Re: Need help with zip drive

[bjblackbear@ibm.net (B.J. Major)]

Randy Shackelford <shack@io.frii.com> wrote:

> In article <199710251158093508243@slip129-37-106-104.wa.us.ibm.net>,
> B.J. Major <bjblackbear@ibm.net> wrote:
> 
> >From the Macintosh User's Guide for desktop Macs, page 216:
> >
> >"IMPORTANT:  Always turn on any external SCSI devices connected to your
> >Macintosh before turning on the computer itself.  Otherwise, your
> >computer cannot recognize the SCSI devices."
> 
> This is idiot proofing. It's logical that if you power up an external drive
> at the same time as an internal, the external will be ready by the time the
> system can boot from the internal. 

Randy, this simply isn't so with my Performa setup.  If I don't have my
external SCSI drive fully spun up *before* turning the CPU on that
contains an internal IDE drive, the external drive's driver won't be
read and that disk will be invisible.  I *know* this because the
external has a Silverlining driver and its splash screen appears on the
monitor almost the second the CPU is powered up.  I don't know what the
reason, but I have always found that external SCSI drives (new or old)
take a few seconds longer to completely spin up than internal ones or
IDE drives.

Why don't we just leave this all as "your mileage may vary."  If you
have no problem with turning everything on at the same time and don't
experience any problems with that, fine.  But I don't think that's the
advice that should be conveyed to a new user *or* to a person like
myself who has seen what works and what hasn't in a particular setup.
And I would still prefer to be on the safe side, regardless.

-- 
--bj   Auto reply will not work; remove "black" to reply
Proud owner/user of Apple Computers since 1984  
"None of my computer systems do Windows."