HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bjs@roi.csd.mot.com
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: Recos on SCSI Controller and Driver software requested.
Date: 7 Oct 92 18:08:01 GMT

I'd appreciate recommendations on a controller and software for my 386sx 
running Windows 3.1 (currently have 4MB of RAM). I want to connect and drive:

o	Internal hard disk
o	External CD-ROM (Toshiba) - not for multimedia
o	External WORM (Storage Dimensions LS-800)
o	Dest Scanner - have application software

My usage of the system is varied and I don't see performance as a critical 
issue. Low cost is more important. Basically looking for the best performance 
for the least cost. 

Will the Corel drivers allow me to mount the CD-ROM and handle the WORM? 

Are they the best?

Is there anything else I should be considering? 

I'm not real up on SCSI. 

As I have not been able to keep up with NetNews lately, please email responses.

Thanks,

-- 
Barry Sardis
Motorola Inc.			| Phone: (408) 369-4809
Computer Group			| Fax (408) 369-4125
2001 Logic Drive		| E-mail:  bjs@csd.mot.com
San Jose, CA 95124 USA		|  -OR-    {apple | pyramid}!motcsd!bjs

Remember, we're only a pawn in the game.
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: lainhart@odel.stg.TRW.COM (Mike Lainhart)
Subject: EISA SCSI Host Adapter Survey
Followup-To: lainhart@odel.stg.trw.com
Organization:   TRW, One Space Park  MS O1/1061, Redondo Beach,CA 90278  (310) 813-0690
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 18:18:15 GMT

A few days ago I posted a request for some feedback about EISA SCSI
host adapters because I was having a very frustrating experience with
Adaptec customer support trying to get their 1742A working in my ALR
Business VEISA.  Now I am begging for some information so I can make
a better choice this time.  I have spent over 6 weeks suffering through
this and I am no longer willing to be given an Adaptec board; there can't
that much technology seperating the various suppliers to justify putting
up with such shoddy service.

But, I think I'll just go kick the dog to vent my rage.  My real
purpose here is to attempt to harvest some wisdom from the net.  This
is my first attempt at a survey so humor me and send only constructive
criticism AND the requested information.

First, I would like to collect some raw experiential data.  I only 
want people who have installed and used EISA SCSI host Adapters to
respond to this part.  I have listed the vendors that I am aware of;
if you have others just add them to the list.

  VENDOR        MODEL     IN SERVICE   SATISFACTION    CUSTOMER
                             TIME                       SUPPORT
Adaptec         1540
Adaptec         1740A
Adaptec         1742A
DPT            SmartCache
American
 Megatrends       ?

Please give the IN SERVICE TIME in months and rate SATISFACTION and
CUSTOMER SUPPORT on a scale from 1 (dissatisfied) to 5 (best thing
to ever happen to periperals).  (Negative ratings will be treated as
1 in the summary, but I will try to convey any serious warnings back
to the net.) Use N/A to indicate that you haven't had to use customer
support YET.

Second, I would like to offer some synopsis of information that the
casual user should consider in choosing a periperal interface protocol
(and maybe even in choosing a motherboard bus architecture).  I can
probably locate some articles that I could type into a file, but I'm
hoping that there are already such files out there that you could mail
to me for inclusion in my summary (at the speed I type you wouldn't
see a summary till next year).  (I know this is vague, but I'm a pretty
casual user and I don't want to leave anything out in my request.)

Any help will be greatly appreciated and you will feel better for
having made a contribution.


Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com (Ralf-Peter Rohbeck)
Subject: Re: SCSI Disk buffer
Reply-To: rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Int. GmbH
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 15:30:13 GMT


In article <199210121558.AA05830@dec3100a>, shiekh@ictp.trieste.it (Andy Shiekh) writes:
>  I have discovered that inmy Quantum Q280, I can select
>
>Disk Buffer Full ratio
>and
>Disk Buffer Empty ratio
>
>these are currently both zero.
>
>  Since I seem to be getting no boost for small transfers, I wonder what
>these setting mean and if I might be advised to change them.
>
>  I am lost.
>
>
>Andy
>
>_____________________________________________________________________
>Anwar Y. Shiekh           | I do not feel obliged to believe that the
>International Centre for  | same God who has endowed us with sense, 
>  Theoretical Physics     | reason, and intellect has intended us to 
>Trieste, Italy            | forgo their use.
>(shiekh@itsictp.bitnet)   |                        -- Galileo Galilei
>_____________________________________________________________________
>
These values determine when the drive should disconnect/reconnect during
transfers. Zero means the disconnect/reconnect times from mode page 2
should be used.
Anyway, disconnect/reconnect doesn't make a lot of sense with small transfers,
at least not in the middle of a transfer, i.e. what these parameters are for.
It does make sense to disconnect until the drive starts to transfer, though,
but this is something the drive should do anyway if it doesn't have the data
ready.
The first thing to determine is probably if your system uses disconnect/
reconnect at all.

