milos@inmet.UUCP (09/11/87)
My Seagate ST-238/Adaptec 2070A combo just departed for that last, big backup in the sky. The outfit that sold me the pair no longer carries the ST-238 and claims it will substitute a comparable MiniScribe 30 Mbyte unit instead. They offer a choice of three RLL controllers, two of which are the 2070A and a Western Digital controller. I don't know anything about the MiniScribe or the Western Digital. I do know that I am hesitant to accept another Adaptec. Anyone have any words of wisdom to offer? Bob Milosavljevic Intermetrics, Inc. Cambridge, MA ihnp4!inmet!milos
nomad@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU (09/13/87)
I have been using a ST-238 and WD27x (RLL) controller pair for a while
now, and after getting past the lack on info. on the part of the people
who sold it to me, I find them quite good. (read No problems).
I'm running with two 238s (drive C: and D:)
Important plot points: both ST & WD were extermely helpful. When I called
them (both have 800 support numbers) they did everything they could to
fix the problems. ST even called back about a week later to see if everything
was OK (I give them LOTS of points for that!).
If you are running with DOS 3.1, make sure that you have a files=99
AND NOTHING ELSE in your config.sys when you do the format. DOS 3.1 is broken.
(This is the problem I mentioned earlier.)
If you have two drives, make sure that you use one cable for the 34-line
cable. I used a set up that had a short splitter cable and two 34-line cables
and the system didn't like it (it might have been the DOS bug again, I
don't know and don't intend to find out).
Again, I like everything (except maybe the speed, ~64ms access) on the 238s,
and the WD card has EVERYTHING - including built in initialization
(which is more than I can say about the Xebec card I had before, I had
to borrow a copy of the Advanced Diags (as in the stuff the Dealers use
for repairs) to initialize drives on that card).
nomad@cs.orst.edu
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