In article <1993May29.044116.2050@fcom.cc.utah.edu>, markb@elen.utah.edu
(Mark Baranowski) wrote:
>
>
> Several months ago, I posted the following query:
> >I am trying to get a Toshiba CD-ROM to work on my Sun,
[ stuff deleted ]
> >
> >If anyone has had any luck with this drive, I would appreciate hearing
> >from you. I hope that the solution is as simple as an EPROM change?
> >
> Here is my belated summary:
>
> Several respondents correctly pointed out that Sun expects 512 bytes,
> whereas the default format of the CD1 spec (mode 1, with ECC) is 2048
> bytes per 'block'.
>
> However, since my desire was to have a fully functional cdrom, HERE IS
> WHAT I DID:
>
[ more stuff deleted]
>
> NCA did not go into specifics as to what modifications they performed other
> than it was simply a matter of modifying the PC card. The only
> modifications I can see are that they cut two solder-blobs on the PC card:
> these two blobs are located 1/2 an inch above the SCSI-ID jumpers and are
> inside two boxes numbered 0 and 1. Each of these two boxes themselves are
> 1/4 inch on their sides and each box has a solder-blob inside. What NCA
> did was to cut all the way through both blobs (although I think a
> solder-sucker might also have worked).
>
We recently purchased one of the dual-speed Toshiba TMX 3401-E1 drives from
Alliance Peripheral Systems. This drive is marketed to the Mac community
and has a 2048-byte default block size. Since we wanted to use it as a
boot device with our Suns, and were promised that it would work with Suns,
we got one. It failed because of the 512-byte block restriction with older
PROM revs(Thanks to Juergen Keil, who has explained the issues/solutions in
this newsgroup). We called Toshiba tech support, and without missing a
beat, the guy said to cut the two traces inside the "half-moons" in both
boxes, just as your vendor probably did. If we did this ourselves, this
would probably void the warranty, but our vendor graciously went one
better, and installed a switch to toggle between 512 & 2048 block sizes.
For us, this turned out to be important, because Toshiba's Mac CD-ROM
drivers don't work completely correctly unless 2048-byte blocks are used.
Roger D. Ray r-ray@nwu.edu
Northwestern University Med School/Physiology M211
303 E Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60611-3008
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