DatEXT CD-ROM questions

From: Roger Merchberger <zmerch_at_30below.com>
Date: Tue May 25 00:19:30 1999

On or about 07:15 PM 5/24/99 -0400, Max Eskin was caught in a dark alley
speaking these words:
>On Mon, 24 May 1999, Jason (the General) wrote:
>>of the EPROMs (or is it EEPROMS?) were peeling off (no longer sticky after
>>13 years). I'm guessing that this is the problem.

If there's a quartz window in the chip, it's an EPROM. EEPROMs are erased
electrically (hence the first 'E' in the name) and don't require a window
for erasure.

>Actually, that's not the reason. When I had the drive, I took it apart,
>and couldn't resist peeking under the tape :) I see no reason why they
>should get erased if the drive cover was on, and the drive was in the
>basement where it's usually dark.

You're right about the EPROMs not being deliberately erased... but one of
the *early* discussions on this list was about the data integrity or data
"life" of your average EPROMs... which is only 10-15 years or so.

It sounds like you may have a case of bit-rot, and reprogramming the eproms
may be necessary to restore the drive to working order.

Hope this helps,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
=====
Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- zmerch_at_30below.com
SysAdmin - Iceberg Computers
===== Merch's Wild Wisdom of the Moment: =====
Sometimes you know, you just don't know sometimes, you know?
Received on Tue May 25 1999 - 00:19:30 BST

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