Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!decvax!tektronix!reed!kamath
From: kamath@reed.UUCP (Sean Kamath)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: GS/OS - SCSI question
Message-ID: <11587@reed.UUCP>
Date: 24 Jan 89 02:49:18 GMT
References: <[ECLA.USC.EDU]19-Jan-89.09:54:54.BHUBER> <9465@smoke.BRL.MIL> <936@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: kamath@reed.UUCP (Sean Kamath)
Organization: Reed College, Portland OR
Lines: 46

In article <936@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> asd@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Kareth) writes:
>If a company was really smart they'd make a SCSI/RLL controller that could
>accept SCSI commands and convert it and use a RLL (IBM style) drive on the
>apple or maybe just an RLL drive and whip up a the drivers to take full use of
>GS/OS and then we could run out and buy 110MB drives for $695!  (w/o fan,
>power and cabinent of course)
>
>kareth.

Well, they do, sort of.  I think what you mean is a card in the apple that
would follow the st506 interface format.  Try Perline electronics.  I don't
recommend them.

The best way to go for this stuff is with the Adaptec 4077 controller.  It
is a SCSI to st506 with RLL encoding converter.  There is also the Adaptec
4000A (don't get the 4000, as it has bugs and is slow), which is a straight
SCSI to st506 mfm converter.

Unfortunately, almost *all* the literature (both electronic and paper) I've
seen on this subject mentions that it costs way to much for the effort.
However, when you do it right, it's a *lot* cheaper.

Fer instance:  I picked up a 20 meg st506 drive (cmi whatever, off an AT)
for $10.  Beat that!  Or the 10Megger I got from a friend who got it free.
You see, in the "real" world of computer nuts, these things happen.  I got
mine at a swap meet, I don't know where my friend got his from.  It's all
legal, the hardward comes out of computers.  This same frined bought a
tek4044 with *two meg of 120ns RAM in it!* for $80.  From the retail store
the company runs.  Beat that!

Undoubtably, if you go buy an st506 drive from a reputable dealer, and do it
from scratch, it will end up being about $100 cheaper than just buying a
sider or other drive.

In any case, the reason I haven't finished with my homebrew is that I just
got a 40 meg SCSI drive, which I will recieve as soon as the folks I'm
getting it from get uTek with NFS up on their tek4317 and 4417's.  Sigh.  I
still wait.

Sean Kamath

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