Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf.edu!wet!logic
From: logic@wet.UUCP (Henry Kwan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Discovery Cartridge
Message-ID: <239@wet.UUCP>
Date: 7 Jul 89 09:53:55 GMT
References: <8907061355.AA15938@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: logic@wet.UUCP (Henry Kwan)
Organization: Wetware Diversions, San Francisco
Lines: 32

In article <8907061355.AA15938@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> chuck@UMBC1.UMBC.EDU ("Chuck Rickard; ", PC) writes:
>
>I was thinking about buying one of those Discovery Cartridges, and I wanted
>to see if anyone on the net had any experience with them.  My main interest
>is in MAC disk conversions and the use of High Density 3.5 and 5.25 disk
>drives.  Anyone have any comments?
>


I have used the Discovery Cartridge to convert Mac disks and to backup
protected software.  It does both jobs well albeit a bit slowly.

Mac conversions take about 5-6 minutes per disk and the Discovery Cartridge
seems rather fincky about which drives and/or computer it works on.  My
GTS-100 will not work, nor will a friend's 1040STf but another friend's
1040STf works just fine.  Also, the disk conversion is whole disk only, you
can not access individual files on the disk so if you just want one small
file on a Mac disk, you'll have to convert the whole disk nonetheless.

As for the disk backup portion, it works quite well but again, as with the
Mac conversions, it is rather slow.  About 2 to 3 times slower than normal
bit copiers, I estimate.  Even the normal sector copier is a little brain
damaged in that it reads in side 1 first and then side 2.  But the
bottomline is that it has successfully backed up things that give other bit
copiers fits (Dungeon Master, Gauntlet II, etc.)


-- 
       Henry Kwan - "Bill & Opus '92"     |  What The ST Needs:
     claris!wet!logic@ames.arc.nasa.gov   |  A) 50 Mhz 68030/68882
    cca.ucsf.edu!wet!logic@cgl.ucsf.edu   |  B) 1280x960x32 graphics
  {claris,ucsfcca,hoptoad,lamc}!wet!logic |  C) 32-voice, stereo sound