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From: macak@lakesys.lakesys.com (James Macak)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Syquest-based drives?
Summary: Ehman comments; also, do they auto-park?
Message-ID: <1301@lakesys.lakesys.com>
Date: 9 Nov 89 14:45:18 GMT
References: <10433@venera.isi.edu> <19235@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: macak@lakesys.UUCP (James Macak)
Distribution: na
Organization: Lake Systems - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Lines: 64

In article <19235@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> korn@anableps.berkeley.edu (Peter
"Arrgh" Korn) writes:
>In <10433@venera.isi.edu>, jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) said:
>>
>>What is the consensus of the price/perfromance ratio of the various
>>45MB removable syquest drives on the market?  I noticed that Ehman
>
>I *just* unpacked and started playing with my $799 Ehman/Syquest 44 Meg
>removable.  Here are my comments, in no particular order...
 
>> Reasonably fast (2.8 to 4.6 MBaud/sec. transfer rates using SCSI
Evaluator).

>Summary preliminary conclusions (and other obfuscatory oxymorons):
 
>The hardware looks good thus far; the docs. are very poor, as is the company
>thus far.  For a savings of $200 that's maybe worth it.  The *real* question
>of hardware reliability will take longer to answer.  Anyone else out there
>with data on Ehman Syquest drive reliability?


>Peter Korn

Our Macintosh users group recently purchased the Ehman Syquest-based 44 meg
removable drive.  It has been running on a BBS for about a month now with
no major problems I can attribute to the drive, save for one.  (See below.)

I agree with Peter's comments about the drive... reasonably fast, not _too_
noisy, adeqaute cable, etc.

A couple of additions I'd make: the Ehman-written docs are apparently for
their non-removable hard drives, as is their utilities disk.  (Before I
realized this I had tried to install SCSI drivers from the Ehman disk with
very poor results.)

The other docs I received were from Software Architects, as was the other disk
of utilities.  Theirs is the SCSI installer to use, in my experience. 

Ehman did include an insert that claims they are working on their own docs for
the removable drive.

Now, the problem.  I had the BBS up and running one evening when the power
went out.  Later it came on but went off and on a few more times.  The Mac and
Ehman drive went through a few such power outages.

Within a couple of days, the BBS had crashed and the cause was apparently bad
disk blocks on the removable drive.  I tested the drive and found some 17 bad
blocks.  (I had tested the drive when it was first received and it was OK.)

I am tempted to assume that the power outages somehow caused the bad blocks to
appear.  My conjecture is that the Syquest based drives do not have a head
park on power down/out, and the drive head skidded across the disk, damaging
some blocks.

Is this correct?  Do the heads indeed _not_ auto-park on power loss for the
Syquest drives?  Or am I left with no explanation for the sudden appearance of
the bad blocks?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Jim

-- 

macak@lakesys.lakesys.com (James Macak)
      << All my own opinions. >>