vax, cdroms, etc - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

10 Mar 1999

...
 Almost any Plextor CD-ROM drive will have a jumper that
will enable it to
be used on a host expecting 512k blocks.
I understand that many newer Toshiba CD-ROMs will also work equally well
with 512k or 2048k blocks. As far as I'm aware, of the older Toshiba
CD-ROM drives only the 3201B (3401B? I forget) is modifiable. 
I think you mean "512" and "2048" instead of "512k" and
"2048k" :-).
(At least you aren't talking about your processor speed in milliHertz!)

...
 Real DEC RRD-42 drives turn up on eBay occasionally,
but I understand they
use a non-standard caddy so make sure you get one. I learned this from Tim
Shoppa so I'm sure he can correct me if I'm wrong. 
RRD40's take non-standard caddies.  I'm not sure about RRD42's off the top
of my head.

They're also as slow as molasses.  I'd estimate, in modern "X" speed
terms,
that a RRD40 is about 0.1X (i.e. if you're lucky you get one sector off
every ten revolutions.)

-- 
 Tim Shoppa                        Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
 Trailing Edge Technology          WWW:   http://www.trailing-edge.com/
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