Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars!kaleb
From: kaleb@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: MFM as an RLL drive?
Keywords: MFM to RLL
Message-ID: <2373@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Date: 11 Dec 89 17:28:52 GMT
References: <MLM.89Dec11110300@hector.cs.brown.edu>
Sender: news@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov
Reply-To: kaleb@mars.UUCP (Kaleb Keithley)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
Lines: 20

In article <MLM.89Dec11110300@hector.cs.brown.edu> mlm@cs.brown.edu writes:
>	Is it possible to use a MFM hard disk drive with an RLL
>	controller? Are there particular MFM drives that will do it?
>	How would I tell?

At the risk of starting a another flame fest, Yes, there is a 99&44/100 percent
chance that it will work.  I personally have over two years reliable use out
of both Micropolis and Seagate MFM drives on RLL controllers.  Others have
posted news of similar successful results.  Some people believe that you may
experience a gradual degradation of the drive.

I suggest running the RLL controllers surface scan/media check before doing
the low level format, then entering any found bad sectors into the bad sector
map.  In any case, a periodic backup is always a good idea, no matter what
kind of media you use.

Chewey, get us outta here!
                 
kaleb@mars.jpl.nasa.gov             (818)354-8771
Kaleb Keithley