| Comparing hard disks [message #282968] |
Sun, 09 March 1986 14:13  |
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Originally posted by: wvucenic
<pre>
Article-I.D.: well.743
Posted: Sun Mar 9 14:13:14 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 12-Mar-86 01:49:58 EST
Organization: Whole Earth Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA
Lines: 33
I'm interested in the 20Meg Atari hard disk. I had heard rumors to
the effect that the developers hard disks have a faster data transfer rate
than the soon-to-be-available commercial 20Meg Atari hard disks. I asked
about this at my local dealer, but the fellow there told me that the
only differences were cosmetic: metal case vs. plastic case. I'm not sure
he's got the straight story on data transfer rates, as he was quoting
10Mbits/sec to me. I realize that the DMA controller can transfer at that
speed, but I had heard that the hard disk controllers were actually
running at 7.5Mbits or 5Mbits.
I was wondering if anyone had the straight story on the differences
between the developers and commercial hard disks. The two topics of
particular interest to me are:
1) Performance: data transfer rates, access times, etc.
2) Fan noise. I seem to be overly sensitive to noise. (I REALLY
like the fact that my ST doesn't have a fan, but the hum
(60 cycle, it sounds like) from my monochrome monitor
begins to bug me at times. My color monitor is silent.
Anyone else have a noisy mono monitor, or is it just mine?)
Anyway, back to hard disks... the developers hard disk I
looked at had a fan that seemed to be about average for
fan noise.)
Other differences of more minor interest would include requirements for
parking the heads. I understand that the developer's hard disk requires
this, but I can't imagine that a commercial version would.
Can anyone at Atari or elsewhere shed some light on this? Thanks.
============================================================ =================
Wayne Vucenic
...{ucbvax, ihnp4, allegra, decvax}!hplabs!well!wvucenic
============================================================ =================
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| Re: Comparing hard disks [message #283046 is a reply to message #282968] |
Fri, 14 March 1986 05:53  |
nigel
Messages: 13
Registered: November 1985
Karma: 0
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Junior Member |
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<pre>
Article-I.D.: minster.726
Posted: Fri Mar 14 05:53:35 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 17-Mar-86 04:21:48 EST
References: <743@well.UUCP>
Reply-To: nigel@minster.UUCP (nigel)
Organization: University of York, England
Lines: 35
In article <743@well.UUCP> wvucenic@well.UUCP writes:
> I'm interested in the 20Meg Atari hard disk. I had heard rumors to
> the effect that the developers hard disks have a faster data transfer rate
> than the soon-to-be-available commercial 20Meg Atari hard disks. I asked
> about this at my local dealer, but the fellow there told me that the
> only differences were cosmetic: metal case vs. plastic case. I'm not sure
> he's got the straight story on data transfer rates, as he was quoting
> 10Mbits/sec to me. I realize that the DMA controller can transfer at that
> speed, but I had heard that the hard disk controllers were actually
> running at 7.5Mbits or 5Mbits.
...
The developers drives have two boards in - a standard hard drive controller,
and a bus convertor board. I was told around Christmas time that before
selling commercially, Atari wanted to get this onto one board, and into a
plastic case, so your dealer is on the right lines. 5MBits is the quoted
rate for the drive, but some timings I made using an analyser (very rough)
suggested the acknowledges were closer to 7MBits. If Atari wish to use a
single board, then the new board may be faster. The developer setup looks like
a standard SASI board, with a SASI to Atari convertor (one PAL, about 6 TTL).
> Anyway, back to hard disks... the developers hard disk I
> looked at had a fan that seemed to be about average for
> fan noise.)
Yes - average, fine by me.
>
> Other differences of more minor interest would include requirements for
> parking the heads. I understand that the developer's hard disk requires
> this, but I can't imagine that a commercial version would.
There is a utility to move the heads to a safe landing point (!) for
transport. The importance is not heavily stressed, just suggested.
Nigel Roles
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