CF AztecMonsters have landed

[tt]

Got my flash card installed last night and boy does it work good. Just popped in an 8GB "Silicon Power" brand CF 400x and set it to ID 1 on the chain.

Nice, I was looking at getting a Silicon Power card. I believe those use SLC flash for their CF cards, so that will help boost write speeds a bit and are supposed to sustain more read/write cycles. http://www.silicon-power.com/tw/event/memory_card/en/page02.html

I'm looking forward to seeing some benchmarks if you have the capability.

 

[directive0]

Sure thing.

Can you recommend me a benchmarking program? This thread has has many examples, not sure which would be best.

 

[tt]

HDT BenchTest seems to be the most popular. (See latest benchmark above.)

 

[bbraun]

Doesn't matter, no one understand what the benchmark programs are doing or how/if it reflects anything real world.

 

[tt]

Agreed, and they all seem to give similar results.

 

[directive0]

Hey guys, here are some stats as requested. Sorry for the big size, but command-shift-4 was giving me weird results for some reason...

 

[JDW]

directive0, your benchmarks have me curious as to whether it makes a "noticeable" difference in slow-SCSI vintage Macs (especially the SE/30) to use a 200x CF versus a 400x CF versus an 800x CF in an AztecMonster. Do you have any other CF cards so you could do another benchmark comparison for us?

If you find various CF cards are all generating the some benchmark results, then it makes no sense to pay more for an 800x CF if a 200x card will yield the same speed in an old Mac.

Interestingly, I found that all the Silicon Power cards (up to 600x performance) on Amazon are priced higher than an 800x Lexar for some reason:

http://tinyurl.com/dxlyaxg

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/895454-REG/Lexar_lcf8gbctbna800_8GB_Pro_Compact_Flash.html

I see they even have 1000x CF cards now!

http://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Professional-1000x-CompactFlash-LCF16GCTBNA1000/dp/B007C0VHX0

http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power-Speed-Compact-SP016GBCFC1K0V10/dp/B00A35X1OE

Thanks.

 

[directive0]

I will try and get a hold of another flash card, but it wont be for a while.

The speed SEEMS faster, but I cannot substantiate that.

 

[onlyonemac]

Sounds really cool ! I want one! Where d'ya get 'em from?

BTW, that manual looks like it's been translated .

BTW number 2,

Command-shift-4 was giving me weird results for some reason...

That's 'cause it's command-shift-3 .

 

[haplain]

I'm trying to install one of these in my Backlit Portable. From what I've read, it sounds like I need:

To format my 512MB CF Card on another Mac running OS 6.0.8 or higher (Mac OS Standard)?

Install CharisMac Anubis Plus on the drive (and do I install in extensions or just on drive)?

In order for the portable to recognize the drive my jumper settings should be ID 7?

Any help would be greatly appreciated I'm so eager to get this thing going

 

[directive0]

Hey Halpin,

Sorry for the late reply to your PM's, but I figured it would help if I responded here.

I have not had much luck with my other brands of CF cards so I can't really comment as to the standard formatting process. It would appear thatthis little guy is the sweet spot for my uses. And was reformatted in system 8.2 using the standard "erase" dialogue box from the special menu.

I haven't had a chance to test it, but it's the only card my PM7100 (running ~8.2) was able to format. The other brand (Kingston) sat grinding for hours and never effectively reformatted.

I know this isn't much help. I hope you get it working.

 

[AbelVincze]

Hi,

I just got my Aztec Monster today, and i successfully partitioned and formatted an 1GB SanDisk Extreme III card with Atto utility, on a Mac LC III runnin OS 7.6.1. I copied the system to the first partition, and after installed it to the main board, i successfully booted. That silence is priceless!!! It feels a little faster.

However, i couldn't initialize the same way my another CF card, a SanDisk Extreme III 2GB, only in one partition. On a PowerMac 8200, running the same OS, i could make the 2 partition work the same way as i did on Mac LC III with the 1GB card, so i also copied the system on it. When i tried to boot the Mac LC from it, i got the questionmark. I think the system can't boot from it.

Now i will try to do something on Mac LC III, booting from HD, and attach the 2GB card in external case.

One more thing: now it's really easy to copy large files from OS X to these cards directly! Before that i had to write CD's...

 

[tendim]

Just received my CF AztecMonster the other day, and transplanted it into a SCSI enclosure to sit under my Mac Plus. I was extremely disappointed when I read this line in the manual:

Mac Plus does not boot from this card normally. You must cut #40pin RST function from flat cable. CF card volume is recommended under 2GB.

Does anybody know why we would have to cut a wire on the SCSI header for this to boot from a Mac Plus? I'd rather not start hacking cables. Are there any other options?

Thanks,

-10d

 

[AbelVincze]

As you need this mod only for booting from this device, you only need to cut the internal flat cable, and just 1 of the 50 pins (easy to replace).

 

[uniserver]

maybe his point is, for the amount of money he paid for it, maybe he was hoping for a jumper or a dip maybe?

I think he would understand if he built the adaptor his self using about 20 bucks in parts.

 

[AbelVincze]

Yes, this is a point of view, but another one is that this is a really easy mod, and at the end he will have an super quiet, and stable Mac (without the constant fear of dying HD's).

You're right there could be a jumper, but this is why i always advise peoples to get the more information possible about the product they want to buy.

 

[tendim]

As you need this mod only for booting from this device, you only need to cut the internal flat cable, and just 1 of the 50 pins (easy to replace).
As you need this mod only for booting from this device, you only need to cut the internal flat cable, and just 1 of the 50 pins (easy to replace).

Completely aware that the mod is incredibly easy. But why waste a good cable--and throw more useless crap in the trash--when you shouldn't need to? Part of the fun of retrocomputing is finding uses for old gear, not destroying more of it.

maybe his point is, for the amount of money he paid for it, maybe he was hoping for a jumper or a dip maybe?I think he would understand if he built the adaptor his self using about 20 bucks in parts.

I was leaning more towards uniserver's comment that a jumper or dip would have been a better design. Personally, I see more value in a jumper or the RST pin than providing a socket for the drive LED. I could care less about the money it costs since in the long run this is a more elegant--and cheaper!!--solution. But I can't stand bad design.

but this is why i always advise peoples to get the more information possible about the product they want to buy

Agreed, but you can only collect as much information as much as the seller (in this case, via eBay) makes available.

 

[Blinkenlightz]

I would venture a guess here that the slightly-non-standard SCSI implementation of the Mac Plus is to blame. The Plus was released a bit before the SCSI spec was final, and as such has a few differences.

Sorry for the Wiki link, but it's all I can find at the moment with Apple's older dev notes disappearing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Plus

The SCSI implementation of the Plus was engineered shortly before the initial SCSI spec was finalized and, as such, is not 100% SCSI-compliant.

[...]

The Plus went through two ROM revisions during its life. The initial ROM was replaced after the first two months as it had a serious bug which prevented the Mac from booting if an external SCSI device was powered off. The second revision fixed a problem with some SCSI devices that could send the Mac into an endless reset at startup.

In my opinion, while it would have been nice for the AztecMonster to include such a jumper, I would say that if the device is SCSI-compliant and the Plus isn't, I wouldn't hold that against the device designer.

 

[Blinkenlightz]

There is also a very relevant previous thread on the topic of SCSI on the Mac Plus here: http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11371