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409 lines
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<TITLE>Ftape-HOWTO: Hardware support</TITLE>
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<LINK HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-7.html" REL=next>
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<LINK HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-5.html" REL=previous>
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<LINK HREF="Ftape-HOWTO.html#toc6" REL=contents>
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<A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-7.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO-5.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="Ftape-HOWTO.html#toc6">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s6">6. Hardware support</A></H2>
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<P>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="supp_drives"></A> <A NAME="ss6.1">6.1 Supported tape drives</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>All drives that are both QIC-117 compatible <EM>and</EM> one of the
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QIC-40, 80, 3010, and 3020 standards should work. QIC-WIDE and Travan
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drives are also supported (TR-1 is just QIC-80 with 8mm tapes, while
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TR-2 and TR-3 is a.k.a QIC-3010 and 3020 respectively). Iomega Ditto 2GB
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and Ditto Max drives are supported, too, though they no longer conform
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to the QIC standards in every respect. Some parallel port tape drives
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are supported as well.
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<P>Some of the comments given below about possible problems with certain
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tape drives are very old, and I don't have access to all of the
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hardware, so I couldn't check everything.
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<P>Some of the reports below have been commented by me
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(<heine@math1.rwth-aachen.de>) like this:
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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This is a comment.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>Currently, the list of drives that are known to work with
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<CODE>ftape</CODE> is:
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<P>
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<DL>
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<DT><B>Alloy Retriever 250</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Archive 5580i, XL9250i</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Colorado DJ-10, DJ-20 (aka: Jumbo 120, Jumbo 250)</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Colorado 1400</B><DD><P><kosowsky@bellini.harvard.edu> reported a problem doing a 1G
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backup using taper.
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<P>
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<DT><B>Colorado Trakker parallel port tape drive</B><DD><P>
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<P>Support added by Jochen Hoenicke
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<Jochen.Hoenicke@Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE>.
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<P>
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<DT><B>HP Colorado T1000</B><DD><P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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The problem reports are probably totally out-dated. In particular, the
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<CODE>zftape</CODE> the people talk about doesn't exist any more, and the
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<CODE>ftape</CODE> driver is the very <CODE>ftape-2.08</CODE>.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>Works with 3M Travan 400M (TR-1) tapes with 120M tapes. Also reported
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that mt dies, but with backups using tar it works ok. With cpio,
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ftape is recommended rather than zftape.
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(<millner@millner.bevc.blacksburg.va.us>)
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<P>Problems have been reported with the drive continually stopping and
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starting with zftape (<75104.1756@compuserve.com>). This appears
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to be a problem with the tape going too fast for the computer; the DMA
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buffers are getting flushed before getting filled again. Newer
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versions of zftape don't do this any more is a suitably fast backup
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program or large DMA buffers are used
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(<millner@millner.bevc.blacksburg.va.us>).
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<P>
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<DT><B>Conner C250MQ(T)</B><DD><P>The 250Q is reported to generate write error and frequent
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repositioning. (Frank Stuess at Nacamar Data Communications)
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Write errors need not be caused by the tape drive, but also by bad
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tape cartridges. Frequent repositioning can be caused by bad
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cartridges, too, but can also be caused by overrun errors which would
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indicate that the FDC and DMA controller have problems to talk to each
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other.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Conner TSM420R, TSM850R</B><DD><P>The 400 and 800 models only work with TR-1 tapes.
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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I don't know whether it was meant that named drives doesn't work with
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ordinary 120MB DC-2120 cartridges, or that TR-3 tapes can't be
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read. The tape drives weren't designed for the latter. So what.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Conner TST3200R</B><DD><P>Works with TR-3 tapes at 1Mbps (ie. 1600M capacity only). Wirks with
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QIC-WIDE 400M tapes (Sony 5122's?) (<chris@cs.wmich.edu>).
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Works with TR3, QIC-3010, and QIC-3020 tapes. Comes with a 2MB FDC
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which the Promise 2300+ 1Mbps controller works
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(<kjh@pollux.usc.edu>).
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<P>Reported that the floppy disk can no longer read low-density floppies.
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May have to fiddle with IRQ/ports/dma channels
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(<chris@yakkocs.wmich.edu>).
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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The TST3200R works well with <CODE>ftape</CODE>.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Conner TST800R</B><DD><P>The TST800R works with TR-1, Sony QW5122F (210M) and DC2120 tapes.
