Path: news.uh.edu!barrett From: ridgwad@csos.orst.edu (Dean Ridgway) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Bernoulli MultiDisk 150 Insider removable media drive Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 15 Sep 1994 12:06:01 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 626 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <359db9$mgm@masala.cc.uh.edu> Reply-To: ridgwad@csos.orst.edu (Dean Ridgway) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: hardware, hard drive, removable media, Bernoulli, commercial Originator: barrett@karazm.math.uh.edu PRODUCT NAME Bernoulli MultiDisk 150 Insider. BRIEF DESCRIPTION The Bernoulli MultiDisk 150 is a 150-megabyte, SCSI-2 compliant, removable cartridge disk drive. The "Insider" is the internal version. The external, transportable version is called "The Box." AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Iomega Corporation Iomega Europe GmbH Address: 1821 West Iomega Way Botzinger Strasse 48 Roy, Utah 84067-9977 79111 Freiburg USA Germany Phone: (801) 778-3000 49 (0) 761-45040 FAX: (801) 778-3460 49 (0) 761-4504414 EMail: info@iomega.com There is also an unbelievably large number of world wide, toll free, telephone numbers for support in a dozen different countries. They are listed on the back of the installation guide, shipping carton, and on the label of the supplied disk (more on this later, see DISLIKES). Iomega also has contact points on CompuServe, AppleLink, America Online, and their own BBS. LIST PRICE The list price according to AC's Guide Summer 1994 edition is $699 (US) for the external version, the list price for the internal version is $599 (US) according to a phone conversation with Iomega Customer Service. Since I bought mine through an authorized dealer, I paid almost the full list price. You could probably do much better mail order. I'm not sure what the list prices are for cartridges, but I have seen additional 150 megabyte cartridges around $119 to $129 semi-locally. Again you could probably do much better by mail order (MEI Micro just started carrying them at $99.97 each, and less in quantity). SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE A SCSI interface is required. Some older SCSI interfaces may also require a firmware upgrade. SOFTWARE None. COPY PROTECTION None. SPECIFICATIONS (from company literature) Transfer Rate: Synchronous Up to 40 megabits/second. Asynchronous Up to 24 megabits/second. Burst Up to 15.33 megabits/second. Sustained Up to 13.33 megabits/second. Effective Access Time 18 ms. Seek time Minimum 2 msec. Average 25 msec. Maximum 50 msec. Latency 12.7 msec. Spindle Speed 2,363 rpm. Track-to-Track Access Time 3.5 msec. Average Head Switch Time 6 msec. Head Reload Time 165 msec. Average Start/Stop Time 5 / 3 seconds. Cache buffer 256k (read/write). InterLeave 1:1 Long Format 5 minutes. MTBF 175,000 hours. Service Life 5 years. Media drop height/shock 2.44 meters (8ft) / 1000g. Estimated media shelf life 10 years. The Bernoulli MultiDisk 150 is read, write, and format compatible with the 150, 105, 65, 35, and 90 (at reduced performance) megabyte cartridges. The 44 megabyte cartridge is handled as read-only, and the 20 megabyte cartridge is not supported. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 500 (Rev 5a, ECS Agnus, Normal Denise, NTSC). AmigaDOS 2.04 (KickStart 37.175 / WorkBench 37.67). Hurricane 500 accelerator (14mhz 68020 CPU, 16mhz 68881 FPU). 512k Chip RAM, 2.5 MEG Fast RAM (16 bit), 1 MEG Fast RAM (32 bit). Supra (old style two piece) SCSI interface, software version 3.8a. Quantum P40S 40 megabyte hard drive. CDC Wren 94171-344 308 megabyte hard drive. Caliper CP-150 250 megabyte tape streamer. WHY A REMOVABLE? With the price of relatively large hard drives dropping almost daily, this is getting to be a rather hard question to answer. My current hardware is becoming unreliable (the Quantum is slowly dying of stiction, and the CDC Wren has drive motor problems resulting in lots of soft errors), and both will eventually need replacing. While I don't need to transport large quantities of data around (I'd use the tape streamer if I did), I do have quite a few projects that occupy my time, and I thought that a removable gave me the best flexibility with near infinite future expansion. Until I wear it out, it will be the last drive I'll ever have to buy. THE QUEST Having decided to buy a Bernoulli, I now had to find one. The local stores I frequent carry only SyQuest. For my own reasons, I did not want to buy one through a mail order house, so I started calling the major computer stores within 100 miles and finally found one that carries them. After confirming on the phone that they were in stock, on the shelf, and were SCSI, I grabbed Mr. VISA and drove