Maybe what you want is to optimize cache usage parameters? You'll have to look
at page 8 in this case.

Hth,
Ralf-Peter
--
===============================================================================
Ralf-Peter Rohbeck          rrohbeck@kbomfg.dec.com         Product engineering
Digital Equipment Int. GmbH rrohbeck%kbomfg.enet.dec.com       Disk drive plant
Sudetenstrasse 5/POB 1356   ...!decwrl!kbomfg.dec.com!rrohbeck)      Kaufbeuren
W-8950 Kaufbeuren           (+49) 8341 / 91-4473                        Germany
#include "disclaimer.h"
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: yoda@deathstar.Stanford.EDU (Terry Lee)
Subject: To EISA or not to EISA (Advice wanted)
Organization: Residential Computing, Stanford University
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 21:16:58 GMT

I know this probably gets asked al lthe time here, but what can you do.

I'm about to buy a 456DX-50 and I'm trying to decide whether or not I should
get an EISA motherboard.

So are EISA SCSI disk controllers worth the money?  I would like to get
the fastest system I can afford so I'm trying to hit the upper part of the
elbow of the cost curve.

What are the recommended cards for both EISA and high end ISA cards?

Thanks a lot in advance.  Please e-mail here at yoda@deathstar.stanford.edu

Terry Lee
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: craven@cg.emr.ca (Jim Craven)
Subject: Re: Complete scoop on cleaning Exabytes 
Reply-To: craven@cg.emr.ca
Organization: Dept. of Energy, Mines & Resources, Canada
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 12:33:45 GMT

While we are on Exabyte tapes, does anyone know if leaving an Exabyte
tape in a drive for about a week is bad for either the tape or the 
drive?

Jim
---
Love is like the ozone layer,            |Jim Craven (craven@cg.emr.ca)|
   You don't miss it until it's gone.    |Geological Survey of Canada  |
        ---Frank Drebbin, Police Squad   |1 Observatory Cres., Ottawa  |
-----------------------------------------|K1A 0Y3 (613) 996-9935-------|

Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: THOGER@bg1.hbg.hydro.no (Terje Thoegersen)
Subject: Re: BUSTEK drivers (or BBS #)?
Organization: Norsk Hydro, Hydro Data
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 21:33:38 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.11

In <dake.718479885@eola.cs.ucf.edu> dake@cs.ucf.edu writes:

> djbpitt+@pitt.edu (David J Birnbaum) writes:
> 
> >By the way, they've changed their name and are no longer called
> >"Bustek," but I can't recall the new name at the moment.
> 
> They're "BusLogic" now.
> 
> >When I inquired about ASPI drivers, they said they had no plans at all to
> >produce OS/2 ASPI drivers. I bought Adaptec.
> 
> With OS/2 2.0, ASPI is built-in for any supported SCSI adapter.  You just
> need an ADD driver for it, which I believe they have.
> 
> George Dake
> dake@microdes.mhs.compuserve.com

No, ASPI *was* included until late into the beta releases, but was taken out
in the final product. I guess Adaptec wanted to make a few more bucks by
selling the ASPI drivers for an arm and a leg, like they do with all other
SW. (There's a free beta on their BBS.. Get it while it's free..) 

The sad part about this is that they're teaching Bustek the same business
methods.. Bustek has removed all their free drivers from their BBS, and
are now *selling* the DOS and OS/2 drivers. Sigh.. Did anyone get the Bustek
*.ADD drivers while they were free? (Were there ever any *.ADD's there?)
(I can give you the DOS versions, if you need them.. (I wonder it it's legal
to give away software that *used to* be free??))

The good part is that Andreas Kaiser has moved his tar port from ASPI to
running directly on the *.ADD, which means I won't be needing  ASPI-
drivers for my Adaptec after all. (Apart from running Sytos, that is. 
(And who really wants to run Sytos, anyway..))

Regards,
  -Terje


-------------------------------------------------------------
Terje Thoegersen    Norsk Hydro    Hydro Data    Oslo, Norway
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi,comp.sys.novell
From: rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com (Ralf-Peter Rohbeck)
Subject: Which host adapter do you use for NetWare?
Keywords: novell,netware,scsi,host adapter
Reply-To: rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Int. GmbH
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 13:57:41 GMT


Just a quick poll. We want to find out which host adapters are most popular
with NetWare servers so we should focus on them for SCSI compatibility testing/
certification.
So, please email what you like, use, would like to have, to enable us to
respond
to your current/future requirements. Anything from "I have a 1542" to ranked
lists to market surveys appreciated.

