[gentoo-user] oxford vs prolific vs other firewire chipsets

[gentoo-user] oxford vs prolific vs other firewire chipsets

[Iain Buchanan]

(A little OT, but hey, I use gentoo :)

I am looking for a recommendation for a usb 2 and firewire 2.5 inch
external case.

I heard that there are problems with the prolific firewire chipset, a
friend had one that wiped the partition table every time he plugged it
into his PC's firewire port! (same device worked ok with usb).

I've also heard that the oxford chipset is good + fast.

I am looking for something that will be able to push as much data from
my 2.5in 60Gb 5400rpm laptop HD as possible.  I'm replacing it with a
larger HD so I want to use the storage in a reasonable manner.

I appreciate your suggestions, especially if you're using a particular
device already.

Thanks,
-- 
Iain Buchanan <iaindb@netspace.net.au>

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Re: [gentoo-user] oxford vs prolific vs other firewire chipsets

[Benjamin Fritzsche]

On Monday 14 November 2005 08:31, Iain Buchanan wrote:
> (A little OT, but hey, I use gentoo :)
>
> I am looking for a recommendation for a usb 2 and firewire 2.5 inch
> external case.
>
> I heard that there are problems with the prolific firewire chipset, a
> friend had one that wiped the partition table every time he plugged it
> into his PC's firewire port! (same device worked ok with usb).
>
> I've also heard that the oxford chipset is good + fast.
>
> I am looking for something that will be able to push as much data from
> my 2.5in 60Gb 5400rpm laptop HD as possible.  I'm replacing it with a
> larger HD so I want to use the storage in a reasonable manner.
>
> I appreciate your suggestions, especially if you're using a particular
> device already.
>
> Thanks,
> --
> Iain Buchanan <iaindb@netspace.net.au>


My Experience: get one with an oxford chip, you'll have less trouble.

I've got a noname enclosure with a prolific chip and had my partition table 
wiped a few times. 
It is now running stable, but only if you load the sbp2 module with 
serialize_io=1. (Wich is the default since 2.6.14)
Since I figured that out i've had no problems with the device. also make sure 
to get the latest firmware if you do go for prolific. you can get it for 
their homepage somewhere and flash it using a windows box and usb.

So: Prolofic devices can be made to run stable but i've heard of no problems 
with oxford chips.
unless you get a prolific really cheap go for oxford.

greets Benny
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