A/UX with third-party drive?

[goldfarb at hcx9.UCF.EDU]

/* Written  6:21 pm  May  8, 1989 by ron at motmpl.UUCP in hcx9:comp.unix.aux */
>->Also, if anyone knows of a good third-party cartridge tape which would
>->work for this set-up I'd be interested in hearing about it.
>-
>-Ditto!  I'd really like to see something that uses DC-600's and has a
>-driver for A/UX (obviously).  Let me know what kind of responses you get.
>
>Double ditto!! If anyone knows of such a beast (tape drive for DC-600's
>on a MAC][ with a driver for A/UX) don't keep it a secret. Let the whole
>world know!

I've got some more information obliquely related to the subject.  One
of my Apple insider confidants told me that the Irwin Magnetics 5080
(80 Mb DC2000 product) is a good unit to buy; however, he didn't know
whether or not Irwin planned to support A/UX.  Reviews I have read
support his conclusion about the quality of the drive.  I called my
local dealer and told them to do the work of calling Irwin to smoke out
the information.  The response was that although there is no software
support for A/UX at present, it is being worked on.

I guess the scale is something like this:
> <being contemplated>  <planned> <being worked on> <in alpha> <real-soon-now> <
To that extent, I don't think an immediate purchase would be wise.  However, 
this tape drive (retail $1695) has been getting raves, so I think the situation
bears further investigation.  If anyone from Irwin or who has direct knowledge 
of the availability of the A/UX driver and backup utilities is listening, 
please comment!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ben Goldfarb				uucp: {decvax,peora}!ucf-cs!goldfarb
University of Central Florida		Internet: goldfarb at hcx9.ucf.edu
Department of Computer Science		BITNET: goldfarb at ucf1vm.BITNET