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From: pegram@kira.UUCP (Robert B. Pegram)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: hard drives
Message-ID: <1990Dec14.172830.14752@uvm.edu>
Date: 14 Dec 90 17:28:30 GMT
References: <1990Dec14.014112.6251@ecst.csuchico.edu>
Sender: news@uvm.edu
Organization: University of Vermont, Department of Computer Science
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> david@bdt.COM (David Beckemeyer) writes:
 
> - Perhaps most would agree, but I don't agree at all.  If you want 
> - the best, get the Berkeley Microsystems BMS-200 host adapter.  
> - Nothing else touches it in terms of getting the signals and timing
> - right.
> -
> - ICD may be much more widely available, but that doesn't make it the 
> - best.

ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) replies:  

> True, but doesn't ICD have the better driver software because of its 
> caching and verifying capabilities?  I have heard that the BMS-200 is 
> better than ICDs, but I think that ICD's software that is included 
> which, (from what I understand) doesn't work on other host adapters.
 
I'm interested, (I'd like to run my 296N with 1-1 interleave 8-)
but I have several questions:

Does the BMS 200 verify at all?  How long can the Acsi cable be?

How do the various third party caching programs compare to the *very*
fast ICD caching driver?  Give some sort of measurement please.

Is there some program out there truly comparable with ICD's Cleanup or
the Supra Utilities, e.g. Beckemeyer's Hard Disk Sentry??   Michtron's 
Tune Up currently does *not* cut it.

Does the BMS 200 support removeable media - especially Syquests 8-)?
I do know that Berkley Micro can supply tape drivers (and advice) 
for many of those cheap tape drives that are out there.

Has anyone tried to use the BMS 200 with Spectre GCR (especially with
a 296N or 277N on 1-1 interleave 8-), do any of those Mac SCSI add on
devices (e.g. a hand scanner) work with it?  I doubt this, but maybe
something other than a hard disk *does* work, if its driver stays away
from the Mac hardware.

Finally, does anyone know if ICD fixed up their newer adaptors to be
more like the Berkley one?

Thanks for any info,

Bob Pegram

pegram@griffin.uvm.edu
or
...!uvm-gen!pegram