Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!iuvax!rutgers!usc!orion.cf.uci.edu!mrichey
From: mrichey@orion.cf.uci.edu (Mike Richey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: ARLL HD controllers; are they any good?
Message-ID: <2502@orion.cf.uci.edu>
Date: 11 Aug 89 23:52:33 GMT
References: <4656@brains.UUCP> <1600@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> <[1431.2]comp.ibmpc;1@point.UUCP>
Reply-To: mrichey@orion.cf.uci.edu (Mike Richey)
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Lines: 19

In article <[1431.2]comp.ibmpc;1@point.UUCP> wek@point.UUCP (Bill Kuykendall) writes:
>>ARLL HD controllers; are they any good?:
>
>We have 2 Perstor controllers running in separate systems with Seagate ST-
>4096 drives.  The 4096s format to about 76 meg MFM, 140 meg ARLL.  
>
>Both of the techs that are testing the controllers have reported minor
>problems that bother me more than a little bit.  Both systems periodically

You are correct. The problem with low cost drives, such as the seagate and 
the miniscribe products is a device known as the pulse detector. This device
detects the flux rotations from the disk surface as the surface passes under
the r/w heads. Most seagate drives were designed with a pulse detector made by
silicon systems. silicon systems still sells this product because that's
what the drive manufacturers order. SI makes better ones, but they cost more.

There are other controllers (not PC type) that simply will not work with the
seagate and miniscribe products. So beware, if you want more out of the drive,
be real sure about the drive....