OT : 120G Storage

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JasonCasey wrote on 3/18/2003, 4:28 PM
I've had a Maxtor 30GB 7200RPM drive in my current computer for about 1.5 years without having any problems, I recently purchased the 120GB one that was mentioned in the previous posts at Best Buy. I have owned about 5 computers in my time, and every one of them has has a Maxtor hard drive in it, and I have never had a problem with them.
wcoxe1 wrote on 3/18/2003, 6:10 PM
I run a computer lab at LSU. There are 32 machines. I and everybody else in the department have computers. That adds AT LEAST 11 more. Plus my 3 at home. Total of at least 46 Maxtor drives. The first 32 mentioned are all 5 years old (due to be replaced this summer) The others are various ages, none under 2 years old, except the one I just bought, my third for my home video machine: A 200GB Maxtor HD. None of these have ever failed in service, and they are ABUSED daily. Students don't know jack about care of a computer, and don't care to learn. Nobody ever turns one off properly, and most of them are on when they are supposed to be off when someone cuts the building's power to work on the power system. Bad news.

On the other hand, the IBM monitors die regularly. The school gets a special deal, so, once a month, we order one or two more to replace dead ones out of those 43 school machines. Lose about one Microsoft keyboard a month, too.

But, no Maxtor drives. Oh, forgot to mention, all of our servers have Maxtor drives in them too. No problems.

You get a good deal when you buy 40 or so at a time.
Frenchy wrote on 3/20/2003, 1:53 PM
Ok, I've been mulling over getting an additional HDD, and based (mostly) on this and a couple of other threads (and some recent B-day $$ burning a hole in my pocket), I just took delivery on a new WD1200JB (7200 rpm, 120GB, 8MB cache) and a generic external firewire/USB enclosure (ME320U2F-has the Oxford 911 chipset) from newegg.com. I plan on using it via firewire.

My system:

P3-600
384 MB RAM
Win98SE
30GB system HDD
40GB Media drive

Several questions for this experienced group (it's been a while since I've gotten a new drive, this is my first external one):

What, if any issues may I run into?

I *think* I only have one 1394 port on my pc - will I (possibly) run into any capture/PTT problems if I daisy-chain this drive between the PC and my D8 cam?

It's an OEM drive (bagged), so no instructions, software, etc. I've downloaded all (apparant) applicable info I can from WD's site. Do I need any additional drivers/other software?

I went to the MS downloads site, and there are two issues I could find which I may run into.
1) There is a 1394 driver update (dated April 2000 - Link = http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/contents/WURecommended/S_WUFeatured/1394/Default.asp). I don't know offhand if I have installed this update (I'm not at home, now). Does anyone have any experience/recommends with this? (I am not having any current capture/PTT problems, so I'm wary...)

2) There is an issue with FDISK and FORMAT with HDD's larger than 64 GB (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044). I just downloaded the fix, but must wait until I return home to see if I have the latest files. Again, do any win98se users have any experience with this issue?

There are a lot of knowlegable folks around, and before I dive into it, I want to try to anticipate what I may run into.

Thanks

Frenchy
showard wrote on 3/20/2003, 4:53 PM
I added IDE drives using Firewire. Buy an ADS Case for ~$89 (VideoGuys), add the IDE device of your choice and your up and running. Directly supported by Win2K and XP, but don't know about Mac. No SCSI style termination issues, and you can connect (I have read) up to 73 devices in the daisychain. Not too practical but nice to know.
AFW wrote on 3/20/2003, 5:24 PM
I've had 8 x 80GB Maxtor 7200s on UDMA 5 since they first appeared -- all without a moment's hassle. The drives, fitted in removable bays, are in 4 systems that run 24 hours a day (except for a fortnight once a year). All have the noise management turned off. Three 120GB IBMs are also fitted, also without incident -- so far. Have no particular brand preference / loyalty -- just look for performance and reliability, and so far I haven't been disappointed. Have used dozens and dozens of hard drives since my first IBM PC XT with a 10MB drive (and massive 64KB of RAM) in 1984.
biggles wrote on 3/20/2003, 5:29 PM
Hm, don't have any direct experience with that exact configuration as my Firewire card has 3 ports on it but I suspect you might drop frames.

I guess it's going to be a case of 'suck it and see'. You might want to try on a non-critical project when you don't have a tight timeline staring over your shoulder ;o)
Frenchy wrote on 3/21/2003, 6:04 PM
Well, I tried it last night, and no-go. The new drive was not even recognized. Now I'm stumped. My firewire card does have 3 ports. Drive jumpers are configured for cable select (is this right?) Another question I haven't been able to find an answer to (from WD, or anywhere else) - Are there any drivers that may need to be installed? From what I undferstand, as a firewire enclosure, should be P&P. USB2 drivers are included on CD. Instructions included with enclosure are sketchy at best regarding FW - very detailed for USB2.

Any ideas - I'll mess with it this weekend, fortunately no deadlines or pressure, I just would like to get it going...

Frenchy

p.s. - I also posted under another topic (sorry)probably should consolidate into one new one - I'll see what the weekend turns up...
ll600 wrote on 3/21/2003, 6:17 PM
I have both a 120gb WD drive with 8mb cache and a 40gb Maxtor. I've had the Maxtor in my system for almost 3 years now, and it's worked great. The WD for several months, and it's also worked great.

The next drive I will try will be a Seagate Barracuda, since they are supposed to be silent.