From: al-b@minster.york.ac.uk Subject: Re: 2.88M-ED-Drives with Adaptec 1542C under Linux [long] Date: 20 Jun 1993 13:06:42 GMT
In article <EQH5t*W-k@caty.north.de> hal@caty.north.de (Holger Lubitz) writes:
>In article <740417342.12755@minster.york.ac.uk>, al-b@minster.york.ac.uk writes:
>> (apart from the fact that the drive doesn't like the second half of
>> 1.44MB disks :-( - see comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware)
>
>Could you explain that further, please ? I don't get comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
>at my site, and it is set to a very short expire at my server due to limited
>news space. Am I going to experience problems if I try to install Linux from
>HD-Disks using a Teac 235 J ?
>
>Holger
short summary:
If you bought your ED-drive from "A3 Computer GmbH" in Germany, you could have
problems using HD-Disks. The problem seems (!) to be wrong jumper settings.
I haven't got my machine with me, so I have not been able to verify any of
the below!
(long) explanation and possible solution from c.s.i.p.h:
I have a 486DX2-66 board with AMI BIOS and Adaptec 1542C (and a 1.2MB drive),
bought around Easter. (I still had an old 1.44MB drive I was going to use)
I installed Linux (and a bit of DOS) from the 1.44MB drive. Then I ordered
a 2.88MB drive from "A3 Computer GmbH" - they were the only ones that had
this beast in their ads in c't magazine.
The drive, as I got it, came with no documentation. I connected it to the
Adaptec and set the BIOS to 2.88MB for drive A. The first thing that surprised
me, was that it did not recognize the HD or ED holes in the disks. I could
just stick in a 720K disk and format it to 2.88MB (under DOS, gave around
100K of defect sectors). Next I tried to format a 1.44MB disk to 1.44MB - that
gave me 600K of defect sectors. Reading any 1.44MB disks gave loads of errors
after about half way through the disk. 720K and 2.88MB disks I could read/write
with absolutely no problems, so I suspected some configuration error.
The drive has a 4x6 jumper field on the back, but I could not get any docs for it.
geradka@pongo.West.Sun.COM was kind enough to mail me his jumper settings - they
are *completely* different from mine.
If you have a TEAC FD235J-3631 from "A3 Computer", check if the jumpers are as
follows:
1A-1B
2B-2C use Extended Density sensor
3A-3B
3D-3E use High Density sensor
4B-4C
4E-4F
1E-2E
As my drive is at home, I instructed my Dad on changing the jumpers (boy, that
increased the phone bill!) and he says it works ok now... I'll check that myself
when I get home in about two weeks time.
Gerard said you can request this info from TEAC's fax system at 213-727-7629.
For the FD235J-3631 you want file number 3003, for the FD235J-3653 you want
file 3004.
I also mailed c't magazine at ct@ix.de. They suggested asking the German TEAC
distributor "nbn elektronik"
nbn
Gewerbegebiet
8036 Herrsching
Tel: 081-52/390 Fax: 081-52/39-150
I don't know whether their fax system can provide those documents, but it might
be worth a try :-)
Now about Linux... My kernel 0.99.6 didn't recognize BIOS type 5 (2.88MB), but
Linux worked with BIOS set to 1.44MB using mtools on 720K disks. If the drive
is jumpered properly (ie. 1.44MB disks work under DOS) it should support 1.44MB
disks under Linux. 2.88MB disks for Linux should be an easy patch, if it hasn't
been done allready (hint, hint!!!)
Hope this helps
Andrew.