Ralf-Peter Rohbeck
rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com
--
===============================================================================
Ralf-Peter Rohbeck          rrohbeck@kbomfg.dec.com         Product engineering
Digital Equipment Int. GmbH rrohbeck%kbomfg.enet.dec.com       Disk drive plant
Sudetenstrasse 5/POB 1356   ...!decwrl!kbomfg.dec.com!rrohbeck)      Kaufbeuren
W-8950 Kaufbeuren           (+49) 8341 / 91-4473                        Germany
See: Without a disclaimer this time :-)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: itoga@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Stephen Itoga)
Subject: adaptec 1542b / conner cp3540 drive
Organization: University of Hawaii
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 22:50:39 GMT

When booting up my pc clone system, I get the normal directory information
on the C drive.  I noticed that the system thinks I have a D drive with the
same capacity, subdirectories, etc. After putting a file on the C drive,
it appears on my "D" drive as well. But deleting it from my C drive doesn't
delete it from my D.  The card is terminated, and I assume the drive is
also (don't have a manual). I'm using the card to run the floppy drives
(5.25", 3.5") as well. Welcome any suggestions.


--
Stephen Y. Itoga                             ICS/Keller Hall
INTERNET: itoga@uhunix.UHCC.HAWAII.EDU       University of Hawaii
BITNET:   itoga@uhunix                       Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
FAX:	  (808) 956-3548  Phone: (808) 956-3494
Xref: sparky comp.periphs.scsi:4905 comp.sys.hp:11480
From: batman@mb5000.anes.upmc.edu (William E. Madden Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi,comp.sys.hp
Subject: SCSI Arrbitration/Selection on HP-UX
Date: 9 Oct 92 14:17:59 GMT
Followup-To: comp.periphs.scsi
Organization: UPMC


According to the SCSI Technical Reference from Hewlett Packard:

"The Fujitsu chip combines arbitration with selection (See SELECT in the
Fujitsu MB87030 Users' Manual)"

We're attempting to use the SCSI-II protocol used by HP-UX (and thus
the Fujitsu chip) to talk to a National Semiconductor DP8490 SCSI-II
controller chip (in target mode) on a Dyna-Five Baby bullet PC board.
How are the SCSI control lines handled by the Fujitsu during arbitration/
selection?

When we run a SCSI inquiry command on HP-UX, we see the ATTN line go
high, but not the SELECT line. We trap the interrupt comming from the
select line to initiate our handler.

So, riddle me this, Caped Crusaders,
If the Fujitsu Chip is combining arbitration and selection into one 
phase, as is stated in the tech ref, would this possibly prevent the
SELECT line on the NS chip from ever going high?  If anyone could think
of another reason the line wouldn't go high, we're intersted in that 
idea too.  :-)

Thanks in advance,
		Bill
------------------------------------------------------------------------
William E. Madden Jr.		| I don't even speak for myself,
Computational Diagnostics, Inc.	| so what makes you think I speak
Pittsburgh, PA			| for CDI?
madden@cdi.com			|
batman@mb5000.anes.upmc.edu	|
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Damn!  It's another bad hair day!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539)
Subject: Re: SCSI, FastSCSI, SCSI-2: What are the differences?
Organization: Texas Instruments Inc
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 21:51:35 GMT

In <56479@olivea.atc.olivetti.com> dcrocker@cisco.com (Dan Crocker) writes:

>Frank Hoffmann (fh.pad@sni.de) wrote:
>: dlparker@dlpinc00.rn.com (David L. Parker) writes:
>: 
>: >In article <56460@olivea.atc.olivetti.com> dcrocker@cisco.com (Dan Crocker) writes:
>: >>
>: >>As for the AHA1542B, don't bother with it in my opinion. It is about 5 year
>: >>old technology and doesn't support any of SCSI-2.  Also, I bought one and
>: >>had lots of trouble with it.  There's been a lot of discussion here about
>: >>
>: 
>: >You didn't specify OS, but I've used the 1542B fairly extensively under both
>: >MS-DOS 5.0 and ISC UNIX SVR3, ver 2.2 & 3.0, and have never had any trouble.
>: 
>: Same experience here ... We use 1542B extensively with DOS 5.00 & 6.00, SCO
>: ODT 1.1 & 2.0 and AT&T V.4. By now we had only one problem with 1 controller
>: which wasn't very happy if we disconnected the external jack during runtime.

