[comp.os.minix] Western Digital hard disk controller problems

zemon@felix.UUCP (Art Zemon) (04/09/87)

Like others have said in previous postings, I have a disk
controller card which doesn't work with Minix.  It is an
off-brand hard disk controller with a Western Digital chip
and mkfs either says "unrecoverable error" or the entire
system locks up.  I cannot even "od /dev/hd0".  Sigh....

My configuration is a Zenith Z151 with a V20 in it and this
funky disk controller card with a Seagate ST225 drive.  The
disk subsystem has been running just fine under MS-DOS
v2.25 and v3.1 for almost a year and a half.  I suspect
Minix is having interrupt troubles or maybe initialization
troubles or some such.  But with just one floppy disk, I
cannot reasonably recompile the kernel to put debugging
messages in and track the problem.

If anyone has *any* clues, please post them.  I'm on the
verge of buying a new disk controller card.  (Have you ever
tried to buy a card withOUT a drive?  It's tough!)  And in
case I do need to buy a new controller card, what brands of
cards have been proven to work in an XT clone?  And do you
want to buy a slightly used hard disk controller?  Cheap?
						    :-(
-- 
	-- Art Zemon
	   FileNet Corporation
	   Costa Mesa, California
	   ...!hplabs!felix!zemon