CompuServe Archive

This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.

Search Results (40 messages)

#52552 CDROM Cache Software Message #52586
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · General July 12, 1993 10:36 AM
Richard, I had the same experience as you with NDD. Just not useful to me. I have stuck with Commander 3.0, hoping there would eventually be some improvements. I too am waiting for my copy of 4.0. Looking forward to it. -=Rob=-
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · General June 30, 1993 9:23 AM
Pat, >>The Norton Commander 4.0 is currently shipping. Great news!!!!! I did jump over to the Commander forum yesterday, and finding most if not all reports favorable, have already ordered the upgrade. I do indeed have a CD-ROM drive, and look forward to trying SpeedCache+ My buddy and I are…
#51490 Toshiba 3401 drivers Message #51698
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware June 29, 1993 12:31 PM
David, >>Has anyone hooked up a Toshiba 3401 CD-Rom to an Ultrastor 24F EISA SCSI controller. Yes. It works just fine using the Ultrastor software drivers package. You should be able to get the drivers package, which also includes a tape backup program and an audio CD player program, from…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · General June 29, 1993 12:31 PM
Pat, I just happened to see your message about Commander. Just got the upgrade notice yesterday, and saw an article in Infoworld. I have used Commander for years, and love it. I have one question. Are the new viewers in 4.0 as fast as Commander 3.0? I also got Desktop…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware June 1, 1993 5:25 PM
Dave, I was surprised at how much capacity was lost on a big drive with large clusters. Seems terrible to lose over 100 MB because of inefficiency! I remember when DOS first came out with hard disk support for the XT. Then it seemed like a disk with 1024 cylinders…
#49411 Need SCSI Y-Adapter Message #49654
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware June 1, 1993 5:25 PM
Barry, Most SCSI devices are terminated with little flat resistor packs plugged in somewhere near the 50-pin connector at the back end. The resistors are about an inch long, 1/4 inch wide and have 8 or so little pins along one edge. They are usually black. A few devices have…
#49341 #Need SCSI Y-Adapter Message #49401
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 28, 1993 11:24 AM
Barry, That external CD-ROM with only one connector may mean that the drive is permanently terminated internally. If that is the case, you will only be able to use the drive as the last device on a SCSI daisy chain. If there were such a thing as a "Y" connector,…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 28, 1993 11:24 AM
Dave, Don't feel bad about problems with IDE drives. I've had the same problems. Last one was a Conner CP3204 which would not boot. I finally got someone in Conner tech support, who told me to low-level format the drive. Until then Conner people had always told me _not_ to…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 28, 1993 10:53 AM
Dave, I ran across the information we developed on disk space wasted with different cluster sizes. +———————+————-+————-+————-+ |Block size | 4,096 | 8,192 | 16,384 | +———————+————-+————-+————-+ |Total # of Files | 17492 | 17492 | 17492 | +———————+————-+————-+————-+ |Total Space Req'd | 572,353,624 | 572,353,624 | 572,353,624 | +———————+————-+————-+————-+…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 27, 1993 9:26 AM
Dave, It must be a relief to learn that your IS department isn't completely out to lunch. I agree with you that a year is probably a minimum time to think about deploying NT for general use. I don't expect to be recommending that move to my company or consulting…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 26, 1993 11:14 AM
Dave, I know what you mean about the mechanical stuff. It can get very aggravating. Sometimes it's pretty hard to figure out where pin 1 is on SCSI connectors. I try to remember to find and mark it _before_ mounting the drive. Top management which fails to understand IS needs…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 26, 1993 11:14 AM
Robin, You are quite right about most vendors regard for their customers needs. I continue to be aggravated at Novell because of their policy of not talking to customers. They have decent support here on CI$, but sometimes you just need to talk to someone on the phone. AutoDesk is…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 25, 1993 9:36 AM
Dave, BusLogic sounds like a good company to deal with. Such companies seem to be getting harder to find these days. You guys have 1500 PC's plus Macs, and no _computer weenie_???? How in the world do you get any work done? I'm responsible for only 50 PC's (no Macs)…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 24, 1993 5:20 PM
Dave, Don Parker sure sounds like a good person to consult about the BusLogic SCSI adapter. I always like to get information from someone who has actually used a product. I'll fire off a message to him. I didn't know anything about the Orchid card. Sounds worth investigating. I think…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 21, 1993 8:49 AM
Dave, EISA configuration isn't all that difficult. I don't think you'll have much trouble with it. Just read the screens carefully and check the available options before you choose one. The motherboard is indeed addressed as slot 0, and does require the .CFG file on the floppy. One caution; if…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 20, 1993 9:02 AM
Dave, Configuring EISA systems is a bit more involved than ISA systems. There is still a CMOS setup required, via the usual keystroke during boot sequence. In addition, you must run an EISA configuration program, which is supplied by the motherboard manufacturer. This configuration replaces the setting of jumpers and…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 19, 1993 10:08 AM
Dave, Good luck with the BusLogic SCSI. I'll be anxious to hear how that goes. That new motherboard sounds nice. I hope to get up to a VLB system before _too_ long. Graphics cards seem to be a large problem right now. It seems that writing good drivers for windows…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 13, 1993 10:14 AM
Dave, Hey, might as well go for it! After all, it's only money. Is that new CPU a 486DX2-66? If so, that's clearly where you want to be for the next couple of years. If you can do that for $475, it's a pretty good deal. Last time I looked,…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 12, 1993 9:52 AM
Dave, I didn't realize that Jim Carlton had suggested caution about the 1 MB version of the Graphite. I think I would really want the 2 MB version anyway, though. Only problem is the higher cost. If you can trade up your motherboard for an EISA/VLB model, that's probably a…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 11, 1993 9:48 AM
