Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!gatech!gtss!chas
From: chas@gtss.gatech.edu (Charles Cleveland)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: simple multitasking examples
Message-ID: <337@gtss.gatech.edu>
Date: 19 Feb 89 21:54:20 GMT
References: <3031@ihlpm.ATT.COM> <603NETOPRHM@NCSUVM> <1558@leah.Albany.Edu> <386@antares.UUCP> <6168@columbia.edu>
Reply-To: chas@gtss.UUCP (Charles Cleveland)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Georgia Tech School of Physics
Lines: 33

In article <6168@columbia.edu> simon@cheshire.UUCP (Thor Simon) writes:
)
)  As far as the formatting-two-disks idea goes, I have to say I think it's
)  a bad idea.  I used to do this all the time, until I realised it took
)  _longer_ 

Odd.  I just ran this script from ram: (1.3 format):

    ram:echo starting two sequential copies
    ram:date
    ram:format <NIL: drive df0: name empty noicons
    ram:format <NIL: drive df1: name empty noicons
    ram:date
    ram:echo starting two simultaneous copies
    ram:run <NIL: ram:format drive df0: name empty noicons
    ram:run <NIL: ram:format drive df1: name empty noicons


The times between the first two dates way 3:26.  The time from hitting return
to start things up until the last drive light went out was 6:09.  Thus the
time taken for the two sequential formats way 3:26 and everything else,
*including* the reformatting of both disks 'simultaneously' was 2:43.

By the way, its neat to do this and watch the drives as they compete for the
blitter.  They tend to synchronize (or should I say anti-synchronize) as a
consequence, alternating drives as the formats alternate between 'format'
and 'verify'.  Somehow I don't think this would work as well when formatting
more than 2 disks at the same time.
-- 
-  It is better for civilization to be going down the drain than to be  -
-  coming up it.                                        -- Henry Allen  -
Charles Cleveland  Georgia Tech School of Physics  Atlanta, GA 30332-0430
UUCP: ...!gatech!gtss!chas                INTERNET:  chas@gtss.gatech.edu