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- Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
- Path: sparky!uunet!paladin.american.edu!auvm!MULTICS-A.PMS.FORD.COM!SCARAFINO
- Message-ID: <921223144808.492521@MULTICS-A.PMS.FORD.COM>
- Newsgroups: bit.listserv.win3-l
- Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 09:48:00 EST
- Sender: Microsoft Windows Version 3 Forum <WIN3-L@UICVM.BITNET>
- From: Vince Scarafino <Scarafino@MULTICS-A.PMS.FORD.COM>
- Subject: Re: Slow SCSI disk in Windows 3.1 Enh mode
- In-Reply-To: Message of 22 Dec 92 14:59 EST from "NATHAN BRINDLE"
- Lines: 28
-
- >Date: 22 December 1992 14:59 est
- >From: NATHAN BRINDLE <NBRINDLE%INDYCMS.BITNET at PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU>
- >Subject: Re: Slow SCSI disk in Windows 3.1 Enh mode
-
- >Vince, your discourse on SCSI controllers and SMARTDRV was enlightening!
- >But let me ask one further question. What happens if you delete the
- >SMARTDRV invocation from AUTOEXEC.BAT but NOT from CONFIG.SYS? (In other
- >words, the opposite of what the original question was) Would this not
- >tend to set you up for disk death as well?
- >
- >I had a feeling that the SCSI controller with its on-board controller was
- >the reason for the double-buffering, and I'm glad to find that my feeling
- >was correct. Thanks again!
-
- If you don't invoke SMARTDRV from the command line (which is usually
- done via AUTOEXEC.BAT) you are running *without* SMARTDRV. For SCSI
- controllers, Windows needs SMARTDRV to support the controller, so
- Windows won't work without SMARTDRV. The machine just hangs. Note that
- DOS is able to run. The single task environment of DOS is apparantly
- simple enough for the SCSI environment to support it.
-
- You do have the option of using a device driver for the controller.
- Many of the SCSI suppliers offer drivers. These are utilized via an
- addition in CONFIG.SYS. If you do this, you don't need SMARTDRV for
- controller support. However, you *can* still use it for its cacheing
- function.
-
- Vince
-