>This is interesting since I was never able to figure out why I had so much
>trouble.  I was using it with DOS 5.0 with an Orchid 486-50 Superboard
>(OPTI chipset with local bus video).  The biggest problem I had was the 
>fact that the system wouldn't boot reliably (sometimes hung and had to be 
>powered off; not even reset would work).

I can't imagine it being system speed.  I've got an EISA AHA-1740A
running in 'Standard' (1540) mode on a 486-50DX and it runs great.
I've used it under both DOS 5.0 and OS/2 2.0, and as far as I'm
concerned the thing is great!  My one complaint is that little alt-2 D
connector they use for the external connection (instead of using a
regular-size one, like on a Mac) -- I haven't looked REAL hard, but I
still haven't found a suitable cable to hook my Bernoulli to.

>I have always suspected that this problem had something to do with the speed 
>of my processor.  It wouldn't be the first time that some software didn't 
>work at 50Mhz. The system seemed to run fine after the aspi driver was loaded.
>Of course, I couldn't load it util I booted.  It wasn't the speed of the bus 
>since I have it set up to run the bus at the standard 8Mhz speed.  Anyone out 
>there have success with a 486-50 system and this board?  By the way, I have 
>not had any problems with anything else in this system besides the adaptec.

I've run mine under DOS both with and without the ASPI driver
installed.  Runs fine either way, as long as there isn't a second SCSI
controller or more than 2 drives involved.

-- 
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live
 in the real world."   -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred.McCall@dseg.ti.com - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me.
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com (Ralf-Peter Rohbeck)
Subject: Re: WD 7000-ASC help needed
Reply-To: rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Int. GmbH
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 17:22:06 GMT


In article <1992Oct16.135803.216@cranel.com>, butzer@cranel.com (Dan Butzer) writes:
>or if someone has a jumper listing then that listing.  Also, Columbis
>Data Products wrote the SSTUTILs which I cant find the docs for.  
>Does anyone have a pointer towards them.  I need to talk to them and see if 
>we are a registered user, and get docs from them.
    CDP address (as of late 1991):
    Columbia Data Products, Inc.
    1070-B Rainer Drive
    PO Box 2584
    Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
    Tech support (407) 869-6700 (10am-6pm ET)
    Fax (407) 862-4725
    BBS (407) 862-4724

Hth,
Ralf-Peter
--
===============================================================================
Ralf-Peter Rohbeck          rrohbeck@kbomfg.dec.com         Product engineering
Digital Equipment Int. GmbH rrohbeck%kbomfg.enet.dec.com       Disk drive plant
Sudetenstrasse 5/POB 1356   ...!decwrl!kbomfg.dec.com!rrohbeck)      Kaufbeuren
W-8950 Kaufbeuren           (+49) 8341 / 91-4473                        Germany
#include "disclaimer.h"
From: hary@poco.esd.sgi.com
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: cdrom driver for wd7000 eisa?
Date: 15 Oct 92 15:05:00 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Does anyone know of a dos cdrom device driver for the wd7000 (tmc7000ex)
scsi card?  The card has a int4b driver and mentions that device drivers
that support int4b will work with this card.  Are there any cdrom drivers
like this available.
Thanks
Joe
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: sherwood@fenris.space.ualberta.ca (Sherwood Botsford)
Subject: Re: DAT vs. 8mm
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 19:02:52 GMT

Geoff Steckel writes
> In article <1992Oct6.151808.13590@bcars6a8.bnr.ca>  
pww@bnr.ca (Peter Whittaker) writes:
> >Sherwood Botsford:
> >>Peter Whittaker writes
> >>> In article  
<1992Sep29.172311.3867@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca>  
> >>sherwood@fenris.space.ualberta.ca (Sherwood Botsford)  
> >>writes:
> [attributions probably mangled here]
> >>> >5.  Exabytes do not have a reputation for  
reliability.   
> >>> >MTBF is nowhere near what is claimed.
> >>> 8mm works well for us.
> >>I said that too for the first year we had the Exabyte.   
I'm  
> >>packaging mine up today to send back to Dilog for the  
> >>second time in 6 months.
> 
> It's extremely important to use a head cleaner about  
every 30 tapes on the
> Exabyte.  If you do this religiously they seem to be  
quite reliable.  If you
> don't, you will have to have it repaired.

