Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!uccba!spca6!icc!ajm
From: ajm@icc.com (Al Marmora)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: Re: Adaptec 1542A - Upgrade - 1.2 Mb floppy problems.
Keywords: ADAPTEC, 1542A, BIOS, UPGRADE.
Message-ID: <1990Aug20.040153.15489@icc.com>
Date: 20 Aug 90 04:01:53 GMT
References: <150237@felix.UUCP>
Organization: Intercomputer Communications Corp., Cincinnati, OH
Lines: 34

In article <150237@felix.UUCP> goings@felix.UUCP (David Goings) writes:
>Hi,
>
>I have two problems:
>
>I recently inherited an ADAPTEC SCSI CONTROLLER  and...
>
>1. I can not get the ADAPTEC 1542A SCSI controller to recognize or 
>   read a 1.2 mb floppy disk in a 1.2mb floppy drive. Does the 1542A
>   support 1.2mb floppies ?. A very unsupportive sales person told me
>   that it "probably did not".

The 1542A indeed does support 1.2MB floppies.

However, your vendor's BIOS may not deal with the floppy controller
in a socially acceptable manner.  For example, on my Everex STEP 25/386,
if I initially boot on a 1.2MB floppy, I can only access 1.2MB floppies;
attempting to read or write a 360K diskette fails.  If I boot on a 360K
floppy I can only access 360K floppies.

I questioned Roy Neese at Adaptec about this, [sure miss adaptex... provided
much more help than Adaptec's telephone support ever did] and he indicated
that the problem was with the computer's BIOS.  This was confirmed when I
installed VP/ix (MS-DOS under unix) which uses a different (Phoenix) BIOS.
When running under VP/ix the floppy access problems went away.

I believe the Everex BIOS is based on AMI's BIOS;  Does anyone out their
know if the vanilla AMI BIOS has this problem?

[at the time (early 1989) Everex claimed to be looking at the problem.
I recently (mid-1990) tried the 1542A in a new Everex machine, and the
problem still existed]

--al