CompuServe Messages

Maybe I can shed a little light on the 2090-4070 Fiasco. The Software for the 2090 should be able to format ANY SCSI DRIVE. All it does is send a single SCSI 'Format Unit' command, and any true SCSI DRIVE will know how to respond. The Adaptec controller is a marvelous magic board that makes any st-506 drive look like a scsi drive to the host computer. In order that the Adaptec work with many different ST-506 drives, they made it software configurable. You have to tell it ONLY once what kind of drive its hooked up to. Then when you issue the STANDARD SCSI 'Format Unit' command it responds EXACTLY like a true SCSI DRIVE. When it does the first low level format, it stores all the info back on the drive in a special location. Then each time you apply power to the adaptec it interrogates the drive and pretends it is a SCSI drive rather than a SCSI controller with a ST-506 drive. Note that you can issue subsequent lowlevel format commands for the same disk. The problem is only with the 1st low level format done with the adaptec. If I had the specs on sending scsi information to the 2090 I would write a program to format the 4070/4000, but I don't. Anyone? Commodore? HELP! Dave Weinbach BusStop Software