CompuServe Messages

Ron, I have no idea of the price difference between a 30 meg RLL and a 30 meg MFM. I am not handy to my Computer Shopper mags right now, but it's a good place to look for that info. Reliability <sigh>. MFM is more reliable. I don't make this up, but get it from sources who are in a position to know. You say that if a drive is designed and certified RLL, it should be reliable. I agree, but you left out two things. One is another 'if' _If_ the drive is of good quality, or better, _if_ the drive is of better quality than the equivalent MFM drive (equivalent in mechanism, not in capacity). For the same drive mechanism, RLL is less reliable than MFM. Many manufacturers used to make a drive with a 'sputtered' media coating on the platters for MFM, and a 'plated' media coating on the platters for RLL. At that time, and drive that tested 'not quite good enough' for RLL, was sold as an MFM drive, and the buyer had no way of knowing what type of media the platters on any given drive were. It is most common now to have all drives of any one type made with plated media, and tested to see if they are good enough for RLL. The bits are packed in closer together on an RLL drive, which means that the media needs to be better. It also means that it will tolerate less of a degradation in media than will MFM. -larry