Short: V1.3, Amiga Magneto-Optical Drive FAQ
Author: mark_k@iname.com
Uploader: mark_k@iname.com
Type: docs/help

             Amiga Magneto-Optical (MO) Drive FAQ 1.3 (25-Mar-99)

                     Copyright © 1998-1999 by Mark Knibbs


Changes since version 1.2
-------------------------

1.3  25-Mar-99, fourth public release 
  · Added patch information for HDToolBox versions 2.2, 2.22 and 40.3.
  · Added to the List of Amiga MO Users section.
  · Updated Olympus information and URL. Olympus now make their own 640MB
    external 3½" drive.
  · Added Free Mac SCSI Software, Low-Level Formatting, Notes on This
    AmigaGuide Document, Pictures of MO Drives and Disks and Setting the Device
    Type sections.
  · Added pointer to the MO Disk Icons package.
  · Highlighted all URLs and email addresses.
  · Mention that ShapeShifter's SCSI support is buggy.
  · Added questions about "MO-MIGA" software and PCMCIA MO drives to the
    Information Wanted section.
  · Changed format of Version History section.
  · Added "NEW" next to new section names on front page.
  · Split What are Magneto-Optical Drives? section into two parts.
  · Added URLs for Fujitsu MCB3064/MCC3064 SCSI and ATAPI Product Manuals to For
    Programmers section.
  · Updated media costs table; I found a source of cheap direct overwrite MO
    disks.
  · Added prime factorisations for numbers of sectors per disk to Mounting and
    Using the Drive and Disks section.
  · Added to the List of Amiga MO Users section.
  · Added SFS mount files, and reorganised mount files in DOSDrivers drawer
    into subdirectories.
  · Added FFS & SFS mount files for 600MB 5¼" disks.
  · Replaced instances of 3.5" with 3½" and 5.25" with 5¼".
  · Mention that an HTML version of the MO FAQ is on my web page.
  · Various other changes.


Here are some extracts from the FAQ.


Introduction
------------
The Amiga Magneto-Optical Drive FAQ contains information about using magneto-
optical (MO) disk drives with the Amiga. It is freely distributable.

I hope the availability of this document will encourage more Amiga users to
consider optical storage, instead of fragile magnetic media like Zip, Jaz and
SyQuest.


What are Magneto-Optical Disk Drives?
-------------------------------------
Magneto-optical ("MO") disk drives are versatile removable storage devices,
which use very robust and inexpensive media. You can use an MO disk just like a
large floppy disk, or like a hard disk.

Sony's increasing popular "MiniDisc" system uses a type of magneto-optical
disk.

Magneto-Optical storage has many advantages over other types of removable media:

  · Media life is at least 30 years, which greatly exceeds the life of magnetic
    media like floppy disks, Zip and Jaz disks. Some manufacturers quote media
    life of 50 or even 100 years. Data can be rewritten at least a million
    times, and read at least 10 million times; some manufacturers quote figures
    ten times this. This figure also exceeds that for magnetic media.
    
  · There is no physical contact between disk surface and drive head, so there
    is no possibility of data loss through a head crash.
    
  · MO drives are backwardly compatible, which means that if you upgrade your
    drive in the future, you will be able to read and write all your existing
    disks on the new drive.
    
  · MO disks are not susceptible to magnetic fields.
    
  · If, for example, you spill a cup of coffee on an MO disk, you can clean the 
    disk surface and continue to use the disk. Cleaning kits are available for
    both MO drives and disks. Disk cleaning kits are very cheap.
    
  · MO disks are simple in construction, unlike some other kinds of removable 
    media which may contain moving parts. This is another reason why MO offers
    greater reliability than magnetic media.
    
  · MO disks are available in several different capacities, which vary in
    price. Cost per megabyte is lower than all other kinds of random access
    removable media.
    
  · Unlike Zip, Jaz, SyQuest etc., MO drives and disks are not proprietary, and
    they are made by many companies. The disks are covered by various
    international standards. So you will not be stuck if your drive
    manufacturer goes bust, as happened recently to SyQuest.
    
  · Compared to other forms of optical storage, there are no restrictions on
    writing and rewriting data to MO disks, unlike CD-R or CD-RW. Also unlike
    CD-R & CD-RW, since the disk itself is protected by a plastic casing, there
    is no danger of data corruption due to the disk getting scratched.
    
  · MO drives normally automatically verify written data to guarantee data
    integrity. There is no such verification with CD-R and CD-RW, so to be
    assured that the data has been written properly when using these, you would
    need to manually compare all copied files.
    
  · Magneto-optical technology is well-proven. I believe the first 128MB 3½" MO
    drives were available in 1992. 640MB drives have been available since 1996.
    Originally MO was largely restricted to professional use due to high drive
    cost, but over the past couple of years this situation has changed.
    
  · MO disks are convenient, compact and easy to use. 3½" MO disks are the same
    size as two floppy disks stacked on top of each other. They have a
    write-protect tab which works just like a floppy disk's.