slug stuff

[barmar@THINK.COM]

    Date: Mon, 31 Jul 89 15:19:34 -0700
    From: bruno@oz.geo.washington.edu (Steve Willis)

    so there is a slug mailling list??  How do i get on it, 

Send mail to slug-request@warbucks.ai.sri.com, just like any other mailing list.

							    and what
    kind of stuff is on it.  Lots of neat hacks etc.  

Mostly discussions among SLUG members ("has anyone seen the following problem and know how to
fix it?", "am I the only one who can't get a working IFU kit?", "has anyone ported Adventure to
Genera?"), and announcements of interest to SLUG members (Symbolics sends a copy of all their
press releases to the mailing list; early announcements about the SLUG annual conference are
sent here).  Not too many "neat hacks" fly by, but they're not excluded.

						      We are interested
    in adding additional disk drives to our symbolics without paying
    them an arm and a leg.  What needs to be done to do this?? Does it
    involve the infamous breath of life tape that sym. guards with their
    life??   Any hints, ideas, etc appreciated.

No, it involves creating an IFS tape (the BOL tape is used for booting a machine that has no
disk containing flods, but you can format and populate a disk from a different machine).  This
tape must be customized for each disk drive, since it includes the list of bad blocks.  You
might try talking to your sales rep about getting a copy of the "Disk Tools", which contains the
software used to create IFS tapes.  You then have to type in a file with the list of bad blocks
(the disk should come with a printed copy of it) and use the software to create the tape.  The
rest of the procedure for formatting a disk is documented.