🚀 go-pugleaf

In <DH4qCE.ADr@RnA.NL> Gerben_Wierda@RnA.NL says

> Problems:
> 
> 	I have so far been unable to install OS/2 Warp Connect onto it.  
> Whatever I do, the installation somewhere locks up either with a 'not ready  
> SYS000039' problem on the CD or a 'drive not functioning SYS000049' problem on  
> the HD. The problem appears at the first or second file the installation wants  
> to write to the disk when I use HPFS file system, and somewhere during disk 3,  
> 4, 5 or 6 (this is virtual of course, I am installing from CD) while using FAT.  
> Of course, I have replace aic7800.add from disk #1 by the one from  
> ftp.adaptec.com. A 'retry' will get me a bit further under FAT, but at some  
> moment the light of the drive will burn permanently and nothing works anymore.
> 
> 	But even most of the times a WinNT install will hang while writing  
> something to the disk. I haven't installed aic78xx.sys from ftp.adaptec.com.
> 
> 	I get the feeling something is wrong with my SCSI/Adaptec setup. But  
> (complication) I seem to have lost my Adaptec disk #1 and the Adaptec user  
> manual (I do have 2 books and 2 disks, which means I am short of one book and  
> one disk). I have the CD-ROM at the end of the chain with termination enabled.  
> I have termination enabled on the card also. Whe I have seen problems, I can  
> reset, and sometimes the card won't show the HP drive.
> 
> 	What I'd really like to know is:
> 
> a) How can I test my setup, e.g. under DOS?
> b) What is a 'normally to succeed' working setup for this combination? What  
> about the BIOS settings on DOS drives >1G? 

I have a somewhat similar setup (Micronics system board, different number
of drives, and internal external), but your problems are the classic
symptoms of bad termination.  The AHA-2940 is ____****EXTREMELY****____
finicky about having that spot on.  I have been using SCSI since 1989, but
most of that was with an AHA-1542B.  When I moved to the AHA-2940 earlier
this year, it was like starting over learning from scratch.  You MUST have
perfect cables and terminations.  It is a great card, but it is fussy.
Asd Warp was the real killer - installing it seems to be a very severe
trial of the drive.  I have have been using OS/2 since 1.3 and other than
the buggy driver that Adaptec shipped with the first copies of 2.0, I
never had a problem until I tried to reinstall with my spanking new
AHA-2940 when I got the new machine in May.  Check your cables and
terminations and then check them again (and again).  They have to be
perfect. 

As to testing, I think that this is sort of like memory - there is no way
other than regular usage.  If it fails in that, then you have a problem
and only that exercise will show it to you and then tracking it down is
usually just educated guess-work and trial and error.  Sorry, but I do not
think that there is any other way.

Harvey

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Harvey Fishman   |   It is easy to live by the laws that you agree with.
fishman@panix.com |          But being law-abiding means obeying
  718-258-7276    |        even the ones that you think are wrong.


                                                

In article <DH4qCE.ADr@RnA.NL> Gerben_Wierda@RnA.NL writes:

There were two problems here, The first was SCSI-trouble. This has been solved.  
And now Windows/NT installs and runs perfectly.

What remains is the OS/2 Warp Connect install problem. It looks like timing  
problems on the SCSI bus. I might try running my board without L1 L2 and at  
75MHz instead of 90MHz. Maybe that helps. All tips to get 

>1) TMC PCI (Triton) Motherboard PCI45IT 1.00 with 256 k pipelined burst 
> cache, Award BIOS 4.50PG, Award PnP extensions 1.0a, 32MB RAM, Pentium 90
>2) Adaptec 2940 Fast SCSI (not wide), terminated
>	a) SCSI ID #0: HP 3725S 2.4GB (raw) SCSI disk
>	b) SCSI ID #2: Toshiba 3601 quadspeed CD-ROM, terminated
>3) Teac floppy drive
>4) Diamond Stealth Video 4MB VRAM (3400)

working are very welcome. I do have the latest aic7870.add driver on my disk  
#1.

