Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!gvgpsa!gold!grege
From: grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Greg Ebert)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: info on hard disk & controller
Message-ID: <1178@gold.GVG.TEK.COM>
Date: 17 Jul 90 19:03:46 GMT
References: <5307@plains.UUCP> <1174@gold.GVG.TEK.COM> <816@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM>
Distribution: comp
Organization: Grass Valley Group, Grass Valley, CA
Lines: 36

In article <816@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM> kleonard@gvlv1.UUCP (Ken Leonard) writes:

		{stuff about IDE deleted}

>--
>Interrogative compatible what way?  As in commands?  As in cchhss address?
>As in lowlevel format?  As in badtrack handling? 
>--
>Will a lowlevel disk manager program (like SpeedStor or DiskManager) see
>the same things as with an MFM drive?  Will a diskmanager stiil be useful
>for partitioning (for DOS 3 or multiboot systems?)  Will a diskmanager
>still be useful for surface scan, etc?
>-----
>I think I need to know, because I'm _soon_ to buy a system and need to make
>a choice.
>----------

IDE is 100% upward compatible with the AT controller. I have personally
removed an AT controller and replaced it with an IDE interface, and ran
a low-level format. My friend Rich wrote BIOS code at AST and he says there
is no difference between AT and IDE controllers at the BIOS level.

If you're buying a system, don't pay more for an IDE interface if you have
an ample number of slots and you intend to use your old hard-disk controller.
The only advantage of IDE is it allows 'no-slot' hard-disks -- great for
luggables and tiny desktop systems. If you are looking for high-performance
disk operations, try an Adaptec SCSI/ESDI controller. Also, IDE drives cost
a few more bucks, so don't expect to save money.

As far as SpeedStor/surface-scan/etc, shit I dunno, man. I'm a hardware nut.
I think it's safe to assume that these [bomb-code] packages will run ok.

Clarification: MFM is a data encoding technique frequently used on hard/floppy
disk drives, and can be used in AT, IDE, and SCSI controllers, as well as
RLL encoding. So, when someone says 'I have an MFM controller', it could be
IDE, AT, or SCSI/ESDI.