Usenet 1994 January/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicjanuary1994.iso/answers/386bsd-faq/part9

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From: [e-mail] (Dave Burgess)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.announce,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: [comp.os.386bsd] BNR/2 derived BSD for PCs FAQ (Part 9 of 10)
Followup-To: comp.os.386bsd.misc
Date: 27 Dec 1993 06:00:49 -0000
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Archive-name: 386bsd-faq/part9

Section 8.    ("Supported" Hardware List)

Disclaimer: This list is NOT a commercial oriented effort.  It is not an
        attempt to promote brands of computer machinery; it merely
        reports "happy" customers.  The validity of information supplied
        is based solely on the validity of the statements made by the
        contributors.  If more information is needed on a particular
        product please contact the contributor directly via e-mail.


8.0    What hardware is 386BSD known to run on and support!

    The problem with this section of the FAQ is that software is
    the only reason that every PC card on the planet does not work.

    EISA cards are not directly supported; when and if EISA
    is directly supported, they will give a significant performance
    advantage to EISA bus machines.  As it happens, user who desire
    more than 16Meg of memory must use either VESA or EISA systems.
    Even with an EISA system, many users will not be able to use the
    address space above 16Meg unless their system uses only EISA
    cards for those devices that need access to DMA.  The limitations
    are covered in another section of the FAQ.

    Many EISA cards operate in an ISA emulation mode.  Notably, the
    Ultrastore 24F SCSI controller operates in an IDE emulation mode
    that allows the card to be used in the current system without
    modification.  Most EISA cards that operate in ISA mode will
    work with 386BSD, NetBSD, or FreeBSD.

    Like EISA, MCA is unsupported currently; unlike EISA, it can't
    work until it is supported, as it doesn't fall back to ISA
    operation.  If you want to work on this problem, I'm sure that
    many people will appreciate it; you will probably need an ISA or
    EISA machine to do the work, however.


8.1    System brand names
8.2    Motherboards

    Here is the list of compatible motherboards for 386bsd that I
    managed to collect off the network. Thanks to all of you who
    contributed to this effort. If some of you have knowledge of a
    different motherboard and want to add it to the list please send
    E-mail either Kostis Dryllerakis ([e-mail]) or Dave Burgess
    ([e-mail]).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : Zeos
Country of origin    : USA
Architecture        : ISA (serial/parallel ports and controller on board)
Bus Slots        : 7 16-bit and 1 8-bit
Chipset            :
Processor/Speed        : 486SLC/25
Processor Cache        : 8K(?)
BIOS            : Award w/ built-in setup (no password, though)
Max Memory        : 16 megs
Country of availability    :
Price estimate        : This machine was $1995. (out of production)
Points of attention    :
Other Information    : I would most likely not recommend this system,
              or any other system using a 486SLC...the 16 Meg limit
              is a real pain. Also, the system has No processor
              upgrade options (unlike a real 486SX)...the
              motherboard itself would have to be replaced. :(
Contributor        : Matt Beal ([e-mail])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : Micronics
Country of origin    : USA
Architecture        : ISA
Bus Slots        : 8 (all 16 bit :-)
Chipset            : Not Known
Processor/Speed        : 486/25MHz
Processor Cache        : 256K
BIOS            : Phoenix
Max Memory        : 16Meg
Country of availability    : Australia (at least)
Price estimate        : Not Known
Points of attention    :
Other Information    : Needed "fixed" boot floppies otherwise system
              would not boot from hard disk.
Contributor        : Brett Lymn ([e-mail])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : VOBIS / HIGHSCREEN
Country of origin    : Germany
Architecture        : ISA
Bus Slots        : 8
Chipset            : OPTI / uP INTEL
Processor/Speed        : INTEL 80486 DX 50 Mhz
Processor Cache        : 256 Kb
BIOS            : AMI 1992
Max Memory        : 32MB
Country of availability    : Europe
Price estimate        : 3000 US $ with the following configuration:
              486/50 - 8 Mb RAM - HDD 210 Mb - 2 floppies -
              VGA card - 14" VGA Monitor -
              DOS/Windows/& other software.
Points of attention    : I paid 6000 US $ for the following configuration:
              486/50 - 16 Mb RAM - SCSI card (Adaptec) 425 Mb
              SCSI disk - 2 floppies - 1 Mb VGA card (ET4000) -
              17" professional monitor etc. The hard drive alone
              costs 1250 US $, but it is from a third party. The
              monitor alone (PHILIPS, remarked as VOBIS)
              costs 1000 US $.
              All prices are valid in Italy.
Other Information    :
Contributor        : Piero Serini ([e-mail])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : OPTI
Country of origin    :
Architecture        : ISA
Bus Slots        : 8
Chipset            : OPTI
Processor/Speed        : 486DX/33
Processor Cache        : 256K (can use from 64K - 512K)
BIOS            : AMI
Max Memory        : 32M
Country of availability    : USA, at least
Price estimate        : $850 (w/ 8M) ??
Points of attention    : Make sure cache-able region setting matches actual
              size of RAM.  Probably don't want BIOS shadowing.
Other Information    :  Uses 1- or 4-Meg 80ns SIMMS, in sets of 4.
              (8 sockets).
Contributor        : Bill Warner ([e-mail])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : unknown (board is called PAT48SA)
Country of origin    : unknown
Architecture        : ISA
Bus Slots        : 6x 16bit, 1x 8bit
Chipset            : SIS
Processor/Speed        : 486 33MHz
Processor Cache        : 256 KByte
BIOS            : AMI BIOS
Max Memory        : 32 MByte
Country of availability : Germany (at least)
Price estimate        :
Points of attention    : none
Other Information    :
Contributor        : Jan Klier, Berlin - Germany (klier.cs.tu-berlin.de)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : NICE USA
Country of origin    : U.S.A
Architecture        : ISA
Bus Slots        : 8
Chipset            :
Processor/Speed        : 486DX/50MHz
Processor Cache        : 256K
BIOS            : AMI
Max Memory        : 32MB
Country of availability    :
Price estimate        :
Points of attention    :
Other Information    :
Contributor        : Tom Wye [e-mail]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        ==== EISA MOTHERBOARDS ===

