The AHA2842 is a narrow-SCSI card, though it's possibly the best ADAPTEC ever produced. I've been using them for years without a hitch, while their newer cards, (2940, 3940, 3985, etc) seem to bring with them both a short life and lots of compatibility issues. Unfortunately, the VLB is alread a "classic" feature, having been "dead" now for over a decade. Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chad Fernandez" <fernande(a)internet1.net> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 10:25 PM Subject: Re: VLB SCSI?

I've got a box full of various models of AHA2940 and 3940 that don't work in all systems, and most of them don't work in any system at all. Most of them exhibit one of two symptoms. (1) they don't work in systems with a bus clock >25 MHz, or (2) they don't find any SCSI devices, irrespective of the fact that other 2940's, among others, find them just fine. The longest I've ever had a 2940AU (the only type that seems to work in all applications) last is 6 months. Fortunately, the old 152x types and 151x types seem to keep on going ... None of these problems appear when the 29XX and 39XX boards are used under Netware, but once they've been used under Windows, their days are numbered. None of these problems appear with the VLB boards. Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chad Fernandez" <fernande(a)internet1.net> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 8:05 AM Subject: Re: VLB SCSI? ever for

I've gone through this process, but it doesn't always produce the results one wishes. Unfortunately, I've not bought a 2940 from Adaptec in over 5 years, since they've been in that box quite a long time. My point was, however, that the several 2842's (the VLB version) I've had have kept on working for nearly a decade, yet Adaptec's most popular board, the 2940 doesn't seem even to outlive its warranty. Adaptec's history (with me) of failing to live up to their promises is another issue. I'm still waiting for them to reimburse me for a defective product I ordered directly from them back in '93, not to mention the $33 freight charges incurred because they arranged for but didn't pay for a FedEx pickup. <sigh> I've also got a history of uncompleted transactions with them, wherein they've started but failed to complete a transaction of enforcment of their warranty. This seems to be the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, as their warranty service guys (at least then) were located in Boulder, and were only too happy to recognize, and verify via email, that I had a valid warranty claim, yet the folks in Iowa, or wherever it is, who actually do the warranty enforcement, don't seem to communicate with them. As a result, I've been left high and dry. It's easier to buy second-hand prodcuts for $5-$20 and tolerate the problems that eventually occur, rather than pay the $150 to buy a new one, knowing that the problems won't be dealt with. Ater all, if a 2940 costs $150, then that's $30/year, and I can get a better deal buying several experienced ones that can, at least, be verified working before I buy them and then keep a couple around as spares. My next level of disk interface for my server will undoubtedly be fiberchannel rather than SCSI, so this whole thing won't be an issue once I've finally convinced myself that the 8-bit SCSI channel is obsolete. Fortunately, ADAPTEC hasn't bought up all their competitors in the FibreChannel market. Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Ford" &lt;mikeford(a)socal.rr.com&gt; To: &lt;classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org&gt; Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2001 1:21 AM Subject: Re: VLB SCSI? MHz, 2940AU