NFH101@URIMVS.BITNET (10/04/87)
Is there any possibility to connect two hard disks (e.g.SH204)
to the same 1040ST. We need spmething like that for doing
backups and unified system updates in our lab.
Does the Atari operating system support multiple hard drives?
(I am avare of the potential problem with 40 folder limit, but
there are fixes available for that).
Does any company supply the SCSI connectors (forks) that would
permit the daisy chaining of SCSI devices? (The SH204 blocks
the SCSI port and does not provide an additional one for daisy
chaining).
Jan Zeman, Dept. of EE, Univ, of Rhode Island
BITNET: NFH101@URIMVSdclemans@mntgfx.MENTOR.COM (Dave Clemans) (10/19/87)
About multiple hard disks on a single ST: There are two basic ways to go (assuming you are starting from SH204's). "alternative a" If the SH204's are old enough so that you are starting from 5 1/4" drives with separate SCSI adapters (for example the first production run of SH204's used ST-225 drives and Adaptec 4000 SCSI adapters), you could just use the second port on the Adaptec card. Just get a case big enough to hold both drives with appropriate power (for example an IBM PC clone case with a 135 watt or 150 watt power supply). Then using your new drive (say another ST-225) and the parts from the original SH-204 (another ST-225, Adaptec card, Atari interface card) and the necessary cables, just mount everything in the new box. Both the Supra and the ICD hard disk driver software packages will handle this configuration. "alternative b" The other choice is to get the necessary DB-19's and two lengths of ten pair shielded cable. The idea is to solder one end of both lengths of cable to the same DB-19, and a DB-19 to each of the other ends (a total of 3 DB-19's; use appropriate sexes of course). All pins are just wired through straight 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc. This gives you a y-cable. Use the y-cable to connect both SH-204's; note that to do this you'll need to open up the case of one and change the address switches on the small Atari interface board. The latest release of the Atari hard disk driver software (the one that autoboots when the ST is turned on without needing a floppy to boot from), or the Supra or ICD driver packages will handle this configuration. I've been running "alternative a" now for more than six months with no problems (though I'm using larger drives to get a total of 170 meg of disk space). I know a couple of people who are using the 19 pin Y cable approach (alternative b); once they got the cable debugged they haven't had any problems. dgc