Re: RAMFast and Adaptec ACB SCSI controllers?

[jdb8042@blkbox.COM (John D. Baker)]

pro-newton!pro-dan!danb (Dan Brown) writes:

>        No "disk parameters" to specify; that's how SCSI works.  The
>manufacturer, model number, etc. are supposed to be sent by the drive to the
>host on request, but the Adaptec card may be a problem there.

Wrong answer.  Please learn how SCSI works.  Modern embedded SCSI disks
have a facility to report the manufacturer, model, and drive geometry in
response to an "INQUIRY" command.

However, many older drives and controller boards, like the Adaptecs,
Xebec, OMTI, and Emulex cannot report their disk parameters, because
these are not either not available or because the "INQUIRY" command is
not implemented.

>        There is no "limited list of hard disks" to choose from.  The RamFAST
>simply reports what the drive says it is.

Have you ever plugged a Xebec 1410 SASI board into a RAMFast?  When attempting
to format one of these beasties, the RamFAST utility presents you with a
choice of:

     Old Sider 10MB        Sider D2
     Old Sider D2          Sider D4
     Sider D4T             Sider Tape Drive.

Since I've never seen a Sider drive of any kind, I have no way of answering
this prompt correctly.  I DO know the physical drive geometry of my real
devices.  I can't rely on the limited assumptions of the programmers who
wrote the RamFAST utitlity software.

The Xebec, etc. boards cannot tell the RamFAST "what the drive says it is"
so the RamFAST has to punt, but it seems only to know about the Xebec
boards (used in the vast majority of Sider hard disk systems).


John D. Baker ->A TransWarp'802'd Apple //e CardZ180 Z-System nut //
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