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Date:      Tue, 20 May 1997 11:15:28 +0300
From:      Nadav Eiron <nadav@barcode.co.il>
To:        Clinton Hogge <clint@netway.net>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: GW2000 Hardware Compatibility
Message-ID:  <33815DA0.35CD@barcode.co.il>
References:  <v02130502afa69f871883@[207.147.17.46]>

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Clinton Hogge wrote:
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> I'm new to this list and to FreeBSD. My company has authorized the purchase
> of a PC to run FreeBSD (alone) for various Internet services. I would
> appreciate your feedback related to compatibility with the following
> hardware so we can make a wise purchasing decision...
> 
> --------
> Gateway 2000 G6-200/Pentium Pro 200 MHZ/128 MB Ram
> 2 Gig Seagate SCSI with Adaptec 2940 adapter
> SMC PCI 10/100 network card
> Mitsumi 12x IDE CD-ROM
> Internal Zip Drive (I assume it's IDE)
> --------
> 
> I saw in the online docs that any SCSI drive should work with the supported
> SCSI adapters (including the Adaptec 2940), and that the SMC card should
> also work without troubles. Where I'm still confused, though, is with the
> Gateway standard IDE CD-ROM and Zip Drive. If FreeBSD is to boot up on the
> 2 Gig SCSI, then will I be able to install it via Walnut Creek CD using the
> IDE CD-ROM? Also, will I be able to use the IDE Zip Drive with our new
> system?
> 
> If it would be easier (for our sanity's sake), we're willing to spend the
> extra money on a 12X SCSI CD-ROM drive and a SCSI Zip Drive. What's your
> opinion? The only reason we're considering the SCSI hard drive/IDE CD-ROM
> and Zip is because we're mainly concerned with serving files as fast as
> possible with the SCSI drive, and we're not overly concerned with access
> speed of CD-ROM/backups.

Go for SCSI! The IDE CDROM has even a lower chance of working if you
have no IDE hard disks. If you want to save money get a 8x SCSI CD. It
wil probably give you the same kind of performance the 12x IDE will
anyhow, and will be a hell lot more reliable. As for the IDE Zip drive,
there was a question once on this list concerning it, but I don't think
it will be recognized. Again, if you have a SCSI controller, got for
SCSI peripherials.

With the SMC card, you may face some problems. The cards that use the
newer DEC chips (DE-21140A or AC) are problematic. You may have to patch
the driver a little. Look around the hackers list archive for the
patches. You may be better off with an Intel ExtherExpress 100/B card,
but you could probably get the SMC to work too.

> 
> Thanks for your advice! Looking forward to getting our FreeBSD system up
> and going...
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Clinton Hogge
> Industrial Images
> http://www.industrialimages.com/
Nadav



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