Ken, Wow, two of you! OS/2 must be _really_ be catching on. The work I did last year with OS/2 was for the same reason as you. I hoped it would turn out to be a better way to get the job done. In my case, it was not to…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 11, 1993 9:48 AM
Dave, You'll definitely want to look at the Hercules Graphite card. It can do 800 x 600 x 65,536 colors at 72Hz. That's the 1 MB VRAM version. They are coming RSN with a 2MB version for more colors at higher resolutions. I have heard that their windows drivers are…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 10, 1993 10:05 AM
Ron, I really do hope IBM will get back on track and do their part to keep Microsoft on its toes. The last thing in the world we need is for Microsoft to dominate the market any more than it already does. Sounds like IBM is making some right moves.…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 10, 1993 10:05 AM
Dave, The effect of color depth on perception has been surprising to me. When I began to see 24-bit color video, I was surprised how good a 640×480 image could look, even when only 20,000 or so colors were actually used. When you think about it, you can't have all…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 10, 1993 10:04 AM
Ken,
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 7, 1993 2:53 PM
Dave, It seems like Adaptec indeed never learns. Your experience is much like what I have experienced for several years. For some reason, the trade press never seems to criticize Adaptec for their lack of support. Their products always seem to be reviewed favorably, with no mention of support problems.…
#47612- Tosh 3401 & Adap 1542 Message #47726
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 5, 1993 8:19 AM
Dave, The software business is changing at a dizzying pace. One way or another, the major players will find a way to make money at it. I just hope folks like us don't end up getting shortchanged later due to low purchase prices. Your experience with Adaptec is much like…
#47561- Tosh 3401 & Adap 1542 Message #47725
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 5, 1993 8:19 AM
Ken, Your setup sounds a lot like mine, a 486-33 clone, measly 16MB RAM , Diamond Speedstar 24X, an Adaptec 1542C, one Conner CP3204 (IDE) and one Maxstor 7213 (SCSI), and an old Toshiba 3201 CD-ROM. I'm glad to hear OS/2 at least can work on ordinary systems. Still it…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware May 3, 1993 10:14 AM
John, Deals just keep getting better. Hard drive prices near $1/MB can now be had for capacities around 800 MB and up. Hopefully this will trickle down to the 400 MB range before long. But it's only money, -=Rob=-
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 26, 1993 4:19 PM
Ron, Are you actually running OS/2 2.1? I tried hard for weeks to get 2.0 to work, but it never did. It apparently just was never going to work with my hardware. Does IBM now have drivers for popular hardware? I have a SoundBlaster (clone) and Colorado Memory QFA700 tape…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 26, 1993 9:26 AM
Dave, Have I got a deal for you . Saw in the paper last weekend. You too can own your own Cray supercomputer. Seems Lawrence Livermore Laboratory retired one recently. Sold it at auction for $10,000. One problem though. Costs $35,000 per month to operate it. They retired it because…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 23, 1993 8:59 AM
Dave, I hope to find an economical external drive cabinet soon. When I do I'll pass the information along to you. I'm in Houston, so if I find something local, it won't be too far from you. To me there is one great hope for NT. It has been developed…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 22, 1993 9:00 AM
Roger, I ended up with the Adaptec 1542C mostly because a good friend of mine, who is my main guru, told me often that he had the least problems with their adapters. I had been avoiding Adaptec for years because of past support problems . Next time, I'll look at…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 22, 1993 9:00 AM
Dave, You got the picture about the CD-ROM tower. I'm keeping my eyes open for a good deal on an external drive cabinet. I've found a couple, but they want too much money for them so far. No reason such a box with power supply should cost over $200, it…
#46383 #Toshiba3401&PAS16 Message #46534
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 21, 1993 2:10 PM
Pat, You will have to contact Media Vision to purchase the cables and software to connect your CD-ROM to the PAS16. Separate cables are required for SCSI and audio. A specific device driver is also required for the system to talk to the CD-ROM. I have a PAS16 with an…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 21, 1993 11:32 AM
Dave, It's pretty hard to tell what will happen with support. Pressures to lower prices are so great that vendors may be forced to so something to maintain price competetion and still provide support. What I read is that prices for common business productivity applications may permanently fall to around…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 20, 1993 10:21 AM
Dave, Support is becoming more important to me every day. If you want an example of how things SHOULD be, go visit the Practical Peripherals forum (GO PPIFORUM) PPI provides the best support I have ever seen for any product, both here on CI$ and by phone. I buy and…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware April 19, 1993 10:17 AM
Dave, Does Adaptec offer any support on CI$? I have never seen any reference to that. I hang around the Netware forums where disk systems are constantly discussed, and I have never seen a message from anyone at Adaptec, nor have I seen any mention of an Adaptec forum. From…
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · General March 25, 1993 9:15 AM
Joel, Can you tell me whether Kodak has available a sample Photo CD disk which could allow prospective customers to evaluate the technology. I suppose this would have to go along with some sort of evaluation copy of software to allow reading the disk. I have CD-ROM drives on two…
#Internal Tosh 3401? Message #43185
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware March 16, 1993 9:17 AM
Roland, I haven't tried the audio play part of the UltraStor SCSI package. I would expect it to work, but just don't know yet. Rob Nixon 72700,1445
#42387 #Toshiba XM-3401B Message #42422
From: Rob Nixon CDROM Forum · Drives/Hardware March 9, 1993 9:32 AM
Jonathan, I recently installed a Toshiba XM-3401B for a client, and I am highly impressed. The 3401 is MUCH faster than anything I have used before, and I had no difficulty getting it working with an UltraStor 24F SCSI host adapter, using UltraStor's SCSI CD-ROM driver software. The drive hasn't…