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| Author |
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power
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the Hard Drive item
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Jun 30 00:08 UTC 1993 |
Does anyone know anything about the performance of the Adaptek 1542B/C
vs that of the Ultrastor controllers? My work is going to get a SCSI
controller, and I got delegated the task of figuring out which one. After
numerous calls to mail order places, I got some things figured out, but
still have some questions:
A) the Ultrastor SHOULD work with SCSI-1 drives, assuming that they don't
do any oddball things
B) the Ultrastor should connect ok to an internal SCSI drive with a 50
pin connector, which is what the drive we're trying to hook up has.
My questions are: is the Ultrastor really faster than the Adaptek? It
seems that I saw something about the 1542C being faster than the 34F, but
it may be (probably is) my imagination. It seems like the local bus would
definately come in handy for something like that! Also, one place I tried
had two prices, one for a bus-mastering and one for a non-bus-mastering
version of the card (both versions they claimed to be the 34F). Is this
a mistake on their part? I had never heard of bus mastering and non bus
mastering versions of the Ultrastor 34F, or of VESA cards at all, but I
could have missed something conceivably... or the guy I talked to may have
been confused...
Any info would be *MOST* appreciated.
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| 82 responses total. |
mju
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response 1 of 82:
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Jun 30 01:19 UTC 1993 |
VLB isn't going to do much good for a SCSI controller (at least not
"normal" SCSI), because the peak bandwidth of regular SCSI is 5MB/sec.
Most devices aren't even going to go that fast (hard drives peak out
at 2MB/sec to 2.5MB/sec). ISA can handle up to 8MB/sec or so,
so the only thing you're buying through VLB is lower latency.
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power
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response 2 of 82:
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Jun 30 04:49 UTC 1993 |
The UltraStor is a SCSI-2 controller, which should be able to hit 10MB/sec.
So the thing is, then, that the UltraStor begins to make sense when there
are a bunch of drives out there? That makes sense... Anyone know anything
else about the UltraStor vs Adaptec thing?
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mju
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response 3 of 82:
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Jun 30 09:31 UTC 1993 |
The Adaptec is supported a lot more widely than the UltraStor is.
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rogue
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response 4 of 82:
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Jul 1 14:21 UTC 1993 |
I use the Always IN-2000 myself and from my experience, the Always is
noticeably faster than the Adaptec 1542B. We use the Always IN-2000 on
Novell 3.11 servers also, and they fly.
I've tried a BusLogic VESA Local Bus Bus-Mastering SCSI controller, and it
was a nightmare. Essentially, I was beta-testing the drivers for
BusLogic and the DOS drivers didn't even work (I tried three different
motherboards). Highly disappointing. Stay away from the BusLogic VLB
SCSI controller.
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mju
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response 5 of 82:
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Jul 1 16:06 UTC 1993 |
I would be curious to benchmark the 1542B against the IN-2000, then.
One thing to consider is whether the IN-2000 uses DMA. Multitasking
operating systems (with well-written disk drivers, at least) can
frequently run another process on the CPU when a process is waiting
for a disk I/O request to be satisfied. A card that does host-mastering
DMA (such as the 1542) will allow this, while a card that does
programmed I/O transfers (such as the 1522) requires the CPU's help to
move the data, and so can't run another process in parallel with the
data transfer.
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rcurl
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response 6 of 82:
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Dec 18 20:10 UTC 1995 |
It sure is encouraging that no one's hard drive has been giving them
problems *for over two years!*. But I have a hard drive problem - its too
small.
I have an 80 MB HD in a Mac Powerbook 145B, and its running near "full".
What are my options (besides buying a new Powerbook with a BIG drive)? Can
the HD be replaced with one with more bytes? (I don't see such in
catalogs, though.) Or, does Disk Doubler really work fast and reliabily?
(I think I had heard some problems with using DD.) Your counsel would
be valued 8^).
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scg
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response 7 of 82:
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Dec 19 04:31 UTC 1995 |
In theory, replacing the hard drive shouldn't be too hard. Notebook hard
drives tend to be proprietary, and more expensice, than regular hard drives,
but are generally still possible to replace with a similar but bigger notebook
hard drive. However, you might have problems if Apple's power book hard
drives are no longer the same as they were then, and they've changed enough
other stuff about the Power Books that it wouldn't surprize me too much. It
would probably be worth asking an Apple dealer if they are able to get large
hard drives for that kind of computer. What sizes of hard drives were
available with the computer when it was new?
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rcurl
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response 8 of 82:
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Dec 19 08:22 UTC 1995 |
As far as I can determine (when all else fails...) the 145B came out
with a 40MB HD, but I bought mine with a 80MB HD. I don't know, though,
whether 160's were around or not.
