dvorak@iam.unibe.ch (Jiri Dvorak) (11/29/88)
Recently, I tried to get an offer from our local Sun dealer for a 892 Disk with a xy753/7053. The answer I got was that Sun does not sell any 753/7053. Instead, he offered a just newly announced controller SMD-4, which should be twice as fast as a 451 and can handle 4 disks. But the SMD-4 can be installed only in SunOS 4.0 systems (he said). Two questions: - is 'SMD-4' just Sun's name for the 7053 or is it really different? - has anybody successfully installed a SMD-4 in a 3.5 server? (and if yes, how?) thanks, Jiri Dvorak dvorak@iam.unibe.ch or Institute for Informatics dvorak%iam.unibe.ch@relay.cs.net University of Berne UUCP: ..!uunet!mcvax!iam.unibe.ch!dvorak Switzerland
jim@eda.com (Jim Budler) (12/12/88)
In article <156:dvorak@iam.unibe.ch> dvorak@iam.unibe.ch (Jiri Dvorak) writes: > Recently, I tried to get an offer from our local Sun dealer for a 892 Disk > with a xy753/7053.... > Two questions: > - is 'SMD-4' just Sun's name for the 7053 or is it really different? Sounds like a Marketing name to me... The /etc/format.dat for SunOS 4.0 lists the Xylogics 7053 controller. It doesn't list anything like SMD-4. The files in SunOS /sys/sundev refer to xdc as a Xylogics 751/772/7053. You decide. > - has anybody successfully installed a SMD-4 in a 3.5 server? (and if > yes, how?) Well, sorta. I bought an Xylogics 753 controller and a CDC 9720-850 from a third party. They supplied a Sun type boot tape containing: 1) standalone diag which knew about Xylogics 75x contollers 2) standalone copy 3) a Miniroot 4) a tarfile containing: i) stand/{diag,copy} ii) usr/mdec/boot* iii) sys # partial, merge with Sun supplied So I was able to format and to configure a SunOS 3.5 kernel, and my Sun 3/280 is chugging happily along with an added 850 meg drive, and the controller and cabinet capacity to add 3 more. The next will probably be a 1.2 Gig drive, after that??? Comments: Documentation was poor. Typical of third party drives, I believe. SunOS 4.0 expects the controller to be at address ee80, while the configuration file supplied for 3.x placed it at eed0. I moved it to ee80, 'cause I don't want to be pulling boards and changing jumpers when I upgrade. SunOS 4.0 calls the controller xdc. The supplied software calls it xlc. Unimportant, I just thought I'd mention it. The supplied configuration file for SunOS3.X supports two 753's, while the Sun supplied configuration file for SunOS 4.0 supports four 753's. You may be able to buy the software from Xylogics even if you buy the hardware from Sun. I don't know. For you info. Here's the SunOS 4.0 format.dat entry I wrote for the drive/controller. disk_type = "CDC EMD 9720-850" \ : ctlr = XD7053 \ : ncyl = 1379 : acyl = 2 : pcyl = 1381 : nhead = 15 : nsect = 67 \ : rpm = 3600 : bpt = 41088 : bps = 604 The SunOS 4.0 format program seemed unable to read the manufacturers defects list from the drive. The standalone diagnostic was able to read it, so I used that instead. Not recommended for the first time third-part drive installer. The pain and suffering prevented by the better documentation supplied by Sun doesn't, however, quite cover the 2:1 price differential. jim -- Jim Budler address = uucp: ...!{decwrl,uunet}!eda!jim OR domain: jim@eda.com