chips@usfvax2.UUCP (Chip Salzenberg) (05/22/87)
| <-- lead pipe for beating down the line eater
I will soon be in dire need of a Xenix device driver for the TOPS network.
(I already need this driver, but the wolves aren't at the door quite yet.)
I called Centram [TOPS vendor], and their answer to my request for a Xenix
driver was, well, unusual:
"Yes, we have a working DOS driver, and a PC interface board.
No, we do not have a Xenix driver. No, we are not planning to
port TOPS to Xenix. Yes, we do have a TOPS for UNIX [Pyramid],
but it's a pre-release version. Oh, you really _need_ TOPS for
Xenix? Good luck -- let us know when you're done."
The only thing missing from that converation was Rod Serling.
Anyone with the following info, please email, I'll summarize to the net:
1. A working TOPS driver in C (For Xenix or any other O/S)
2. A working generic Appletalk protocol implementation in C
(For Xenix or any other O/S)
3. A lead on any potentially helpful people/companies.
Thanks.
--
Chip Salzenberg Address: "{gatech,cbatt,akgua}!usfvax2!ateng!chip"
AT Engineering, Tampa, FL Redress: "chips@usfvax2.UUCP"
"Use the Source, Luke!" My opinions do not necessarily agree with anything.dyer@spdcc.COM (Steve Dyer) (05/23/87)
<I called Centram [TOPS vendor], and their answer to my request for a Xenix
<driver was, well, unusual:
<
<"Yes, we have a working DOS driver, and a PC interface board.
<No, we do not have a Xenix driver. No, we are not planning to
<port TOPS to Xenix. Yes, we do have a TOPS for UNIX [Pyramid],
<but it's a pre-release version. Oh, you really _need_ TOPS for
<Xenix? Good luck -- let us know when you're done."
UNUSUAL?? This is the standard response from any arbitrary company which
manufacturers any device (or software for that matter) which works on a
PC under DOS. I had a Tecmar tape drive unit for 2 years before I could
find a Xenix driver for it; I couldn't even get the specs for the controller!
Tecmar's software OEM had somehow "proprietized" the Wangtek controller
such that a generic Wangtek device driver wouldn't work. Only in the past
month have I been able to contact the software company which appears to
have recently gotten its own hands on a XENIX driver somewhere.
There are several good reasons for this dearth, not the least of which is
that the market isn't perceived to be there. It's miniscule compared to
the DOS market. Where do you think a small company will spend its time?
I'll bet that the Pyramid driver might be of *some* use in deriving a
XENIX driver, if you have some UNIX device driver skills. It won't just
drop in of course. Too, I suppose it depends on what exactly the
Pyramid software is providing; the raw Appletalk protocol, a reliable
file transfer method or a remote file system. Good luck, in any case.
--
Steve Dyer
dyer@harvard.harvard.edu
dyer@spdcc.COM aka {ihnp4,harvard,linus,ima,bbn,halleys}!spdcc!dyer