Very Computer

I've had a PAS16 for about a year now and like it a lot.  I'm running
Linux 1.0.9 from Slackware 2.0 with various enhancements, like the new
sound driver and PPP.

Anyway, I used to have a Philips single-speed CDROM, which worked OK but
not great.

This past weekend I bought a NEC 3Xi (triple-speed internal) SCSI CDROM
drive.  Very nice drive!  Very zippy!

But, I have a question... when I boot my PAS16 SCSI card recognizes the
NEC but calls it an "NEC 500", which is a 3Xe (I think that means
triple-speed external--I don't know if there're other differences).

Now normally this wouldn't bother me, except that I then tried to
configure xmcd and when I chose the NEC 510 I couldn't play any CD's; it
would just hang for a while, then timeout.

So, I changed the xmcd configuration to NEC 500 and it then worked.

So now I'm wondering whether there's something strange about this drive:
I got it from an only marginally reputable place, but I opened up the
case and the stickers on the drive definitely say "510" and they're very
clean; I don't think anyone could have moved them.

Should I care?  Does this matter?  Is this a known anomaly with NEC
and/or PAS16 SCSI?

Thanks,
--
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 Senior Software Engineer                                   Bay Networks, Inc.
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 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist
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     These are my opinions--Bay Networks takes no responsibility for them.

The NEC 3xi (with the rotating doors and the caddy) is the CDR-500,
that is the version the BIOS reports from the CD-ROM. The NEC CD-ROM drive
you have is the CDR-510, which is the OEM version of the CDR-500, the two drives
are mechanically identical, although they share some external differences.
From the software point of view there is no difference between the CDR-500 and the
CDR-510.

FYI, The external 3xe is the CDR-600,and the 3xp is the CDR-400.