Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!rochester!ur-tut!bfag From: bfag@ur-tut.UUCP (Meneldur) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: AT disk type Message-ID: <236@ur-tut.UUCP> Date: Sat, 10-Oct-87 19:09:14 EDT Article-I.D.: ur-tut.236 Posted: Sat Oct 10 19:09:14 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 13-Oct-87 06:40:41 EDT References: <2955@whuts.UUCP> <6423@ut-ngp.UUCP> <180@ur-tut.UUCP> <554@parcvax.Xerox.COM> Reply-To: bfag@tut.cc.rochester.edu.UUCP (Meneldur) Organization: Univ. of Rochester Computing Center Lines: 59 In article <554@parcvax.Xerox.COM> burton@parcvax.xerox.com.UUCP (Philip M. Burton) writes: >>drives was long, it certainly didn't recognize the pair of QUANTUM 2020s I had >>connected to the WD controller. These are some old, big, 8-inch, 20M hard >>drives with 512 cylinders and 4 heads that I picked up for $50 each from a >>local surplus place. >> >>Anyway, while this odd drive setup worked fine in my old Heath H-158 XT, the >>AT disavowed any knowledge of them. Finally, in my setup routine, I told the >> >>drives, raising their interleave factor from 3 to 4. I've had no problems >>ever since. > > >Unless I've forgotten everything I once knew about disk drives, I thought >that Quantum 8" drives used the Shugart SA 1000 interface, which was quite >different that the ST506/412 interface. Even the transfer rate was >different, 4.34 Mb/sec for the 8" vs 5.0 Mb/sec for the 5 1/4". > >How did you manage to get the Quantum's to work? Did you use a stock >controller?? Did you have to set a jumper? Or, did you have a special >version of the Quantums which had the ST506 interface? > >By the way, please be sure to tell netland how you used an outboard box >with a power supply with +24 volts (and -5 or -12V ??). > >Just a friendly caveat to poor, starving grad students. How did you know I was a poor, starving, grad student?? :-) You are quite right about the QUANTUMs -- they are set up for the Shugart interface. A local fellow here who had the spec sheets discovered the drives would work with a Western Digital controller that was fitted with the auto-config ROM. All that was required was making up your own cable to adapt to the 50-pin connector required by the QUANTUMs. As for the power, the same surplus place that had the drives also has some very nice, heavy-duty, fan-cooled power supplies that appeared as though expressly intended for the big 8" drives. They have the same length and width as the QUANTUMs but aren't quite as high. The single power supply is more than enough for the two drives I have. All three are bolted together, lying on their sides, together making up a really heavy package! The power supply, by the way, ran $25. There was one voltage you failed to mention, by the way -- the motors that turn the platters on these suckers take a straight 120V AC! Though big and bulky, I can't complain about my setup. I've never had any trouble with the QUANTUMs once they were up and running (admittedly, it took a little time to get it all wired up). And I certainly can't complain about the price -- 50 bucks each is pretty darn cheap. I recently saw an ad in COMPUTER SHOPPER for used QUANTUM 2020s. They were selling the suckers for nearly $500! Good grief! Bill Faggart Dept. of Geological Sciences University of Rochester Rochester, New York 14627