Irwin

[Travis Bissett]

I've just installed an old Irwin model 145 (40 MB) tape drive into my 386 AT 
clone running 2.3.2. BTW, thanks to Irwin for having pretty decent technical 
support -- had to wait on the phone some and listen to Mr. Roboto. But, it 
was a small price to pay to get to talk to a knowledgeable techie on the 
same day. The hardware seems to be working. And, thanks to SCO for having 
Support Level Supplements where I could get drivers "for free." And, thanks 
to my sysop (see origin line) for getting the driver SLS since I don't have 
uucp capability.

Still having growing pains -- haven't got it to work 100% yet. Finally got 
the drive configured right and the software installed -- and lost my 
Interlan TCP/ip and Image Manager drivers in the process. But I've learned 
there is some sorcery that must be employed when loading a mix of drivers 
into the kernel. 

If there is someone out there who has a similar setup I'd appreciate an 
exchange of notes via email. Does format work? Or, is it as terrible as the 
SLS docs seem to imply ("use at own risk")? I get mysterious "tracking 
errors" and am resorting to bulk erasure and reformat. Is this a bad idea?
Does the tape interfer with others using the floppy drive fd0? Is any 
particular brand of cartridge (DC2000?) superior in Your Humble Opinion? How 
does one clean this thing (sorry, can't RTFM as it went volatile about 3 
years ago). Thanks in advance.

Travis Bissett
tbissett at nstar.rn.com



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