Original question:
> On the AlphaStation 200 4/233
> Which 3d party SCSI CDROM drives can be used to both boot the Firmware
> CD and the DU 4.0B (or better 4.0D) install CD. So far, I have one
> drive that can boot the FW-CD but which causes a panic when trying
> to boot either UNIX install CD and I have another drive that causes
> a panic when trying to boot the FW-CD but which appears to be able
> to boot and read the UNIX install CDs (although the install fails).
>From Dr. Tom Blinn: (the definitive answer)
* There was a bug in the V4.0C release (which is what you've probably got on
* your CD, not the original V4.0B release, which did not have the bug) that
* broke support for most "third-party" CDROM drives. It didn't get found
* until very late in the development cycle, and no one was willing to fix it
* or do the right thing, which would have been to include the original V4.0B
* CD as well as the combined B/C CD in the box (for a marginal cost). So you
* have a broken kit. V4.0D does not have the problem.
*
* There are some "third party" CDROM drives that work well in general; drives
* from Toshiba almost always work right (they used to be our primary CD drive
* supplier), some of the Sony drives seem to work well and some don't, some of
* the other vendor drives don't seem to work at all (maybe they can't be made
* to run in 512 byte block mode, which was required prior to V4.0C, and on the
* system you're trying to install on, you'll get V4.0B if you ever manage to
* get an install from the V4.0B/C media to work). The console firmware still,
* as far as I know, requires the drive to be able to operate in 512 byte block
* mode, issues the SCSI command to tell the drive to work that way, but if the
* drive doesn't do it, then the boot will fail.
*
* If you can boot at all, then the V4.0D kit should install. If it doesn't, I
* would be interested in knowing the drive vendor you're trying to use that is
* letting the system boot the installation kernel, but then the install fails.
* We need to find this class of problems and fix them.
>From Arno Hahma:
* Toshiba. I have Toshiba XM5310B (8x) and it works without any glitches.
From: Michael Sweet
* Just just got a Toshiba 32x SCSI CD-ROM drive for my 4/233 and it worked
* fine to load 4.0D (make sure you load the latest firmware for the 4/233!)
Thank you all.
Charles Richmond
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Received on Sun Aug 30 1998 - 03:13:32 NZST