For plain HDD under DOS you shouldn't need any drivers, the card's BIOS should take care of HDD access. CD-ROM is a different matter, you will need ASPI-compatible drivers for that.

I was looking for "ncr5380 dos" and couldn't find anything about drivers (I did tangentially come across this interesting project based on the 5380 https://hackaday.io/project/18974-tiny-scsi-emulator SCSI emulator based on an ARM board and the 5380)

dionb wrote on 2018-08-29, 18:51:

For some months now I've had an ancient 1986-era ASC-88 8b SCSI controller knocking around in the bottom of my 'to-do' box. Now I have an XT-class machine (Olivetti M24) I've decided to see what this device can do. I've been testing on a 486 system.

Hi,

A bit late, but... still around?

I have some news on this card..

--Fred

waltje wrote on 2020-12-18, 23:45:

Hi, […]
Show full quote

dionb wrote on 2018-08-29, 18:51:

For some months now I've had an ancient 1986-era ASC-88 8b SCSI controller knocking around in the bottom of my 'to-do' box. Now I have an XT-class machine (Olivetti M24) I've decided to see what this device can do. I've been testing on a 486 system.

Hi,

A bit late, but... still around?

I have some news on this card..

--Fred

Post away anyway Fred. I'm sure other members will find the info interesting.

Caluser2000 wrote on 2020-12-18, 23:52:

waltje wrote on 2020-12-18, 23:45:

Hi, A bit late, but... still around? I have some news on this card.. […]
Show full quote

dionb wrote on 2018-08-29, 18:51:

For some months now I've had an ancient 1986-era ASC-88 8b SCSI controller knocking around in the bottom of my 'to-do' box. Now I have an XT-class machine (Olivetti M24) I've decided to see what this device can do. I've been testing on a 486 system.

Hi,
A bit late, but... still around?
I have some news on this card..

--Fred

Post away anyway Fred. I'm sure other members will find the info interesting.

Yes please post any info you have.
Have a few old 8bit NCR based SCSI cards and the 53c400 is based on same 53c80 core logic. So for DOS purposes the very old drivers for a 53c400 might work with a 53c80.

Horun wrote on 2020-12-19, 00:06:

Yes please post any info you have.
Have a few old 8bit NCR based SCSI cards and the 53c400 is based on same 53c80 core logic. So for DOS purposes the very old drivers for a 53c400 might work with a 53c80.

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up
the SCSI layer recently. Implemented are several 5380/c80/c400/c400a cards, including the ASC-88
mentioned in the initial post.

That said.. I am looking for someone who has the actual card, preferrably in a working PC, so I can send
him/her a (DOS) tool I am writing that will eventually be able to replace the ASC_MODE.EXE program,
which is the card's configurator. Before we can do that, however, I have to be able to get my hands on
the contents of the EEPROM on that card, and my tool also supports copying that out to a file. Once
we habe that data, I can analyze it and implement the remainder.

I think it's safe to assume all its original software-and-docs have been lost to time.

Thanks!

waltje wrote on 2020-12-19, 04:54:

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up the SCSI layer recently. Im […]
Show full quote

Horun wrote on 2020-12-19, 00:06:

Yes please post any info you have.
Have a few old 8bit NCR based SCSI cards and the 53c400 is based on same 53c80 core logic. So for DOS purposes the very old drivers for a 53c400 might work with a 53c80.

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up
the SCSI layer recently. Implemented are several 5380/c80/c400/c400a cards, including the ASC-88
mentioned in the initial post.

That said.. I am looking for someone who has the actual card, preferrably in a working PC, so I can send
him/her a (DOS) tool I am writing that will eventually be able to replace the ASC_MODE.EXE program,
which is the card's configurator. Before we can do that, however, I have to be able to get my hands on
the contents of the EEPROM on that card, and my tool also supports copying that out to a file. Once
we habe that data, I can analyze it and implement the remainder.

I think it's safe to assume all its original software-and-docs have been lost to time.

Thanks!

