Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cyclops!csense!bote
From: bote@csense.UUCP (John Boteler)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: source for WD1007WA2
Message-ID: <275@csense.UUCP>
Date: 26 Jun 89 16:43:43 GMT
References: <3611@ddsw1.MCS.COM>
Organization: Common Sense Computing, McLean Va
Lines: 33

From article <3611@ddsw1.MCS.COM>, by karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger):
> ...This can be VERY useful if your
> operating system will not install without an exact match in the ROM drive 
> tables, as these tables will not go out beyond 1024 cyls.
> ... 
> IF this happens, you will need to disable the onboard BIOS
> completely, although you can do it AFTER formatting (providing your OS can
> handle > 1024 cyl drives; Xenix can do this) and still get what appears to
> be an error-free device.
> 
> Adaptec has been problematical for me in the past.  DTC, which also makes
> ESDI boards, hasn't managed to get one here for evaluation yet, so I have no
> idea what their boards are like.

I have seen a very few commercial BIOS tables include drive types
with cylinder counts greater than 1024. I do not have names
readily available. These make life so much easier, since many
low-level formatting routines will not format > 1024 cylinders
unless they see a drive table entry with a cylinder count
greater than 1024. Big AAARRGHH!

I am glad to see someone else acknowledge that Xenix can 
handle big drives. Thank you.

If you are waiting for DTC to actually ship a reported 
product, I hope you have tickets for a 6-month cruise around
the world--I mean, you might as well enjoy the wait!!


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