off. Once I got to the store, I found that what they had was a special external IBM "PC Powered" version. Special IBM and Macintosh versions of devices are notorious for implementing a proprietary variant of SCSI that is not true SCSI but is marketed as such. These devices usually will not work with anything except the matching proprietary interface they are sold with. I did not know if this was the case with the "PC Powered" version or not, but I decided not to take the chance of buying it because I would have had to remove the mechanism from its external case, which would have made returning it "difficult" had it not worked. I drove home disappointed and driveless. Once home, I called Iomega's toll free number that is listed in AC's Summer _Guide_to_the_Commodore_Amiga_ (1-800-4THEBOX). I asked the receptionist that answered the phone if he could find me a local dealer. He was very courteous and asked for my zip code which I supplied. He then gave me the name and phone number for a local dealer only ten miles away. Once again on the phone, I called the local dealer and found out that they do not normally have Bernoulli drives in stock, but could special order them. I had the drive in my hands less than six days later. One week later I was calling a few other places looking for a store that has additional 150 megabyte cartridges in stock (I had already filled the initial cartridge getting ready to retire the CDC Wren). I found another dealer thirty miles away which not only normally carries the drives in stock, but sells them for MUCH less than I paid. I paid $550 for my Insider and this other dealer sells them for $520 which INCLUDES installation (on an IBM I assume) and TWO 150 megabyte cartridges. This means that by being impatient I got overcharged by $170 (assuming $120 for an additional cartridge and $50 for installation (the going rate around here for CD-ROMs)). Moral of the story? Asking if a device is SCSI is no longer a guarantee that its fully SCSI compliant. Grill the salesperson extensively, especially if you have to travel any great distance. If you have problems finding Bernoulli products and decide to call the company for help, don't ask for the closest dealer like I did, get a list of close dealers. It could save you a considerable sum. Live and learn. UNPACKING The Bernoulli 150 Insider comes with a 5.25" half-height internal drive, one 150 megabyte Bernoulli disk, an internal data cable (SCSI 50 pin ribbon - about 21" long), four mounting screws, driver software for MS-DOS and Windows, and a skimpy installation guide. Mounting rails and brackets are NOT supplied. INSTALLATION [MODERATOR'S NOTE: If you are not comfortable opening up your Amiga, then you should have the work done by an authorized Amiga service center. Opening your Amiga yourself may void your warranty, and careless work may even damage the machine. - Dan] Although I have an Amiga 500, I have an old DIGITAL dual floppy drive case (double-wide full-height) and an IBM 200 watt power supply, so I decided to buy the Bernoulli internal version. This decision saved me exactly $100 off the price of the external. The Bernoulli Insider has an exposed electronics board on top as well as an exposed drive motor flywheel. These factors could affect where you decide to mount the drive if you have dangling wires in any of your drive bays. My Bernoulli came jumpered as SCSI ID #2, and I left it there since that was my next available device opening. I might note here that there is an apparent error printed in the installation guide showing where the jumpers are for controlling SCSI ID. The diagram of the jumper block has SCSI Address jumpers labeled as D, P, and A2; however, the SCSI ID table printed next to it showed them labeled as A2, A1, and A0. The latter made more sense, so I believed the table. Once initial testing started, the drive indeed came up as SCSI ID #2, confirming that the table was correct. The Caliper tape drive is my last physical device, so I removed the jumper labeled TC, controlling SCSI termination, which is set "on" by default by the factory. The CDC Wren drive takes up one full-height bay, so I mounted the Bernoulli on the bottom of the other bay through its bottom mounting holes (the DIGITAL floppy drive case does not have side mount holes or brackets for half-height devices). I had to pierce a plastic insulating sheet to allow the screws access to their holes. The supplied screws are for attaching drive rails or direct mounting through the side mount holes and were a tiny bit too short to reach up through the bottom of the drive case. I had to purchase some 3/4" screws at a local hardware store and cut them down to fit. The Bernoulli Insider must also be externally grounded. Normally, it would be grounded through