Future Domain SCSI help for ix

[Ulf Reimann]

lubkin at cs.rochester.edu (Saul Lubkin) writes:

>Help!  I'm having trouble installing Interactive Unix 2.0.2 OR 2.2 on
>a 386AT.  The only hard disk is a Wren CDC 5 170 meg formatted drive
>on a Future Domain SCSI TMC-870 hard disk controller.

I have given up trying to use the TMC-870.

My understanding of why it won't work with Interactive UNIX is:

It is compatible with the TMC-830, 850, 860 and 880 which are supported by
Interactive UNIX, however it differs in the fact that it can choose its
IRQ-line dynamically depending on the other devices installed in your computer.

It determines which of the IRQ's 5 or 7 is not yet occupied and then chooses
one of them. I think this choice is made by the BIOS. Maybe the scsi driver
resets the controller so its notion of what IRQ to use gets lost and subsequent
interrupts from the controller wouldn't find their way to the driver's service
routine.
I tried several configurations to force it to either IRQ 5 or 7, but none of
them worked.

When I found out about this incompatibility, I talked to my dealer. He took
the controller back and I bought an Adaptec 1542B in exchange. This one works
much better (in compatibility and performance, too).

Hope that helps.

Ulf