Thanks,

-- 
Gerben_Wierda@RnA.nl (Gerben Wierda) NEXTSTEP RD242
"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there"
Paraphrased in Alice in Wonderland, originally from the Talmud.

In article <46tglp$a1c@panix.com>, fishman@panix.com (Harvey Fishman) says:
>
>I have a somewhat similar setup (Micronics system board, different number
>of drives, and internal external), but your problems are the classic
>symptoms of bad termination.  The AHA-2940 is ____****EXTREMELY****____
>finicky about having that spot on.  I have been using SCSI since 1989, but
>most of that was with an AHA-1542B.  When I moved to the AHA-2940 earlier
>this year, it was like starting over learning from scratch.  You MUST have
>perfect cables and terminations.  It is a great card, but it is fussy.

Grumble-fritz...  I'm having trouble with a 2940 in a new Endeavor
Pentium 133 under WinNT 3.51.

Everything appears to be fine except for random
"bad data" errors when backing-up to an external Exabyte 8500,
but it's also reported that it couldn't read from internal
hard disks when backing-up, too; and WinNT nicely took the
drive offline and kept running.

I've double-checked the termination resistors on the three
internal HDs and one internal CDROM.  With any external
device, either the 8500 or a Sony 920 CD-R, I have to set
the Ctrl/A adapter termination the *wrong* way (termination on)
for the system to boot...  otherwise it hangs after the boot-up
SCSI bus scan.

The external 8500 is on a short 3 foot external cable, 
my only theory is that the internal ribbon may be a bit long..

Does any of this ring a bell?  I think I'll invest in a
nice SCSI-view cable, and active terminators...

How can I check the version number of the Adaptec's driver,
and how can I get an update?

- John

In <47875u$3fb@homer.alpha.net> syndesis@beta.inc.net (John Foust) says

> The external 8500 is on a short 3 foot external cable, 
> my only theory is that the internal ribbon may be a bit long..

It is my experience that internal ribbon cables are RARELY a problem
provided that you have some kind of terminator at each end.  After all
they have reasonably controlled impedances, no inline transitions to cause
echos, only vampire taps, and any problems are visually obvious.  External
cables, on the other hand, are a bucket of slimy worms.  You cannot see
the filth that festers in the middle and you must depend upon the assumed
integrity of the (unknown) manufacturer for a reasonable product.  Each
serial device in the chain is a potential minefield of discontinuities
with two connectors and the Lord only knows what else.  I have often
thought that the only reasonable way to do things is to use a single
ribbon cable throughout the entire system, snaking it in and out of boxes
to the AmpModu connectors on each device.
 
> Does any of this ring a bell?  I think I'll invest in a
> nice SCSI-view cable, and active terminators...

Buy a GOOD cable from REPUTABLE vendor and be prepared to pay $$$ for it.
I hear good things about Granite Digital and Amphenol, but neither is
cheap.  But then, how much is your time spent fighting this worth?

> How can I check the version number of the Adaptec's driver,
> and how can I get an update?

I assume that you mean the BIOS...the number comes up on your screen at
every boot.  The ROM image for Version 1.6 of this is available at
ftp.adaptec.com if you have access to a PROM programmer.  I have heard
that Adaptec will ship you a new PROM for something less than $20 if you
call them.  I have always importuned a friend to program PROMs for me from
images that I have downloaded.

Harvey

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Harvey Fishman   |   It is easy to live by the laws that you agree with.
fishman@panix.com |          But being law-abiding means obeying
  718-258-7276    |        even the ones that you think are wrong.
      

In article <479h5m$nbf@panix.com>, fishman@panix.com (Harvey Fishman) says:
>
>> Does any of this ring a bell?  I think I'll invest in a
>> nice SCSI-view cable, and active terminators...
>
>Buy a GOOD cable from REPUTABLE vendor and be prepared to pay $$$ for it.
>I hear good things about Granite Digital and Amphenol, but neither is
>cheap.  But then, how much is your time spent fighting this worth?