metal-to-metal contact via the side mounting holes (unless rails are used). Since my drive bay is not electrically grounded, I connected a wire to a supplied grounding tab near the rear of the drive and screwed it to the outside case of my IBM power supply. After the initial testing I disconnected everything so I could fully reassemble the drive case. Somehow I forgot to reconnect the grounding wire, and the Bernoulli flashed an error code refusing to work until the grounding wire was reattached. I now have one remaining half-height bay for the CD-ROM drive I want to buy later this year. :-) APPEARANCE The Bernoulli MultiDisk 150 Insider has an attractive, off-white color front bezel that matches the rest of my equipment pretty closely. The front panel has a dark blue eject button and two status indicator lights. One LED (on the left of the eject button) is green and flashes while the drive spins up or down and glows steady while a cartridge is in the drive. This indicator will go dark when it is safe to remove the cartridge. The other LED (on the right of the eject button) is amber and is a standard drive read/write activity indicator. Bernoulli disk cartridges look a lot like 5.25" versions of 3.5" floppy disks. They have a tough rigid plastic outer shell with a spring loaded metal shutter which opens to expose the media when the cartridge is inserted in the drive. They also have a slide switch on one side for write enable/protect. The disk that was shipped with the drive came in a simple cardboard sleeve but disks you buy separately come in a plastic "clam shell" style disk case. PREPPING/FORMATTING/PARTITIONING Bernoulli disk cartridges come preformated for IBM MS-DOS and you should NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EVER bulk erase a cartridge. Doing so will DESTROY the servo control tracks laid down by the factory, rendering the disk completely unusable. After installing the drive and inserting the initial cartridge, I had to rewrite its Rigid Disk Block with partitioning information so the Amiga would see it as an Amiga device. The software for my controller (SupraHDTools v3.8) makes this very easy with a simple GUI interface. Clicking on a couple of gadgets prepped the cartridge for use (no need to do an AmigaDOS format). I prepped the initial disk as a single partition and ended up with 150,919,680 bytes free. According to many Internet newsgroup articles, all removable media must have the same partition geometry for all disks, otherwise you risk the possibility of data loss. Changing to a disk that has a different partition setup requires a Control-Amiga-Amiga soft boot to reinitialize the system to the new partition information. I have placed Avery self-adhesive 1/4" colored dots on my two cartridges. This way if I ever have to have a different partition setup, I will know by color which disks can be safely swapped and which ones will require a soft boot. OPERATION Using a removable media drive is somewhat like using a gigantic floppy drive, although there are a few differences and quirks depending on what SCSI controller you are using. On my system (Supra controller), if I boot the system with a cartridge in the drive, it comes up like a regular drive with an icon on the WorkBench screen. If I boot the system with no cartridge in the drive, however, then the drive is not mounted and is invisible to the system. SCSI snooper programs will see it on the bus (SCSI specs REQUIRE devices to respond to an INQUIRE), but it can't be accessed. Once a cartridge is inserted, it gets "auto-mounted" after about 20 seconds, but still no icon appears on the Workbench screen until after the first access to the drive (for ANY reason; directory, read, write, etc) from a shell. Swapping cartridges or changing the read/write switch on the current cartridge requires that I issue a DISKCHANGE command. I have been in contact with another Bernoulli owner on the Internet, and he uses a GVP controller and does not have to use DISKCHANGE. READING IBM CARTRIDGES After purchasing my second cartridge, I decided to try and read the IBM-format README text file of additional information which is on each preformated cartridge. Questions on being able to read cartridges on both the Amiga and an IBM comes up pretty frequently, and I have kept several mountlists that have been published on comp.sys.amiga.hardware, but I have yet to get one to function. I have the old read-only demo version of CrossDOS and apparently you need the very latest commercial version. I have also tried PD/ShareWare ones such as MSH v1.30 with no success. PERFORMANCE Bernoulli drives have some fairly impressive specifications, so I decided to run a disk performance benchmark and compare it with my Quantum P40S. I realize that benchmarks