Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!uflorida!haven!grebyn!macom1!larry From: larry@macom1.UUCP (Larry Taborek) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: IBM/SCSI Message-ID: <4975@macom1.UUCP> Date: 27 Nov 89 13:45:53 GMT References: <6046@shlump.nac.dec.com> Distribution: na Organization: CENTEL Federal Systems, Reston, VA. 22091-1506 Lines: 76 From article <6046@shlump.nac.dec.com>, by mattioli@TOOK.DEC.COM (John R. Mattioli): [some deleted] > Since I paid $675 for my st296n (80meg scsi drive) and st02 (scsi host > adaptor) and since I found the drive in the computer shopper for about $450 I've > decided to return both drive and controller. I will get a $675 credit for that. > Then, I'll order my st296n as cheap as possible. > > I just had a salesman suggest that I buy a Future Domain tmc860 (scsi > adapter) for $295. I've heard that the Future Domain scsi hardware is great but > is this price reasonable? Will it work well with the Seagate drive? Should I > consider getting a different drive? I'd like to keep the price about the same > if possible ($450-$500). [some deleted] > Also, as the Future Domain board doesn't control floppies, this salesman > wants to sell me a floppy controller for $79. It's a generic and, to my way of > thinking, way over priced. Any suggestions on an inexpensive floppy controller? > > Finally, I have a tape backup system from CMS. This unit hooks up to > the floppy controller as drive b. If you have any experience with this tape > drive (as in what controllers it works with) I'd appreciate it. I'd like my > tape drive to work with whatever floppy controller I buy. For those of you > thinking of going scsi I suggest you stay well away from the Seagate st01/st02 > controllers. One additional reason for this is because the st02 may not work > with your CMS tape drive. > John, I recently purchased a Adaptec AHA-1542 SCSI controller and couldn't be happier with it. Some of its features are: The controller is Adaptecs top of the line SCSI controller. It will run on Buses pushed to 12MZ (mine is). Features a 1:1 interleave capability. Supports both a slave and master mode. Supports up to 6MB per second transfer rates (according to literature). Has both an internal and external SCSI cable connection. The 1542 has one feature over the 1540. the 1542 also will support 2 floppy disk drives. I have my 1542 connected up to a 155MB CDC SCSI hard disk, a 1.44MB 3.5 inch Chinon floppy disk drive and a 1.2MB Teac floppy disk drive. The controller doesn't seem to have any problems with either of the floppys and supports all different types of denisities. Also it is FAST FAST FAST! With the CDC disk my early benchmarks show a speed of about 960KBS. The burst mode is even faster then that. On a different note, I too was looking at the ST296N drive. Its cheap and affordable. In talking to the dealership that sold me most of my components (but not my disk) the dealer told me that they were having a problem with the ST296N drives. He said that they seemed ok if you only ran them a few hours each day, but only seemed to last a month in constant operation. In a posting to usenet inquiring about this, I received many mail replies, mostly from Amiga owners, who also had problems with the ST296N. By the way, I have SCO Xenix and DOS 3.3 on my machine, and they seem to run fine. I have tried Interactive, but have had problems. By the way, I paid $300.00 for the AHA1542. It came with a manual but no disks. I have not found a need for any disks to support the controller. Cables may be extra. I am not affiliated with Adaptec, other then as a satisified customer. Hope this helps... -- Larry Taborek ..!uunet!grebyn!macom1!larry Centel Federal Systems larry@macom1.UUCP 11400 Commerce Park Drive Reston, VA 22091-1506 My views do not reflect those of Centel 703-758-7000