From:	MERC::"uunet!CRVAX.SRI.COM!RELAY-INFO-VAX" 19-JAN-1993 12:40:40.39
To:	info-vax@kl.sri.com
CC:	
Subj:	Re: 3rd party CD-ROM drives on a VAXstation 3100

In article <3C63F0B5E0017CDE@PHYSC1.BYU.EDU>, PETERSON@PHYSC1.BYU.EDU ("Bryan G. Peterson") writes:
> I have a user who would really like to put a CD-ROM drive on a VAXstation
> to read an astronomical catalog from Caltech (I'm not sure what format it
> is in - he didn't have that information).  Since DEC sells their drives
> for about $1600 and SCSI drives for a PC sell for about $400 or less, the
> obvious choice is to see if the PC drive will work on a VAX.  Has anyone
> out there tried to make a PC CD-ROM drive work on a VAXstation?  What sort
> of restrictions are there on which formats can be read somewhat simply?

The Sony CDU-541 is an internal SCSI drive that is known to work on:
VAXstation 3100 (both old one-SCSI-bus and new two-SCSI-bus),
VAXstation 4000 models 60 and 90. 

Sony has an external version of this same drive (including cabinet and
power supply), but I don't know the model number of that version.  The internal
version can easily be found on the PC "commodity" market for a little over
$400.  

These drives appear to be identical to the DEC RRD42.  There is at least one
subtle difference in the option switches on the rear of the drive, but they
seem to work fine in place of the RRD42.  

	--- Jamie Hanrahan, Kernel Mode Systems, San Diego CA
drivers, internals, networks, applications, and training for VMS and Windows NT
uucp 'g' protocol guru and release coordinator, VMSnet (DECUS uucp) W.G., and 
Chair, Programming and Internals Working Group, U.S. DECUS VMS Systems SIG 
Internet:  jeh@cmkrnl.com, or hanrahan@eisner.decus.org  Uucp: uunet!cmkrnl!jeh