🚀 go-pugleaf

A while back I wrote about problems adding a second HD unit to my
SH204...

On Feb 3, (I never saw the original response; it arrived tonight in
one of over a dozen digests) Ron Abramson responded:

>
> Pierre  Fortin, P. writes:
>>Until recently, I was running my SH204 hard drive (Seagate 225) on
>>my Mega-2 with a second 10-meg drive (Miniscribe 3012).  This is a
>>TWO drive to ONE controller configuration which Atari's AHDI.PRG
>>never supported, so I also booted with Supra's SUPBTHP.PRG in my
>>AUTO folder.  This combination worked great with no problems.
>
>>After filling the original 20-Meg and the 10-Meg was creeping up,
>>I decided to spend some $ and bought a 40-Meg Miniscribe 3650.
>
>>At the same time, I got my hands on the "latest" Atari AHDI.PRG
>>(HDX20.ARC on some boards).  I figured I had best get this S/W
>>upgrade done before the H/W one.  Many floppies later, it was time
>>to re-format the original 20-Meg drive.... done.... put some files
>>back up... WOW!!!! writing to HD is MUCH faster!!!  Now to tackle
>>the H/W upgrade.
>[Stuff Deleted...]
>
>>Some strange activities noted (random and intermittent):
>[More Stuff Deleted...]
>
>>Obviously something is severely brain damaged.  OK, don't use Unit 1
>>and everything is fine... !?
>
>>So far I am 99.44% certain that the new AHDI.PRG and SUPBTHP.PRG are
>>definitely ***NOT*** compatible.
>[ETC...]
>
>Based on the information posted, this conclusion seems premature to me.
>You made both a hardware AND a software changed and after finding
>problems, you make the assumption that Atari's software is 99.44% likely
>to be at fault.  This doesn't seem very fair to Mr. Pratt & Co.

Ron, I said the TWO are "not compatible" versus "at fault".
Anyway, since the original posting, I have had both e-mail
and voice discussions with Vance Chin of Beckemeyer Microsystems
(***** MANY thanks Vance!!! *****).  I was correct in my statement,
but for the WRONG reasons:  one must use EITHER Atari's AHDI.PRG on
drives formatted with THEIR formatter program, *OR* Supra's
driver/formatter pair, *BUT NEVER BOTH*.  I originally thought that
Supra's SUPBTHP.PRG co-existed with AHDI.PRG:  Boy! Was I wrong!

Don't get me wrong, I *LOVE* my Mega2; my son has an IBM clone just
4 feet away from my Mega, but I have only touched its keyboard 2-3
times in over a year, and then just to help with problems.

>I suggest that you remove the 40 meg drive and put the 10 meg in its
>place and test the set-up as best as you can.  If this set-up works
>fine, your problem might not be software related at all.

While your suggestion is valid, in this case it would have led to the
wrong conclusions.  You see, this turned out to be another multiple
problem (seems like the only kind of problems I ever get, but that's
another story).  The 10Meg drive has NO hard errors on it, while the
new Miniscribe 3650 has errors at (head/cyl/byte) 1/112/3351,
1/287/418, 4/736/2505, 5/789/1223 and 5/790/1223.  Based on Vance's
comments, the Atari host adapter card's PAL chip (the only socketed
one) has a problem whereby drive errors are not reported back to the
system.  This is supposedly corrected by Beckemeyer Microsystems'
ADE chip.  I can't report on this yet, as I am still waiting for the
chip to arrive from CA.  On the software side, one must only use
*one* driver/formatter pair.  However, I still cannot reliably use
the 2nd drive in either location.

As far as Atari (including Mr Pratt) are concerned, I think the net
has said more than I *ever* Would about their lack of support.

Granted, Mr Pratt often replies to net queries, but as one who has
spent money for the developper's kit, I wish that some of this good
support was better channeled within Atari to get TOS 1.4 on the
street ASAP.  Personally, it sounds to me (based on many months of
reading the net) that all bugs should be out of 1.4 by now, and any
efforts trying to keep those ALL those OLD programs runnable are
in the "ever-diminishing returns" category.  Priority number 2 would
be to support the developpers properly:  currently, Atari seems to
be suffering from the NIH syndrome (not invented here).  Only those
companies which are prepared to accept that they cannot be the
sole supplier (Oh yes, I was one of those who bought one of the very
first 4K Level-1 TRS-80 systems) will succeed.

Mr Pratt & Atari:  take a chance, byte ;~) the bullet, whatever;
many of us don't care about older programs anymore, sell us the new
1.4 ROMs now.  Those of us who would like to develop on the Atari ST
line need something to sink our teeth into which is a little more
tangible than the 8/8/88 disk version.  If a great new program comes
with a comment like  "Requires TOS 1.4 or newer" and I don't/won't
spend the money to get either, then my Mega2 might just as well
be sitting next to the TRS-80 collecting dust.

***** Please, ALL of this is intended in the most POSITIVE of ways*****

>You might also want to try setting the 40 meg as unit 0 and the
>20 meg as unit 1 and see if the problem stays on unit 1 or with the 40
>meg.  Finally, you could try going back to your old software and see if
>your new hardware works properly.
>
>Don't get me wrong, you may have identified the problem accurately.  I'm
>just suggesting that you try some tests to confirm your theory.

See the above...  Also, I don't know if its the same for everyone else,
but the digests only come to me in batches of about 10-15 every few
weeks.  Your input is valuable to me:  I may already have tried most
things people suggest, but unlike... I like to think I don't have the
NIH disease ;~)

>Maybe your intent was not to blame Atari, but that's how it sounded to
>me.

In respect to documenting (in a USER publication no less) the multi-unit
multi-controller protocol, then only implementing a ONE-unit per
controller AHDI.PRG...  I would prefer to say "shame Atari".


>Good Luck,
>Ron Abramson

I thank you very much.  Again, I am a great fan of the Atari ST line,
but except for the first few months of excitement, I no longer give
any references (good or bad) regarding these systems.

>P.S. These opinions are my own!

Ditto.
Pierre Fortin
FORTINP@BNR.CA

[my] P.S.  Having read the net for quite some time, I know in my heart
           that many might want to jump in with comments.  Please,
           comment if you wish, but provide some good information
           with your comments as Ron and I are doing; don't comment
           just for the sake of commenting (these are the least
           impressive/memorable types of mailings).