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From: km@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.periphs.scsi,comp.unix.i386
Subject: Re: Info req. for Seagate ST296N SCSI Drive
Keywords: for UNIX
Message-ID: <7250@pitt.UUCP>
Date: 27 Mar 90 21:30:25 GMT
References: <1626@watserv1.waterloo.edu>
Sender: news@pitt.UUCP
Reply-To: km@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science
Lines: 34

>I have a Seagate ST296N SCSI drive, along with the ST02 adapter. (When
>you power-up, it say "SCSI Host Adapter 2.00") What I want to know
>is if ANYONE is successfully running some form of Unix with this
>drive.

A device driver for the ST01/02 for Microport Unix 386 was posted several
months ago. I have the sources if you want them. You may be able to
adapt the driver to other versions of Unix.

>
>What determines a drives compatibility with Unix?
>

For a scsi device, it is the drive's compatibility with the host
adapter and driver that matter. Cylinders, heads, etc. should not
matter, as the SCSI device appears only as a bunch of blocks. The
ST01/02 is an inexpensive host adapter specifically designed for
Seagate drives. With the onboard ROM, which emulates a standard ST506
controller for the DOS bios, only Seagate drives are supported.  The
Microport driver assumes you pull the ROM off the board, and works
with drives from other vendors.

>Other info: Seagate technical support said it's recording method was RLL,
>but it was a SCSI drive. Supposedly the ST02 is made by Western Digital
>for Seagate.
>

SCSI has nothing to do with the RLL/MFM issue. The drive itself can use
any encoding, as long as it presents a SCSI interface to the outside world. 
The ST01/02 is made by Future Domain, or at least carries a Future Domain
copyright on the ROM.

 Ken Mitchum KY3B
 km@cs.pitt.edu