Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!vlsi!ccng!tgoldtho
From: tgoldtho@ccng.waterloo.edu (Thomas A. Goldthorpe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: hard drive info wanted
Keywords: Hard disk add on's
Message-ID: <1990Oct9.145155.5978@ccng.waterloo.edu>
Date: 9 Oct 90 14:51:55 GMT
References: <45139@apple.Apple.COM> <1990Sep25.234935.1501@watserv1.waterloo.edu> <51560@brunix.UUCP> <1990Oct1.044754.21637@watserv1.waterloo.edu> <52457@brunix.UUCP> <1990Oct8.214307.26670@ccng.waterloo.edu> <52489@brunix.UUCP>
Organization: University of Waterloo
Lines: 39

>This is not a simple *fix* - it lets your drive run, that's all.
>Nothing is fixed, however: the drive is still formatted at 512 bytes
>per sector. At the top-level, two 512 byte-blocks are bundled
>together.

I know this is not the best way to do it.  If you remember my post from
long long (many months) ago, this method was to allow those people with
512byte/sec MAC drives to connect them without much hassle or worry.

>In other words: 
>- you lose speed by bundling and because 512 bytes/sector is not the
>fastest way to access data for the big drives.
>- you lose space by using 512 bytes/sector (a lot more information
>needs to be stored to keep twice as many sectors).
>
>Don't tell me, they are equivalent, please - at a 1GB drive, you lose
>about 50MB of disk space and 15-25% speed.

I didn't say they are equivalent.  READ THE PRINT INSTEAD OF READING
SOMETHING INTO IT.  THIS IS THE EASIEST WAY FOR A USER TO PUT ANY
MAC DRIVE ONTO THE NeXT WITHOUT MUCH HASSLE.  THE FACT THAT THIS DISCUSSION
COMES FROM ANSWERING A HELP WANTED ON NON-FUNCTIONAL DRIVE IS BEYOND ME.
WHY DIDN'T YOU QUESTION THIS METHOD THOSE MANY MONTHS AGO?

>Yes, it works, but the low-level format is a lot more efficient.

I do agree that there are much better ways, which reminds me, even
the maxtor that came with the machine I use was done with this method.

>P.s. TheFormatter works for WrenV, WrenVI, WrenVII. Other Wren drives
>are on their way, so are Maxtor drives.

Fine.  Now stop wasting the bandwidth on a silly argument.  My post
was for a method which is a relatively easy way to do things for
those who wanted to use a mac drive (which at the time TheFormatter
didn't support).  Thats all.


Tom