#High Density Floppy Driv
20-Apr-94 19:43:06
Sb: #139875-#High Density Floppy Driv
Fm: Steve Bennett/SYSOP 76702,1071
To: Brian Lowe 76640,2664
Brian,
>>how do I tell it to format to high density?<<
You shouldn't have to. If you insert a HiD floppy the system should format
it as a HiD disk. Since installing the drive, other than the test I did to
see if it would work, I don't think I've ever bothered to format an Amiga
floppy disk… everything is either on my hard drive, a tape back up, or
gets written to HiDensity MSDOS or MAC disks! Who uses Amiga floppy disks?
<ducking>
Look in your Devs:Dosdrivers drawer. You should have a driver (and icon)
for PC0 which is the dos driver for crossdos. If it's not there, look on
your utilities or extras disk. I believe that these have to be installed
manually when you do the upgrade to 2.1. I'm not certain though, as I
still use 2.04 and the commercial version of CrosDos (v5).
>>Any comments on why you went with Emplant rather than upgrading
your AMAX?<<
Lots.
I've been a ReadySoft customer for years… going from A-Max to A-Max II
to A-Max II+… I waited patiently for each upgrade. I waited even as the
announced release dates came and went. I waited for new features. I waited
for online support. While they always answered their phones and eventually
addressed any problems I had, it was time consuming and frustrating, often
requiring me to write or call several times. Faxes went unanswered.
The all of a sudden some company announced that they would have a new
Emulator on the market that would not only do MAC in the Amiga, but do it
in color. And that their product would multitask. And their product would
run emulations other than DOS. Utilities Unlimited seemed to be promising
everything under the sun, and more. I couldn't wait to see what they came
out with becasue it sounded so implausible.
Then they went and did it. The first boards shipped with the usual amount
of bugs in the software that can be expected in a new product of this
type… but more importantly, users like Jonathan Blackwell started
reporting that the Emplant actually worked. And maybe even _more_
importantly, he reported getting software updates on what seems like a
weekly basis, directly from UU's BBS. Jim Drew was determined to get this
thing right, and do right by his customers.
Jim appeared out of nowhere and started personally assisting people in the
online community here on CIS, (and elsewhere, which I could live without
<g>). That did it.
With a product as complex and powerful as this, I wanted the support I
deserved when I needed it. I don't know how long ReadySoft was working on
support for color, but it sure seemed to me like the possibility of rael
competition is what made them finally concede and put their act in to high
gear for A-Max IV.
It was too late for me… I had already decided that if a company like UU
was going to support both the Amiga and their users the way they were, I
wanted to be using their products.
>>And what do you thin[k] of Emplant?<<
I'm astounded by the technology and impressed with both the functionality
and support provided by UU… I've only just installed Emplant and I can
say that I am incredibly impressed. This board is designed to address the
needs of using an Amiga in a world that speaks everything _but_ Amiga.
It's felxibility will keep my Amiga useful far longer than any other Amiga
specific peripheral I might own.
– Michael