Yes, I was on the phone with Granite Digital yesterday, and the
best price for their stuff is currently through MacMall.  I don't
mind spending money on good things, that's not the problem.

The cable I have now was working fine with the same internal
and external devices on a 486/66 with an Adaptec 2842.
I literally moved all the devices from that machine to this
Pentium 133 with its 2940 PCI, same IDs, same terminations.

- John

In <47875u$3fb@homer.alpha.net>, syndesis@beta.inc.net (John Foust) writes:
>In article <46tglp$a1c@panix.com>, fishman@panix.com (Harvey Fishman) says:
>>
>>I have a somewhat similar setup (Micronics system board, different number
>>of drives, and internal external), but your problems are the classic
>>symptoms of bad termination.  The AHA-2940 is ____****EXTREMELY****____
>>finicky about having that spot on.  I have been using SCSI since 1989, but
>>most of that was with an AHA-1542B.  When I moved to the AHA-2940 earlier
>>this year, it was like starting over learning from scratch.  You MUST have
>>perfect cables and terminations.  It is a great card, but it is fussy.
>
>Grumble-fritz...  I'm having trouble with a 2940 in a new Endeavor
>Pentium 133 under WinNT 3.51.
>
>Everything appears to be fine except for random
>"bad data" errors when backing-up to an external Exabyte 8500,
>but it's also reported that it couldn't read from internal
>hard disks when backing-up, too; and WinNT nicely took the
>drive offline and kept running.
>
>I've double-checked the termination resistors on the three
>internal HDs and one internal CDROM.  With any external
>device, either the 8500 or a Sony 920 CD-R, I have to set
>the Ctrl/A adapter termination the *wrong* way (termination on)
>for the system to boot...  otherwise it hangs after the boot-up
>SCSI bus scan.
>
>The external 8500 is on a short 3 foot external cable, 
>my only theory is that the internal ribbon may be a bit long..
>
>Does any of this ring a bell?  I think I'll invest in a
>nice SCSI-view cable, and active terminators...
>
>How can I check the version number of the Adaptec's driver,
>and how can I get an update?
>
>- John

I've had similar problems with an older hp hard disk.  It turns out
that many scsi devices don't handle disconnect very well.  My
solution was to disable disconnect and everything started working
great.

Joe

In article <47bhp3$or7@homer.alpha.net> syndesis@beta.inc.net (John Foust) writes:


Just a quick WARNING

   GOOD CABLES BRING OUT THE WORST IN YOUR DEVICES

I upgraded my scsi cable to a granite digital w/active termination and 
my system went from unstable to really unstable.  I've been working with the
granite digital folks to help me identify and solve the problems.

It seems that the cable is so good (especially the active termination) and
the adaptec 2940 is so sensitive that
it allows a bad scsi device to interject noise on the cable when the cheap
cable seemed to damper most of the noise.  i.e., a great cable may bring
out the worst in your devices.  However, this is what I wanted - find the 
device and dump it.   

BTW - when my system is running good its
a little faster with the better cable.

I think I have identified my problem down to a Maynard 4 MM tape drive.
Took it off-line and have been running disk intensive apps for 15 hours or
so with no blue screens of death.  (this is a record).  

Good Luck

Eric P
efp@etechinc.com
------------------------------------------

>In article <479h5m$nbf@panix.com>, fishman@panix.com (Harvey Fishman) says:
>>
>>> Does any of this ring a bell?  I think I'll invest in a
>>> nice SCSI-view cable, and active terminators...
>>
>>Buy a GOOD cable from REPUTABLE vendor and be prepared to pay $$$ for it.
>>I hear good things about Granite Digital and Amphenol, but neither is
>>cheap.  But then, how much is your time spent fighting this worth?

>Yes, I was on the phone with Granite Digital yesterday, and the
>best price for their stuff is currently through MacMall.  I don't
>mind spending money on good things, that's not the problem.

>The cable I have now was working fine with the same internal
>and external devices on a 486/66 with an Adaptec 2842.
>I literally moved all the devices from that machine to this
>Pentium 133 with its 2940 PCI, same IDs, same terminations.

>- John