---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 11:14:46 +0100
From: Rolf Kyburz <rolf.kyburz@ch.varian.com>
To: lcary@rotor.chem.unr.edu
Cc: pwheeler@isisph.com
Subject: Re: scsi and the U5
Hi Lew,
we have made several such upgrades already - successfully, I should
add! Referring to the recent postings on AMMRL: note that upgrading a
UNITYplus isn't quite the same thing as upgrading a UNITY: with the
latter there is a certain chance of having boards in the acquisition
computer that require upgrading (e.g., to DMA, etc.); the UNITYplus is
more recent, and the chances for problems with such upgrades is much,
much smaller (the biggest gotcha ist the cabling issue that I address
in the Varian NMR News article on 4/24/98 - this isn't UNITY-specific,
but also applies to the UNITYplus). The relevant information is found
in Varian NMR News on 9/11/98, 4/24/98, and on 3/18/98, see the
attached articles.
Best regards,
Rolf
Rolf Kyburz (rolf.kyburz@ch.varian.com)
NMR Software / Customer Support
Varian International AG, Zug/Switzerland
Tel.: +41-1-9942332 / Fax: +41-1-9942333
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HOST COMPUTER UPGRADES ON OLDER SPECTROMETERS:
Since introducing the Sun-based VXR-S series of spectrometers we have
offered Sun host computer upgrades to (Motorola-based) VXR spectrometers. Now,
after twelve years, we can no longer offer such upgrades, as one of the chips
used in the differential SCSI driver box has been discontinued and is no
longer available. The only upgrade path for these instruments (and the earlier
XL series) is to upgrade the console to either a MERCURY or a UNITY INOVA.
If you have a VXR-S and would like to upgrade to a newer Sun (Ultra) host
computer, then the feasibility of a host computer depends on the version of
HAL board and differential SCSI driver box that you have. If the HAL board is
DMA compliant ("DMA" is written on the front panel of the HAL board), then
there should be no problem in upgrading the host. If your host computer is
a SPARCstation 2, SPARCstation IPX or newer model, then the HAL board and
differential SCSI driver box must already be DMA-compliant. If your host is a
SPARCstation 1, 1+, IPC or an even older Sun computer and your HAL board does
NOT have "DMA" written on the front panel, then you need to check with service
in order to find out whether a host computer upgrade is still possible.
UNITY systems should all be DMA-compliant (you may want to double-check the
HAL board, just to be sure) - upgrading the host to a newer Sun should be no
problem. The same is true for UNITYplus systems. GEMINI 2000 systems use an
Ethernet link, rather than SCSI, so GEMINI systems (Motorola-based) can still
be upgraded to GEMINI 2000 (Sun-based).
Remember that using a Sun Ultra as spectrometer host on a VXR-S, UNITY, or
UNITYplus requires a special cabling kit and active SCSI terminator (Varian
P/N 01-905501-00), see VNMR News on 4/24/98. In addition to that, Ultra 5 and
Ultra 10 computers need to be equipped with a PCI Ultra Fast/Wide SCSI and
10/100BaseT Ethernet card (X1032A, Varian P/N 01-905439-00), see VNMR News on
3/18/98.
USING AN ULTRA 5 AS UNITY SPECTROMETER HOST:
Setting up an Ultra 5 or Ultra 10 workstation with PCI Ultra Fast/Wide SCSI
and 10/100BaseT Ethernet expansion card as host for UNITY/VXR-S spectrometers
requires HAL board and differential driver box to be upgraded for DMA, active
termination to be added to the "out" port on the differential driver box), and
Varian P/N 01-905501-00 which provides the necessary cables and connectors. If
you use a straight 68-pin mini-D to 50-pin D (old style SCSI connector) cable,
the Ultra will not boot.
EXPANSION BOARDS FOR THE NEW ULTRA WORKSTATIONS:
The new Ultra workstations (see last issue of VNMR News) are all equipped
with a PCI (Peripheral Component Interface) bus interface that is widely used
in the world of PCs. They DO NOT have an SBus interface, i.e., you CANNOT use
any of your existing SPARCstation or Ultra 1 (or Ultra 2) expansion cards! On
the other hands, PCI cards are produced in mass numbers, and therefore PCI
components available at lower prices than those for the Sun SBus. However, you
should NOT infer that just about any PCI card is compatible with the new Ultra
workstations - you should only use PCI cards from Sun, or cards that are
certified to run on Sun Ultra workstations.
PCI cards come in two mechanical sizes (short and long) and different bus
widths (32 or 64 bits) and speeds (33 or 66 MHz). The bus width and speed
determines the maximum transfer rate (the SBus interface was 32 or 64 bits
wide, operating at 25 MHz):
Workstation PCI slots max. PCI Throughput
----------- ------------------------------------ -------------------
Ultra 5 1 PCI-slot (33 MHz, 32 bits, short) 100 MBytes/sec
2 PCI-slots (33 MHz, 32 bits) 100 MBytes/sec
Ultra 10 4 PCI slots (33 MHz, 32 bits) 100 MBytes/sec
Ultra 30/60 3 PCI slots (33 MHz, 32/64 bits) 100/200 MBytes/sec
1 PCI slot (66 MHz, 64 bits) 400 MBytes/sec
Two PCI expansion cards are available through Varian:
Varian P/N Sun P/N PCI Card Type
------------ ------- -------------------------------------------------
01-905439-00 X1032A PCI Ultra Fast/Wide SCSI and 10/100BaseT Ethernet
01-905440-00 X1033A PCI 10/100Base-T Ethernet board
The SCSI/Ethernet card should be used on Ultra 5 and 10 systems with external
SCSI peripherals, such as external disks or tape units (the Ultra 10 can be
equipped with a second internal EIDE disk). This SCSI port can also be used to
connect the differential SCSI driver box on VXR-S, UNITY, and UNITYplus
spectrometers - but we need to yet sort out some cabling issues for the
connection of the 68-pin wide SCSI port to the SCSI-1 port on the driver box,
so stay tuned for more information! The Ethernet port on that same card can
at the same time be used as the acquisition port on networked UNITY INOVA,
MERCURY, and GEMINI 2000 spectrometers.
The second PCI card option (Ethernet alone) can be used on networked UNITY
INOVA, MERCURY, and GEMINI 2000 spectrometers, if the workstation is already
equipped with an external SCSI bus (Ultra 30, Ultra 60), or if there is no
plan to add external SCSI peripherals.
Apart from the external PCI interface, the new Ultra workstations are also
equipped with an internal PCI bus that carries the UltraSCSI controller (Ultra
30 and 60 only), the on-board (PGX) graphics controller and the EIDE disk
controller (Ultra 5 and 10), and the Ethernet/E-Bus (external bus) interface
that connects to the floppy disk controller, serial and parallel I/O (external
ports, keyboard/mouse, audio I/O), and of course the 10/100BaseT Ethernet port.