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Works well with <CODE>ftape</CODE> since <CODE>ftape-2.07</CODE> at least. Used it
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myself until the drive died with a melted transistor. Probably caused
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by over-heating it previously.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Conner CTT3200</B><DD><P>
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<P>The CTT3200 is supposedly identical to the Iomega Ditto 3200. It
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works with the supplied 2Mbps controller, but reported not to work
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under DOS on some machines. (<jmorris@dtx.net>)
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<P>
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<DT><B>Conner 1.7G Tapestor (TSM1700R)</B><DD><P>
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<P>Works with QIC-WIDE tapes (<pschmidt@slip.net>). Partially works
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with QIS-3200. Using the HSC-2 controller, the DMA channel needs to
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be changed (incremented by 1, channel2?, Modify the Makefile). You
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then need to modify the ftape Makefile to reflect this change.
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However, ftape seems to be a bit flaky with this (no version number
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supplied) (<ttait@tiac.net>). It may not work at 2Mbps
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(QIC-3020) with the HSC controller. The tape died with a messages
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like "dumb tape stop" and has since been unreliable
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(<ttait@tiac.net>).
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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No recent informations available
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Escom or Archive (Hornet) 31250Q</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Exabyte EXB-1500</B><DD><P>Work with QIC-3010 tapes.
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<P>
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<DT><B>Exabyte TR-3</B><DD><P>
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<DT><B>Irwin 80SX, Insight 80Mb</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Iomega 250</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Iomega Ditto Tape Insider 420, 1700</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Iomega Ditto Tape Insider 3200</B><DD><P>This is the unit, that I use. The default jumper settings don't work.
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Leave the irq and ioport address at the default (6 and 0x370,
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respectfully), but change the DMA from 3 to 2. (Kevin Johnson
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<kjj@pobox.com>).
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Refer to the file <CODE>MCONFIG</CODE> of recent <CODE>ftape</CODE> distributions for
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other suggestions for ioport, irq and DMA channel.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>May require the having <CODE>{0x08882, 80, wake_up_colorado, "Iomega
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3200"},</CODE> added to <CODE>vendors.h</CODE> on older versions of <CODE>ftape</CODE>.
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<P>Problems reported with ftape 2.07 and kernel 1.12.13. With all sorts
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of combinations of accelerator, etc, the drive may (on some systems)
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only be accessed once (<erwin@box.nl>). Also, after the first
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access, the next use of the tape says it is write protected
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(<erwin@box.nl>, <M.J.Ammerlaan@dutiwy.twi.tudelft.nl>).
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<P>There has been one report of a problem where the tape got wound off
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the end of the spool.
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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This may be caused by a dirty EOT sensor, and need not be a real
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hardware bug (except when it was a bug that dirtied the EOT sensor
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...)
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>Another problem has been reported with writing archives (with dd) to
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the tape. It may start fine, but when the driver catches up with dd,
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it stops the tape and rewinds it to the beginning. Then it starts
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winding on through the tape ad infinitum. It appears to occur when
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the driver asks the tape to pause which should cause the tape to move
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back by 3 segments, but instead is moves back to the beginning of the
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tape. A bug fix submitted is reported to not solve the problem.
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Should have been fixed somewhere between <CODE>ftape-3.00</CODE> and
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<CODE>ftape-4.00</CODE>. Unluckily, the fast-skipping facilities of all Iomega
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floppy tape drives are <B>really</B> poor. Recent <CODE>ftape</CODE> versions
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work around this problem. I suggest getting the latest version of the
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<CODE>ftape</CODE> driver when you experience this problem.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Iomega Ditto 800 Insider</B><DD><P>Works with Travan TR1, TR2, or DC2120 tapes
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(<klein@informatik.uni-rostock.de>).
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<P>
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<DT><B>Iomega Ditto 2GB</B><DD><P>Support added by Jochen Hoenicke
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<Jochen.Hoenicke@Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE> to <CODE>ftape-3.xx</CODE>
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and later.
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<P>Can't format cartridges, writing is only possible with special Ditto
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2GB cartridges (hardware limitation, not a lacking feature of
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<CODE>ftape</CODE>).
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<P>
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<DT><B>Iomega Ditto Max</B><DD><P>
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<DT><B>Iomega Ditto Max Pro</B><DD><P>Supported since <CODE>ftape-4.00</CODE>. Thanks to Tim Jones
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<tjones@estinc.com>.
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<P>Can't format cartridges, writing is only possible with special Ditto Max
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cartridges (hardware limitation, not a lacking feature of <CODE>ftape</CODE>)
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<P>I wasn't able to get the Ditto Max to work with any other device than
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<CODE>/dev/[n]qft0</CODE>. I don't know whether this is a feature of the
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Ditto Max or the Ditto EZ controller I had plugged the Ditto Max into.
