Conference hydra::amiga_v1

It should work. I think Xetec follows that standard (assuming you have the
rev that does, if that makes a difference). GVP does follow the RDB standard.

john

    I  did a search on RDB in this file; a previous note (i think 4320)
    said
    something about, even if the Xetec didn't use RDB, the files on the
    105 meg could be read if I booted from the floppy (df0:)?
    
    If so, this means I could at least copy (albeit slowly) my 105 meg to
    floppies, re-format it, and copy 'em back. I don't have anywhere near
    105 meg on it, probably around 3-5 floppies worth that I really need.
    
    Is this a way-out anybody's heard of?
    
    Ken

    I just called Xetec and got their service person. Here's what he said:
    
    Even if two controllers use RDB, there are enuf variations in
    individual implementations to mean that files from one can'tbe read on
    another. In other words, the RDB 'standard' from COmmodore is not
    rigid enuf (no pun intended). He said Xetec and GVP are probably very
    close, but even so, he couldn't guarantee files could be 'inter-read'.
    
    Ken

I've booted and read a disk created with a GVP card  on a CBM A2091, so
CBM and GVP are "close enough".

john

    If you can boot from a flopy, and read the drive try this. The software
    that comes with a GVP controller will allow you to access the drive,
    and reprep it without wiping out the data. Yuo could go into manual
    mode(boot with the GVP floppy) and do a read of the device. If it
    reads, and looks ok then select write. It will rewrite the info into
    the RDB in GVP's manner. This should work, but it involves risk so be
    forwarned. A backup is always the best way to go. 
    							bill

    
    	Well The Microbotics HardFrame and Nexus also support the RDB 
    
    	I wanted to try out the Nexus and after connecting up the drive I
    founfd out to my cost the the RDS don't always help...
    
    I ended up reformating the Drive...
    
    	So Beware..
    
    	Steve G

    Hi,
    
    As luck would have it, my Xetec revived long enuf (between GURU's) to
    allow me to backup the essential files.
    
    So I'm going to get a GVP controller and reformat my  old drive.
    
    Thanks for your replies!
    
    I wonder why Commodore hasn't 'firmed-up' the RDB standard so
    ALL hard-drive controllers are mutually readable?
    
    Ken

    I don't know. If CBm publishes anything for a standard you would think
    it up to the third party vendors to meet that spec. Their must be
    something set by CBM in regard to this!
    							bill  

    According to most of the people I talked to, there IS a CBM standard,
    but apparently it's 'flexible' - there are loopholes, places open to
    interpretation and variants. At least that's what the Xetec service
    people said, and I remember a dealer saying the same thing. I'm curious
    as to what could possibly be subject to interpretation, but I suspect
    this whole thing has a lot of 'angles' I never thought of!
    
    Ken

    When I sold my A500 with Supra SCSI I assumed I would have to
    reformat and restore my hard drive for it to work on my new A2000
    with GVP II even though both supported RDB.  I connected the Supra
    formatted drive onto the GVP SCSI anyway just to see what would happen.
    I ran that way for about 4 months with NO problems or
    incompatibilities, although I did backup quite often.(just in case :))
    
    The Supra/GVP combination worked fine.  Maybe I was lucky, I do not
    believe that is the case.
    
    mark
    

    re: .10
    
    That's interesting, because the Xetec service person said:
    
    1. Xetec/GVP are CLOSE
    2. Xetec/Supra are FAR APART.
    
    These two seem to imply GVP/Supra ought not be compatible.
    
    Ken

    Xetec may not be the best source of info on anything but their
    products. I get the impression they spend little time evaluating
    the Amiga Market in general, and most likely know little about the
    other peoples products. I do know that GVP spends a considerable
    amount of time and money in R&D . I can hardly keep pace with the
    software revs of the controller software. It seems to have improved
    every time I install one of their products. The spec may have
    "loopholes" for future expansion, features, but I would expect these
    to be sockets that would not effect the current implementation of the
    specs. I know a guy that had a xetec controller, and he did say it
    was fast, however he now runs with a GVP. The guy that has his old
    controller says it run great after 10 min. of warmup. One never knows
    what to believe but CBM seems to think along with GVP that the RDB
    thing works the way it is supposed to. I think we need a closer
    adherence to the spec by all vendors, and if iT has problems they
    should be able to be resolved on  BIX .
    								bill  

    For what it's worth, I have had no trouble moving a drive between the
    following controllers:
    
    ICD Advantage <-> GVP Series II <-> 2091 <-> A590 <-> HardFrame
    
    There were no problems reading/writing data as long as you didn't muck
    about with the RDB (i.e. modify the rdb written by another controller)
    
    The only controller that seemed "fussy" about drives was the GVP Series
    II for the 500. The series II for the 2000 ran with just about
    anything.
    
    The controllers that didn't appear to be compatable with the RDB
    standard were the older controllers (CLtd, Phoenix, Overdrive, Etc.)
    
    
    John
    

re .9

>    According to most of the people I talked to, there IS a CBM standard,
>    but apparently it's 'flexible' - there are loopholes, places open to
>    interpretation and variants. At least that's what the Xetec service
    

Gee, they must have based it on ANSI SCSI :-) :-)

john

In fact, it seems not the controllers that are the main factor in how RDB's
get written, but the programs supplied by the controller manufacturers. For
instance, the Hardframe RDPrep program works fine on an A590/A2091. I suspect
it would work fine on a GVP or Trumpcard which follows SCSI direct. It is
worthwhile to note that SCSI direct was originally from Microbotics, as I
believe the original RDB specs were too.

	-SES

Re: .*

I read the AmigaMail documentation on Rigid Disk Blocks, and started working
on a Rigid Disk Block editor for my old Overdrive controller.  I've poked
around with Rigid Disk Blocks on a few real drives.

I didn't see much in the spec that could be misinterpreted, or was a loophole,
or was optional.  I suspect that the Xetec phone support person was either
covering up a bug in their implementation or (more likely) was just saying
it might not work because he wasn't sure if it would.