Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!m2c!ulowell!bbn!socrates.bbn.com!jbatson
From: jbatson@socrates.bbn.com
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: SCSI expansion disks on NCR Tower 32
Message-ID: <20591@bbn.COM>
Date: 8 Feb 88 13:08:18 GMT
Sender: news@bbn.COM
Reply-To: jbatson@socrates.bbn.com ()
Organization: BBN Advanced Computers, INc., Cambridge, MA
Lines: 27

I'm trying to add a SCSI disk to a Tower 32, but I'm NOT buying it
through NCR - like most other computer vendors, they want much too much
for disks when bought through them.

However, I'm in need of some assistance on this.  NCR has been pretty
poor in supplying ANY information I've needed (some modest exception to
be made for Greg Noel, ncr-sd!greg, who has at least made an effort
once or twice).  My general opinion of NCR in the "open systems" area
is very low - I've worked on Towers since the first generation (Tower
1632), and although their marketing brochures have always touted that
they use "industry standard interfaces so you can expand using any
components you'd like" (e.g. the "open system" approach), they
generally drop you like a hot potato once you start asking the
necessary questions.  It was three years after the original release of
the Tower before they had any documentation on device drivers for the
Tower (and to be sure, they had some unusual kernel functions you
needed to know about).  Having worked on numerous other systems in
those years, you can consider this an educated flame about NCR.  LTTB.

Has anybody out there put non-NCR SCSI disks on a 32?  If so, tell me
by E-mail who you are, and I'll drop you a note with some specific
questions (in an effort to keep net traffic down).

Jay Batson
Butterfly MACH Support
UUCP:	...!harvard!bbn.com!jbatson				617-873-4119
DOMAIN:	jbatson@bbn.com			"Parallel processing can be fun!"