From: wj27@mail.gatech.edu
Date: Tue May 13 2003 - 15:43:10 EDT
Thanks and cheers to all those who replied!
Problem:
Needed to know if I could use an "off the shelf" SCSI HD,(i.e., Seagate ST
ST318406LW) to replace our dead HD (Seagate ST32550W) in my AlphaStation 500
running Tru64 4.0E.
Short Answer:
The overwhelming response was YES!
Detailed Answer courtesy of Mr. S. Ball Jr.:
"Any modern reliable 68pin SCSI disk will work just fine.
The internal bus on an AS500 is fast/wide.
New disks won't transfer data as fast as they would if you
were to install a faster SCSI host adaptor, of course.
They don't need to have any special firmware -- it's just a convenience.
We've been using off-the-shelf disks for as long as we've
been running OSF/1 aks Tru64 -- ever since the 3000-400 systems shipped.
After you use disklabel to initialize an unrecognized disk model
you do have to edit the partition label to set appropriate
sizes for the various partitions.
The specialized firmware just causes the disk to respond as if it
were a particular DEC model number. This has the advantage
that the partition sizes are more likely to be set to reasonable values
when you use the the command "disklabel -rw"
(plus appropriate additional arguments.)"
Also, someone commented that the faster RPM of the new disk might produce more
heat than could be dissipated. However, I called Seagate on this and they said
it would not be a problem.
Finally, some details on my actual experience installing the disk: Sure enough
as several mentioned, the disk showed up as ST318406LW in console mode and as
ST318 from the CD-ROM Installation GUI. I actually used the Installation GUI
to partition the disk and write the disklabel without any problems.
Again thanks to all those who replied and I hope this helps someone else.
Regards,
Wayne
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