Head cleaner went in each Monday morning.
Didn't help.
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
From: strike@steam.rome.ny.us (Strikemaster)
Subject: Re: SCSI bad sector handling
Organization: Iron Horse InfoSys
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 92 13:31:09 GMT

brb@falcon.is (Bjorn R. Bjornsson) writes:

>strike@steam.rome.ny.us (Strikemaster) writes:
>>How do you tell when a SCSI hard disk is developing problems?  It's been
>>three years now since this ST296N was installed, almost nine months of
>>non-stop running in the last twelve, and not a peep as far as bad sectors.

>You will see failed reads/writes.  Whether you receive further explanation
>depends on your OS.

I have seen an occasional "hung drive"; where the drive access light stays
on for far longer than I'd expect, given the task.  I was curious if this
was a sign of the reallocation process, or just this Seagate being true to
it's family tradition of obnoxious behavior.

>Besides, you can't always easily tell whether the drive is going bad
>or something else is going wrong.  For example I've seen drives develop
>bad blocks because of marginal power connectors.  You may reclaim
>such blocks by reformatting the drive or possibly by rewriting the
>block.

>>I'd like to know of impending doom before the smoke begins to
>>roll out of the cage.

>Basically your drive will fail in one of three ways:

>	1) HDA (Head Disk Assembly) goes bad,
>	   head crash, surface defect, wear, etc.
>	2) Power and motor control circuitry fails.
>	3) Disk controller and/or SCSI interface fails.

>2 & 3 are quite likely to leave you with a drive that is dead.
>1 will start giving, lots of bad blocks all at once(head crash),
>or steadily increasing bad blocks (spreading surface defect due
>to particle contaminition, I would guess).

Have seen 2 & 3 in other systems, and have experienced 1 twice, both
involving Seagate drives.  You'd think I'd learn from the experience.  :(

>You may accumulate the occational bad block without worry over years
>of use.  In my experience this is rarer, than the case where a drive
>works flawlessly for a period of time and then degrades to complete
>unusability in short order (minutes, hours or days), or dies outright.

>If you see your drive failing, back it up immediately. If your
>religious and don't have a back up: pray.

I'd rather tape than type.  DC600A remembers better than Mark I wetware.

-- 
      Timothy B. Bowser; Sysadmin,       | strike@steam.rome.ny.us or try
    Chip Socketer & Tape Twiddler of     |    batcomputer!steam!strike
   The Iron Horse Information Service    |--------------------------------
----> "Advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo." <----
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi,comp.sys.novell
From: rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com (Ralf-Peter Rohbeck)
Subject: Which host adapter do you use for NetWare?
Keywords: novell,netware,scsi,host adapter
Reply-To: rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Int. GmbH
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 13:17:13 GMT


Just a quick poll. We want to find out which host adapters are most popular
with NetWare servers so we should focus on them for SCSI compatibility testing/
certification.
So, please email what you like, use, would like to have, to enable us to respond
to your current/future requirements. Anything from "I have a 1542" to ranked
lists to market surveys appreciated.

Ralf-Peter Rohbeck
rrohbeck@kboeng.enet.dec.com
--
===============================================================================
Ralf-Peter Rohbeck          rrohbeck@kbomfg.dec.com         Product engineering
Digital Equipment Int. GmbH rrohbeck%kbomfg.enet.dec.com       Disk drive plant
Sudetenstrasse 5/POB 1356   ...!decwrl!kbomfg.dec.com!rrohbeck)      Kaufbeuren
W-8950 Kaufbeuren           (+49) 8341 / 91-4473                        Germany
See: Without a disclaimer this time :-)
From: johnm@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (John McCarthy)
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 17:08:16 GMT
Subject: Re: Request Corel SCSI Information
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Greeley, CO
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi


> I am interested in the Corel SCSI driver package, but need more info.
 
> 1. What SCSI adapters does it handle (I have a Bustek 742b)?
Only if it supports the ASPI i/f.

> 2. What kind of target devices will it handle (disk, tape, cd-rom, ...)?
All of above plus rewritable optical jukebox.  They have a nice solution
called T(ransparent)J(uke)Box that runs on a Novell server.  Makes a DOS
volume on hard disk as big as the jukebox.  Not sure if TJBox is limited to
Novell tho'.

>    And what brands/models of each?
A bunch... call Corel for spec's.

> 3. Does it complement or replace the aspi manager (either Adaptek/Bustek)?
Complement - it sits on top of the ASPITRAN/ASP4DOS i/f

> 4. Where is it available?
Corel

> 5. How do you contact Corel? (email or phone no.)
(613) 728-8200

> Thanks in advance for any information.
You bet - hope that helps.

Regards,
    John McCarthy
    Hewlett-Packard
    johnm@gr.hp.com
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi,comp.arch.storage