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<P>
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<H4>Comment</H4>
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You don't need to buy a <CODE>Ditto Max Pro</CODE> to use the 5/10GB
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cartridges. With <CODE>ftape</CODE> there is no real difference between the
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<CODE>Ditto Max</CODE> and the <CODE>Ditto Max Pro</CODE>.
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<P>
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<DT><B>Iomega Ditto 800/3200/2GB/Max/Max Pro Easy (parallel port)</B><DD><P>Supported since <CODE>ftape-4.00</CODE> with the <CODE>bpck-fdc</CODE> FDC driver.
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<P>
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<DT><B>Mountain FS8000</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Reveal TB1400</B><DD><P>
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<P>Reported not to work with kernel 1.3.79 and ftape (no version given)
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or with kernel 1.2.13 and zftape 1.04
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(<colin@colina.demon.co.uk>).
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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The mentioned <CODE>ftape</CODE> driver versions are out of date. If you still
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have such a beast try the more recent versions of the <CODE>ftape</CODE>
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driver.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Summit SE 150, SE 250</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Tallgrass FS300</B><DD><P>If you have a Tallgrass FS300 and an AHA1542B, you need to increase
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the bus-on / bus-off time of the 1542B. Antti Virjo
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(<CODE><klanvi@uta.fi></CODE>), says that changing
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<CODE>CMD_BUSON_TIME</CODE> to 4 and <CODE>CMD_BUSOFF_CMD</CODE> to 12 in
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<CODE>linux/drivers/scsi/aha1542.c</CODE> will do the trick.
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<P>
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<DT><B>Teac 800</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Memorex tape drive backup system</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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<DT><B>Wangtek 3040F, 3080F</B><DD><P>
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<P>
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</DL>
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<P>You can always check out the newest list of drives that are recognised
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by <CODE>ftape</CODE>, by looking in the file <CODE>vendors.h</CODE> in the <CODE>ftape</CODE>
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distribution.
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<P>Although I do not want to endorse one drive type over another, it has
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been reported that the Colorado DJ-20 drive is rather noisy, when
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compared to, say, a Conner C250MQ drive ('tis said that the Colorado
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is 5-10 times as noisy as the Conner drive. Since I have neither, I
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can't tell for sure).
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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If you have a drive that works fine, but it is not listed here, or if
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you have corrections to the above information, please send a mail to
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the HOWTO maintainer (<CODE><heine@math1.rwth-aachen.de></CODE>).
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss6.2">6.2 Supported special controllers</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>These dedicated high-speed tape controllers are supported by
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<CODE>ftape</CODE>:
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI> Colorado FC-10, FC-20</LI>
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<LI> Mountain MACH-2</LI>
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<LI> Iomega Tape Accelerator II</LI>
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<LI> 2Mbps controllers (using the i82078-1 fdc)</LI>
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<LI> Iomega Ditto EZ 4Mbps PnP controller</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>
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<H3>Colorado FC-10, FC-20</H3>
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<P>
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<P>Support for the FC-10 controller has been merged into the <CODE>ftape</CODE>
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driver in version 1.12. See the <CODE>RELEASE-NOTES</CODE> and the
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<CODE>Makefile</CODE> files in the <CODE>ftape</CODE> distribution. Since of version
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2.03 of <CODE>ftape</CODE>, the FC-20 controller will work, but only at
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1Mbit/sec (check the Release notes!).
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<P>
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<H3>Mountain MACH-2</H3>
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<P>
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<P>The support for the MACH-2 controller was added in <CODE>ftape-1.14d</CODE>.
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<P>
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<H3>Iomega Tape Accelerator II</H3>
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<P>
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<P>To use the Iomega Tape Accelerator II (<B>not</B> to be mistaken as the
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Iomega Ditto Dash!), use <CODE>-DMACH2</CODE>, and set the right settings for
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I/O base, IRQ and DMA. This works (by the empirical testing of Scott
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Bailey
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<A HREF="mailto:sbailey@xcc.mc.xerox.com"><sbailey@xcc.mc.xerox.com></A>), with at least
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<CODE>ftape-2.02</CODE>.
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<P>
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<H3>Iomega Ditto Dash and other 2Mbps controllers</H3>
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<P>
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<P>The Iomega Ditto Dash, and all other known 2Mbps controllers, use the
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Intel 82078-1 chip, which can run at 2Mbps. This is supported properly
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since <CODE>ftape-3.00</CODE>.
