[net.unix-wizards] Online Formatter for 4.2BSD

cottrell@nbs-vms.ARPA (COTTRELL, JAMES) (10/01/85)

> From: linde@srcsip.UUCP (Larry Linde)
> Anyone have a NON standalone version of the format 
> program that comes with BSD4.2?

Yes. Call SI. Maybe you can buy their software without buying their
hardware. They have modified the `hp' driver (& `up' driver I think)
to do do ioctls which say `hey, on the next read/write I give you,
do the header too'. They also supply online formatting, bad block
addition/deletion, verify headers, bad block scan, etc. All online.

/* From Phil Ngai */
> God made atheists too.

God made Man, & Man being a gentleman, returned the favor.

	jim		cottrell@nbs
*/
------

jeff@ISI-VAXA.ARPA (Jeffery A. Cavallaro) (10/02/85)

A word of caution that may or may not be applicable here...

I was once connected with a lab that had SI hardware and 4.2BSD.  It was
found that the SI hardware and the 4.2BSD disk driver were not compatible.
There was a problem with the next-block counter in the disk controller that
caused ALL KINDS of nifty problems, especially with bad block forwarding.

In that SI hardware and 4.2BSD drivers are not compatible, I would venture
a guess that SI software and normal DEC hardware are also not compatible.

						Jeff

lerner@ISI-VAXA.ARPA (Mitchell Lerner) (10/02/85)

Dear Jeff:

I seem to remember a patch or new driver, sent by SI, that was installed,
at that lab, that fixed the bad block forwarding problems???

						Love,

						Mitchell

lee@unmvax.UUCP (10/04/85)

> 
> In that SI hardware and 4.2BSD drivers are not compatible, I would venture
> a guess that SI software and normal DEC hardware are also not compatible.
> 
> 						Jeff

 Not true! 4.1BSD had no problems at all. When SI ships you your hardware
they ship drivers that work for DEC devices in your original drivers
and their hardware too. Under VMS everything they ship seems to work
fine. For 4.1BSD there is an on-line formatter, program to re-vector blocks
and other utilities (I can't remember now) that work great too. Under 4.2BSD
we couldn't get the utilities they sent out to work but the driver reports
bad block numbers correctly. In short the SI drivers (at least) seem to work
fine with the above mentioned OS's. The utilities work for the majority and
by now probably work for all of them. SI software support seems very good,
we just haven't ordered the latest-greatest from them.


-- 
			--Lee (Ward)
			{ucbvax,convex,gatech,pur-ee}!unmvax!lee

meier@srcsip.UUCP (Christopher M. Meier) (10/05/85)

In article <1838@brl-tgr.ARPA> jeff@ISI-VAXA.ARPA (Jeffery A. Cavallaro) writes:
>I was once connected with a lab that had SI hardware and 4.2BSD.  It was
>found that the SI hardware and the 4.2BSD disk driver were not compatible.
>There was a problem with the next-block counter in the disk controller that
>caused ALL KINDS of nifty problems, especially with bad block forwarding.
>
>In that SI hardware and 4.2BSD drivers are not compatible, I would venture
>a guess that SI software and normal DEC hardware are also not compatible.
>
>						Jeff

Are there any other online formatters available for 4.2BSD (on a 750
using Emulux sc7000 or 750 controller) ?

Christopher Meier	ihnp4!umn-cs!srcsip!meier	Honeywell S&RC/SIP
			philabs!srcsip!meier