Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!dali.cs.montana.edu!milton!sumax!polari!lampi From: lampi@polari.UUCP (Michael Lampi) Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi Subject: Re: Faster boot with AHA 1542 SCSI controller? Message-ID: <4357@polari.UUCP> Date: 5 Jun 91 01:23:33 GMT References: <4283@polari.UUCP> <1991Jun03.225530.13007@xstor.com> Organization: R Squared, Redmond, WA (206) 883-3116 Lines: 36 >In article <1991Jun03.225530.13007@xstor.com> iverson@xstor.com writes: }In article <4283@polari.UUCP> I write: =In article ben@epmooch.UUCP (Rev. Ben A. Mesander) writes: =Is there a way to shorten the boot time on a machine with an Adaptec SCSI =controller? On my machine it takes almost a minute, an ESDI machine with =the same autoexec and config is up in less then 15 seconds. }It is too much if you have to reboot your machine (for various reasons) }several times an hour (or even several times a day), especially if you }know the devices are ready! [...] >This is a rather expensive solution, but there is one way to improve boot >time: install two drives, at ID 0 and ID 1. The BIOS in the 1540 series >checks these ID's for drives and if they're found, it won't have to wait >for the time-out to occur. >- Tim Iverson The suggestion of having a SCSI drive at ID 0 and at ID 1 is a good one. However, the Adaptec disk software doesn't understand *large* SCSI disks (>32 Mb) at these ID's - they have to be at other than 0 & 1 for the ASPIDOS stuff to work. Anyway, since my system boots from a ST506 disk drive (C:), why should it have to wait for the SCSI bus?????? And, yes, I can tell by the sounds that a given disk drive makes in its self-tests (typically seek noises) when a drive has completed its self-test, a ***long*** time before the 1542 finally continues the boot process. Why can't it just do a Test Unit Ready and, if nothing responds, assume that there is nothing there? Most subsystems at least respond with Not Ready until their self test has completed. -- ----- Michael Lampi polari!lampi@sumax.seattleu.edu