You may have the answer, here, in that IF it's a SCSI device (which it is) and
IF it's capable of behaving as a reader (which it is) then it's up to the SCSI
subsystem to move the data into the system. IF the device, in whatever mode
it "comes up" in is able to read the SCSI CD, then it should be no different
than any other CD drive, irrespective of the ability to write the device.
I guess it all comes down to the state in which the system finds itself when
it's trying to read the SCSI channel for boot.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Wright" <dtwright_at_uiuc.edu>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 3:27 PM
Subject: Re: Half on, half off -- New CD-R drive and 512-byte blocks
> I do know, from experience, that any SCSI Plextor CDROM/CD-R/CD-RW will boot
> basically anything -- Sparc, SGI, RS/6000, HP,.... I've tried plextors of
> varying ages (old 8plex caddy-loader up to a 12/4/32 CD-RW that's about 1
year
> old) and they all work great...
>
> Christopher Smith said:
> > Hi everybody. This isn't strictly on topic, but I think the intent
> > of the question makes it close enough.
> >
> > I just bought a new CD-RW drive -- a Sony CRX145s -- and am curious
> > about whether it may read the 512-byte blocks necessary for using it
> > as a backup boot device on my VAXen, Sparc, SGI, etc.
> >
> > Does anyone know whether this, or just for information, some other
> > CD-RW unit, will do such a thing?
> >
> > Note that I do know that discs are written in 2048 byte blocks, and
> > the answer won't affect its performance in writing disks on these
> > systems. I am also aware that doing this for the long term may
> > needlessly shorten the life of the drive. As I said above, it is
> > more for curiosity, and eventually I would like to know that in case
> > my RRD42 dies, I have a backup. :)
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
> > Amdocs - Champaign, IL
> >
> > /usr/bin/perl -e '
> > print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
> > '
> >
> - Dan Wright
> (dtwright_at_uiuc.edu)
> (http://www.uiuc.edu/~dtwright)
>
> -] ------------------------------ [-] -------------------------------- [-
> ``Weave a circle round him thrice, / And close your eyes with holy dread,
> For he on honeydew hath fed, / and drunk the milk of Paradise.''
> Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan
>
>
Received on Tue Apr 09 2002 - 18:18:35 BST