are not very reliable, but I figured that using the same benchmark program on the same system setup would provide a reasonably close comparison. I choose DiskSpeed v4.0 by Michael Sinz, mainly because it was the benchmark program that I had available. To save space, I have deleted most of the test results using different size buffers and CHIP/FAST memory configurations. I'll do my Quantum first. I used my Mail partition (DH2:) since both my System partition (DH0:) and my User partition (DH1:) are both software cached with DynamiCache, which would skew the results.... MKSoft DiskSpeed 4.0 - Copyright (C) 1989-91 MKSoft Development ------------------------------------------------------------- CPU: 68020 OS Version: 37.175 Normal Video DMA Device: DH2: Buffers: 32 CPU Speed Rating: 614 Testing directory manipulation speed. File Create: 16 files/sec | CPU Available: 36% File Open: 49 files/sec | CPU Available: 13% Directory Scan: 158 files/sec | CPU Available: 9% File Delete: 99 files/sec | CPU Available: 13% Seek/Read: 42 seeks/sec | CPU Available: 41% Testing with a 512 byte buffer. (LONG-aligned, MEMF_FAST) Create file: 27728 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 31% Write to file: 27277 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 34% Read from file: 89897 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 11% [...snip...] Testing with a 262144 byte buffer. (LONG-aligned, MEMF_FAST) Create file: 329514 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 28% Write to file: 578258 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 12% Read from file: 600088 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 5% [...snip...] Average CPU Available: 27% | CPU Availability index: 166 ...and now for the Bernoulli... MKSoft DiskSpeed 4.0 - Copyright (C) 1989-91 MKSoft Development ------------------------------------------------------------- CPU: 68020 OS Version: 37.175 Normal Video DMA Device: FH0: Buffers: 32 CPU Speed Rating: 614 Testing directory manipulation speed. File Create: 26 files/sec | CPU Available: 16% File Open: 65 files/sec | CPU Available: 4% Directory Scan: 194 files/sec | CPU Available: 3% File Delete: 114 files/sec | CPU Available: 3% Seek/Read: 53 seeks/sec | CPU Available: 28% Testing with a 512 byte buffer. (LONG-aligned, MEMF_FAST) Create file: 46289 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 19% Write to file: 50074 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 22% Read from file: 96423 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 3% [...snip...] Testing with a 262144 byte buffer. (LONG-aligned, MEMF_FAST) Create file: 477145 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 26% Write to file: 750848 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 9% Read from file: 780577 bytes/sec | CPU Available: 9% [...snip...] Average CPU Available: 18% | CPU Availability index: 111 If I am reading this correctly, the Bernoulli is somewhat faster than the Quantum BUT requires much more raw CPU power. This extreme CPU usage made itself known while using telecommunications. I found that I would occasionally lose a character on the serial port while writing very large (>1 megabyte) files to the Bernoulli. I can download to the Bernoulli with no problem, and after the first day of playing around, I haven't noticed this again since I normally don't move huge files around while on-line. If it ever becomes a problem, I can use a utility (SupraTune, supplied with my SCSI interface) to tweak the tradeoff between drive performance and CPU availability. DOCUMENTATION The Bernoulli comes with a simple, 4-page, half-size installation guide and user reference. The installation part covers what is in the shipping carton, (IBM) system requirements, a brief overview of how to set the SCSI ID and SCSI terminator, and briefly information on physically installing the drive in an IBM. If you have ever seen your computer taken apart, you should have no difficulty grasping the concepts of "insert in opening, attach cables, tighten down screws." The only "gotcha" I noticed is the error in the jumper block diagram for setting SCSI ID (this has already been mentioned above under INSTALLATION). The user reference part simply covers how to insert and remove a disk cartridge properly. There is also a simple, 4-page, half-size setup and reference guide for the included IBM software. I did not really look too closely at this since I don't need the drivers and can't run the utility software. But it basically covers installing the IBM system drivers (the really "fun" part of installing things on an IBM) and a brief overview of the included utility software. Apparently there is a full manual for the utility software included on the HD floppy, but I currently