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<P>
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<H3>Iomega Ditto EZ PnP controller</H3>
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<P>
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<P>This controller requires the use of e.g. the <CODE>isapnptools</CODE> package to
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configure it. You may get it from
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<P>
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<A HREF="http://www.roestock.demon.co.uk/isapnptools/">http://www.roestock.demon.co.uk/isapnptools/</A><P>The controller will cause too many overrun errors when used at the
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highest possible speed of 4Mbps. Neither Tim Jones
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<tjones@estinc.com> nor I <heine@math1.rwth-aachen.de>
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have been able to find but a single system which could run the
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controller at 4Mbps. 3Mbps seems to be fine.
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<P>If you configure the Ditto EZ to use DMA 2 (the DMA channel used by
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the floppy controller) then your floppy drive will no longer work. It
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doesn't help to disable the controllers DMA gate (as is the case with
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other hight speed controllers) so this can't be helped from inside
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<CODE>ftape</CODE>.
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="unsupp_drives"></A> <A NAME="ss6.3">6.3 Unsupported tape drives</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI> Some parallel port floppy tape drives still not work. Others do.</LI>
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<LI> Irwin AX250L / Accutrak 250. (not a QIC-80 drive)</LI>
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<LI> IBM Internal Tape Backup Unit (identical to the Irwin AX250L drive)</LI>
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<LI> COREtape light</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>The Irwin AX250L (and the IBM Internal Tape Backup Unit) does not work
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the <CODE>ftape</CODE>. This is because they only support QIC-117, but
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not the QIC-80 standard (they use Irwin's proprietary ``servoe
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(Rhomat)'' format). I know nothing about the Rhomat format, nor where
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to get any info on it. Sorry.
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<P>The COREtape light does not accept the initialisation commands, we're
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feeding it. This pretty much leaves the drive unusable.
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss6.4">6.4 Using an external tape drive with <CODE>ftape</CODE></A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>If you have a floppy controller which has a female DB37 connector on
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the bracket (and some means of delivering power to the drive), you can
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use it with <CODE>ftape</CODE>. OK, that sentence was not very
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obvious. Let's try it this way: Some FDC's (the very ancient one's),
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have a DB37 connector on the bracket, for connecting to external
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floppy drives.
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<P>If you make a suitable cable from the DB37 connector (on the FDC) to
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your external tape drive, you can get <CODE>ftape</CODE> to control your tape
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drive.
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<P>This is because that from a program's view there is no difference
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between the internal and the external connectors. So, from
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<CODE>ftape</CODE>'s point of view, they are identical.
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI> Pins 20-37: GROUND</LI>
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<LI> 1: +12 Volt (POWER)</LI>
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<LI> 2: +12 Volt return (GROUND)</LI>
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<LI> 3: +5 Volt return (GROUND)</LI>
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<LI> 4: +5 Volt (POWER)</LI>
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<LI> 5: 2</LI>
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<LI> 6: 8</LI>
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<LI> 7: 10</LI>
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<LI> 8: 12</LI>
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<LI> 9: 14</LI>
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<LI> 10: 16</LI>
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<LI> 11: 18</LI>
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<LI> 12: 20</LI>
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<LI> 13: 22</LI>
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<LI> 14: 24</LI>
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<LI> 15: 26</LI>
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<LI> 16: 28</LI>
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<LI> 17: 30</LI>
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<LI> 18: 32</LI>
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<LI> 19: 34</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>The power connector is of the "mini" type, sitting on 3.5" floppy
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drives. The idea appears to be that you plug one of the power
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connectors from the PSU to this connector on the board. If you want
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to use just a single cable, you might want to get a 50 wire cable, and
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use multiple wires for the power lines (and ground, for that matter).
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<P>I have received no confirmation from anyone that this works. Let me
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know your results if you try it.
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<P>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="pci-boxes"></A> <A NAME="ss6.5">6.5 PCI motherboards and <CODE>ftape</CODE></A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>Unfortunately, some PCI motherboards cause problems when running
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<CODE>ftape</CODE>. Some people have experienced that <CODE>ftape</CODE> would not
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run in a PCI based box, but ran flawlessly in a normal ISA based 386DX
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machine. If you have such a problem, please read the <CODE>README.PCI</CODE>
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file in the <CODE>ftape</CODE> distribution.
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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A floppy disk controller needs the ISA bus DMA controller for its
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memory transfers. Seemingly the ISA DMA controller doesn't get
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control over the memory bus often enough on some PCI based systems.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<P>
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<P>
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<P>
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