jschober@gnh-starport.cts.com (Joey Schober) (09/06/89)
I've been having some problems of late with my CMS hard disk, and I was
wondering if any of y'all had encountered anything similar. First the hardware
setup: I'm running a IIgs (ROM 01) under P8 1.8 and BASIC.SYSTEM 1.2. The CMS
drive is an SD60 connected to a CMS SCSI II card, dated (if memory serves)
11/87 (that's the sticker on the ROM).
Ok, the problem is: Just about 2 weeks ago, in the middle of the night, my BBS
crashed while a user was uploading a file. I knew I was low on space on /CMS2,
and the file being uploaded would've filled that space, so I just called it a
logic bug in my code. (The drive, BTW, was stuck IN USE -- I came down and hit
RESET [the only way to unlock the system], and did a C0E1:80 from the monitor
to reset the drive...) Turns out that both /CMS and /CMS2 were totally
scrambled -- corrupted blocks and bitmaps, that sort of thing. I recovered
what I could, reformatted both partitions and copied everything back, and
figured it was over with.
Wrong. Now the drive =frequently= locks up during an I/O operation -- the
system just freezes and the drive stays IN USE; heaven only knows what it's
doing. This can happen in any application, P8 or GS/OS (using System Disk
5.0). If it happens during a read, no harm is done; if during a write, I lose
data again. It never did this before, in the 1-yr or so I've had the drive in
24-hour service. I've found that leaving the drive off for a couple hours
seems to make the problem go away for a few days, but then it comes back again.
:((
Anyone have any ideas??
Thanks!
Joseph F. Schober, Sysop, StarPort BBS [703/931-0947 - 3/12/2400 baud]
ProLine.: jschober@gnh-starport ===================
UUCP....: crash!gnh-starport!jschober ALink PE: JSchober
InterNet: jschober@gnh-starport.cts.com C-Serve: 72727,2765
ARPA....: crash!gnh-starport!jschober@nosc.mil ===================
* Sent by StarPort BBS at 9/ 4/89 4:46:53 PMbsherman@ibiza.cs.miami.edu (Bob Sherman) (09/06/89)
re your CMS drive problem. It seems that CMS got some chips in the 11/87 batch (may have been from Mitsubishi, if memory serves correct) that had bad timing problems. They began offering free upgrades to those that had the bad chips last year right about Applefest time (Sept). I remember the time, because I picked up 3 chips from them for our CMS drives at Applefest. So check your main chip on the CMS card, and get the chip makers name from it, then call the CMS technical support folks, or better yet, if you are planning to attend Applefest, bring the card or chip with you, and let them check it out. On the other hand, they will be soon announcing a new chip upgrade to improve operation with the new GSOS, and several other new features, so even if you don't have the chip with the timing problem, you might be interested in upgrading to the new chip (latest date I have seen is 8/89) bsherman@ibiza.cs.miami.edu or bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu bsherman@pro-exchange MCI Mail: BSHERMAN
fadden@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Andy McFadden) (09/09/89)
In article <8909051848.AA24123@trout.nosc.mil> jschober@gnh-starport.cts.com (Joey Schober) writes: >I've been having some problems of late with my CMS hard disk, and I was >wondering if any of y'all had encountered anything similar. A friend of mine did... [clip] > Now the drive =frequently= locks up during an I/O operation -- the >system just freezes and the drive stays IN USE; heaven only knows what it's >doing. This can happen in any application, P8 or GS/OS (using System Disk >5.0). Go back to system 4.0. CMS's card is not compatible with System 5.0; a new one will be released Real Soon Now. >ProLine.: jschober@gnh-starport =================== -- fadden@cory.berkeley.edu (Andy McFadden) ...!ucbvax!cory!fadden
jazzman@claris.com (Sydney R. Polk) (09/09/89)
From article <16978@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, by fadden@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Andy McFadden): > Go back to system 4.0. CMS's card is not compatible with System 5.0; a new > one will be released Real Soon Now. Now wait a minute. We have 8 machines with CMS cards running 5.0. We have the revision "C" ROM SCSI cards, and the only problems we have had are: - Power supplies dying (3 out of 14 drives) - CMS card turns off interrupts and hoses AppleShare automatic startups. We fixed this by putting the GSBug init (debugger from APDA) as the first entry in the System.Setup directory. If there are any more problems, we would certainly run into them around here. -- Syd Polk | Wherever you go, there you are. jazzman@claris.com | Let the music be your light. GO 'STROS! | These opinions are mine. Any resemblence to other GO RICE! | opinions, real or fictitious, is purely coincidence.
bsherman@ibiza.cs.miami.edu (Bob Sherman) (09/13/89)
The CMS does work with 5.0. We are using them on two of our machines. In fact it is currently on the machine as I type this. Yes, it is currently a little slower under 5.0, and has a few tiny problems, but IT WORKS. However CMS has been working on a new chip for their cards with MANY improvements. We have been working with them on a beta test of the chips, and they now seem to look quite good. As of today, CMS told me they expect to announce the new chip at Applefest, and they will be available for reasonable priced purchase from CMS dealers shortly after that. With the NEW chip installed, those with a 60 meg CMS drive will be able to use a full 64 megs on their drive. A 20 meg drive will yeild about 20.75 megs etc. The GSOS thermometer will display correctly and there should be an access speed improvement too. It will almost make your computer think you have an Apple card installed. It will also fix several other small problems, so hang in there, there is no reason to dump your CMS cards. bsherman@ibiza.cs.miami.edu or bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu bsherman@pro-exchange MCI Mail: BSHERMAN
bobl@pro-graphics.cts.com (System Administrator) (09/18/89)
Network Comment: to #2753 by umigw!ibiza!bsherman@handies.ucar.edu
>From what I understand, the new ROM chip for the CMS cards will also not allow
users to hook multiple cpu's to a single drive. No longer will you have to
use the jumpers on the card to configure the card. Software switches will be
the way to configure the card.
I, for one, will miss the multiple CPU on a shared drive feature and I don't
know if getting the new ROM chip is worth losing this feature.
-- Bob
_________________________ Pro-Graphics 201/469-0049 __________________________
UUCP: crash!pro-graphics!bobl | ProLine: bobl@pro-graphics
InterNet: crash!bobl@pro-graphics.cts.com | CServe: 70347,2344
ARPA/DDN: crash!pro-graphics!bobl@nosc.mil | AppleLink: Graphics3D
___________ ____________
Raven Enterprises - 25 Raven Ave. Piscataway, NJ 08854