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From: jdm@gryphon.COM (John Mesiavech)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Setting up HardFrame and Quantum 40S
Summary: Things aren't that hard to do!
Message-ID: <19859@gryphon.COM>
Date: 14 Sep 89 07:09:05 GMT
References: <2038@se-sd.NCR.COM>
Reply-To: jdm@gryphon.COM (John Mesiavech)
Distribution: na
Organization: Trailing Edge Technology, Redondo Beach, CA
Lines: 136

In article <2038@se-sd.NCR.COM> ewing@se-sd.sandiego.ncr.com (David Ewing (AEP)) writes:
>I have some questions about setting up my Quantum 40s hard disk 
>with the Microbotics HardFrame using the HardFrame's RDPrep
>program.
>

Well, I didn't design the thing, but I own one and have a Pro40S.......

>
>I want to have two partitions, but all of the defaults in RDPrep
>assume you are only going to have one partition.  I decided to
>make my partition at the point where the sectors/track density
>changes, as recommended. 
>

Now, this is where you made your first mistake.  SCSI deals in sector
numbers, NOT in the drive's physical geometry.  This is an
common mistake, that RDPrep suffers from as well.  What you must do,
in order to fully utilize the drive's sectors is:
 
Calculate the TOTAL number of blocks on the drive.  To do so,
take the numer of BlocksPerTrack and multiply by the number of
Cylinders in each zone (a zone is each area of the drive that
has unique settings for BlocksPerTrack values), then add the
numbers together.  That gives you total number of Blocks, then
geometize them as you want.  What RDPrep does internally is get
the zone values, then divide the total Blocks by the number of
Cylinders on the drive to get an average BlocksPerTrack value.
Problem is, this rarely comes out even (ie remainder of 0 blocks),
which is what you want.  RDPrep warns you about that, by saying that
you'll have X number of blocks left over is you follow the defaults.
It just takes a leetle fiddling to get it to come out even.
Default parameters for a Pro 40S Quantum leave 287 blocks out.

>    --> Cylinders 0 to 589 contain 35 sectors per track, 105
>	physical sectors available.
>
>    --> Cylinders 590 to 833 contain 26 sectors per track, 84
>	physical sectors available.
>
>My questions are:
>
>    Do you need to (can you) set up a Rigid Disk Block for each partition ?

No.  You can only have one Rigid Disk Block area per drive.  That's why the
necessity of geometizing (redefining the geometry until you get an exact
match) is needed.  This is true of ALL controllers.  It's not really 
necessary (since the geometry is NOT fixed) to have more than one.

>
>    If no, how does the controller know that the second partition
>    has a different number of sectors/track ?

The controller doesn't CARE how the drive is laid out internally.
Those functions are left up to the onboard drive controller (the
circuit card attached to the bottom of the drive).  All that the
Hardframe has to worry abou is the TOTAL number of blocks on the 
drive, which it determines at startup from the Rigid Disk Block
information stored on the drive.  All that's actually stored
IN the RigidDiskBlock is the total number of blocks, and how many
are allocated to each partition, and where the starting block of
each partition is.

>
>    Apparently, the recommended default for the Quantum is 32 sectors
>    per track.  Is this just a compromise between the two values
>    (35 and 26) ?

See above in me reply.  It's an average value.

>
>    What is "logical blocks per track" (asked for each partition) and
>    why is the default 98 ?

THat's used to set up the drive partitions in a way AmigaDOS understands.
You see, the Hardframe tells AmigaDOS that each drive only has 1 head,
with whatever number of BlocksPerTrack it takes to make up the ACTUAL
BlocksPerTrack value.  Since the Quantum has 3 heads, it follows.
It's for AmigaDOS use only, the controller knows the real values.
 
That's why it's called LOGICAL.

>
>    I assume it is desirable to set up both partitions with the Fast
>    File System.  Is this correct ?

Well, if you want to get the most speed that AmigaDOS can handle outta
that drive, yes.  Matter of fact, you really have no choice in the 
matter.  RDPrep requires a disk file to read, to get the filesystem
information for the drive.  Since OldFS can only be gotten in the ROMsm
, you can't use it with the HardFrame.  Though, if you wanted to be strange,
you could get CrossDos and put their MSDosFileSystem handler onto a 
partition, and have an IBM drive B->
 
>
>    What exactly do I need to add to Startup-Sequence (I am booting
>    from the hard disk).  It says SETPATH must be the first command.
>    What is the exact command in its entirety ?

THe command is SetPatch, and in the C-A Workbench 1.3 it IS the first
command.  Exact command is:
 
SETPATCH
 
Or, if you don't want to see what SetPatch is patching, the command is:
 
SETPATCH >NIL: 

Easy, isn't it?

>
>Could some kind person send me answers to these questions and any other 
>pertinent information that I might need to know.
>

Sho 'nuff, tho I can't say what you might NEED to know without knowing
all you already do........8->

>Note: I have a stock Amiga 2000 (1 megabyte of RAM).

So, what difference does this make?
Me Amiga has a 2620, Hardframe with Quantum Pro-40S, Quantum Q280,and a
Syquest SQ550 44MB removable media drive(Gotten at a rediculous price NEW)
,Easyl-2000 graphics tablet, and Microbotics 8-up SIMM w/4MB.
 
It matters not what KIND of Amiga you have, but that you have an Amiga!

>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Dave Ewing
>ewing@se-sd.sandiego.ncr.com
 Again, no problemos, amigo.


John