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : A.I.R. (Advanced Integration Research, Inc.)
Country of origin    : San Jose, CA USA
Architecture        : EISA/Local Bus
Bus Slots        : 8 Total - 5 EISA, 3 EISA/Local Bus
Chipset            : SIS
Processor/Speed        : 486DX33 (20-50mhz)
Processor Cache        : 256Kb (64-512KB)
BIOS            : AMI
Max Memory        : 256MB max using 16M X 36 SIMMS
Country of availability : U.S.A
Price estimate        : $475 US with 256KB cache, No processor or Memory
Points of attention    :
Other Information    : Only tested with Tiny Kernel with Adaptec 1542B and
                         ET4000 video card.  EISA and Local Bus not tested
                         yet.  Will post again with further results.
Contributor        : Joe Gervais [e-mail]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : NICE
Country of origin    : USA
Architecture        : EISA/Local Bus
Bus Slots        : 8 total - 5 ISA + 2 EISA/VLB + 1 EISA
Chipset            : HiNT
Processor/Speed        : 486DX/50MHZ
Processor Cache        : 256K
BIOS            : AMI
Max Memory        : 128MB
Country of availability    : USA
Price estimate        : $950 + memory
Points of attention    : none
Other Information    : easy boot, mini AT footprint
              easy boot, sudden death. first motherboard failed
              after one week due to temperature sensitive component.
Contributor        : [e-mail] (Donald Duncan)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : Partner (according to supplier - board is unlabeled)
Country of origin    : Taiwan
Architecture        : EISA
Bus Slots        : 8
Chipset            : Opti
Processor/Speed        : 486 DX2 66
Processor Cache        : 8k internal 256k on board
BIOS            : AMI
Max Memory        : 32Mb
Country of availability    : UK
Price estimate        : 599 ex VAT including (necessary) heat sink for 486.
Points of attention    : Board works with 386BSD straight out of the box
                  with defaults.. When adding memory you must use
              the BIOS setup to make all of the new RAM cache-able.
Other Information    : This board is cheap and it works. I got mine from
                  Jupiter Systems (081 570 1011). They do a fairly wide
              range of boards and accessories. See Micro Mart for
              an advert.
Contributor        : David James ([e-mail] [e-mail])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : Synerco, Inc. Richardson Texas [phone]
Country of origin    : U.S.A.
Architecture        : EISA
Bus Slots        : 8
Chipset            : SOYO Motherboard
Processor/Speed        : Intel/486/66MHz
Processor Cache        : 256K
BIOS            : 1990 American Megatrends
Max Memory        : 32 MB
Country of availability    : Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.
Price estimate        : US 3,000
Points of attention    :
Other Information    : 1 IO card with /dev/com1=DB9 and /dev/com2=DB25
              EtherCard PLUS "Elite16 Series"
              (io base=0x280, irq=2,iomem=0xd000)
                    (jumper change to SOFT)
                    (Do NOT use default setting, must use)
                    (SMC SuperDisk a:ezsetup to adjust)
              Logitech MouseMan Serial Mouse (M/N: M-CJ13 -9F)
              plug in /dev/com1
Contributor        : Jongjay Liou ([e-mail])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : Gateway2000
Country of origin    : U.S.A.
Architecture        : EISA
Bus Slots        : 8 (6 master and 2 slave?)
Chipset            :
Processor/Speed        : 486DX2-66E
Processor Cache        : 8 k internal 128 k external
BIOS            : Award (?)
Max Memory        : 16MB
Country of availability : U.S.A.
Price estimate        : $4750
Points of attention    : (Set Adaptec 1740 SCSI to "standard" mode)
Other Information    :
Contributor        : Daniel Ortmann <[e-mail]>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        : Micronics Model: 5050-00-ICP/E2/256 Revision: A-1,
              plus rework ECN E2A07 to fix CMOS/clock problem
Country of origin    : USA/Taiwan
Architecture        : EISA & Local Bus
Bus Slots        : 8 EISA. 6 are bus master capable, two are not. One of
              the slots that can not be used for a bus master has
              a connector at the other end for a local bus card.
              So, for this slot you decide whether to plug in an
              EISA card or a local bus card.
Chipset            : Intel 357, Intel 358, and a Micronics ASIC.
Processor/Speed        : 486DX50
Processor Cache        : 256 KB external secondary cache, 8 KB internal
BIOS            : Phoenix 80486/EISA, ROM BIOS PLUS version 1.01.23-2
Max Memory        : 64MB
Country of availability    :
Price estimate        : $1700.00 US
Points of attention    :
Other Information    : built in floppy controller, 1 parallel port, and two
              serial ports.
Contributor        : Chris Shaker ([e-mail])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.3    Video cards
8.4    Mice
8.5    Serial Cards