I just saw in a catalog that "New Stacker 2.0 Is Here"..."...cleverly
and safely doubles the size of your hard drive...". Anyone using that?
What does it do to speed - and does it have any incompatibilities
(I already have the Ram Doubler bandage for my RAM crunch)?
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n8nxf
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response 9 of 82:
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Dec 19 15:19 UTC 1995 |
There is no reason that you can't replace the drive with a larger one.
It's a SCSI drive and uses a 2mm header for power and signal connections.
There is nothing "special" about it. Heck, I even took a 2.5", 20M, SCSI
HD out of the PB-100 and installed it in a Mac Plus! It works just fine.
I've done HD upgrades to PB's and it's no big deal. Just make sure that
you get the low-level / high-level formatig utility when you order your HD.
I've even seen ads in MacWeek for external enclosures that you can put your
old 2.5" HD inside of and continue to use them as a standard SCSI drive.
Look in the back pages of MacWeek for a whole slew of HD vendors.
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rcurl
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response 10 of 82:
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Dec 19 18:15 UTC 1995 |
Obviously, I'm looking in the wrong places. The usual catalog (MacMall,
MacWarehouse, etc) don't list replacement HDs. I'll follow up on this...
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scg
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response 11 of 82:
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Dec 20 07:05 UTC 1995 |
Klaus -- when saying there is nothing special about it, you're also saying
that it's a 2.5" HD. Since most hard drives are 3.5" (or 5.25"), that would
seem to be something special. I'm assuming if it's designed for a 2.5" drive,
a standard 3.5" SCSI drive probably wouldn't fit. However, that doesn't stop
you from using a standard SCSI drive in an external SCSI enclosure, as long
as you don't care about keeping your notebook computer a small portable thing
that you can carry around easily. Or is there a good source of these 2.5"
SCSI drives somewhere?
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rcurl
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response 12 of 82:
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Dec 20 07:21 UTC 1995 |
I got out my binocular microscope and studied the fine print in adverts
at the back of MacWorld (only slight exaggeration) and there, lo and
behold, was "Apple 160 (for Powerbook) 115". For another 79, I can get
a "heavy duty enclosure w/double-shielded 50-50 pin cable". So I can
end up with a separate 80 MB HD. (Another advert offers a 160 f/PB
for 99 and an EX KIT for 59, but no brand.) In regard to using an
external SCSI - I have one I use for backups, but I don't want to lug
around another drive (along with the modem, TNC, HT, phone, and nest
of cables...).
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n8nxf
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response 13 of 82:
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Dec 20 13:09 UTC 1995 |
The SCSI drive in the 145 is a 2.5" drive. The pinouts for the connector
on 2.5" SCSI drives are standerdixed across the various brands. To be
certain, ask the sales person if the drive in question will work in a PB
145. It can't hurt. The connectors (headers) used in 5 1/4" and 3 1/2"
HD's woun't fit on a 2.5" format, hence the pinout. The PB-145 uses a
2.5" HD so form the the PB's perspective a 3.5" or 5.25" is something
special. 2.5" is the norm.
Sorry Rane. Didn't mean for you to have peer through a microscope to
read the ads in the back pages of MacWorld. You have, however, found
exactly what I was talking about.
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rcurl
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response 14 of 82:
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Dec 20 22:46 UTC 1995 |
ITD wants $45 to install a new HD in a Powerbook. It can't be very hard.
What does one have to watch out for?
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rcurl
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response 15 of 82:
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Dec 21 07:40 UTC 1995 |
OK, I will NAME NAMES. The two listings in MacWorld for PB 2.5 drives are
DigiCorp Apple 160 (for Powerbook) $115 and Heavy Duty Encl $79
MacCity 160mb f/PB $99 and EX KIT $59
Now, who should I really deal with? I have the impression that most dealers
would carry these items but just don't put them in their advert/catalog
because the demand is low. Where would YOU buy your PB HD upgrade?
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scg
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response 16 of 82:
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Dec 23 07:17 UTC 1995 |
I don't have much experience buying Mac stuff, but I've been pretty happy with
Mac Mall for Newton stuff. I hadn't realized that there was a 2.5" standard
for notebooks. All I knew was that they were often different from the desktop
stuff I usually deal with. If that's a standard, it makes things much easier.
Are you sure you only want 160MB? I think you may find that filling up
quickly too. While you're buying a new HD, you might want to decide that they
are cheap enough to justify one that is bigger than that.
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rcurl
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response 17 of 82:
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Dec 23 07:57 UTC 1995 |
This is just a lowly PB 145B: obsolete, slow, B&W....probably due for
dedication to packet or some-such. Yes, there is a 320MB for "only"
$150...but how would I back it up?
