Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!leah!rpi!nyser!ncs.dnd.ca!asterix!louis
From: louis@asterix.drev.dnd.ca (Louis Demers)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Removable "HD"s -- are they worth it?
Message-ID: <458@asterix.drev.dnd.ca>
Date: 29 Jul 89 17:05:09 GMT
References: <9095@venera.isi.edu> <3000@blake.acs.washington.edu>
Organization: DREV, Quebec, CANADA
Lines: 63

In article <3000@blake.acs.washington.edu>, gwangung@blake.acs.washington.edu (Roger Tang) writes:
> In article <9095@venera.isi.edu> jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes:
> >I'm think9ng about looking into one of those ~45Meg removable nedia
> >"hard" drives.  I was wondering if anyone has experience or heard
> >anything about them.  They seem liake a great solution to
> >backup/second HD problem.
> >
> >Any comments?  Also, access time looks pretty good on the Mass Micro
> >one.  About 23ms if memory serves.
> 
> 	ALL of the removable cartridge hard drives have the same acces
> times:  25 ms.  That's because all of them are made by the same company,
> Syquest. 
 ...[cut]...
> 	They're essentially all the same, but the difference lies in the
> formatting software and utilities (i.e., the goodies) the manufacturers
> throw in.  For example, Mass Micro throws in a whole bunch of stuff that
> makes it highly attractive. 

	And that means that you can't use the cartriges to exchange data
between owners of different drives.  If you settle on on manufacturer,
you should stick with that one.  On way to get out of this impass
would be to find a driver/installer that would work on both brands
of drives.

>     ...    For example, Mass Micro throws in a whole bunch of stuff that
> makes it highly attractive. 

	Hummm, what stuff ? All I got from mine was the utility
to format  and partition the drive.

    I may have old versions, but their formatter partitions the disk the
old fashion way instead of the way Apple recommends since the introduction
of A/UX, which Mass Micro doesn't support.  I tried using my Mass Micro and 
indeed, A/UX doen't want have anything to do with it.

> 	I'm using mine as a primary storage device currently.  This is working
> out fairly well for the time being, though I haven't had it for too long.
> THey're are definitely ideal as a second or backup HD, and my experience
> seems to say that they don't do too badly as a primary.

	Except, as has happened to me the other day, my Mac crashed while a
cartridge was inserted and I can't read it anymore, I can't even format it !
A call to Syquest revealed that it was probably the maintenance
tracks that were zapped.  Because the drive detects the error 
immediately after inserting the cartridge and refuses to to read
ANYTHING from it, programs like Mac ZAP and Symantec Utilities
cannot restore anything.

	This experience left me with some hesitations about using
them for my "precious" backups.   Overall, we still like them. Their
speed is great.  A/UX support sure would be nice !

			Louis

******************************************************************************
* Louis Demers              * Defence Research Establishment Valcartier      *
* office = (418) 844-4424   * Electro-Optics Division                        *
*    lab = (418) 844-4265   * P.O. Box 8800                                  *
*    bed = (418) 839-9266   * 2459 PIE XI Blvd.                              *
* louis@asterix.drev.dnd.ca * Courcelette,  Quebec                           *
* demers@ncs.dnd.ca         * CANADA,  G0A 1R0                               *
******************************************************************************