Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!decvax!decwrl!pyramid!amdahl!dlb!plx!zaphod!dick
From: dick@zaphod.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Faster PC Hard Disks
Message-ID: <591@zaphod.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 9-Apr-87 16:19:39 EST
Article-I.D.: zaphod.591
Posted: Thu Apr  9 16:19:39 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 11-Apr-87 14:43:00 EST
References: <859@oakhill.UUCP>
Reply-To: dick@plx.UUCP (Dick Flanagan)
Organization: Plexus Computers, San Jose, CA.
Lines: 32

Summary:
Expires:
Sender:
Followup-To:
Organization:

In article <859@oakhill.UUCP> toms@oakhill.UUCP (Thomas Spohrer) writes:
>
>     How would one go about upgrading a PC-XT to a faster hard disk?
>[...]
>     By the way, if one reformats the hard disk for an interleave factor
>of less than the recomended 6 how does one know how close to the limits
>of the hardware they are?

I suggest you get a copy of the HTEST/HFORMAT package from Paul Mace
and friends up in Ashland, OR.  It comes with a program called
HOPTIMUM that will determine the best interleave for YOUR particular
system/configuration/controller/drive combination.

For example, I have a 4.77 MHz XT (a _real_ one!), but it's running
a '286 board at 8 MHz.  I am also using an Adaptec 2070A RLL controller
with Seagate ST225 disk drives.  Whose suggested interleave values
should I use?  IBM's for the XT?  The '286 board manufacturer's?
Adaptec's?  Seagate's?

I had been using Adaptec's suggested value of 3, but a real-time
analysis by HOPTIMUM suggested that a value of 5 would be a lot
better.  It was--to a tune of 140% improvement!!!

My only affiliation with Paul Mace or Mark Kolod (developer of HTEST)
is one of personal admiration and product satisfaction.


-- 
Dick Flanagan, W6OLD
UUCP:  ...!ucbvax!sun!plx!dick
GEnie: FLANAGAN
(The usual disclaimers apply)