root@nat-3.UUCP (nat-3 System Administrator) (04/05/91)
Hello -- I have a 25 MHz 386 clone running SCO XENIX-386 2.3.3 (I bought 2.3.2 and upgraded it with UFJ and various other SCO SLS's). I have a WD1006V-SR2 RLL hard/floppy disk controller. I am having problems writing to my 1.2 and 1.44 Mb floppies and the symptoms are these: - I can format and verify the disks with the SCO format command. - mkfs will create a filesystem on the floppy. - fsck often *BOMBS* thereafter on the newly-created file system. Sometimes things are alright after the mkfs, but if I use the copy(C) command to copy directory hierarchies to the floppy, fsck will bomb. Additional wierdness follows: - Everything works fine if I use stinking DOS. - Using cp(C) does not seem to produce these problems. - Using dump(C) will provide an error-free backup. - Using dd(C) to copy disks will produce a thoroughly screwed up image copy. Am I using a non-supported RLL controller? Are there bugs in the update SLS's? Thanks in advance for any help. John -- John R. Meyer Path: ...!uunet!nat-3!root 10208-C Ashbrooke Ct. Domain: root@nat-3.UUCP Oakton, VA 22124-3106 Phone: (703) 281-5157 (H) USA (703) 802-1872 (O)
paulz@sco.COM (W. Paul Zola) (04/12/91)
In article <178@nat-3.UUCP> root@nat-3.UUCP (nat-3 System Administrator) writes: } }Hello -- } } I have a 25 MHz 386 clone running SCO XENIX-386 2.3.3 (I bought }2.3.2 and upgraded it with UFJ and various other SCO SLS's). I have a }WD1006V-SR2 RLL hard/floppy disk controller. I am having problems }writing to my 1.2 and 1.44 Mb floppies and the symptoms are these: [ problems in using floppys deleted ] } }John R. Meyer Path: ...!uunet!nat-3!root }10208-C Ashbrooke Ct. Domain: root@nat-3.UUCP }Oakton, VA 22124-3106 Phone: (703) 281-5157 (H) }USA (703) 802-1872 (O) The following article from the SCO Information Tools database should help with your problem. I'm posting because I think this may be of general interest. ################## cut here ################ cut here ################## Mkdev fd does not work properly with some video adapters. KEYWORDS: mkdev fd video adapters 16 bit floppy disk filesystem root boot xenix unix vga paradise RELEASE: SCO XENIX System V Operating System Generic SCO UNIX System V/386 Operating System Generic PROBLEM: Both 16 bit video adapters and the floppy drives use DMA channel 2. Therefore, when writing to, or reading from, a floppy disk drive the video adapter controller may add or intercept characters from the floppy disk data stream, thereby corrupting the floppy. SOLUTION: Move the video adapter to an 8 bit slot. ################## cut here ################ cut here ################## I hope this helps you with your problem. - Paul Zola Software Support Engineer paulz@sco.COM Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose. - Emily Saliers DISCLAIMER: I speak for myself, and not for SCO.
wul@sco.COM (Wu Liu) (04/12/91)
/--paulz@sco.COM (W. Paul Zola) said... | In article <178@nat-3.UUCP> root@nat-3.UUCP (nat-3 System Administrator) writes: | } | }Hello -- | } | } I have a 25 MHz 386 clone running SCO XENIX-386 2.3.3 (I bought | }2.3.2 and upgraded it with UFJ and various other SCO SLS's). I have a | }WD1006V-SR2 RLL hard/floppy disk controller. I am having problems | }writing to my 1.2 and 1.44 Mb floppies and the symptoms are these: | | [ problems in using floppys deleted ] | | The following article from the SCO Information Tools database should help | with your problem. I'm posting because I think this may be of general | interest. | | ################## cut here ################ cut here ################## | | Mkdev fd does not work properly with some video adapters. | | KEYWORDS: mkdev fd video adapters 16 bit floppy disk filesystem root boot xenix unix vga paradise | | RELEASE: SCO XENIX System V Operating System Generic | SCO UNIX System V/386 Operating System Generic | | PROBLEM: Both 16 bit video adapters and the floppy drives use DMA channel | 2. Therefore, when writing to, or reading from, a floppy disk drive | the video adapter controller may add or intercept characters from | the floppy disk data stream, thereby corrupting the floppy. | | SOLUTION: Move the video adapter to an 8 bit slot. | | ################## cut here ################ cut here ################## | | I hope this helps you with your problem. \-- Note that this doesn't necessarily apply to ALL 16-bit VGA cards, just some of them. It's pretty difficult to generalize, too. It's been my experience that Paradise cards are safe, as are Video 7s and the new Trident 8900 clones. One of the older Tseng ET3000 clone cards (Orchid ProDesigner Plus) exhibited this problem, while an STB didn't. I don't know about the newer ET4000s. I'd guess that the more recently designed VGA cards have a jumper or switch or something that will allow you to configure the card accordingly without having to move it to an 8-bit slot.