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.