8.5.1    How do I configure multiport cards?

    Patchkit 0.2.4 has introduced the possibility to use multiport
    serial boards.  How do you configure an AST/4 in the kernel?

    The AST/4 and its clone multiport cards can run on 386BSD using
    patchkit 0.2.4 and later.  The only problems seem to be that the
    code in sioprobe() and sioattach() in sio.c needs to be hacked to
    get it to properly detect the ports and then recognize the type
    of UARTs installed (16550As).  The code segment that is causing
    the problem is included below:

    The test in the sio.c driver (in the sioattach() routine) that
    is causing it to *think* it is a 8250 is:



    scr = inb(iobase + com_scr);
    outb(iobase + com_scr, 0xa5);
    scr1 = inb(iobase + com_scr);
    outb(iobase + com_scr, 0x5a);
    scr2 = inb(iobase + com_scr);
    outb(iobase + com_scr, scr);
    if (scr1 != 0xa5 || scr2 != 0x5a)   <--- this is it!
        printf(" <8250>");


    This test seems to be depending upon the absence of the com_scr
    register in the 8250 (iobase+7).  Unfortunately, the AST 4-port
    card uses this last register of the last UART for interrupt status
    (for the 4 UARTs), hence the last port of the 4 fails the test.
    The easiest fix is to simply delete this test in your copy of
    sio.c (If you *know* that you have no 8250s).

    The Bocaboard (BB1008) fails the same way on *all* 8 of its
    ports (the +7 address register is replicated for each port
    according to the documentation).

    There are also some problems with another test in the if
    statement:

    if (   inb(iobase + com_cfcr) != CFCR_8BITS
        || inb(iobase + com_ier) != IER_ETXRDY
        || inb(iobase + com_mcr) != MCR_IENABLE
        || !isa_irq_pending(dev)              <--- this one fails!
        || (inb(iobase + com_iir) & IIR_IMASK) != IIR_TXRDY
        || isa_irq_pending(dev)
        || (inb(iobase + com_iir) & IIR_IMASK) != IIR_NOPEND)
        result = 0;

    in the sioprobe() routine for a couple of the ports on the
    4-port card.  Again, the fix is simply to remove that particular
    test and everything seems to be okay.  These are admittedly
    pretty ugly hacks, but when you're in a pinch to the system back
    up...

    What you need in the config file is:

    sio0    -> COM1
    sio1    -> COM2

    (both should be recognized and work just fine)

    sio2    @ 0x1a0    irq 9 flags 0x0501
    sio3    @ 0x1a8    irq 9 flags 0x0501
    sio4    @ 0x1b0 irq 9 flags 0x0501
    sio5    @ 0x1b8 irq 9 flags 0x0501

    Other folks have reported that their configuration looks very
    similar to this, though they are using irq 5 for the 4-port card.

    (above paraphrased from Bob Willcox, et al)

8.5.2    Now that I have FreeBSD 1.0 installed, how do I set up the
    serial ports for bi-directional use?

    Thanks to Lyn Kennedy ([e-mail]) for the advice about
    the cua devices and their minor numbers.  He worked out much of this
    without docs.

    In order to get the comm ports working, I decided to run the sio
    driver (heard it is faster and more capable than com).  In order to
    get it set up, this is what I did.

    1. I have four com ports assigned to the addresses and interrupt lines
    that are standard for DOS COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4.  I have the
    following lines in the file used to specify the config for the kernel
    build:

    device        sio0    at isa? port "IO_COM1" tty irq 4 vector siointr
    device        sio1    at isa? port "IO_COM2" tty irq 3 vector siointr
    device        sio2    at isa? port "IO_COM3" tty irq 5 vector siointr
    device        sio3    at isa? port "IO_COM4" tty irq 9 vector siointr

    I also enabled the use of com ports for either call in or call out by
    selecting the bi-directional option.  The following line in the config file
    causes the proper code to be compiled in the driver.

    options       "COM_BIDIR"    #Bidirectional support in sys/isa/sio.c

    2. After building the kernel, I made sure the devices were represented
    in /dev.  MAKEDEV should be used to create the tty0[0-3] special
    devices.  It will result in entries such as the following:

