Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!uunet!ginosko!husc6!rutgers!att!icus!limbic!gil From: gil@limbic.UUCP (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) Newsgroups: unix-pc.general Subject: Re: plausible disk upgrades, request for info Summary: Hitachi drives are problems as second drives Message-ID: <564@limbic.UUCP> Date: 29 Aug 89 04:01:33 GMT References: <5046@thor.acc.stolaf.edu> Reply-To: gil@limbic.UUCP (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) Organization: ICUS Software Systems, Islip, NY Lines: 37 In article <5046@thor.acc.stolaf.edu> mike@thor.acc.stolaf.edu (Mike Haertel) writes: >I'm looking for information about disk drives that are known to work >with the 3b1 (including those that would work only with a WD2010 >and/or the P5.1 modification). I'm especially interested in disk >Mike Haertel This brings up some information that I've wanted to pass along to the net for about a week now, and it seems an appropriate time to pass it along... When doing the second drive updates, it seems that Hitachi drives (in particular, the 40MB ones) seem to have problems when used as the second hard disk in a two-drive 3B1 system. The system I was working on ('Hi gern!') seemed to work fine when a 67MB Miniscribe was used as the 2nd drive, and the Hitachi was the first drive. When used in the reverse configuration, the Hitachi would exhibit loads of disk read errors. This appears to be a timing problem, but I can't find the trouble (cables too long? chips adding too much delay? some other obscure problem?) My assistant (hi Helen ;-) and I were up most of the night trying different "cures" with no luck. The only thing not tried was the WD2010 (which I had sitting around, and now I could kick myself for not trying THAT!). If anyone else out there has peformed the 2nd disk upgrade and HAS been able to fix this problem, please let me know! Otherwise, this warning is going out to the 3 dozen folks who may potientially do the hard disk upgrade and have this problem. Again, what baffles me is that it's ONLY Hitachi drives and some 20 meg drives (one person has reported to me) that exhibit this problem. I've used a CDC Wren from a 3B2 (with >8 heads, BTW) and it worked fantastic. ------- | Gil Kloepfer, Jr. | ICUS Software Systems/Bowne Management Systems (depending on where I am) | ...icus!limbic!gil or gil@icus.islp.ny.us