Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!mcdchg!ddsw1!karl
From: karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: Xenix-286 with Seagate SCSI drives
Summary: In most cases you are not going to get this working
Keywords: SCSI help xenix 286
Message-ID: <1989Nov10.033933.27162@ddsw1.MCS.COM>
Date: 10 Nov 89 03:39:33 GMT
References: <601@nixpbe.UUCP>
Reply-To: karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Macro Computer Solutions, Inc., Mundelein, IL
Lines: 33

In article <601@nixpbe.UUCP> freiss@nixpbe.UUCP (MArtin Freiss) writes:
>Hi,
>I'm fairly new to the Xenix brand of UN*X and would like the net's
>opinion on something. I apologize if this has been discussed before.
>
>I'm in the process of buying a harddisk for my '286 clone to run Xenix
>on. As the Seagate SCSI drive + controller bundled package comes cheaper
>over here than a "normal" MFM drive, I'm toying with the idea of buying
>one - about 60 meg, of which I want to reserve about 40 for Xenix.

No no no!

>I'm not worried about DOS, but how do I get Xenix to run with a SCSI
>drive? Is anyone out there who can give me pointers on how to install
>Xenix 286 (version 2.2.1) on this beast (or best, can give me a step
>by step explanation how to do it) ?

You can't normally.  The "cheap" SCSI controllers are supported only through
a BIOS rom, which of course isn't used in protected mode.

The end result is that you would have to write a disk driver.  This might
get >real< tricky, as you also need to do the boot-type things in order to
make it fly.  There >was< such a beast posted to one of the groups a while
back, but it would certainly need modification for Xenix, and I bet that
bringing up the system in the first place would be quite a bit of "fun".

In short, don't bother unless you like hacking on drivers and the like.

--
Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, <well-connected>!ddsw1!karl)
Public Access Data Line: [+1 312 566-8911], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910]
Macro Computer Solutions, Inc.		"Quality Solutions at a Fair Price"