#Help/Amdek LD-1
10 messages in this thread
Bob, There's a file in the libs here on the old amdek drives. Go to the lib
menu and brouse on amdek. As for a source for the interface, Hitachi, the
original mfg. of the drive may still have some… Hitachi (or its dealers)
still sells the latest drivers.
Lloyd (:}
Thanks for the reply Lloyd. I've looked in the libs, but I think this drive
predates the Amdek/Hitachi relationship which began with an internal drive
called the Laserdek 1000. I would be nice if it was compatible with the
Hitachi controller because I have a local source for them. I'll keep looking.
No, If its a Lasedrive 1 it doesn't predate the relationship. There are no
drivers in the libs, but a rather full description of the drive and controller
>is< in the libs. Brouse on Amdek and it'l come up.
You're right. I had it confirmed in a telepone call to Amdek. I actually have
a phone number now where I can buy the controller, software and cable to see if
the drive works. Sorry to have doubted your most reliable information. I'm
just a novice trying to swim through the whole new sea of information to figure
out what I need to know.
Thanks again.
Your welcome Bob. BTW, if after you get everything hooked up and running and
it still doesn't work, pick up a CD lens cleaner and try that. That revived my
LD-1 which had quit. There is also a utility in the libs which will find out
the address of the card and maybe do some checking of the drive. Sorry, forgot
the file name, but again, bro on Hitachi or Amdek.
Lloyd (:}
I found and looked at the document you spoke of, but there aren't any
performance specs in it. Do you have any idea what the average seek time is
for the Hitachi 1503S/Amdek Laserdek 2000? This is probably the most important
spec to determine the drives usefulness to me. Along the way I've gotten
access to the WyseFAX Infromation Retreival Service and their offical specs
only include the track to track time.
Do you know of any cheap sources of Hitachi/Amdek controllers? For the price
that Amdek Direct wants to sell me a controller and a cable for I could buy a
new Mitsumi. This thing is beginning to look more and more like a doorstop as
time goes on.
Bob, I don't have any performance specs for the drives. I do recall somebody
saying that somewhere on CI$ is a program to benchmark CD-ROM's. If you go
IBMFF and find it, leave me a note with its file name and location I could use
it too <G>. As for cheap sources for the controller and cable, I haven't the
foggiest. If you want to go on a scavanger hunt, you might leave a message
stating what you want on some of the various forums. You could also pick up a
copy of Computer Shopper and see what you can find. There are some vendors
specilizing in CD-ROM stuff who might have a handle on what you want. If you
really can't find anything, send me a message thuough CI$ mail with what you'd
take for the drive, I can chain it to mine.
Lloyd (:}
I didn't know you actually had one of these things in working condition. Now
if you were only near Central Ohio (I'm in Columbus) we could hook it up and
see if it works. This drive is becoming increasingly expendable since I picked
up a second Mitsumi over the weekend. I'm sure we could work a deal out if you
thought your drive would like a companion. Where do you live? The shipping
cost would be the largest additional risk one of us would have to bear.
The list price for the CDIFI8S interface card is $70, the drivers are $35. The
cable is a DB37 with all pins connected end to end to the same pin. DA.EXE will
verify operation. I used one of these drives the past week under dos and os/2.
The seek time full stroke is about 1 sec, around 800-900 average. Running the
drive is like using an xt. Data trnsfer rate will vary depending on how data
is read. About 4K for single sector reads, to 150K for streaming at 16-32K at
once. It cannot do videos or sound card audio but can do the ohter stuff if
youre patient. CD-Audio is ok.
Thanks for the info Bill. That's about all the info I wanted to know about the
drive, but couldn't find anyplace else. I'll try Laser Resources for the
controller and cable.