On October  6, you wrote:
> I've had some people tell me that the format program on the _Customer_ 
> tape is actually only a *re-formatter*; therefore, it won't do my drive.
> I have no way of confirming any of this.  But I do know the drive is 
> good, yet it won't format.  :-(
> 
> Supposedly the real, actual Field Diag. tape that DEC service people use 
> has a *real* formatter on it, one that doesn't care what the drive is 
> currently formatted for.  Not that I understand why this should make a 
> difference as far as formatting the drive.  Why would a format program 
> care what kind of machine the drive was already formatted for, or is it 
> something DEC did to be annoying?  ;-)

  I believe this is the case.  I have heard the same thing.  My
solution was to format my drive in a MicroVAX-2000, which has the
formatter code in ROM.  I've been picking up MV2000's at hamfests for
$50-100 these days, so it's not impractical to just have one as a disk
formatter... :)

> Also, how did you get a not-typical-DEC-drive such as an ST-251 to format 
> and be acknoledged?  This is interesting, in case my XT-2190 ever barfs.  
> It's definitely no spring chicken!  :-)

   The ST-251 was known as the RD32, and the ST-225 was known as the
RD31, in DECland.  The ROM on the RQDX3 supports both of them, I
believe, but it is hard-coded for those drives' geometries.

> This I didn't know!!  That's a great solution.  Which controllers support 
> the RX33, or do all of them?  I know mine will do the RX50 but I can't 
> remember the model number off hand.

  If you're using an RD54 in a Q-bus MicroVAX, you *must* have an
RQDX3 controller.  The RQDX1 and RQDX2 don't support the RD54.  I
think it's something like this:

   RQDX1:  RD50 (Seagate ST506)
           RD51 (Seagate ST412)
           RD52 (Quantum Q540)
   RQDX2:  All of the above, plus RD53 (Micropolis 1325)
   RQDX3:  All of the above, plus RD54 (Maxtor XT2190)

  Hope this helps...


                            -Dave McGuire
                             Operations
                             Digital Express Group, Incorporated
                             mcguire@digex.net