from a dialog between [EMAIL PROTECTED] and [EMAIL PROTECTED] . . . [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> << Or is the card plain dead? >>
and then abd [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:>> >> "It's dead, Jim". >You're a doctor, not an engineer. >> One interesting thing about ATDX controllers is: 1) they are >> designed for Apple-ROMed 2.5" EIDE drives, and probably won't >> work if a non-Apple-ROMed drive is substituted. >Even if they're not from that source? This adapter came from an >old Sparc server, and surely didn't had Apple drives fitted. The ADTX adapters do _NOT_ need an 'Apple ROMed' drive. I've used these with all manner of brands and sizes, most of 'em not Apple. I even question whether or not an ATA drive can even have an 'Apple ROM'. I'm under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that ATA drives aren't that smart. Along the same lines, I think any ATA device will work as long as it uses the same supported features as does the adapter. FWIW, I've had excellent results with Fujitsu, Toshiba and IBM drives attached to ADTX adapters. >> Another interesting thing is you do NOT have to reformat the drive >> to SCSI after having been formatted as EIDE ... unlike all those >> PCI EIDE/UATA cards do. >I didn't fully understand that part, could you elaborate? The drive itself is treated just as an ATA disk. I've swapped drives between 'real' ATA buses and an ADTX adapter with no troubles. Many PCI-ATA adapters apparently use some sort of 'trick' that ends up initializing a HD differently than does a true ATA bus. Well, at least it seems so for many of the Mac adapters of which I'm aware (eg: my SIIG/133 PCI-ATA card presents HDs as being located on a scsi bus.) >> Finally, there is an 8 GB limit on these cards. >I'm more worried with the head limit (15). My IDE has 16, but the page >http://mickey.lucifier.net/adtx/ >claims it won't work on sutch a setup. Again, my problem is complete >lack of recognition that the adapter is even on the bus - I can get >another IDE drive without mutch hassle. I can't help with this part other than to say I haven't been able to get an adapter to 'see' more than about 8GBs of larger drives. As for # of heads I doubt any drive I've used has had that many heads so I'd suggest trying some drives with fewer heads. I have not tried an adapter with no HD attached however your lack of success could certainly result from using a drive with unsupported geometry. One important thing to mention, though I doubt it's possible to screw it up, _DO_NOT_ attempt to 'low-level format' an ATA drive on such an adapter. ATA drives _cannot_ be 'low-level formatted' and may die if subjected to such treatment. In theory, the adapter should prevent the formatting utility from wrecking the drive but I never take such things for granted. hth, Dan K ................................. http://macdan.n3.net/ carracho://dankephoto.dhs.org:9700 hotline://dankephoto.dhs.org:9500 ................................. -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
