• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Scsi st-277n interleave etc settings

I checked Stason but wasn't helpful
Really? Quote from Stason:

Record interleave
-----------------
User-specific record interleaves are supported; from 1:1 (records
formatted sequentially on the disk) through the number of records
per track minus 1. This gives the user the ability to configure the
drive for maximum performance within the operating environment.

Just in case you are not aware: the best interleave depends on the speed of the system. So as it is now, no one can answer your question, as you did not give any additional info. You could just try different ones and test the speed.
 
Really? Quote from Stason:



Just in case you are not aware: the best interleave depends on the speed of the system. So as it is now, no one can answer your question, as you did not give any additional info. You could just try different ones and test the speed.
I'm not particularly concerned with speed just want to get it formatted and install PC DOS3.30
 
Scsi st-277n interleave etc settings. I checked Stason but wasn't helpful
You don't control the interleave factor of SCSI direct access block devices.
SCSI spec has no provision for such setting.
There may be vendor unique command or vendor specific mode page for it, but that would vary for each vendor/model drive.
 
It was probably because I was missing for a good bit. Anyway I seem to have bricked the scsi drive by entering 5 as interleave number.
 
Did SCSI ever allow for/prompt for setting the interleave? I wouldn't think so - that would have been between the drive and its integrated SCSI interface.
 
In my (non-PC) experience, I seem to recall that the interleave for a SCSI drive is usually tacked onto the FORMAT command, and it depends somewhat on the drive controller.
 
format unit command has no provision for interleave. the direct access device is presented as a continuous stream of logical blocks. drive geometry and any interleave that might be in use is entirely internal to the drive. while it is possible the drive vendor may have vendor unique setting for interleave, that is generally considered proprietary is almost never exposed to end user.

I have seen drives (DEC/Quantum Atlas) that will insist format unit to complete before accepting any other commands (other than mandatory commands like inquiry and a few others) Perhaps you have interrupted format unit command and the drive is now in a funny state that will clear only if you reissue format unit and allow it to run to completion?
 
format unit command has no provision for interleave. the direct access device is presented as a continuous stream of logical blocks. drive geometry and any interleave that might be in use is entirely internal to the drive. while it is possible the drive vendor may have vendor unique setting for interleave, that is generally considered proprietary is almost never exposed to end user.

I have seen drives (DEC/Quantum Atlas) that will insist format unit to complete before accepting any other commands (other than mandatory commands like inquiry and a few others) Perhaps you have interrupted format unit command and the drive is now in a funny state that will clear only if you reissue format unit and allow it to run to completion?
When I powered on it recognised the drive and a enter interleave screen came up
 
I wonder what application he is using, and if that parameter is really applied.
spec has no provision for interleave in format unit CDB, it's possible that parameter isn't used at all.
that or it's being applied to some mode page that I am unfamiliar with; but I rather doubt it since the entire idea of using logical block number is to hide the device geometry. allowing end user to alter interleaving factor defeats that purpose. the drive firmware should be the only component that is aware of device physical geometry. with variable sectors per track in drive zoning, interleave factor doesn't even make sense.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top