From: utzoo!decvax!duke!bcw
Newsgroups: net.periphs
Title: RA80 with integrated disk controller
Article-I.D.: duke.2200
Posted: Sat Jun 5 23:20:03 1982
Received: Sun Jun  6 01:00:09 1982


From:	Bruce C. Wright @ Duke University
Re:	RA80 disk drive

I don't know the functional specs for this drive, but several people
have asked how difficult it is to write a device driver for one.  This
subject came up at Decus in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago;  it appears
that there are quite a few complications.  The drive is run by a little
microprocessor which communicates with the cpu in a network-type protocol
which is apparently rather complex (at least according to the DEC people
there).  It doesn't look anything like their other disks;  I have no idea
whether anybody has written a driver for unix.  The I/O architecture for
it sounds more like IBM channel-type disk drives than the old DEC disk
drives, at least in that the controller actually has to be programmed
rather than just stuffing some numbers into the controller registers.

Please don't ask me to elaborate -- you now know as much about this
device as I do.

			Bruce C. Wright @ Duke University