       0 crw-------    1 root     wheel     28,   0 Nov  8 06:28 tty00
       0 crw-------    1 root     wheel     28,   1 Nov  8 10:09 tty01
       0 crw-------    1 root     wheel     28,   2 Nov  7 01:13 tty02
       0 crw-------    1 root     wheel     28,   3 Nov  8 03:02 tty03

    Then mknod and chown should be used to create the following four entries:

       0 crw-rw-r--    1 uucp     dialer    28, 128 Nov  8 03:45 cua00
       0 crw-rw-r--    1 uucp     dialer    28, 129 Nov  7 18:34 cua01
       0 crw-rw-r--    1 uucp     dialer    28, 130 Nov  7 17:29 cua02
       0 crw-rw-r--    1 uucp     dialer    28, 131 Nov  8 03:15 cua03

    The tty0[0-3] entries are used to receive calls on (with the
    bidirectional code, this is signalled because the most significant
    bit in the minor number is 0).  The cua0[0-3] entries represent the
    same ports as the corresponding tty ports, but with the most
    significant bit of the minor number turned on.  This indicates to
    the driver that this port is a call out port.

    The reason for the ownership being set to uucp:dialer is because
    I have all programs that use dialers (uucico, kermit, tip, etc.)
    set to operate as set-uid with uucp as owner.  Also all of these
    programs are set up as being in group dialer with group dialer
    membership being required to execute them.

    3.  One further step needs to be done to allow proper use of the
    ports.  In rc.local, the last few lines include the following:

        comcontrol /dev/tty00 bidir
        comcontrol /dev/tty01 bidir
        comcontrol /dev/tty02 bidir
        comcontrol /dev/tty03 bidir

    4. Now I set up getty to use the incoming ports with the following
    entries in /etc/ttys:

        tty00    "/usr/libexec/getty std.19200"    unknown    on secure
        tty01    "/usr/libexec/getty std.4800"    unknown    on secure
        tty02    "/usr/libexec/getty std.4800"    unknown    on secure
        tty03    "/usr/libexec/getty std.19200"    unknown    on secure

    5. I set up the port file for uucp, the remote file for tip, and
    the .kermrc file for kermit to refer to the cua0[0-3] devices for
    call out targets.

    6. Note that I have modems on cua/tty 00 and 03.  My modems are set
    up to adjust the baud rate of the call (in or out) by negotiating
    with the other modem in the call.  However the modems always retain
    the same speed (19,200 Kb) for the rs-232 port.  In order to make
    the modems use the proper speed, I have to send them an AT sequence
    at the desired speed.  They will then retain that setting for
    incoming calls.  So, to do this, I include the following at the
    end of my rc.local script:

        /usr/local/bin/initcua00
        /usr/local/bin/initcua03

    and in /usr/local/bin, I have the two scripts like (this is the one
    for initcua00):

    #!/usr/local/bin/kermit
    set modem hayes
    set line /dev/cua00
    set speed 19200
    dial XXXXXXX                  <----------- it's own number to get busy
    quit


8.6    Disk Controllers
8.7    SCSI Controllers
8.8    Network Cards
8.9    Printers

8.10    TAPE Drives

    Editor's note:

    This tapedrive list is maintained by the original authors.  If you
    have additions, corrections, changes, or deletions, please be sure
    to contact the folks listed in the next paragraph.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attn: QIC-40/80 users:

The QIC-40/80 Driver is reading and writing QIC-40/80 tapes on
FreeBSD. Formatting and verifying has yet to be written.

The latest version of the QIC-40/80 floppy tape driver is now available
at ftp.gte.com:/pub/ft/dist0.3/dist0.3.tgz. This release includes
support for the newer floppy driver with FreeBSD.

(thanks to cgd for the info)

If anyone has information about QIC-40/80 tape drives working (or not)
with the ft driver, please forward it and we'll include it in the FAQ.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

These tape drives have been reported as working (or not working)
on 386BSD, NetBSD or FreeBSD, either in articles on USENET or in
response to previous postings.  If you know any more details, want
to point out errors, know another tape drive works (or doesn't),
have any suggestions for additions/changes to the FAQ, or anything
else useful, please send your reports to:

          [e-mail] (Andrew Cornwall) or
          [e-mail] (Bob Kemp)

PLEASE HELP TO 26 Dec 1993 THIS LIST BY PROVIDING COMMENTS AND NEW
INFO.  IN RETURN, WE WILL POST UPDATES AND TRY TO MAKE THE LIST
AVAILABLE TO ANYONE INTERESTED.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:
        This list is not guaranteed to be 100% correct.
        We don't know much about tape drives as yet, so
        we are only collating information provided by others.
        By getting feedback on this list, we hope to improve
        it into an FAQ.

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THANK-YOU:
        Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this list. Without
        your help, it wouldn't exist!

