Hard Drive Question
13 messages in this thread
I have a Tecmar hard drive (don't laugh!). I notice that when it is
accessing the disk, it completely locks out any other activity, like pointer
movement. It is therefore more annoying to save to the HD than to a floppy;
the floppy takes longer, but you can do other stuff while it is busy.
My question is: do other HD drives do that? Or is this the infamous "wait
state"? —Mike
Tecmar doesn't do that NORMALLY! I think you have a problem Mike. Now, the
Micro-Forge, that is another story!
Bri
Damn, all this time I thought it was normal! I had a problem with the Tecmar
out of the box — the read light was always on, but they assured me it was
nothing to worry about. I hope I can get some service from them still! Thanx!
—Mike
THAT IS NOT NORMAL! (Yes, I am shouting!). My read light blink normally when
loading, etc. Write blinks with writing to disk.
I called them re my problem, and they only have 1 tech who knows about the
Amiga stuff. I wish you luck my friend.
After looking closely, they just use a standard (Though miniturized) SCSI board
for the drive.
Bri
Bri,
My problem is that I cannot live without the drive for more than a day. I'm
busy getting soft & hardware ready for the CES show Jan 8. I'll have to send it
in after that. Thanx! —Mike
Mike, whatcha doing?
Bri
I called Tecmar, and yes, there is only one guy there who knows the Amiga, but
he is knowledgable and helpful. he thinks my drive is always trying to read,
even when writing, and that's what's slowing it down. There is a one-year
warranty on it(!), so I'll send it in after the CES show.
Which is what I'm doing now, getting ready for it. I'm working on two main
things: getting the Amiga to read time code, and getting it to genlock at 24
frames. Both work, now I'm just cleaning up and making it fancy.
To make money I write technical manuals for RTS Systems, makers of intercoms
for TV studios. I also am designing a test jig for them as well.
I understand you are working on a low-cost HD. That sounds verrrry
interesting! —Mike
Who, me, no. I am not working on a lo-cost HD. I am playing with WORMS
though.
Bri
WORMS are fun. How big? How much for drive, media? When? —Mike
They are available NOW in SCSI formats. 200 Meg/side! $5000+$7500 each
(5K-7.5K). Mostly being used in Space Program for NASA.
Lotsa fun. Will tell you more about it when I get the first one.
Bri
I thought they had more. A friend of mine was working on optical media with
a couple terabytes per side. Supposedly even though it's WO it'd take years to
use the whole thing under normal use. Maybe that's why we won't see it.
—Mike
Did you get in touch with Mimetics? They have been working with SMPTE on the
Amiga for months now… – Bela
Bela, no, right now I'm way too busy to talk to Mimetics. For months I've been
doing nothing except work on various projects for the Amiga for future sale,
and now all of a sudden I'm swamped with special projects. It never rains but
it pours! —Mike