On Fri, 6 Sep 2002 at 23:01:11, Tony Firshman wrote: (ref: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
> >On Fri, 6 Sep 2002 at 11:33:55, wrote: >(ref: ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>) > >> >>Quiet in here innit? Did everyone OD on Guinness at/after the QL show >>and still suffering the mothers of all hangovers?? ;O) >What - all seven of us (8-)# >> >>Can somebody enlighten me as to what a Qubide hard disk is? Is it a >>special hardware unlike a normal IDE disk and only available from one >>supplier? Is it a normal disk but supplied with some unique low level >>format? >Neither - just a std IDE with absolutely any data on it. >I have even used qubide to zap a disk that had a corrupted sector zero, >and crashed the PC on power up! Sorry I misread. Of course it is the latter - ie normal IDE disk with a special qubide format. >> >>I tried to partition a harddisk using the partition_exe program from >>the qub156.zip. The disk had been partitioned previously but they had >>all been deleted using a Linux fdisk. >> >>The partition_exe program detected the disk device but complained when >>trying to create a partition that it was not a Qubide disk. Is some >>other preparation procedure needed to turn a normal IDE disk into a >>Qubide one? What motherboard are you using and what expansion? If std QL and GC/SGC then take out the processor. Also there is a lot of noise with std motherboard, so try different configurations. That can cause the problem you are getting. With std motherboard, I found the best with mine was SGC on the qubide through connector and using the first slot (if Qplane). Backplane is critical too. The only two that are satisfactory I find are Qplane and Mplane. It needs a good ground plane, pullups on critical lines and extra decoupling caps etc. Some had none of these! With Mplane I find that absolutely any configuration works OK with Aurora. Since using that combination I have had no main HD problems at all - so much so that it once took me months to realise the backup HD wasn't working, and that was a failed HD. I have had 24 hour per day experience on my BBS with Qubide since it first came out. -- QBBS (QL fido BBS 2:252/67) +44(0)1442-828255 tony@<surname>.demon.co.uk http://www.firshman.demon.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG
