LVD hard drives ??

[HoosierSnd]

Is anyone using LVD hard drives for PT on Macs?
If so, which ones and with what controllers?

Thx,

steveV

[mtoy]

I bought a couple of seagate 18 gig lvd's because I found them cheap. I didn't do any research, just bought them because they claimed to have faster seek times, and I thought that would be a good thing. It was a big mistake. Benchmark tests against the non LVD version of the same drive show that the LVD version only handle ~100 write operations per second, while the non LVD version was well into the thousands of operations per second.

I am currently licking my wounds, and using the LVD drives as bounce space. Since the read speeds are comparable to the non LVD drives, I could also move sessions there once they are recorded and I am only mixing.

-Michael Toy

[Steve Rosenthal]

Michael,

It sounds like your drives' mode pages might not be configured properly.

What drives are they? (Make, model, firmware rev)

Do you have a mode page editor, such as FWB Configure or Anubis Power Control?

It sounds to me like the write cache might not be set on your new drives.



------------------
--Steve Rosenthal, Digidesign ETS

[HoosierSnd]

Michael wrote:
<<Benchmark tests against the non LVD version of the same drive show that the
LVD version only handle ~100 write operations per second, while the non LVD version was well into
the thousands of operations per second. >>

Since I made my initial inquiry I have seen references to an "LVD control module" as attached to a SCSI card, and have learned that the Adaptec 2940U2W (as opposed to 2940UW) includes an LVD controller.
Adaptec and Seagate have materials on their websites that suggest that with this mysterious 'LVD controller' that these drives are much faster than SCSI2 or -3. In transfer rates anyway...

Anybody?

thanks Michael & Steve,

steveV

[mtoy]

I forgot I posted this question here, so I didn't get around to replying until just now. Where do I get FWB COnfigure, is it a seperate app that I can buy?

[LGiordano]

I'm using a pair of Seagate ST39102LWs with a pair of the older Cheetahs ST19101Ws. The LWs are jumpered for single-ended operation, and they smoke! There's no reason to buy anything other than an LVD drive, since they can easily be configured for standard wide or narrow busses. BTW, I have them connected to an Adaptec 3940.

MToy, there must be something wrong in your setup, because the LVD drives are much faster than the standard wide drives, even on a standard wide bus.

[chadadams]

hello gents...
i too have an lvd drive (st39103lw in an aps chassis) and i would like to know more about configuring it properly.....
naively yours,
chad

[batman]

Lou
I also have Cheetah 39102LW and 19101W drives and I find that the LWs really are the mutts nuts....I can get a full 64 tracks out of one of those puppies in a Glyph, Rorke, Data Express or Tyrestor hot-swap rack straight out of the box.............where have I gone right?!

Cheers all

Ade

[mtoy]

FWB Configure is the answer. When the write cache is turned on, everything goes like the wind! Thanks.

[HoosierSnd]

Hmmm, cool.

Now, I have a late version of FWB HD Toolkit PE... Is the Configure for LVD in there?
Or is it a stand-alone, a download, wha...?

Thanks!

steveV