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes to:
        Archive 2525-S
Additions:
    Conner C250MQT
    Tandberg TDC-3800
        Wangtek 5099EK
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Important stuff:

>From: [e-mail]
>It should be noted that I am rewritung the scsi system`(new version
>out in beta) and that what works with what may change.
>
>julian

Some people have had problems using SCSI tapes. The newest SCSI code
fixes several problems; if you have trouble, try upgrading your SCSI
driver.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The latest versions of FreeBSD/NetBSD will use compatible SCSI code.
Hence, what works with one should work with the other.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

MANUFACTURER CONTACTS:
        Archive is a Maynard company bought by Conner
                Sales:     [phone]
                Technical: [phone]
        [informant: [e-mail] (KARAGEORGIOU ANGELOS)]

-------------------------------------------------------------------

COMPATIBLE TAPE DRIVES:

Format of each entry is as follows:
Name:           {name of the device; if you're reporting, please be as
                 specific as possible}
Capacity:       {Maximum size of the device}
Approx Cost:    {Roughly what you paid}
Interface:      {How it talks to the machine - SCSI, PC bus, etc}
Controllers:    {What controller you're using - Adaptec 1542B, etc}
Informant:      {Who says it works}
Comments:       {Anything good or bad you feel like saying}


Name:           Archive 2060
Capacity:       60MB
Approx Cost:    US$200
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542b, Adaptec 1742a
Informant:      [e-mail]
Comments:       no observed problems when used with julian's drivers.
                works fine with 1542b/1742a


Name:           Archive 2150
Capacity:       250Mb
Approx cost:    US$350-500
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542b, Adaptec 1742a
Informant:      [e-mail] (Eric J. Haug)
                [e-mail] (me 8-))
                [e-mail]
                [e-mail]
Comments:       works well with both the driver in the distribution
                kernel and julians' SCSI drivers.   [ejh]

                nice device!!!, works like a charm, tar w/ original
                scsi-driver plus variable block length patch, under DOS:
                GTAR, ASPIBIN (ASPI-TAR), PCTOOLS 8.0, COREL-SCSI
                works fine with julian's drivers and 1542b/1742a
                    [admerlev/duncan]
                and with Adaptec 1542C + Julian's SCSI drivers [jfieber]

                S version (SCSI?) runs under FreeBSD:[e-mail]
                2150S also known as Viper 150


Name:           Archive 2150L
Capacity:       150 Mb, 120 Mb
Interface:      QIC-02
Controllers:    Archive Viper SC402
Informant:      [e-mail] (Serge Vakulenko)
Comments:       Works well, with new wt driver (by me and Sergey Ryzhkov).
                Supports 150Mb and 120 Mb formats on write and 150Mb, 120Mb
                and 60Mb formats on read.  It's possible to use mt command
                to rewind the tape, seek file forward etc.

                It's not a problem in the SCSI code. It's a firmware
                bug in (at least) the Archive Viper 150. Data can be
                appended only if the drive is ``totally sure'' that
                the tape is at end of recorded medium. This could be
                achieved by issuing a `space to end of recorded
                medium' command.  Unfortunately, the recent version of
                Julian's SCSI driver doesn't support this.  (Future
                versions might do.)

                As a workaround, it's possible to ``mt fsf'' after the
                last tape file, then issue another ``mt fsf'', which
                will result in an IO error (SCSI blank check, `no data
                found' appears on console), that should be ignored.
                At this point, the tape could be written to!
                 - [e-mail]


Name:           Archive 2525-S (Firmware Rev. 25462-007 - seems to be important [nbladt])
Capacity:       QIC-24, QIC-120, QIC-150, QIC-525
Approx Cost:    ca. 1000,- DM (about US$ 600 ?)
Interface:      SCSI-1
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B, Adaptec 1542C, Adaptec 1742A, Adaptec 1742B
Informant:      [e-mail] (Norbert Bladt)
                [e-mail] (Hellmuth Michaelis)
                [e-mail] (Bruce J. Keeler)
        [e-mail] (Irving Moy)
Comments:       In contrary to what my dealer told me, it can read and WRITE
                QIC-150 tapes. Didn't have a chance to try QIC-120, or QIC-60,
                etc. yet.
                I am using 386bsd-0.1 (still with the first patchkit and
                all updates from Julian for his fabulous SCSI-driver kit)
                Sorry, no experience with the original driver because
                that driver doesn't work with the 1742A. [nbladt]

                Worked with Julian's driver out of the box. [hm]

                Since putting in Julian's drivers, with Dave Tweten's mods,
                it seems to work just fine.  [loodvrij]


Name:           Cipher Model 540
Capacity:       45M/60M (probably/hopefully)
Approx Cost:    Loaned to me in `vintage appearance' (Much dust) - No idea !
Interface:      SCSI 1
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B
Informant:      Julian Stacey   <[e-mail]>
Comments:       Shows promise, Cant yet call it truly usefull though:
                The Good Bit:
                        I have seen it stream constantly on 386bsd.
                The Bad Bit:
                        I can't use it as a usefull drive because it keeps
                        dropping out with errors.
                        The fault does not lie in the media, & most probably
                        not with external power supply or scsi cable -
                        I'm working on it.


