VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (08/21/89)
Hello all,
... someone asked how to use Minix-ST with the new harddisk software by
Atari, namely HDX 3.01. Here are a few comments:
Howard Johnson (at least I *think* it was him) recently posted a new
st-wini.c that showed how to adapt Minix to various partitioning schemes.
This file supports Supra and ICD software. I myself use an ICD host adapter.
The newest driver is 2.40, but I only have 2.31. Unfortunately, I haven't
found the time to recompile the kernel yet, so I can't use the HD under Minix
yet. (My info is purely theoretical, as usual :-)
It should not be too difficult to incorporate the new Atari partitioning
sheme into that new st-wini.c. Note that HDX 3.01 also works with any 'true'
SCSI host adapter IF you PATCH two bytes in the binary. The original Atari
adapter in the Atari HDs (actually, it's an Adaptec) returns some status info
at the wrong location in the SCSI packet. All others (except some Seagates :-)
return the info at the correct location. Note that HDX 3.01 is *not* PD, at
least here in Germany, but you can get it for free if you have an Atari hard
disk. It's also available for d/l at the Atari BBS in Raunheim, W. Germany.
You can also get it at the upcoming Atari show at Duesseldorf, W. >Grmany
(August 25 - 27). I'm not sure if you're legally entitled to run HDX 3.01
on non-Atari harddisks. It has a number of advantages, though:
- new Atari partitioning standard (everyone must support this)
- faster than 2.x versions
- supports sector sizes varying from 512 byte to 8K !!! (imagine that)
- 'mark bad sectors' finally works
- harmonizes better with TOS 1.4
Final note: Atari strongly urges *NOT* to use HDX 3.00 due to a serious bug.
However, the HDX 3.01 version also says 3.00 in the Info dialog. So beware !!
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