Giles Lean wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 09 Jan 1997 10:08:46 +1100  Davyd Norris wrote:
> > look at it for some ideas. We could start with dmesg output for NCR
> > configs, as well as hardware revisions and BIOS versions etc.
> 
> I don't think the dmesg output has all the good information, since it
> misses:
> 
> - BIOS revision (which can be the motherboard)
> - termination type (passive or active)
> - manufacturer (although this is mostly badge engineering, I think)
>

This is why I included the additions at the end of my last line :-)
Thanks for the termination idea, I had forgotten that.
The date on the chip would also be nice, I guess.

> Giles
> 
> P.S. If you start collecting that information I'll send it to you, but
> I'm going to have to reboot to get the BIOS revison.

Thanks for that. I will keep trying things to see if they work - I am just 
compiling a new kernel as I type.

>From the mail I have received, many people are quite happy with their NCRs, which 
points me to the fact that it might just be my configuration. 

I am running an ASUS P54SP4 motherboard with a Pentium 90 and the NCR SC-200. My 
BIOS revision is 3.06 from the looks of the boot info (which I see regularly :-{ 
), and a single Quantum Capella 2.0Gb drive. I also occasionally use a NEC 
external CD-ROM drive and an Archive Python DAT tape drive that I still have not 
seen work. The CD and tape normally live on another NT server and I transfer them 
when I need them, but most times it is just the Capella. I also run 2 SMC 
PCI cards and a Diamond PCI card, as well as two ppp lines in (don't want to 
talk about those either, since I can't compile the current com driver yet!). 

Could I be having PCI contention problems? Termination problems? I don't have to 
change any jumpers on the NCR when I move the CD over, I just plug it into the 
external connector on the card and reboot. Have I missed a termination? I thought 
I would know all about it if the termination was faulty.

The problems I get with the new driver code are always script errors, and always 
within the first five minutes or rebooting - usually within the boot period. If I 
boot OK, I can sometimes login (doesn't matter whether single or multi user) and 
then if I start to exercise the disk it yells.

One other thing - I started during NetBSD 1.0 times and have been running stable 
platforms of -current ever since then. I did not reformat anything during the 
FFS/UFS changeover, things seemed to work fine. Is this a problem? What version 
of GNU are people running - could it be a dud compiler?

As you can see from this rambling diatribe - I am grasping at straws here. I wish 
I knew more about the kernel and SCSI internals so that I could track things 
better. Any help would be massively appreciated.

L8R dudes.

Dave.
-- 
Davyd Norris - Systems Manager
Franklin Collins Pty. Ltd.
Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.fcollins.com.au/