Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcvax!unido!fauern!immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de!mlelstv
From: mlelstv@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Michael van Elst )
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: A.L.F.
Message-ID: <441@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
Date: 19 Jun 89 11:20:25 GMT
References: <17595@louie.udel.EDU>
Organization: IMMD IV, University of Erlangen, W-Germany
Lines: 26

joe@bryans.scc.com writes:


>I just read in the recent issue of Amazing Computer that there is a new
>hard drive controller out on the market called A.L.F.! (Amiga Loads 
>Faster) by Prespect Technology Inc in Quebec.
>The interface is supposed to interface to ANY IBM hard drive (ST-506 ),
>perform faster execution (compared to what, I don't know), more reliable
>(and again, compared to what - who knows), and does just about everything.

A.L.F. is a small interface to an IBM-PC harddisk controller. The software
supports the OMTI5520/5527 controllers only (plus some lookalikes from
Seagate and Western Digital, although it is slower with those).
It is based on an interface published in the german computer magazine c't.

Software allows up to 350kbytes/sec on reading and 80kbytes/sec on writing.
Maybe the last version (I haven't seen yet) is faster on writing.
All transfers are done via polling the controller registers, thereby
consuming all CPU at priority 0 (higher priorities aren't affected).

I like my own (not much different, but it uses interrupts, leaving some
CPU cycles free).

				Michael van Elst

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