Name:           CIPHER MicroStreamer F880 (1600bpi, 9 track PERTEC interface)
Capacity:       ???
Approx Cost:    $5000 for the drive in 1985
                $1000 for protocol Converter 1992
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec AHA-1542A to NCR ADP-53 to tape drive
Informant:      [e-mail] (Mike Hoffman)
Comments:       It is FAST, reads tape about the same speed as rewind.
                The SCSI controller runs the 9 track drive thru the
                converter and an Archive 2060S 60mb Cartridge tape
                drive directly.  After putting in the current
                patches and reading the PERTEC Specs it was almost
                "plug and play".  The ADP-53 is a protocol converter
                from/to SCSI/PERTEC, purchased from Laguna Data
                Systems (see Byte Magazine).

                Problems:
                mt does not seem to be of much use.  Forward spacing
                the 9 track tape is an iffy job (skipping the label
                on a labeled tape).  dd now does this (skip=1).

                I always get the error 'cannot prevent/allow'.  This
                is not a big deal (prevent or allow removal of
                tape).

                dd does not handle cr/lf at all well.  Could be all
                the protocol conversions or gnu dd just doesn't do
                it.  All files are read in as one line(no CR Lf
                etc).  The blocking and conversion options have no
                effect on line length.  Conversion from EBCDIC to
                ASCII works fine.  A small program to break up the
                file solves the long line problem.


Name:           Cipher ST-150F
Capacity:       150Mb
Approx cost:    US$300 (incl. interface)
Interface:      QIC-02
Controllers:    Cipher
Informant:      [e-mail] (YOSHIDA Hideki)
Comments:       works well with blocksize <= 4b


Name:           Cipher ST150-S
Capacity:       QIC-24(read only), QIC-120, QIC-150
Approx Cost:    1300,- DM (long ago ..)
Interface:      SCSI (better SCSI-I or CCS)
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B, 1742
Informant:      Hellmuth Michaelis ([e-mail])
Comments:       This drive responds with empty strings if asked for
                for it's vendors name and model.
                It has a strange format of the mode sense/set command
                blocks.
                By default, it reports a soft error back to the host
                which makes it a bit hard to work with.
                Problems solved with next release of Julian Elischer's
                enhanced SCSI driver (currently beta, July '93).
                [e-mail] reports an upgrade
                which involves a new ROM and cutting some traces.
                The drive responds: CIPHER : Model ST150S2 Rev: 2.0
                ANSI SCSI rev: 01 when asked for it's vendors names
                and model.

Name:           COMTEK Gigatape 1200 4mm external DAT
Capacity:       1.2 Gb
Approx Cost:    US$800
Interface:      SCSI 1
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B
Informant:      [e-mail]
Comments:       Uses formatted, fixed blocksize tapes.  Only
                partial success writing  about 400Mb so far.

Name:         Conner C250MQT
Capacity:    250 MB compressed, 125 not
Approx Cost:     approx $200
Interface:    Uses floppy disk controller on PC.
Controller:    ?
Informant:    [e-mail] (Tom Weldon)
Comments:    Maybe it works, but i couldnt get it to talk to 386BSD
        with GENERICISA kernel.


Name:           DEC TZ30
Capacity:       96 MB (uses 3M CompacTape cartridges)
Approx cost:
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec 154xB
Informant:      [e-mail] (David Burren) May 1993
Comments:       Works with Julian's SCSI drivers.  Console reports "cannot
                prevent/allow" but this is not a problem.
                This is the native-SCSI half-height version of DEC's
                TK50Z drive.


Name:           DEC TZ857
Capacity:       18.2 GB (stacker unit with seven 2.6 GB CompacTape
                    III tapes)
Approx cost:    lots
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec 154xB
Informant:      [e-mail] (David Burren) May 1993
Comments:       Works with Julian's SCSI drivers.  As with the TZ30,
                "cannot prevent/allow" is reported but operation
                continues.
                As 386bsd has no "mt online" yet, cartridge loading is
                done manually, but unloading/advancing is done through
                "mt offline" as under Ultrix.
                I don't really use this drive, but I had access to it
                for a day and tried it out...


Name:           Exabyte 8200 8mm
Capacity:       2.2 GB
Approx cost:
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec 154xB
Informant:      [e-mail] (David Burren) May 1993
        [e-mail] (Todd Pfaff) Nov 1993
Comments:       Works perfectly with Julian's SCSI drivers.
                I use it all the time for my system dumps and for
                exchanging files with other machines.
        Works  great with FreeBSD-1.0-RELEASE although
                'mt -status' doesn't work properly.



