🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <2541@creatures.cs.vt.edu> alanlb@cs.vt.edu writes:
>Hi there!  I'm about to spend an awfully large chunk of my savings on
>a larger drive and I have a few questions:
>
>1) What is the formatted capacity of a 2624SA (the one that's ~540MB)
>   using 1024-byte sectors?

When a low level format at 1024bytes/sector is performed, df reports
about 520MB (Fujitsu claims the drive is 520MB formatted capacity).
However, after the bare filesystem is installed, you end up with
about 450 usable-MB.

>2) What are the differences between a 2624S and a 2624SA?

Occording to convention seen on other Fujitsu drives, the A
stands for 512byte sectors, the B stands for 1024byte sectors.
If no suffix letter exists, then that might indicate a reference
to the generic drive, without specifying low level formatting info.

>3) Are the 5.25" full-height externals *really* noisy (my second choice
>   is the ~660MB model), e.g. would you go nuts in a quiet apartment
>   bedroom?  I once tried out a pre-production Seagate 1480N and it whined
>   at such a high pitch I made me nauseous.

From what I have heard, yes, they are quite noisy.  But only when
seeking.  It's hard to describe exactly how noisy we're talking about,
but I would never want one in my room.

>4) Suppose I swap my internal (I have a NeXTstation) with the 2624SA.
>   Is it true that that particular drive runs really hot, and if so,
>   any ramifications vis-a-vis component life?

I have been using a 2624SA in my slab for about 6 months, continuous
use.  It does get warm, but certainly no signifant temperature change
when compared to the Quantum 105.

>Thank you very much!
>
>--
>+---------------------------------------------v-----------------------------+
>| Alan L. Batongbacal                         | "If you spew and she bolts, |
>| alanlb@cs.vt.edu                            |  it was never meant to be." |
>| Bleaksburg, VA 24060                        |    -- Wayne Campbell        |
>+---------------------------------------------^-----------------------------+

Keep in mind also that the new 3.5" drives are noticeably faster
than the old 5.25" full-height drives.  Most of them support the
SCSI-2 extensions as well, which can increase performance
in some applications.

If you (or anyone else) buys a 2624 for use with a NeXT, be sure
to disable synchronous mode transfers and disable the SCSI-2
command set.  I have a list of the jumper settings if anyone
needs it.

...Stuart