[Coco] hard drive questions

[Jim Cox]

On Mon, 12 Jun 2006 14:00:37 -0600
  "Chester A. Patterson" <vchester at setec-cr.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've collected some hard drives for when I get an IDE 
>adapter. Thye have the
> ubiquitous standard dual in-line 40 pin connector. They 
>were pulled from
> (I'm told) working 286 and 386 PCs.
> 
> The Conner I think is dead 'cause it sounds like it 
>speeds up and slows
> down, after 5-10 minutes it appears to settle into a 
>fixed speed. Intel BIOS
> doesn't even acknowledge its existence. The Quantum is 
>my favorite for
> eventual use with Coco but Intel BIOS returns "NOT IDE 
>Compatible Disk"
> Google search finds very little on this specific model, 
>others similar yes.
> The Seagate is RLL. I guess I need a special interface 
>for it. Haven't
> plugged it into the PC.
> 
> Quantum HD LPS270A 257mb "AT interface" 12ms  Cyl.944 
>(800) Hd.14 Sec.40
> Seagate HD ST157A1 45mb "AT interface" RLL (2,7) Cyl.560 
>Hd.6 TPI.824
> Conner HD CP30061 "AT interface" Type 55
> 
> How to check them? Should I toss or keep? Thanks!
> 
> /Chester Patterson
> 

Chester:

What I do to test drives is to use a low cost USB 2.0 
external drive enclosure that I can plug into a USB 
compatable system.  I leave the enclosure open so I can 
easily swap drives that I am testing.  This avoids my 
having to open up a system and if necessary swap cables to 
check a unknown drive.  Since I am using all of my IDE 
channels on my systems, using a external USB 2.0 drive 
enclosure makes sense.

If you can access the drive, then you can run Windows 
diagnostics and format the drive.  Also drive manufacurers 
such as Seagate offer some really nice diagnositc tools.

-Jim Cox
http://www.miba51.com/