Conference hydra::amiga_v1

>                <<< Note 4693.0 by TOOK::KEEGAN "Peter Keegan" >>>
>                         -< Help for novice GVP HD user >-
> 
> Well, I broke down this weekend and bought a GVP 49Meg hard disk for
> my A500 (how did I ever get along without it?)
> 
> The disk came preformatted and preloaded with AmigaDOS 1.3 and a
> bunch of GVP utilities.  It apparently is not formatted for the Fast
> File system. 


Peter,
 
My GVP controller on my 2000 came with installation software.  The software
took care of creating the proper mount list, formatting the drive, it even
created the proper startup-sequence.  I'm not sure about the 500, but knowing
GVP I suspect that they have some sort of user friendly installation software.
On my 2000, in the directory on the HD called GVPscripts, there's a command
called ?GVPtestscsi, this searchs the bus for anything that might be connected
to the bus and then recognizes it.
 
I hope that this has been of some help...
 
Best of Luck!
 
JK

--------
I think, therefore it is!

    Peter,
    
    I have a GVP on my 2000.  I'm not sure this is 100% technically correct
    but:
    
    1. The device is automounted by the GVP microcode.  No need to have a
       mountlist entry.  If you ever do a reformat or re-prep, the
       faastprep software will actually write a mountlist to the harddrive
       (I can't remember if it's put in the :s/ or :Devs/ directory).  It's
       good reference information but not necessary for the system to run.
    
    2. As far as the FastFile system.  That's an option in the faastprep
       utility "FileSys:".  I'd backup, re-prep, and restore.  You can also
       bring up faastprep to view the current options.
    
       There is also an option in the utility to choose where the HD memory
       buffers should be allocated (CHIP, FAST, or EITHER).  Chip gives  
       best performance but uses up precious chip memory.  
    
    3. Not sure what SETCPU does in your startup sequence.  I believe it's
       only necessary to configure various accelerators.  I don't use it.
    
    Frank
    

    Peter,

    Frank's got it correct. The unit automounts and autoboots. I've got the
    42 meg Fujitsu unit in my GVP on my 500. As you noticed, GVP formats it
    as one giant partition. If you want to save what's currently on the
    drive (most likely just a stock 1.3 WorkBench), do a backup first. If you
    want to set up your own partitions, use the GVP FaastPrep disk. Run the
    FastPrep program, switch over to Manual Installation - you should see
    one giant 49 meg partition. Click on the UnPrep gadget, which will negate
    the info written to the RDB (Rigid Disk Block).

    You can then switch back to Auto formatting via the Select/Main Menu menu
    and set the number of partitions and partition sizes as you want them.
    When dh0: is prepped, you can give it a standard Workbench disk when it
    asks for the disk to be copied to the partition. You'll see some messages
    about mounting/formatting dh0a:. Don't worry about it, it'll clean itself
    up (getting rid of the "a") when you reboot. As Frank mentioned, sample
    mountlist entries are written to the root directories of each partition
    (named dhX_mountlist). They're only there for reference. You don't have 
    to worry at all about editing a mountlist entry for this unit.

    When you exit to WorkBench, you'll see your original 49 meg partition,
    and those that you've just created. A reboot takes care of this.

    One last thing you might want to do is go back into FastPrep's Manual 
    Format, set the Last Lun and/or Last Disk buttons (I've got both set on
    mine) and hit the Write gadget to write that info back to the RDB (don't
    worry, it doesn't do anything to the rest of the data on the drive.
    The Last Lun/Last Disk flags tell the system that this is the last SCSI
    device on the system and should speed up your boot time (otherwise it'll
    search for the maximum 7 SCSI devices). As far as do you set Last LUN, Last
    Disk or both, I'm not quite sure. I called GVP about this and couldn't
    get a definitive answer re: the difference between the two. Maybe another
    noter can shed some light on this.

    -Dom
    (Feel free to call at dtn 287-3446 if you have any other questions).

Thanks for the info.  This is the way one would expect an intelligent device
to work, but I didn't believe I didn't have to do anything by default!

> The Last Lun/Last Disk flags tell the system that this is the last SCSI
>     device on the system and should speed up your boot time

This must explain the relatively long time it takes to bind the driver (~10s).
Dom, thanks for the specifics.  It looks like a piece of cake to repartition
the disk for FFS.

BTW, can you GVP owners really feel the difference with FFS?
Also, what are folks paying for DRAM SIMMs these days?  Memory Location is
selling them for $60/meg.  

    Re: -.1

    There's a note (34.100) in the Macintosh conference (routes::macintosh)
    that lists mail order firms for memory. I ordered simms from a place
    in Texas (Diamond Computer Resources) which were $42.50 for a 1M x 8-80ns
    simm - comes with a lifetime warranty. Call a few to see what current
    prices are.

    -Dom

    
    
    re .4
    
    	What makes you think you are not already running the fast
    file system ??
    
    	I would be very surprised if the drive is not FFS already. You
    can check this using fastprep.
    
    		Steve Peters
    

re: -1 Well, you are right - it is already formatted for FFS!
Once again, I assumed I would have to partition it in at least 
2 parts as described in the 1.3 Appendix A for the 2090 controller.

(I'm getting to like this GVP more each day :-) )

-peter

Well, I installed 2 meg in my GVP A500 HD last night and the system wouldn't
boot. After triple-checking the jumpers against the proper settings in the 
manual, I discovered that the manual is WRONG! 

The proper settings for J12 are:

	Memory		J12
	------		---
	0		Outboard side
	2		Outboard side
	4		Outboard side
	8		Inboard side

(The settings on the metal cover to the RAM are correct)

-peter