have no way to read that. The _MultiDisk_150_Technical_Description_Manual_ that I ordered from Iomega customer service arrived after about a week. Its approximately 110 pages of technical information, the last 84 pages being the supported SCSI command set that I was after. The inside cover is stamped MARCH 1993 and some of the information is slightly out of date. For example, figure 3-12 shows the location of the SCSI terminator packs and how to remove them. My Bernoulli controls SCSI termination through a jumper. The tech guide also covers some items that I think should be mentioned in the user documentation shipped with the drive. For example, you should never leave a disk partially inserted in the drive, for it could damage both the disk and the drive (I started doing this a few times before the manual came). It also covers how to remove a cartridge stuck in the drive due to a power failure. People familiar with Macintosh stuck disks might be tempted to simply insert their straightened paperclip "MacTool" in the pinhole, but there are other things that must be done first before trying to release the locking solenoids. If you don't follow the procedure, you can push that paperclip in the pinhole till you are blue in the face without getting the disk to release. The last two thirds of the tech guide covers the SCSI interface and command set (the reason I wanted it). Its not lite reading; if you have ever looked at the ANSI SCSI-2 draft, you will know what this last section reads like. It's pretty easy, actually; I had a simple utility program functioning within a few days. I will continue to add more features, and eventually I hope to release it to Aminet. LIKES I really like the Bernoulli. It's flexible, has infinite expansion possibilities, is quiet, and is very fast. Though it's not cheap. Factoring the cost of the drive itself and two cartridges, I'm currently running about $2.23 a megabyte. This will come down as I acquire more cartridges. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS The only real gripe I have at present is that the labels on the disk cartridges have no real place to write anything. The label itself is 1.75" x 4.25", but it is covered by Iomega's large list of toll free world wide customer support telephone numbers, the gold standard seal, and the large words "Bernoulli MultiDisk 150," leaving only a tiny 0.25" x 2.25" window to write anything. This pretty much limits you to a non-descriptive volume name or number. I have decided just to number my disks and then tape more descriptive information onto the disk case. I also think that more complete user documentation could have been included (see DOCUMENTATION). I've had the tech reference guide for about a week now, and with only moderate usage, the glued binding is starting to come apart already. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS The only real competitor that I am aware of is SyQuest. While a SyQuest is a true removable hard drive functioning much like a regular hard drive, a Bernoulli is actually a floppy disk based system which uses the "Bernoulli effect" (a difference in air pressure) to pull a tiny pip of the media up to the read/write head. This makes a hard head crash nearly impossible, as any contamination on the media will cause a loss of pressure at that point and the media will fall away from the head. After reading some Internet newsgroup articles and a couple of magazine articles, I decided to buy a Bernoulli rather than a SyQuest mainly because Bernoulli disk cartridges have a reputation for being more robust and have a better environmental seal against dust and other contaminants while not in use. Living where I do (in back of a gravel yard where construction machines are stored and rumble around all day), I have major dust problems. Iomega recommends that you remove the disk cartridge from the drive whenever the system is turned off or if the drive will not be used for an extended period of time. I am assuming that this is to allow the disk cartridge shutter to close and help keep contaminates off the media. On the other hand, I have seen SyQuest cartridges just left in the drive for months at a time; unless they are being prepped for shipment or swapped with another cartridge, there is really no reason to remove them. Since Bernoulli disks are not rigid media, they are somewhat less susceptible to shock damage. In fact, they are advertised to survive being thrown out of a car at 60 MPH with no data loss, but considering the cost of cartridges, I have decided not to do this test at home. :-) BUGS The Bernoulli has an auto-sleep function. To save wear and tear on the media, the disk spins down after 30 minutes of non-use. On the next access the drive will spin back up automatically. Some