Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!evax!utacfd!merch!cpe!adaptex!adaptx1!neese
From: neese@adaptx1.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: Re: WHAT IS SCSICNTL.EXE
Message-ID: <283400074@adaptx1>
Date: 19 Mar 91 06:57:57 GMT
References: <2@lehigh.bitnet>
Lines: 66
Nf-ID: #R:lehigh.bitnet:2:adaptx1:283400074:000:2865
Nf-From: adaptx1.UUCP!neese    Mar 18 10:48:00 1991


>In article <283400069@adaptx1>, neese@adaptx1.UUCP writes...
>> 
>>While I am at this posting, I thought I might let you folks know,....
>>There has been some noise about wanting a public domain tar like program
>>for DOS to work with SCSI stuff.  If there is a real demand for it, I have
>>almost completed this program and could post it, again, if it is something
>>that would be useful to many netters.
>
>Roy,
>
>I am the noisemaker who asked for it.  I think it would be a *great* service
>to the Adaptec 1542 owners, myself included, to post such a program --
>especially if it reads/writes in tar format!

I have since gotten a truck load of mail from all over about it and so
will be posting it as soon as the first version is done.

>>STUFF DELETED<<
>>It does not compress/uncompress files on the fly.
>
>can I pipe it from a PD DOS compressor like PKXZIP or PKXARC ?

Initially no, as the first release is more a functional release than the
whiz-bang thing it will grow to become.

>>It will work with virtually any SCSI tape drive.
>>It does require DOS versions of 3.0 or later.
>>It is menu driven with online help.
>>It will read/write from/to any hard drive.
>>It will be written directly to the 1542/1640/1740 hardware, except when
>>reading/writting from/to the hard disk.
>
>Roy, does this mean I can not use it together with ASPI4DOS?  I prefer to
>use this if possible since it speeds up my I/O and I will be using >3
>disks later on.

It will talk directly to the adapter, so ASPI4DOS will have to be out of
the config.sys for the time being.  Eventually, it will support ASPI4DOS,
but for the first release it will not.

>Ditto, I would like it if SCSICNTL would coexist with SCSI4DOS and use 
>the ASPI programming interface.  Right now I have to reboot without
>my ASPI4DOS in my config.sys to use it, a minor annoyance.  But the program
>itself is great.

Due to some of the things SCSICNTL does, I cannot use ASPI4DOS/SCSI4DOS
yet.  I am looking at doing a version of SCSICNTL that will use ASPI4DOS
and take out some of the things I can't do under ASPI4DOS.

>Is there is technical/marketing/licensing/too busy reason not to do it 
>this way?  

Truth be known, I am not a DOS person.  UNIX is my forte, but for direct
hardware control, DOS is all there is.
I am glad you like the program.  I get a lot of mail about it and do appreciate
the thanks.  I know some of the hard drive manufacturer's aren't thrilled
about the program, but I have always viewed SCSI with a very open mind and
think it is only as good as a user can make it for thier own application.
Being able to tailor SCSI to one's own application is what I consider one of
the major reasons for going that direction in the first place.

			Roy Neese
			Adaptec Senior SCSI Applications Engineer
			UUCP @  neese@adaptex
				uunet!cs.utexas.edu!utacfd!merch!adaptex!neese