lindwall@sdsu.UUCP (John Lindwall) (04/13/89)
Life is good. I got OK'ed for a student loan and my Tax returns are going to be very nice. Obviously, time to blow all this cash on a hard drive! :-) I need some help. I have an A1000 and am looking for a 60-80 Mbyte hard drive setup. I have some specific questions and would appreciate any general advice/warnings. First my questions: o Has anyone purchased the Hard Drive packages offered by Abel supply? Any comments on quality or service and product? o Is there any way to autoboot on a cold-boot? warm-boot? (This is an _A1000_ with 1.3 KS on DISK). o Am I better off shopping for components individually or should get a package? o Here is what I need to get: SCSI drive, A1000 SCSI controller, SCSI cable, power supply, enclosure for the drive. Is this list correct? o I have a StarBoard II. Is the SCSI module any good? I'm leaning towards the Supra Interface, but am worried about SOTS problems with both guys (SBII+Supra) plugged in, so may get the SCSI module. Any and all help is appreciated. Thank You! ----------------------------- John Lindwall johnl@tw-rnd.SanDiego.NCR.COM john.lindwall@tw-rnd.SanDiego.NCR.COM These opinions are mine, not my employer's nor my school's
mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) (04/14/89)
lindwall@sdsu.UUCP (John Lindwall) writes: > o Is there any way to autoboot on a cold-boot? warm-boot? > (This is an _A1000_ with 1.3 KS on DISK). Unless you have 1.3 on a ROM inside your A1000 and an A1000 SCSI controller which supports autoboot, no autoboot on cold-boot. However, you can set up RAD: so that you can autoboot on a cold-boot. > o Am I better off shopping for components individually or should > get a package? depends on what products you are looking at and what prices you can get them for. There is no definite answer to this question. > o Here is what I need to get: SCSI drive, A1000 SCSI controller, > SCSI cable, power supply, enclosure for the drive. Is this list > correct? this list is correct. Look through the pages of Computer Shopper for best prices on hard drives, cables, power supplies, and enclosures. > o I have a StarBoard II. Is the SCSI module any good? I'm leaning > towards the Supra Interface, but am worried about SOTS problems > with both guys (SBII+Supra) plugged in, so may get the SCSI module. > I've been running a StarBoard II with the SCSI module for a few months now, and I think it is pretty good. It also offers a battery operated clock in addition to the SCSI interface. I suspect that adding the SCSI module will be cheaper than buying the Supra interface, and I doubt the Supra interface has any particular advantage over the SBII SCSI module. -- Michael Portuesi * Information Technology Center * Carnegie Mellon University INET: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu * BITNET: mp1u+@andrew UUCP: ...harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!mp1u+ "Some say that knowledge is something that you never have" -- K. Bush
tomb@hplsla.HP.COM (Tom Bruhns) (04/14/89)
> ... > I need some help. I have an A1000 and am looking for a 60-80 Mbyte >hard drive setup. I have some specific questions and would appreciate any >general advice/warnings. First my questions: > > o Has anyone purchased the Hard Drive packages offered by Abel > supply? Any comments on quality or service and product? > o Is there any way to autoboot on a cold-boot? warm-boot? > (This is an _A1000_ with 1.3 KS on DISK). > o Am I better off shopping for components individually or should > get a package? > o Here is what I need to get: SCSI drive, A1000 SCSI controller, > SCSI cable, power supply, enclosure for the drive. Is this list > correct? > o I have a StarBoard II. Is the SCSI module any good? I'm leaning > towards the Supra Interface, but am worried about SOTS problems > with both guys (SBII+Supra) plugged in, so may get the SCSI module. I just hooked an ST-277N (nom. 65 megs) up to a StarDrive in a StarBoardII on my A1000. It seems to work reliably. I think the diagnostics and setup software for the StarDrive is marginal, however. I'd really like to see Microbotics do a better job of supporting it. A cold boot has to be done from floppy, but a warm reboot can be done from a small RAD:. Follow the instructions in the 1.3 manual from C= for setting up a small RAD: for use with a 2090 and you will be close. However, you have to have a mount dh0: in your Startup-sequence, which C= doesn't mention (apparently because a 2090 (not 2090a) automounts the first partition ??). Along with that, be sure that the RAD: setup includes putting mount in the c: dir, and that the mountlist is in devs on RAD:. Don't use the hdmount command or whatever it is that Microbotics supplies. (If you go this way, for a SASE and blank disk, I'd be happy to supply you with a copy of my boot disk) I know a fellow who is trying to get a StarDrive working with an Adaptec controller controlling an ST-xxx IBM-type drive; Microbotics apparently promised him new SW some time ago and hasn't delivered yet. He's disappointed. I also recall that someone on the net (Matt Dillon???) said he had written his own drivers for a StarDrive. In summary I'm happy with the performance, and would do it again, but the support software -- and the software support -- is kinda marginal. 65 megs for $500 or so seems like a good deal (well, at least on an Amiga). (Note -- for _lots_ of other reasons, I'd not consider trading Amy for "PC") > > Any and all help is appreciated. Thank You! > >----------------------------- >John Lindwall >johnl@tw-rnd.SanDiego.NCR.COM >john.lindwall@tw-rnd.SanDiego.NCR.COM > Tom Bruhns tomb%hplsla@hplabs.hp.com