people on Internet have mentioned that when using the Bernoulli on a SCSI controller that supports drive reselection you MUST NOT have reselection set for the Bernoulli or the drive won't spin back up again and will lock up the SCSI bus. Since my Supra does not support reselection I do not have this problem, but I thought I would mention it. One minor glitch I've noticed recently, when you are deep in a nested directory structure with a GUI directory utility and click on the "ROOT" button with the cartridge removed, it will OCCASIONALLY crash the system: sometimes with a GURU 8000 0005, and sometimes with a frozen mouse pointer, SCSI bus, and keyboard (although some background tasks appear to continue to run). Normally you would expect the "No disk present in device FH0" requestor. If the system doesn't crash, I will usually get the "You MUST replace volume Work in device FH0 !!" requestor instead. I can't get this to happen consistently, and I've never been able to get it to take place from a CLI, but it does occur now and then. I just happened to run across this by accident after forgetting I had a DIR utility running in the background and it tried to read the root directory (I had removed the cartridge earlier) when I re-activated it. It's not something I consider a problem, although it did cost me about an hour of work on this review. VENDOR SUPPORT The Bernoulli has a bunch of nifty SCSI Direct utility commands for setting the amount of time before auto-sleep spin down, locking a cartridge in the drive, ejecting a cartridge, etc. These are sent using the supplied utility driver software which will only run on an IBM. I figured I could hack together my own software if I had a list of the commands. I sent a message to Iomega's EMail address on Thursday asking for the utility SCSI command list. I had a reply on Monday stating that Iomega would not give me such a list, but would sell me a Technical Reference Guide on the drive (which has a section containing a full list of SCSI commands) for $33. I then called Customer Service's "800" number and was put on hold for about three minutes. I was told (by a tape recorded message while on hold) that Iomega has recently released an IDE version of the MultiDisk 150 and it's quite a hot seller, and they apologize for the inconvenience. The service representative that answered the phone then took my order for the Tech Ref guide and a drive cleaning kit (probably not needed, since I have never cleaned my floppies or my tape streamer, but I would like one on hand anyway). I may not have liked spending the additional $33, but I have found all my dealings with Iomega Customer Service (either through EMail, or phone) to be fairly prompt and always very courteous. I am quite impressed with the level of support I have received (of course I did not have any technical problems that needed solving). WARRANTY All Bernoulli MultiDisk products have the standard "free from defects in material and workmanship" limited warranty for two years from date of shipment (from Iomega or authorized reseller), except for certified "Gold Standard" Bernoulli disks which enjoy a five year warranty. CONCLUSIONS I really enjoy my new Bernoulli drive, and I rate it at 7 out of 10. It has a few quirks, but is very usable and stable. I take points off for unavailability of the product in this area (it's difficult to find in stores locally and there is a high market visibility of SyQuest products), the error in the SCSI ID jumper diagram in the installation guide (might cause someone some headaches), slightly inadequate documentation, unavailability of the SCSI commands (available to IBM/Windows users through supplied utility software, I had to purchase a "Technical Reference Guide" from Iomega for an additional $33+shipping and program my own), and the tiny label area on each disk. No points were subtracted for losing characters during telecommunications, as I think this is probably more a problem with my current system configuration than the Bernoulli itself which is a SCSI-2 device running on a SCSI-1 interface. Time will tell on this one. The bottom line: would I buy more Bernoulli products in the future? Most definitely yes. COPYRIGHT NOTICE This review is freely distributable on all media as long as it is not modified in any way. All opinions expressed are those of the author, and not those of Iomega Corporation, or any other business. Copyright 1994 by Dean Ridgway. All rights reserved. Dean Ridgway | Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- InterNet ridgwad@csos.orst.edu | I took the one less traveled by, FidoNet 1:357/1.103 | And that has made all the difference. CIS 73225,512 | "The Road Not Taken" - Robert Frost. --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews