[Info-vax] USB disk enclosures

[David Froble]

Steven Schweda wrote:
>> Sure, throw that out there, and then forget to provide some
>> specifics.  Perhaps others might want to try the device. 
> 
>    The point there was that the USB adapter card worked, and
> so the problem was probably in the USB-SATA adapter in the
> external disk enclosure, not in the USB adapter card in the
> system itself.

My intent was that perhaps others might like to know of a USB adapter that 
"appeared" to work with VMS.

>> Note, I don't do USB stuff,
> 
>    So the value of your advice may be how great, exactly?

Probably as good, or bad, as anyone else's when considering the rather minimal 
state of the VMS USB driver, and confusing a driver once it has been initialized 
for a particular device?

>    I do some USB stuff, and my guess is that every instance
> of the USB-SATA adapter presents the same ID info to the
> system, rather than passing along some ID which is based on
> the disk drive which is hiding behind that USB-SATA adapter. 
> Thus, the VMS USB manager (UCM = USB Configuration Manager)
> sees every one of them as the same device.

Yep.  Just what I'd expect from some "quick and dirty" implementation.

>    The closest thing I have to such devices is a WD My Book. 
> Because I have only one of them, and I don't want to lose the
> data thereon, I can't run any useful tests with it.  Perhaps
> a USB-SATA adapter from a different vendor would present a
> different ID from the first type, which would not be as good
> as an ID which depends on the actual disk ID, but might be
> better than a second, twin ID.

Do USB devices even have the concept of unit numbers?