scotth@sgi.com (Scott Henry) (04/14/89)
>> ... >> I need some help. I have an A1000 and am looking for a 60-80 Mbyte >>hard drive setup. I have some specific questions and would appreciate any >>general advice/warnings. First my questions: >> >... >I know a fellow who is trying to get a StarDrive working with an Adaptec >controller controlling an ST-xxx IBM-type drive; Microbotics apparently >promised him new SW some time ago and hasn't delivered yet. He's >disappointed. I also recall that someone on the net (Matt Dillon???) >said he had written his own drivers for a StarDrive. > I also am using an (RLL) Adaptec controller/ST412 drive with the Stardrive SCSI module. I have no problems with the Microbotics supplied driver software, only the (performance) complaint that it Forbid()'s far too much, slowing down everything else on the system. I also warm boot off of a small (9-cylinder) RAD: partition. I can send you a directory listing of the boot disk and my (extremely customized) startup-sequence set. Among other things, it auto-loads RAD: on cold boot, or if it gets trashed by an errant program. BTW, I am now using kickbench1.3 as my cold-boot disk. It is really nice only needing one disk that can be used as kickstart/workbench (for cold boots), and (amazingly!) also as a warm boot disk when RAD: gets trashed. -- --------------------- Scott Henry <scotth@sgi.com> #include <std_disclaimer.h>
acs@pccuts.pcc.amdahl.com (Tony Sumrall) (04/15/89)
I'm using a Supra 4x4 with a Quantum 40S. I like what I have although it is a little slow ( < 100K reads and writes w/ DiskPerf). The 4x4 can take some memory (dunno how much) and also contains a battery-backed clock. I have it in-board of my StarBoard II (which is where they recommend putting it). I've had NO problems with it but I've only had it for about a month. I've spoken with Supra on several occasions (most recently, about my performance) and they have been most helpful. There is new software which would be available now except for the fact that the "manual hasn't come back from the printer" (their words). They claim that the newest driver will increase speed by 300-400%. The new doc will, supposedly, thoroughly document how to use MountList instead of SupraMount but, according to Supra, the new software will cause you to NOT want to use MountList. The old doc is, in a word, pitiful but the software is intuitive enough to allow one to get by. I'm pleased with my setup but, like all RSN products, I'm not holding my breath while I wait for the new stuff. -- Tony Sumrall acs@pccuts.pcc.amdahl.com <=> amdahl!pccuts!acs [ Opinions expressed herein are the author's and should not be construed to reflect the views of Amdahl Corp. ]
riley@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Daniel S. Riley) (04/15/89)
In article <SCOTTH.89Apr14084751@harlie.sgi.com> scotth@sgi.com (Scott Henry) writes: >I also am using an (RLL) Adaptec controller/ST412 drive with the Stardrive >SCSI module. I have no problems with the Microbotics supplied driver >software, only the (performance) complaint that it Forbid()'s far too >much, slowing down everything else on the system. I don't think the stardrive device actually Forbid()'s all that much. It just busy waits. Since the default priority for the handler/device is 5, the two are easy to confuse. Following Matt Dillon's suggestion, I added the line "Priority = 0" to the mountlist entries for my stardrive partitions, and the perceived performance of the system improved a whole lot. Of course, now the hard drive can get locked out by anything running at priority 1 (which I tend to do a lot), but so far that's been a minor annoyance at worst. MicroBotics really ought to fix their software, but they seem to have a pretty dismal record in the software department. Their hardware is ok, but... -Dan Riley (riley@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu, cornell!batcomputer!riley) -Wilson Lab, Cornell U.
cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (04/18/89)
In article <SCOTTH.89Apr14084751@harlie.sgi.com> (Scott Henry) writes:
->I also am using an (RLL) Adaptec controller/ST412 drive with the Stardrive
->SCSI module. I have no problems with the Microbotics supplied driver
->software, only the (performance) complaint that it Forbid()'s far too
->much, slowing down everything else on the system.
Try setting the priority field in the mountlist to something less than
the 10 it is set to by default. Try 5 or 6.
--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
"A most excellent barbarian ... Genghis Kahn!"