Tim wrote: [snip]
I can see one advantage of cable-select - for those who don't understand master and slave configuration of drives, they can just plug in the pre-configured as cable-select new hard drive they just bought into the second connector, and hope that it'll work. Of course, if they try plugging things in the wrong way, swap drives around, or their existing drive sits on the slave plug but jumpered as master, etc., it'll fail and they won't know why. Cable-select would only work in a foolproof manner if it was the only way that drives were connected.
That's the same argument the "pro twisted cables for floppy discs" people used back in the day. And it was incorrect thinking, partly for the same reasons you give. It's even worse for hard discs than it was for floppies, because the *data* themselves move around when the disc gets physically moved. Logical address and physical location need to be decoupled. [snip] Mike -- p="p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}";main(){printf(p,34,p,34);} This message made from 100% recycled bits. You have found the bank of Larn. I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you. I speak only for myself, and I am unanimous in that!