Right. Will dig deep down in my "never managed to fix this" pile to see if I can still find the card. If I still have it (and can find it), I'll rip the contents of the EPROM and get it to you.

dionb wrote on 2020-12-19, 13:07:

waltje wrote on 2020-12-19, 04:54:

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up the SCSI layer recently. Im […]
Show full quote

Horun wrote on 2020-12-19, 00:06:

Yes please post any info you have.
Have a few old 8bit NCR based SCSI cards and the 53c400 is based on same 53c80 core logic. So for DOS purposes the very old drivers for a 53c400 might work with a 53c80.

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up
the SCSI layer recently. Implemented are several 5380/c80/c400/c400a cards, including the ASC-88
mentioned in the initial post.

That said.. I am looking for someone who has the actual card, preferrably in a working PC, so I can send
him/her a (DOS) tool I am writing that will eventually be able to replace the ASC_MODE.EXE program,
which is the card's configurator. Before we can do that, however, I have to be able to get my hands on
the contents of the EEPROM on that card, and my tool also supports copying that out to a file. Once
we habe that data, I can analyze it and implement the remainder.

I think it's safe to assume all its original software-and-docs have been lost to time.

Thanks!

Right. Will dig deep down in my "never managed to fix this" pile to see if I can still find the card. If I still have it (and can find it), I'll rip the contents of the EPROM and get it to you.

I have a NEC Trantor T128 with Zilog version of the NCR 5380 (Z0538010PSC 9101) that worked last time tested. It has the NEC Trantor BIOS v1.12, will that be of any value ?

Horun wrote on 2020-12-19, 16:17:

I have a NEC Trantor T128 with Zilog version of the NCR 5380 (Z0538010PSC 9101) that worked last time tested. It has the NEC Trantor BIOS v1.12, will that be of any value ?

Yep !

Without saved BIOSes, these cards can never be emulated, or, preserved for the future !

--Fred

dionb wrote on 2020-12-19, 13:07:

Right. Will dig deep down in my "never managed to fix this" pile to see if I can still find the card. If I still have it (and can find it), I'll rip the contents of the EPROM and get it to you.

Awesome!

However, what I need *most* from the card is the contents of its EEPROM.

It would be great if you could stick the card into a working ISA machine, and run the DOS tool I am writing to
handle dumping of both its BIOS, as well as its EEPROM..

--Fred

Progress made. Weekends are great :

https://imgur.com/a/2dlX1ZP

(I don't know how to add pictures to posts here..)

waltje wrote on 2020-12-19, 23:49:

Progress made. Weekends are great :

https://imgur.com/a/2dlX1ZP

(I don't know how to add pictures to posts here..)

Great ! to add a picture here click the full editor then click attachments below the text box. Try to keep the images below 1Mb each.
Here is the Trantor T128 BIOS v1.12, the Zilog 5380 datasheet, the EPROM data sheet and a picture+text all in one zip.

dionb wrote on 2020-12-19, 13:07:

waltje wrote on 2020-12-19, 04:54:

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up the SCSI layer recently. Im […]
Show full quote

Horun wrote on 2020-12-19, 00:06:

Yes please post any info you have.
Have a few old 8bit NCR based SCSI cards and the 53c400 is based on same 53c80 core logic. So for DOS purposes the very old drivers for a 53c400 might work with a 53c80.

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up
the SCSI layer recently. Implemented are several 5380/c80/c400/c400a cards, including the ASC-88
mentioned in the initial post.

That said.. I am looking for someone who has the actual card, preferrably in a working PC, so I can send
him/her a (DOS) tool I am writing that will eventually be able to replace the ASC_MODE.EXE program,
which is the card's configurator. Before we can do that, however, I have to be able to get my hands on
the contents of the EEPROM on that card, and my tool also supports copying that out to a file. Once
we habe that data, I can analyze it and implement the remainder.

I think it's safe to assume all its original software-and-docs have been lost to time.

Thanks!

Right. Will dig deep down in my "never managed to fix this" pile to see if I can still find the card. If I still have it (and can find it), I'll rip the contents of the EPROM and get it to you.

