rbabel@babylon.rmt.sub.org (Ralph Babel) (04/22/91)
In article <anderson.672368130@mrcnext>, anderson@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent James Anderson) writes: > After I got the FaaaST ROMS upgrade to my GVP controller > [...] I also started experiencing a much greater boot > time... gvpscsi.device V3.7 is the only version affected. > On the screen that follows you must (basically) tell the > controller which SCSI device is the last one that must be > auto-mounted. For all later versions, this is no longer required. Furthermore, the driver no longer demands SCSI ID 0 be present, i.e. one can assign SCSI IDs in any order without slowing down the boot process. Ralph
gigio@ALESSIA.DEI.UNIPD.IT (GianLuigi Nusca) (04/23/91)
I have noticed that GVP 2 hd controller takes about 15 seconds from amiga reset to the beginning of the boot. Is this true? If so, can someone explain me why? gigio@alessia.dei.unipd.it
anderson@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent James Anderson) (04/23/91)
gigio@ALESSIA.DEI.UNIPD.IT (GianLuigi Nusca) writes: > I have noticed that GVP 2 hd controller takes about 15 >seconds from amiga reset to the beginning of the boot. > Is this true? If so, can someone explain me why? > gigio@alessia.dei.unipd.it After I got the FaaaST ROMS upgrade to my GVP controller (part of the series II enhancements to GVP's original design) I also started experiencing a much greater boot time... A call to GVP tech support proved rewarding... After you format (reformat in my case) the drive with the slick GVP installation software go back into it and choose manual installation. On the screen that follows you must (basically) tell the controller which SCSI device is the last one that must be auto-mounted. In this way you will cut off loads of boot up time caused by the (rather intelligent IMHO) drive searching for the last SCSI device and automagically auto-mounting everything on its way. Hopefully, you'll be able to configure your SCSI devices as low as possible so that it'll only have to look at a few before you're up and running. Most likely this isn't clear enough to complete the procedure but it provides the jist of the explanation as I know it and anyone wishing to make the change can call good 'ol GVP as I did. Hope this helps, -Beej
drxmann@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Dustin Christmann) (04/23/91)
In article <9104221650.AA20431@alessia.dei.unipd.it> gigio@ALESSIA.DEI.UNIPD.IT (GianLuigi Nusca) writes: > > > I have noticed that GVP 2 hd controller takes about 15 >seconds from amiga reset to the beginning of the boot. > Is this true? If so, can someone explain me why? > > gigio@alessia.dei.unipd.it I noticed this as well when I got my GVP Series II and it perplexed me, but if you turn to the technical stuff in the back of the manual, it explains that the card is scanning every SCSI device. -- Thanx, Internet: drxmann@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu Dustin R. Christmann Bitnet: DRXMANN@UTXVM [ Disclaimer or quote under construction. Thank you for your patience.]
dbscoop2@bwdlh417.BNR.CA (Las Lovas) (04/25/91)
In article <47693@ut-emx.uucp>, drxmann@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Dustin Christmann) writes: |>In article <9104221650.AA20431@alessia.dei.unipd.it> gigio@ALESSIA.DEI.UNIPD.IT (GianLuigi Nusca) writes: |>> |>> |>> I have noticed that GVP 2 hd controller takes about 15 |>>seconds from amiga reset to the beginning of the boot. |>> Is this true? If so, can someone explain me why? |>> |>> gigio@alessia.dei.unipd.it |> |>I noticed this as well when I got my GVP Series II and it perplexed me, but if |>you turn to the technical stuff in the back of the manual, it explains that the |>card is scanning every SCSI device. That is correct. To cut down this time, run the FAAAASTPREP software and turn on the "Last Drive" and "Last LUN" (I think that's what they're called), and then write the rigid block to the drive. This will tell the controller that this is the last drive on the SCSI BUS and won't waste time searching for all 7 devices (which you probably don't have). ATTENTION GVP: Better documentation of this feature would be a definite plus. I have been very satisfied with my series II controller, except for the documentation. It gives the "do this and don't ask why" approach. It doesn't tell you that it writes a mountlist entry to your root directory, and it doesn't tell you that you shouldn't remove it either. It doesn't explain many of the features of the FaaastPREP software. Additionally, the FaaastPREP "automatic" mode, should set these "Last Drive" flags on the last drive automatically for you... but it doesn't. I also wish they had made the card more rigid, or have a metal frame to support the drive (like the Microbic's HardFrame). I don't like having to remove my drive when I want to move my computer (which the manual actually *DOES* recommend). Don't get me wrong here folks, the GVP series II is probably one of the BEST controllers on the market... (Lightyears ahead of my old A2090a [ech!]), but GVP should work a bit on the documentation.
rbabel@babylon.rmt.sub.org (Ralph Babel) (05/02/91)
In article <6571@bwdls58.bnr.ca>, dbscoop2@bwdlh417.BNR.CA (Las Lovas) writes: > ATTENTION GVP: Better documentation of this feature would > be a definite plus. "last disk" is no longer required by the new boot algorithm. > It doesn't tell you that it writes a mountlist entry to > your root directory, and it doesn't tell you that you > shouldn't remove it either. The prep software doesn't write a MountList to your root directory, and even if it did, you could safely remove it, since the driver's automounting code only uses the RDB data. Ralph