CompuServe Thread

#OS/2 products.

7 messages in this thread
#36885From: Ken Nicholson of _/\/\/~Jan 14, 1993 1:13 AM
> I'm new to this forum and I am wondering about CDroms working with > OS/2 2.0. Q: What drives are supported? A: CD-ROM Drive Support List ————————- Hitachi CDR-1650S, CDR-1750S, CDR-3650, CDR-3750 IBM CD-ROM I, CD-ROM II NEC CDR-36, CDR-37, CDR-72, CDR-73, CDR-74, CDR-82, CDR-83, CDR-84 Panasonic CR-501, LK-MC501S Sony CDU-541, CDU-561, CDU-6111, CDU-6211, CDU-7211 Texel DM-3021, DM-3024, DM-5021, DM-5024 Toshiba XM-3201, XM-3301 Incidently, the Pro AudioSpectrum 16 audio card is an excellent choice for a SCSI controller. Ken
#36947From: Bill SimonsenJan 14, 1993 8:18 PM
Why do the docs for my PAS 16 say that the Xfer rate is limited to 690KB/s? Fine for my CD, but I'm not going to choke down my SCSI hard drive like that, so I'm stuck with two Host Adaptors, also. They also should have stuck a floppy controller on there if they wanted to do it right. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great sound board, and I'm quite happy with it.. -Bill
#36989From: Ken Nicholson of _/\/\/~Jan 15, 1993 5:09 AM
> Why do the docs for my PAS 16 say that the Xfer rate is limited to 690KB/s? >Fine for my CD, but I'm not going to choke down my SCSI hard drive like that, >so I'm stuck with two Host Adaptors, also. They also should have stuck a >floppy controller on there if they wanted to do it right. A floppy controller??!? Next you'll be wanting a boot ROM. Actually we've been talking about a boot ROM option in the future. Apparently Trantor gets many calls asking for this. I predicted someone would then want a floppy controller. If we add much more, someone's likely to say: "Hey, just add 386SX to the sound board and you've got a PC!" The PAS 16 SCSI controller is a good low-end CD-ROM controller and a convenient SCSI hard disk controller. The I/O addresses the PAS 16 SCSI hardware uses are invisible to the system. That means they can't conflict with other adapters. No DMA's to set, No IRQ's. If you're running OS/2 and have some devices on the PAS 16 SCSI port and other drives on another adaptor, the PAS 16 can be reading while the other device is writing. That's not possible using a single SCSI controller; it can only service one device operation at a time. Ken
#37067From: Bill SimonsenJan 15, 1993 8:27 PM
>>>>A floppy controller??!? Next you'll be wanting a boot ROM. Actually we've been talking about a boot ROM option in the future. Apparently Trantor gets many calls asking for this. I predicted someone would then want a floppy controller.<<<<< I wish I knew what the hell I was talking about here. <g> The boot ROM is what lets my present HA run without a driver for the HD, yes?? Anyway, with the prevelance of IDE drives, and controllers for HD and FD on motherboards, I can see where the call for a floppy controller on the PAS 16 is minimal. Very few people would need or want to run their hard and floppy drives from the PAS, I guess. As I said I am quite happy with the PAS 16, particularly with the included software. I also needed some help from your tech dept., and they were great, very helpful and prompt. But do you know, if I did buy the cables and drivers, would the speed of my hard drive be limited to 690 KB/s, or is that an arbitrary number??? -Bill
#37227From: Ken Nicholson of _/\/\/~Jan 17, 1993 8:28 PM
Bill, The PAS 16's SCSI interface is nominally rated at 690Kb/sec. This is the theoretical maximum. In practice, it will be somewhat lower (your mileage may vary). Disk seeks, spin up time, directory searches, all contribute to slower effective transfer rates. I've devised a benchmark called the LoadStone. Find a large file (20MB or larger) on the SCSI device. Then type this instruction while using a watch to measure the duration in seconds: copy /b bigfile.dat >NUL The redirection to NUL ensures that the write time of the target device is not involved. Divide the file size by the number of seconds and you have the effective transfer rate or LoadStone measurement. Under OS/2, I've measured 497Kb/sec from an external hard disk connected to the PAS 16. Ken
#37316From: Bill SimonsenJan 18, 1993 8:47 PM
Thank you Ken, you'be been most helpful. I hope you are here in official capacity, ie getting paid <g>. One final question, do you know where I can get a cable to carry the audio out from a Toshiba XM3301 to the in on the PAS 16 internally, so I can ditch the ugly external cable I'm using? Thanks… -Bill
#37419From: Ken Nicholson of _/\/\/~Jan 19, 1993 2:58 PM
> One final question, do you know where I can get a cable to carry the audio > out from a Toshiba XM3301 to the in on the PAS 16 internally, so I can ditch > the ugly external cable I'm using? Thanks.. I'm told that Media Vision's Customer Service department can sell you the cable. Ken