Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!sdsu!bionet!agate!saturn!helios!terry From: terry@helios (Terry Ricketts) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech Subject: Re: home-made hard-drive Summary: try Palomax Message-ID: <9295@saturn.ucsc.edu> Date: 2 Oct 89 22:43:08 GMT References: <4068@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>Sender: usenet@saturn.ucsc.edu Reply-To: terry@helios.ucsc.edu (Terry Ricketts) Organization: UC Observatories/Lick Observatory, Santa Cruz Lines: 34 Rick Golembiewski answered a request for info on st506 interfaces as follows: >There already exists a program that allows you to use an ibm as a 'file ...plus a lot more... > I spent way more then I'de like to >admit on the Palomax project >(similar to the wedge, but it was just plans no kit), and I never got it >to work... I finally just got >a stardrive (a cheap scsi controller that plugs into microbotics >starboard II ) and even with this >comercial product the software was cheezy (it didn't support my St296N >and except for the fact > >that someone sent me a hacked up driver I would be out of luck), and >slow (~ 100K/s :-( ). >The moral of the story is you get what you pay for, save up and get a >nice system, it'll be worth >it, and give you a lot less hassle... I just wanted to add that I have succesfully built 2 of the Palomax interfaces, & have friends who have done the same. The hardware is really quite simple if you have reasonable abilities in breadboarding. My first system I built close to 2 years ago for my A1000. I put the interface, hard disk, and power supply in a single case that attaches to the side of the computer. The second unit was for my son about 11 months ago. He didn't have as much room so I built a separate box for the interface card and cabled to a box that held the power supply and hard disk. Both systems have worked flawlessly since. The software is very well put together. The only thing missing was a park command (since I am using an older style non auto park), so I ended up writing my own park command in assembler. It wasn't hard to do, and I am not a programmer. I have also heard good things about the wedge, though I have never seen one in operation. If you are a hardware hacker & feel comfortable doing it, I highly recommend the Palomax kit.