Re: Amiga Hard Drives On GS?!

[David.Empson@bbs.actrix.gen.nz]

In article <1kave4INN28h@iraul1.ira.uka.de> voss@i40s16.ira.uka.de (Stefan Voss) writes:
>
> I don't know about SCSI-2. Could someone please explain the differences between
> SCSI and SCSI-2 ?

SCSI-2 is a later version of the SCSI standard.  It don't think it's
finalised yet.

The main feature of SCSI-2 is that it specifies a lot more about the
commands supported by various SCSI devices, and standardises several
devices that weren't covered by the original SCSI standard.

One possible problem area is SCSI termination.  The SCSI-2 standard is
much stricter about who supplies terminator power, namely the bus
master (i.e. the computer).  Neither Apple SCSI card will provide
terminator power (but the RamFast does), so they might have trouble
with a strictly confirming SCSI-2 drive.

Apart from this, a SCSI-2 hard drive is MORE likely to be compatible
with the Apple II than some lesser-known brands of SCSI-1 drives.


SCSI-2 also has two variations called "Fast" and "Wide".  The latter
involves two cables (or a larger cable - not sure which) with a 16-bit
data path, which doubles the data transfer rate.  "Fast" SCSI has
faster timing.  You can also have "fast and wide", which has very high
transfer rates.

None of the Apple II SCSI cards support Fast or Wide SCSI.  I haven't
seen any "average" sized drives that support them either.
-- 
David Empson

Internet: David.Empson@bbs.actrix.gen.nz    EMPSON_D@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand