jones@eglin.af.mil (Calvin Jones, III) (01/16/90)
Jukka Lindgren <toweri@clinet.fi> writes: > Is anyone out there able to tell, how "standard" the "standard" > SCSI-drives are? > In my work, I am seeing a lot of >300Mb SCSI-drives, and sometimes I > have wondered, if it would be possible to connect them to my Amiga. > I have GVP 42Mb drive with GVP controller. It has an external connector > (25 pins) and it draws its power from Amigas own power supply. Is the > external connctor ONLY for Amiga-SCSI-drives, or is it universal? > (More or less, at least...) I needed a big drive to use on a BBS, and called Hard Drives International (see any issue of Computer Shopper) with about the same question you seem to be asking. I talked to someone in the tech department and he said that he could see no reason why it wouldn't work, and since they offer a "no questions asked" 30 day money-back guarantee, I'd only be risking shipping charges to find out. I decided to risk it, and ordered a Miniscribe 9380 drive in a MAC external case with power supply, fan, etc. The drive arrived, preformatted, and I was able to just plug it in and run with it. I've been using it on my BBS since last march with NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER. My configuration is an Amiga 1000, WB1.3, C-Ltd SCSIdos 3.0 (non-Kronos controller), 2.5 Meg Memory (RAM-BOard), USR Courier HST modem, and an A1010 external floppy. Your mileage, of course, may vary. 8-) --- Cal // Cal Jones - Internet: <Jones@UV4.Eglin.AF.Mil> or \X/ BBS: 904-243-6219 1200-9600HST 340Meg, all Amiga --------------------------------------------------------------------- NW Florida's first Amiga BBS running on NW Florida's FIRST AMIGA!
lupe@alanya.Sun.COM (Lupe Christoph Sun Germany Consulting) (01/17/90)
jones@eglin.af.mil (Calvin Jones, III) writes: >Jukka Lindgren <toweri@clinet.fi> writes: >> Is anyone out there able to tell, how "standard" the "standard" >> SCSI-drives are? >> In my work, I am seeing a lot of >300Mb SCSI-drives, and sometimes I >> have wondered, if it would be possible to connect them to my Amiga. >> I have GVP 42Mb drive with GVP controller. It has an external connector >> (25 pins) and it draws its power from Amigas own power supply. Is the >> external connctor ONLY for Amiga-SCSI-drives, or is it universal? >> (More or less, at least...) I believe the external connector is MAC compatible. Anyway, there is the pinout in the manual. I just did a cable for my GVP. Haven't tested it yet, since I don't have the 2x25 connectors for the drive and the box yet. (Fry's in Silicon Valley sells IBM-look boxes for two half-height drives. I haven't checked if a full-height drive mounts OK. They have a universal PS for 110/220V. All for $90. Not too bad). If you want to use TERMPWR on the external connector to power your drive, please don't. It's meant to supply power for the terminators only. Your drive will need +12V anyway. Some experience with OEMs connecting assorted drives to Sun Workstations shows that the only problems can come from the Mode Select command of the drive (rare) and the bad block information. The Sun format program can only do one of the three possible formats. A bad thing about the GVP controller is that the software that comes with it is virtually undocumented. Fortunately I have not needed anything yet, so I can't tell about support by their German distributor (DTM) or GVP themselves. | lchristoph@Sun.COM (Internet) | Disclaimer: | | ...!unido!sunmuc!lupe (German EUNet, "bang") | My employer has a | | lupe@sunmuc.UUCP (German EUNet, domain) | non-exclusive license | | ...!suninfo!lchristoph (Sun Germany customers) | to my opinion. |
rps2@amoeba2.UUCP (Rick Stevens) (01/21/90)
In message <8267@nigel.udel.EDU>, jones@eglin.af.mil (Calvin Jones, III) writes: >>Jukka Lindgren <toweri@clinet.fi> writes: >> Is anyone out there able to tell, how "standard" the "standard" >> SCSI-drives are? >> >> In my work, I am seeing a lot of >300Mb SCSI-drives, and sometimes I >> have wondered, if it would be possible to connect them to my Amiga. >> I have GVP 42Mb drive with GVP controller. It has an external connector >> (25 pins) and it draws its power from Amigas own power supply. Is the >> external connctor ONLY for Amiga-SCSI-drives, or is it universal? >> (More or less, at least...) Actually, there is an "official" document on SCSI. It's available from ANSI and is called "ANSI Document on SCSI, X3.131". There are several conformance levels to SCSI, although they are somewhat arbitrary. The first and most common one is "SCSI Common Command Set", which sort of defines what a SCSI device must minimally support in the way of commands and status to be considered a SCSI-compatible device. I don't have a copy of this document, but I am getting one. You might wish to, too. -- +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Growing old ain't for sissies" - Bette Davis | [O O] Rick | | | ? Stevens | | ..uunet!perigrine!ccicpg!conexch!rps2 | V | | ..uunet!perigrine!ccicpg!conexch!amoeba2!rps2 +---------------| | CIS: 75006,1355 -or- 75006.1355@compuserve.com | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+