Further into the subject: what do I need to consider in starting a new
drive? I back up my current drive with a 170MB LaCie external drive. I
just drag and drop the whole PB HD over onto the LaCie. I've never had to
copy it back (..so far..). When I start with a spanking new internal
drive, do I just do the same - drag and drop the old HD icon from the
backup onto the internal icon (maybe I better turn off the internal System
first?
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n8nxf
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response 18 of 82:
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Dec 27 14:51 UTC 1995 |
That should work but I would install the operating system for you floppy
disks and install everything else of the HD. (Some applications hid stuff
in the system folder... Just try the drag and drop and see how that works.
If you have problems, install from disk.)
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rcurl
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response 19 of 82:
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Dec 30 07:06 UTC 1995 |
he 160MB replacement HD comes with sys 7.1p installed. I could keep that.
There is a utility that chooses which system is to be the bootable one (by
putting it in the right kind of folder). I had no trouble booting from the
backup drive whend dI made the system there active and rebooted. I guess
it is just a matter of trying it out......maybe I swhould drag and drop
the sys 7.1 from the hard drive onto the backup, to replace whatever is
updated with the new stuff?
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ajax
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response 20 of 82:
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Dec 30 09:37 UTC 1995 |
I'd copy all the 3rd-party extensions/inits/fonts/etc from your old system
folder to the new Sys7.1 folder, and drag the Sys7.1 folder to the old
drive. I'm not sure if your old extensions/etc would survive if you dragged
all the contents of the Sys7.1 folder to the Sys7.0 folder; I'd think the
subfolders would be replaced entirely, so you'd lose your system additions.
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alan
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response 21 of 82:
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Jan 1 04:56 UTC 1996 |
watch out for 'system picker' if that is what you are using. I forget exaxtly
what I did but it took some real wrangling to get my hard drive to bbot again.
It was that sinking feeling i had after I clicked the mouse and realized that
I had just locked myself out of the good system I wanted. I believe I had to
take out the battery and erase the pram or somethihng else even more drastic.
Like formatting the drive. In other words, I'd find another tool. The computer
olny wanted the corrupt system and could not be convinced to use the clean
replacement. Since the indicated system was corrupt, but still contained the
boot instruction I was totally check mated. It just tried and tried but could
only get the question mark disk icon.
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rcurl
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response 22 of 82:
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Apr 30 01:46 UTC 1996 |
Progress: I bought the 2.5" 160 MB Apple HD, and an external SCSI case
into which to place the 80 MB HD when I take it out of the Powerbook.
However the company thought they would "help" me, and put the 160 MB drive
into the case before shipping (which I'd rather they hadn't done, so I
could see the drive alone). The 160 MB drive in the case comes up OK on
the desktop of the PB, and it does *not* contain any system. Therefore I
thought I would just drag and drop the HD icon from the Powerbook to the
160 MB drive in its case, as I usually backup. Do I need to do anything
else before I then switch the drives?
One think I know I have to do is change the SCSI ID on the 160 MB drive
from 3 (or 5), which it is now, to 0. Since I haven't seen the drive by
itself yet, and I don't see any gidgits for that when I open its case, how
is that done? There was a little sack of jumpers in the shipping box
everything came in, but no instructions. I presume I have to move some
jumpers around. What would be the configurations for different SCSI IDs on
a Mac 2.5" Powerbook drive?
(I've been putting this off because I've really needed the Powerbook for
some projects and a meeting that just occurred, and didn't want to screw
it up with no time to get it fixed...but I'll be able to tackle it with a
little breathing space in a week or so.)
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scg
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response 23 of 82:
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Apr 30 05:46 UTC 1996 |
Typically, you set the SCSI ID with jumpers. Often you have three jumpers,
which can be used to cout from 000 to 111 in base 2 to set the SCSI ID. The
drive should have come with documentation that would tell you more, but stores
often forget to include that if you don't ask for it. Some drives are labeled
better than others, and a few even have the documentation printed on the top
of the drive.
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ajax
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response 24 of 82:
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Apr 30 08:21 UTC 1996 |
Are you sure you need to set the SCSI ID to 0? One thing I'd do
after copying your hard drive, but before swapping them, is to
double-check that you can boot from the new drive. In System 7,
under Control Panels, is "Startup Disk" or some such, which lets
you choose which drive to boot from.
I think SCSI-II or -III drives usually have four jumpers, for ID
settings from 0-15, but yours is probably just a regular SCSI drive.
If you can't figure out which are the ID jumpers, the company that
sold it to you should certainly be able to tell you, and many card
and drive manufacturers put that sort of info on the web these days.
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