Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!torsqnt!tmsoft!masnet!canremote!bradley.grigor From: bradley.grigor@canremote.uucp (BRADLEY GRIGOR) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: MFM as an RLL drive? Message-ID: <89121507253020@masnet.uucp> Date: 15 Dec 89 00:43:00 GMT Organization: Canada Remote Systems Limited, Mississauga, ON, Canada Lines: 33 ============================================================================== >Date: 12-11-89 (09:28) Number: 14589 CRS Premium Bulletin B > To: ALL Refer#: NONE >From: kaleb@mars.jpl.nasa.gov Read: YES >Subj: MFM as an RLL drive? Conf: (84) U-IBMPC ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On 89-12-11 kaleb@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley) writes: >>In article mlm@cs.brown.edu >>writes: >> Is it possible to use a MFM hard disk drive with an RLL >> controller? Are there particular MFM drives that will do it? >> How would I tell? >> >At the risk of starting a another flame fest, Yes, there is a >99&44/100 percent chance that it will work. I personally have over >two years reliable use out of both Micropolis and Seagate MFM drives >on RLL controllers. Others have posted news of similar successful >results. Some people believe that you may experience a gradual >degradation of the drive. I have been told that older drives may be more tolerant of RLL controllers because their surfaces are "more forgiving(?)". Anyway, I successfully replaced the original Corona controller with a W.D. RLL controller in my Corona portable XT. Not only did this upgrade give me 60% more capacity, it also allowed me to improve the interleave and the transfer speed! Furthermore, this old (Shugart!) drive has NOT A SINGLE bad block on it! Can you say that about any newer drives, MFM, RLL, or otherwise? Brad Grigor Mainline Technologies --- ~ EZ-Reader 1.21 ~ New Year's Resolution: 1024x768!