Pete Crosby writes:

>Ah yes, I remember SLEUTH very well. On the HPIB systems we had a
>different program called SLEUTHSM (SLEUTH SiMulator) which was very
>similar.
>...
>As I recall, the 793x discs had a butterfly seek test built into the
>firmware and so it could be executed from the front panel.
>
>As I recall, the butterfly test could also be executed from the DSM
>(Disc Service Module), a test box which we hung from the side of the
>disc and plugged into the controller card. Head alignments and seek
>times were adjusted using this box.
>
>Ahhhhhhh, those were the days. Things were lots, lots simpler.

I *think* I'm being taken in by a joke, but just in case --

No, things were a lot more complicated. If you had time-and-materials
support, you paid $500 or so for someone to come out and hook up their
diagnostic box, and align the heads or whatever. If you paid for support
(maintenance on a 7933 was about $100 per month per drive in 1986), you
saw the CE every three months for PMs. Today, when the drive breaks, you
toss the it in the junk heap and snap in a new one for half what the
repair visit used to cost. And you probably didn't need to do that for at
least five years.

Hardware is a lot simpler today, at least for everyone but the design
engineers.

-- Bruce


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