marc@rna.UUCP (Marc Johnson) (03/05/89)
I have been struggling with what I think is generic SF&I (Ephriam Vishniac's) to try and format my Priam drive attached to an Adaptec 4000A or 4070 SCSI-to-ST506 controller. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. I read a while back that there was a version of SF&I tailored for the Adaptec family, and I hope some kind reader can e-mail it to me or point me to a source. (NOTE: The version on SUMEX is the same as the one I already have.) Barring that, perhaps someone can elucidate the changes one needs to make to the SF&I resources using ResEdit that is clearer than the doc I have. I *think* the only changes necessary (to the "Vanilla Resources") are to specify the drive size (in sectors) and partition size (=drive size - 8?). Beyond that, I'm stumped. In the IBM disk world, one would need to tell the formatter about # of heads and cylinders--I don't know if this is calculated by SF&I somehow from the drive size. Frankly, I don't see how it could. Sigh.....I hope someone can help! :( Thanks in advance. marc =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= = Marc Johnson BITNET: rna!marc@rockvax.bitnet = = Rockefeller Univ. Neurobiology UUCP: ...cmcl2!rna!marc = = New York City INTERNET: marc%rna@rocky2.rockefeller.edu = = (129.85.2.1) = = = = "Gimme the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock & roll = = ...and drift away" = =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
pcolby@kitten.prime.com (Peter Colby) (03/07/89)
In article <409@rna.UUCP> marc@rna.UUCP (Marc Johnson) writes: >I have been struggling with what I think is generic SF&I (Ephriam Vishniac's) >to try and format my Priam drive attached to an Adaptec 4000A or 4070 >SCSI-to-ST506 controller. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. I read a >while back that there was a version of SF&I tailored for the Adaptec family, >and I hope some kind reader can e-mail it to me or point me to a source. >(NOTE: The version on SUMEX is the same as the one I already have.) > >Barring that, perhaps someone can elucidate the changes one needs to make >to the SF&I resources using ResEdit that is clearer than the doc I have. >I *think* the only changes necessary (to the "Vanilla Resources") are to >specify the drive size (in sectors) and partition size (=drive size - 8?). >Beyond that, I'm stumped. In the IBM disk world, one would need to tell >the formatter about # of heads and cylinders--I don't know if this is >calculated by SF&I somehow from the drive size. Frankly, I don't see how >it could. > >Sigh.....I hope someone can help! :( > >Thanks in advance. > >marc SF&I (even the versions tailored to the 4000A and 4070) still needs to be told the drive geometry just like your IBM formatters - yes, that's the number of heads & cylinders. I used the original SF&I to format a drive controlled by an Adaptec 4000A. The reason that it work - the first try - is that I knew both the geometry of my drive AND the format of the required SCSI commands for the Adaptec controller. I don't remember the exact sequence any more, but I believe I modified the FORMAT command in SF&I to be the Mode Sense command required by the 4000A, and the VERIFY command to be the Format command to actually format the drive. The Mode Sense command is what actually describes the geometry of the drive to the 4000A and must be issued immediately prior to the Format command. The only information transmitted in the Format command is the interleave, the check pattern byte to fill the disk with, and the flaw map for your particular disk. All that the SF&I 4000A/4070 will give you is the appropriate SCSI commands (and sequence) for the Adaptec controllers. You still need to provide the drive geometry and flaw map as appropriate for your drive. If you need further help please email me your drive specs and I'll send you the proper (hex) version of the SCSI commands you need. I need to know the # of heads, # of cylinders, step pulse rate, write precompensation cylinder, low write current cylinder, the interleave you want (3:1 on a plus, 2:1 on an SE, 1:1 on a II and the '30 machines), AND your flaw map in cylinder/head/BFI format (this is how it usually comes from the manufacturer). Good luck. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = UUCP: {sun,decvax,linus}!cvbnet!pcolby ||| "We has met the enemy and he is us." UUCP: pcolby@robbie.prime.com ||| Pogo CSNET: pcolby@robbie.prime.com |||