Name:           Hewlett-Packard HP35480A DAT drive
Capacity:       4 GB
Approx Cost:    $1400
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B
Informant:      [e-mail]
Comments:       Great drive, flawless performance.  Requires
                variable length tapedrive patches which should be
                in the patchkit, but I haven't checked.  (They were
                submitted around November of '92)


Name:           Sankyo ST525
Capacity:       525 Mbyte
Approx Cost:    6000 SEK (US$850)
Interface:      SCSI (SCSI-2)
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B
Informant:      [e-mail] (Jonas Lagerblad)
Comments:       everything works allright except for one crash
                The SCSI bus seemed hang after running
                "dump 0uf - /dev/rsd0a | gzip --best |
                    dd of=/dev/rst0 bs=64k"
                for approx 1 hour. If I skip the compression
                everything works perfectly. (I am using Julian's
                SCSI driver) 386BSD-0.1 patchkit 0.2 patches 0-110


Name:           Sony SDT-1000 DAT
Capacity:       2 GB  on a 90 meter tape
Approx. Cost:   about $600 now, $3500 when purchased 3 yrs ago
Interface:      SCSI  (SCSI-2 also)
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B
Informant:      [e-mail]
Comments:       I have used it under 386BSD 0.1 and NetBSD 0.8.
                Under 386BSD, it didn't support all of the ioctl functions,
                but works without a hitch under NetBSD. I use it to do tar
                data backups and restores as well as interchanging data
                with an H-P 9000/755 using the HPUX tar command.


Name:           Tandberg 3600 series
Capacity:
Approx cost:
Interface:
Controllers:
Informant:      [e-mail] (Lars Fredriksen)
Comments:       IN DEVELOPMENT.  So far I have it working with fixed
                and variable block micro code (original Tandberg vs. IBM firmware).

                I am adding support for selecting densities for the minor
                devices via IOCTLS,as well as setting the fixed blocksize via
                IOCTL. This work is almost done, and I will send the driver to
                julian. I see him as the distributor of fixes to his own code.

                So far I have not had any problems reading 30/60/150/250 Mb tapes.
                similarly no problems writing 150/250 Mb tapes.


Name:           Tandberg 3660
Capacity:       250Mb
Approx cost:
Interface:
Controllers:
Informant:      Per Anders Olausson <[e-mail]>
                [e-mail](Thomas Meidinger)
Comments:       DC6250, DC6150 (not tested) and DC600A.
                Reads and writes DC-6120 as well. [pao]

Name:           Tandberg TDC-3800 5.25" SCSI-1 325MB TBU
Capacity:       up to 520Mb (depending on media) uncompressed
Approx cost:    Didn't buy it new.
Interface:      SCSI-1
Controllers:    AHA1542B
Informant:      [e-mail] (VaX#n8)
Comments:       Would not work with base 386bsd-0.1 kernel.
            After applying patch kit, everything worked fine.
        Only tested reads on 250MB, reads and writes on 325MB,
        and reads and writes on 525MB.  Works great.
        Also fine under NetBSD-0.9. Even got "aspitar" from
        wuarchive to read tars from DOS. Don't mix 525 and 325MB
        tapes though, causes heads to wear out fast. Coexists with
        SCSI-2 drives just fine. Wouldn't trade it for anything but a
            SCSI DAT or 8mm.Even then, I would have to think about it.


Name:           Tandberg 3820 5 1/4" HH internal QIC 525 SCSI streamer
Capacity:       up to 520Mb (depending on media) uncompressed
Approx cost:    (I bought mine two years ago--it wasn't cheap :-)
Interface:      SCSI-1/2
Controllers:    AHA1542B, 1742A, DTC3290
Informant:      [e-mail] (Thomas M. Hoberg)
                [e-mail] (Julian Stacey)
                [e-mail] (Thomas Bagli)
Comments:       Works well with both the driver in the distribution kernel
                and julians' SCSI drivers. Reads all QIC media (tested
                QIC 40/60/120/150/525) Writes QIC 120/150/250/320/525
                (120/150/525 tested) Includes a 256k buffer. 2 rw
                speeds: 83k/s for QIC<320, 200k/sec for 320+
                Occasionally the file system can't keep up at
                200k/sec on backups (small files), somewhat more often
                on restores. The drive can directly seek to any block
                on the tape, so in theory at least with the
                appropriate device drive you could mount a file system
                on it (you better keep fragmentation low :-) As you
                can guess, I am EXTREMELY happy with it.
                [tmh]

                The Good Bit:
                It streams constantly without error (~40mins for 525M
                write @ 60K blocking).  Tape drive shares bus with 3
                SCSI-2 Seagate drives also OK with a SCSI-1 Micropolis 1684-7.
                The Bad Bit:
                We (several us of using these TDC3820s on different hardware)
                have undergone an eerom + eprom autodensity upgrade to allow
                150M writes (previously could only read 150M tapes +r&w 525M);
                this known as Revision 04908, Done 92 08 28.
                There is some kind of block size problem that prevents
                us reliably exchanging 525M tapes, 150M seems OK,
                problem is tape hardware oriented I believe,
                not 386BSD specific.
                Problem pre-existed the 150M write capability upgrade.
                A friend with same 386bsd + TDC3820 + 1542A can't read my tapes,
                neither can a PCS (M68000 based) computer with a TDC3820
                [stacey]

