Thread View: comp.os.netware.misc
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3 total messages
Started by Peter Dwyer
Sun, 04 Feb 1996 00:00
SCSI drives & VL bus servers
Author: Peter Dwyer
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 1996 00:00
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 1996 00:00
51 lines
3404 bytes
3404 bytes
I have just had a most frustrating day with SCSI controllers and drives whilst trying to add a Plextor quad-speed internal CD ROM to a VLB file NetWare v3.12 server and wonder if there are any SCSI experts out there who can shed some light on why and how I can avoid the problems next time I attempt this task. The server is VLB 486DX2/66 , has AMI BIOS (dated mid-'93), 32 MB RAM, an Olicom 4/16 mbps Token ring card (configured for 4mbps) and a BusLogic BT445S fast SCSI adapter connected to floppy disk and Seagate 2400I SCSI hard drive. The Buslogic card is configured to all defaults except the IO port address which is 230h-233h. They are SCSI ID=7, Parity enabled, DOS space > 1 GB disabled, Synchronous negotiation disabled, max synchronous data rate=5MBps, VL bus clock speed=486DX2/66, I/O port=330h, host BIOS address=DC00h, int=11. First Problem. I tried to add a second SCSI card (Adaptec 2842A). It was configured to defaults initially - the only "conflict" I could see was in the SCSI ID (both 7) but the Adaptec manual said that this did not matter. Everything else (eg. IOBA, int etc) was different. Whatever switch settings I tried, the system failed to recognise the adapter. I removed the Buslogic adapter and the Adaptec was recognised at boot time - however I could not run the Adaptec configuration utility - no matter what settings I tried. The machine just hung whilst booting. Any ideas? Second problem. I decided to try both SCSI devices running off the Buslogic card. I removed the terminating resistors from the Plextor drive and set its SCSI ID to 0 (the Seagate HD is ID 1). During my testing, I also tried the CD Rom as ID's 2 and 4. I connected it "upstream" on the SCSI cable and both devices (HD and CD Rom) were recognised when the machine booted. I have the patches from 312PT6 and CDUP2 loaded and, when I loaded CDROM.NLM, the server hung whilst auto-loading NWPA.NLM. I eventually fired up the server without the patches loaded (ie 3.12 as shipped) and CDROM.NLM loaded but although "CD List Devices" recognised the CD Rom drive, it did not show anything in the CD Rom drive although there was a disk present. I tried several different disks in case one was faulty - but to no avail. An even stranger thing happened. I tried to LOAD INSTALL and the server hung (with and without CDROM.NLM loaded). LOAD EDIT also hung the server. When I removed the CD Rom drive from the server, all worked properly. I had to back out so it was a totally lost Sunday :-( Anyone got any ideas about what may have caused any of these problems? I have little further documentation on the server as it was set up by a cowboy who stuck it all together and then disappeared into the sunset with his money... TIA, Peter Dwyer Continuum, Australia
Re: SCSI drives & VL bus servers
Author: Peter Dwyer
Date: Mon, 05 Feb 1996 00:00
Date: Mon, 05 Feb 1996 00:00
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I've discovered some more information in regard to this problem: "Olicom 4/16 mbps Token ring card (configured for 4mbps)" is actually not an Olicom but a Hypertec Tropic (Australian made) with the settings Port A20, Primary Card Address CC00, Shared RAM (which I was not aware of when working on the server) D800 Int 2. The problem with the server recognising the Adaptec is undoubtably due to the Shared RAM address which is also the Adapter BIOS base address. However, when I changed it to C8000h, D0000h or E000h (the only permissable values), the server didn't recognise the full 32MB at boot time. Therefore I still havce problems with the Adaptec 2842A. The second problem still has me stumped. Peter Dwyer
Re: SCSI drives & VL bus servers
Author: Peter Dwyer
Date: Sun, 11 Feb 1996 00:00
Date: Sun, 11 Feb 1996 00:00
6 lines
772 bytes
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Problem with Buslogic controller resolved. Downloaded NW31X.EXE from Buslogic's WWW site (http://www.buslogic.com/) - and it worked. Thanks to those who replied. Peter Dwyer
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