3 Apr
2011
3 Apr
'11
12:36 p.m.
Joe writes:
I have a 3100 model 80 with a failing disk drive. The
two drives in it
now are Seagate ST15150N (I believe). I have a couple of questions:
Are there NEW drives out there that will work with this VAX?
What do I need to do to make a drive format/work?
ST15150N are excellent drives and were a great choice for ten years ago when
they started showing up widely in surplus. I have such a long and deep trust
in them, that I might recommend that you just find a few more :-)
Today if insisting on a new drive you'd probably get a 68 pin SCSI drive and
a 68-to-50 adapter cable. Example 68 pin SCSI drives still being manufactured
recently are Seagate Cheetahs 73 gig/ 147 gig. Similarly you could get an 80 pin
SCA drive and an adapter to take you down to 50 pin.
There's a lot of surplus SCSI drives out there newer than the ST15150N too.
Example adapter source: http://www.pc-pitstop.com/scsi_adapters/int_scsi_adapters.asp
I installed the drives probably over ten years ago and
I just don't
remember if I had to format them special or on another box or what. I
don't have the manuals any more, so I'm stuck.
Nothing special. Just stick it in, INIT or BACKUP to fill it up.
Older 3100's (like model 30) have some limitations on boot disks requiring some
tricks to use drives bigger than 1 gbyte but the model 80
is clear sailing.
Tim.