Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!scs!mitel!uunet!dalcs!lane
From: lane@dalcs.UUCP (John Wright/Dr. Pat Lane)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Problems with V20's and WD controllers?
Message-ID: <3033@dalcs.UUCP>
Date: 18 Oct 88 09:13:37 GMT
Article-I.D.: dalcs.3033
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Lines: 21

I called Western Digital the other day about a weird problem I have with
hard disk operation on an XT clone with a WD controller  (the problem,
briefly is that long-write operations ignore the disk side specification
and always write to side 0...I've posted details on it before).

When I mentioned that the machine had a NEC V20, the guy said "That's your
problem right there" and went on to explain that their controllers tended
to have problems with V20 chips due to tricky timing characteristics of the
chip and that the combination (V20s and their controllers) was not recommended.
He could not supply much more detail than that.

I'm wondering what anyone knows about this.  What the specific problems might
be (would they include my problem)?  Exactly which controllers are involved?
(What about V40s (80286 compat.?) and WD AT controllers?)  What experiences,
good or bad, have people had with this combination.

-- 
John Wright      /////////////////     Phone:  902-424-3805  or  902-424-6527
Post: c/o Dr Pat Lane, Biology Dept, Dalhousie U, Halifax N.S., CANADA B3H-4H8 
Cdn/Bitnet: lane@cs.dal.cdn    Arpa: lane%dalcs.uucp@uunet.uu.net
Uucp: lane@dalcs.uucp or {uunet,watmath,utai,garfield}!dalcs!lane