Subject: Re: Danger: Hardware Recommendation Request
To: None <port-i386@NetBSD.ORG, current-users@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Davyd Norris <Davyd.Norris@fcollins.com.au>
List: current-users
Date: 04/16/1997 19:49:25
Michael L. VanLoon -- HeadCandy.com wrote:
> 
> Get a 3940 and spread your drives over multiple busses (a 3940 is
> essentially a dual-2940-SCSI-bus on a single card).  Or get a few
> Symbios/NCR 53c810 cards (like the Asus one) -- they're cheap.
> 
> Can anyone speak for the stability of the 53c810 under NetBSD 1.2.1?  I
> know it's very well tested under FreeBSD.  Are there cheap ultra
> and/or wide Symbios/NCR 53c8xx cards out there?  Are they supported on
> NetBSD 1.2.1?
> 

We have been using the NCR AS-200 card and a Quantum Capella 2.1 Gb
drive for several years now and have had many a frustrating time with
it. We always get assert errors at random intervals (shouldn't say this
too loud as our uptime is now several months :-) ) and I CANNOT get past
1.2BETA in the ncr drivers at the moment without the drive freezing.

We even swapped the card for one with a SymBIOS badge (510a) and a later
date - I have tried everything with this baby.

I am just supping the last -current source and am going to try one last
time with the changes to the pci stuff posted in recent days. If that
doesn't work, I am ripping the damn thing out and swapping it for the
Qlogic Fast! PCI card in my own machine - those babies fly under all
systems I have had them in and have been rock solid (Win31/95/NT35/NT40
OS/2 Novell311/40 ... tried them a lot)

I got the SCO ISP code under NDA from QLogic a year ago and have been
trying to get a driver to work under NetBSD for ages but was beaten to
the punch by the master (knew 0 about SCSI before I started, know 0.02
now)

I am definitely NOT the person to ask about the NCR cards/drivers, but I
am one amongst few - most people have warm fuzzies from them.

Dave.

Just my $0.05
(OZ opinion counts for more since they got rid of the $0.02)
--
Davyd Norris - Systems Manager
Franklin Collins Pty. Ltd.
"The Key to Training and Development"
http://www.fcollins.com.au
--