If you find it can you post a picture of it ? Looked around but could not find one.
Found the Scsiworks v1.2 package (for DOS, OS2, NT) and it supports the Trantor T128 based on same 5380 chip as ASC-88 so it's drivers may work ok for your card.
Will up them to the Library.

dionb wrote on 2020-12-19, 13:07:

waltje wrote on 2020-12-19, 04:54:

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up the SCSI layer recently. Im […]
Show full quote

Horun wrote on 2020-12-19, 00:06:

Yes please post any info you have.
Have a few old 8bit NCR based SCSI cards and the 53c400 is based on same 53c80 core logic. So for DOS purposes the very old drivers for a 53c400 might work with a 53c80.

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up
the SCSI layer recently. Implemented are several 5380/c80/c400/c400a cards, including the ASC-88
mentioned in the initial post.

That said.. I am looking for someone who has the actual card, preferrably in a working PC, so I can send
him/her a (DOS) tool I am writing that will eventually be able to replace the ASC_MODE.EXE program,
which is the card's configurator. Before we can do that, however, I have to be able to get my hands on
the contents of the EEPROM on that card, and my tool also supports copying that out to a file. Once
we habe that data, I can analyze it and implement the remainder.

I think it's safe to assume all its original software-and-docs have been lost to time.

Thanks!

Right. Will dig deep down in my "never managed to fix this" pile to see if I can still find the card. If I still have it (and can find it), I'll rip the contents of the EPROM and get it to you.

Did you ever find anything in the pile?

--Fred

waltje wrote on 2021-03-09, 07:07:

dionb wrote on 2020-12-19, 13:07:

waltje wrote on 2020-12-19, 04:54:

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up the SCSI layer recently. Im […]
Show full quote

Well, I am the lead dev of a PC Systems Emulator (www.varcem.com), and I have been busy cleaning up
the SCSI layer recently. Implemented are several 5380/c80/c400/c400a cards, including the ASC-88
mentioned in the initial post.

That said.. I am looking for someone who has the actual card, preferrably in a working PC, so I can send
him/her a (DOS) tool I am writing that will eventually be able to replace the ASC_MODE.EXE program,
which is the card's configurator. Before we can do that, however, I have to be able to get my hands on
the contents of the EEPROM on that card, and my tool also supports copying that out to a file. Once
we habe that data, I can analyze it and implement the remainder.

I think it's safe to assume all its original software-and-docs have been lost to time.

Thanks!

Right. Will dig deep down in my "never managed to fix this" pile to see if I can still find the card. If I still have it (and can find it), I'll rip the contents of the EPROM and get it to you.

Did you ever find anything in the pile?

--Fred

Unfortunately not. I'll take another look this evening, I found another pile I'd forgotten about...

dionb wrote on 2021-03-09, 12:10:

waltje wrote on 2021-03-09, 07:07:

dionb wrote on 2020-12-19, 13:07:

Right. Will dig deep down in my "never managed to fix this" pile to see if I can still find the card. If I still have it (and can find it), I'll rip the contents of the EPROM and get it to you.

Did you ever find anything in the pile?

--Fred

Unfortunately not. I'll take another look this evening, I found another pile I'd forgotten about...

*keeps fingers crossed*

Nope, afraid this card is most definitely AWOL. It's probably still in the room *somewhere*, but not anywhere I can find. Sorry.

Not sure if you are still interested in playing with this technology, but the ASC-88 card is one that I used a lot and I wrote quite a lot of software for.

My job at the time was tech support for a tape drive company called Exabyte. They standardized on the ASC-88 for customer diagnostics. I wrote the Expert 7 tape diagnostics for this.
As the ASC-88 was a bit hard to find and people standardized on Adaptec (1542 mainly), I wrote a TSR in x86 assembly that emulates the ASC-88 card on an ASPI driver. So if you want to feel the pain of the ASC-88 and still have a DOS ASPI-compatible card then I'm sure I can get you that TSR. Just send me a note

Cheers,
Rob