RE: Need SCSI card advice

Donald Burr (dburr@POBoxes.com)
Thu, 14 May 1998 03:37:04 -0700 (PDT)

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My secret spy satellite informs me that on 14-May-98, Tim Kallinis wrote:
> Hello, this is my first message to this newsgroup. I'm hoping someone
> can
> provide me with some advice as to which SCSI card I should purchase to
> access a scanner under SANE. I have an ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 motherboard and
> was thinking of getting the associated ASUS PCI-SC200 SCSI card
> (NCR52C810 chip I believe). I understand this card is detected and works
> fine under Linux (at least from the DejaNews articles I've read),
> however

Yes. The NCR (aka Symbios) chips are very well regarded in the free UNIX
community. YOu won't have any problems at all.

> I'm uncertain if it's a good choice for SANE or in general (I have no
> experience with SCSI devices). I'm interested in getting a UMAX Astra
> 1200,
> however I remember reading in the SANE archive that the UMAX uses a Mac
> style connector, whereas, the ASUS card uses a SCSI-2 externel cable.
> Would this present a problem in connecting the two (I suspect/hope it
> doesn't) ? Is there some way to force this card or any PnP card to a

No problem at all. I have an Adaptec AHA-2940AU which uses the same style
of connector as the ASUS does (the small 50-pin SCSI2 connector) and I
also have the Astra 1200. You can buy cables that have the 25-pin Mac
style at one end, and the 50-pin SCSI2 at the other, at most any computer
store or store that sells computer stuff (I bought mine at Staples, the
office place, for example).

> specific IRQ (I think it's a PnP card and I wouldn't want it to get
> assigned to IRQ 9 which holds an 8-bit serial card, COM3, I use for my
> Wyse 60 terminal - IRQs 10 or 12 would be fine however) ?

PCI cards are automatically configured and assigned by the BIOS. They
usually DTRT (Do The Right Thing) all by themselves. You shouldn't have
any problems at all.

> I would also appreciate any suggestions/recommendations regarding other
> SCSI cards. I'm looking for something cheap that won't cause any
> problems
> under Linux or force itself on any IRQs <= 9 (I hate PnP).

You don't even have to go as high-priced as the ASUS. Many clone cards
are made that use the NCR chips, and they are just as good as the "brand
name" ones. I've found good quality clones for $40 and even less at
computer shows and mail order. Check out http://www.computerESP.com/ for
some good prices, you may also want to check some of the Linux hardware
vendors such as PromoX Systems (http://www.promox.com/), DCG Computer
(http://www.dcginc.com/), or Linux mall (http://www.linuxmall.com/). YOu
can of course find many more advertisers with good competitive prices by
flipping through any issue of Linux Journal.

(In fact, I just checked, and PromoX has a NCR clone for $50.)
- ---
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