 bit IBM MCA SCSI controller, a 307 Mbyte Seagate SCSI Harddrive and a mini tower case with inbuilt power supply and then try and get it all to work together with my PS/2 70. I would like to thank everyone who mailed me, and apologise for the summary delay. Nick ] Nick Jagger, SPRU, Mantell Building, U of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RF, UK JANET: nickj@uk.ac.sussex.syma BITNET: nickj%syma.sussex.ac.uk@UKACRL INTERNET: nickj%syma.sussex.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk UUCP: nickj%syma.sussex@ukc.uucp PHONE: +44 273 686758 FAX: [..] 685865