                We paid DM1000 (~$625) in early 1991.  This was a very
                special price, and I estimate that the actual cost would be
                (very) approximately 50% more (~$950).
                I've used it with an Adaptec 1742A, a DTC3290 (caching 1542B
                emulation), and a Mylex ?376? (caching, but only under DOS)
                SCSI controllers.  It doesn't just stream, it screams.  I've
                never seen a streamer that just streams without a pause,
                rewind or such.  This one does (not to say that the Tandberg
                is the sole reason for this).
                [tomb]


Name:           WangDAT 3200
Capacity:       2Gb (up to 8Gb w/compression) on a 90 meter tape
Approx cost:    US$1200-$1300 approx
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:
Informant:      [e-mail] (J.T. Conklin)
                [e-mail]
Comments:       Works great with Julian's SCSI drivers and an Adaptec 1742...
                (I use it to do my dumps, and I've actually checked and made
                sure the restores work...  8-) [cgd]


Name:           Wangtek 5099EK
Capacity:       60M
Approx cost:
Interface:      PC/QIC-36
Controllers:
Informant:      [e-mail] (Robert Schien)
Comments:       The wt.c driver, which is delivered with FreeBSD-EPSILON,
                does not work with my Wangtek 5099EK (60 MB) tape drive.
                This drive has a PC/QIC-36 interface and it worked fine with
                ESIX 5.3.2D (For testing I tried SCO Xenix and ISC 2.2.1 and
                it worked with these OSs, too).  With the driver in
                386bsd-0.1, I could read tapes, but not write.  With the
                "improved" driver, I could neither read nor write (all minor
                devices tried). The solution was a driver from someone in
                Sweden (his name is Mikael Hybsch (sp?)), which worked for
                me already with 386bsd-0.1.



Name:           Wangtek 5099EN
Capacity:
Approx cost:
Interface:
Controllers:
Informant:      Original 386bsd.FAQ
Comments:


Name:           Wangtek 5099SC24, this is a QIC drive (same mechanical drive
                as 5099EN24) with a QIC24 to SCSI board by wangtek full height
Capacity:       60Mb w/DC600A, 100Mb w/DC6250
Approx cost:    Used as is drives US$25.00/each, refurbs ~US$100.00
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B
Informant:      [e-mail]
Comments:       works well with both the driver in the distribution
                kernel and julians' SCSI drivers.  Very old full height
                driver readily availiable in the surplus market.  I know
                where there are 50 or so of these for $25.00/each as is,
                they are pulls from old workstations.


Name:           Wangtek 5150EQ
Capacity:       250MB (QIC-150)
Approx cost:    400 UK pounds including software for DOS
Interface:      QIC-02
Controllers:    Wangtek QIC-02 included
Informant:      [e-mail] (K J Dryllerakis)
Comments:       Works with stock driver. Very very slow but reliable. Funny,
                it only seems to work if you use /dev/wt0 instead of /dev/rwt0.
                New driver in beta version by [e-mail] (Mikael Hybsch).



Name:           Wangtek 5150ES
Capacity:       250Mb
Approx cost:
Interface:      SCSI
Controllers:    Adaptec 1542B
Informant:      [e-mail] (Stefan Behrens)
                [e-mail] (Don)
Comments:       [With original 0.1 SCSI ...] it streams constantly
                and works without any errors.  Works with original
                as.c driver and with newer drivers from Julian
                [eg in patchkit 0.2.4].  [berry]

                Does not work with the 1742a and 386bsd!!!!!
                SCSI driver compatibility problems.  [duncan, ~Jun'93]
                NOTE: with the latest patchkit Stefan Behrens [berry]
                has reported that Julian's SCSI now works with it.
                No update yet on 1742A behaviour.


Name:           Wangtek 5525ES
Capacity:       525M
Approx cost:    US$600, CDN$1000
Interface:      Adaptec 1542B, Adaptec 1742
Controllers:    SCSI
Informant:      [e-mail] (Brian Yasaki)
                [e-mail] (Andrew Cornwall)
Comments:       Writes QIC120, 150, 250, 525. Reads QIC24 as well
                (untested). Works with the distribution kernel.


Name:           Wangtek QT60 (aka Tecmar QT60)
Capacity:       60M
Approx cost:
Interface:      QIC 02
Informant:      [e-mail] (Tim Combs)
Comments:       It works although does not stream under 386BSD 0.1

END OF COMPATIBLE TAPE DRIVE LIST
---
Andrew Cornwall
[e-mail]




8.11    CD-ROMs

    The Sony Multispin drives work well for Charles Hannum using NetBSD
    and an SCSI controller.

    Many folks have announced that they had problems with Mitsumi
    CD-ROM drives.  It seems that there are nearly as many releases
    of the firmware as there were drives sold.  Many of the firmware
    versions were incompatible with each other.  A generic Mitsumi
    driver will be a hard act to accomplish, if it is possible at all.

--
TSgt Dave Burgess
NCOIC Applications Programming Branch
US Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, NE
[e-mail]