From: vince@tc.fluke.COM (Craig Johnson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.3b1
Subject: Getting the Most From Your Maxtor Harddrive
Summary: How's 50 Meg *free* grab you?
Date: 2 Sep 92 22:51:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: tc.1992Sep2.225103.12161
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA


I've followed with interest various discussions over the years of ways to
"get the most" from your disk drives, e.g., formatting floppies to 42
tracks, etc.  So when I recently got a Maxtor XT-1140 (140 Meg) for my
system and noticed that the specs seemed to match up identically with the
XT-2190 (190 Meg) except for cylinder count, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I
wonder how different these drives *really* are".  To further encourage me,
I knew that the new 1140 was recent production, having come from the
factory sometime last year.

To make a long story short, after upgrading my system with the P5.1 mods
and a WD2010 controller chip, I plugged it in and presto!  With a little
coaxing the 1140 formatted out to 1224 cylinders and I now have an
XT-2190.  Running surface tests a couple of times revealed only a single
new bad block to be added to the four that Maxtor had already entered into
the BBT.

So kids, if you can't decide whether to pay the extra bucks to get an
XT-2190, you might think twice and consider getting an XT-1140 instead.
And if you already have an XT-1140, you might consider reformatting it
sooner rather than later if you'd like some more space.

Of course, its only reasonable to assume that early production XT-1140's
really were limited somehow to 918 cylinders.  So there is ABSOLUTELY NO
GUARANTEE if you try this it will work.  And THERE IS A DANGER that you
could damage the head positioner if you wack it hard against a stop.  So
please be careful if you try this.  Maybe someone at Maxtor would like to
tell us the *real* story :^)

A few things to know:

	- The XT-1140 is *supposed* to format to 918 cyl, 15 heads (110 Meg).

	- The XT-2190 formats to 1224 cyl, 15 heads (147 Meg).

	- If you already have the P5.1 upgrade but still have a WD1010,
	  you can gain an extra 10%+ by formatting to 1024 cyl (123 Meg).

	- If you want more than 1024 cylinders, you need a WD2010 and
	  the enhanced diagnostics floppy (with big disk format support).
	  [I assume the diagnostic floppy is still available through Gil
	  Kloepfer, Jr at ICUS Software Systems <gil@limbic.ssdl.com>; see
	  the FAQ for details.]

	- If you have not installed the P5.1 upgrade but can get ahold
	  of a WD2010, you can format to 1224 cyl, 8 heads (78 Meg).
	  [Watch out for this one.  My bad block table got messed up
	  for a bit when I tried this (mappings to blocks that no longer
	  exist)]

	- The format routine starts at the highest cylinder number and
	  steps down.  So you will know right away if there is a problem
	  and the head positioner hits a stop.  Listen carefully!  And
	  remember you can use the BREAK key to abort the format if things
	  aren't going right.  For what its worth, I tried formatting
	  several times with gradually greater numbers of cylinders so
	  that I could avoid hitting the stop too hard.  You don't have to
	  finish the format, just start it and break when you are sure
	  that it works.  When I got to 1224 I stopped and decided not to
	  press my luck further.  Who knows, maybe there is another 50 Meg
	  to be had there :^)

Good luck.  Hope someone else benefits from this discovery the way I have.

--
	Craig V. Johnson			vince@tc.fluke.com
	John Fluke Mfg. Co				or
	Everett, WA				...!fluke!vince