[comp.sys.hp] Looking for SCSI for a HP9000/236CS

st69@sdcc12.UUCP (07/10/87)

.
A friend of mine uses a HP9000/236CS as his principle computer.  He
needs to interface a SCSI WORM drive to it for a project this fall.
Is anyone aware of a SCSI board for this machine??

rjn@hpfcmp.HP.COM (Bob Niland) (07/11/87)

re: "A friend of mine uses a HP9000/236CS as his principle computer.  He
     needs to interface a SCSI WORM drive to it for a project this fall.  Is
     anyone aware of a SCSI board for this machine??"

A SCSI interface is being investigated for the HP9000 Series 300; however,
the initial implementation will likely be as an internal board for the Model
330 and 350 (DIO-II backplane).  It will not be mechanically compatible with
Series 200, Model 310 or 320 machines (DIO-I backplane:  not fast enough to
take advantage of SCSI).  Although a hardware hacker could probably jam it
into a Model 236, the board won't be available in time for the fall semester.
Furthermore, software for it is currently planned only for HP-UX, in a
release after 5.3.

On the other hand, one of our third party hardware vendors has announced a
WORM drive that uses our existing standard HP-IB (IEEE-488) physical
interface and CS/80 command set.  If this is a reasonable alternative, send
mail and I'll forward more info.

Regards,                                              Hewlett-Packard
Bob Niland                                            3404 East Harmony Road
[ihnp4|hplabs]!hpfcla!rjn                             Fort Collins CO  80525

kinsell@hpfcda.HP.COM (Dave Kinsell) (07/12/87)

>                                 It will not be mechanically compatible with
>Series 200, Model 310 or 320 machines (DIO-I backplane:  not fast enough to
>take advantage of SCSI).  Although a hardware hacker could probably jam it
>into a Model 236, the board won't be available in time for the fall semester.

DIO-I will run in excess of 2 meg/sec, which is quite adequate for the
large majority of SCSI applications.  In fact, many implementations are
limited to 1.5 meg/sec.  The on-track data rate of most Winchester
discs is even less than that.

If it is feasible to write drivers yourself, then a good option for
the hardware would be to add an interface chip like the NCR 5385
to the 98630A Breadboard interface.  I have it on very good authority
that this is easy to do.



Regards,                                              Hewlett-Packard
Dave Kinsell                                          3404 East Harmony Road
[ihnp4|hplabs]!hpfcla!d_kinsell                       Fort Collins CO  80525