dbd%benden@lanl.gov (Dan Davison) (06/14/89)
I thought I had gone crazy. I *had* a 753 running in a 3/280, and one day the controller no longer saw the drive, a Fujitsu M2372K, just as Mr. Butt's: Hooking up the cables was a little weird since we had not done it on Micro-SMD devices such as the Xy753 ctlr but other than that it was not particularly difficult. We went with one disk to be safe and thought that our task was done. Power on....controller shows up but no disks....panic. I didn't panic yet. I had another controller too! It was at this time we did the smartest thing of all, namely to call in a hardware type person who came armed with a scope and logic-analyzer. After much logic analysis of the drive we moved our probe to the first diode on the 753which is supposed to be live at -12V. There seemed to be no juice. OH NO!!!! We ripped off the front panel of the Sun and quickly went to work probing its power supply. YEP!! NO -12V DC !!! It had used the +5V to drive its "brains" and had actually come up as a legit device but it needed -12V to control our disks. We changed power supplies and our Sun worked like a champ. Farooq Butt Both our controllers didn't work either... What power supply did you change? Can you supply part numbers, etc? For the record, here's our experience (frighteningly familiar...) Recently, I tried to install a XY753 (3MB/sec version, from Software Associates) in two Sun-3/280s. The first 3/280 was already had a 753, and the only change was to add another drive. The second 3/280 was getting its first 753. It did not go well. Both machines saw their board at the proper address (xdc0 at ... ee80) but the drives attached to the board were not seen. Cables and drives were switched, such that 3 different drives (Fujitsu 2333, 2372, and a Hitachi DK815-10) were sequentially connected to one controller. Three sets of cables were also tried, although probably not in all permutations. Backplane jumpers were repeatedly checked. On one occasion, which was not reproducible, the controller did see the drive in "format" but any attempt to do anything (read the label or find the defect list) there was a error as follows: Block error 0/0/0 : disk sequencer error (that's the approximate, not exact, message) and the operation would abort. What is especially curious is one of these boards *had* been working; CNLS folks borrowed it and didn't report any problems. Also, the other was in a 3/280 *and working*. The only change was to attach the second command cable connector to another drive. Both drives then disappeared (xdc0 at ... ee80 reported, but no xd0 or xd1 reported) and when the initial configuration was restored the controller would *not* see the drive it had been connected to, and working with, for weeks! The jumper settings on the xy753 are fairly straightforward, and both controllers were configured as the first xd controller in their systems (xd0c at ee80). As mentioned, one of these had been working for some 9 months and the only change was to attempt to add a second disk to the controller. We were wearing grounding straps at all times, the machine room itself is temperature- and humidity-controlled, and the machine room floor is very well grounded. Does anyone have any clues as to what would be going on here? Suggestions as to things to test? All machines are running SunOS 4.0.1, and have at least one xy controller already. The machine which *ran* with the xy753 had two 451s in it at the same time. dan davison theoretical biology and biophysics t-10 ms k710 los alamos national laboratory los alamos, nm 87545 USA dd@lanl.gov 505-665-1355
phil@grumpy.cgrg.ohio-state.edu (Phil Ritzenthaler) (06/27/89)
| On one occasion, which was not reproducible, the controller did | see the drive in "format" but any attempt to do anything (read the | label or find the defect list) there was a error as follows: | Block error 0/0/0 : disk sequencer error | (that's the approximate, not exact, message) and the operation would | abort. | | What is especially curious is one of these boards *had* been working; CNLS | folks borrowed it and didn't report any problems. Also, the other was in | a 3/280 *and working*. The only change was to attach the second command | cable connector to another drive. Both drives then disappeared (xdc0 at | ... ee80 reported, but no xd0 or xd1 reported) and when the initial | configuration was restored the controller would *not* see the drive it had | been connected to, and working with, for weeks! | | The jumper settings on the xy753 are fairly straightforward, and both | controllers were configured as the first xd controller in their systems | (xd0c at ee80). As mentioned, one of these had been working for some 9 | months and the only change was to attempt to add a second disk to the | controller. | | We were wearing grounding straps at all times, the machine room itself is | temperature- and humidity-controlled, and the machine room floor is very | well grounded. | | Does anyone have any clues as to what would be going on here? Suggestions | as to things to test? All machines are running SunOS 4.0.1, and have at | least one xy controller already. The machine which *ran* with the xy753 | had two 451s in it at the same time. Boy, does this sound familiar!!!!!!!!! We had the same problems with the 753. We tried different controllers and different 9U/6U adapters. We finally pinned it down to the crazy adapters. Did you try taking off the metal covber plate of the xylogics (the one with the handles), and then place the controller right on the VME bus without the adapter?? When we did this, the controller worked OK. This is what clued us into the adapter. Good luck . . . Phil Ritzenthaler The Advanced Computing Center for the Arts & Design (ACCAD) Systems Manager The Ohio State University UUCP: ...!{pyramid,killer}!grumpy.cgrg.ohio-state.edu!phil ARPA: phil@grumpy.cgrg.ohio-state.edu "Research is the process by which a loose brick is found through pounding one's head against a wall." -- Anonymous
bc@kodak.com (Bob Corwin) (07/13/89)
In article <4140@kalliope.rice.edu> phil@grumpy.cgrg.ohio-state.edu (Phil Ritzenthaler) writes: >X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 8, Issue 53, message 2 of 17 > >| On one occasion, which was not reproducible, the controller did >| see the drive in "format" but any attempt to do anything (read the >| label or find the defect list) there was a error as follows: >| Block error 0/0/0 : disk sequencer error >| (that's the approximate, not exact, message) and the operation would >| abort. >| >| Does anyone have any clues as to what would be going on here? Suggestions >| as to things to test? All machines are running SunOS 4.0.1, and have at >| least one xy controller already. The machine which *ran* with the xy753 >| had two 451s in it at the same time. > I have noted a similar experience when attempting to add a 753 to a 3/260 run- ning 4.0.1. In addition to not seeing the drive (Fujitsu M2382), the controller would occasionally fail initialization. I called CRANEL Incorporated (where the controller & drive came from), and they suggested I move my 753 away from my 451controller (they were in adjacent slots 8&9). This solved my immediate problem. They said that Xylogics has admitted a potential contention problem exists between the 451 & the 753, but that they have been unable to solve the problem. Also, I don't know how the 753 comes packaged from Sun, but the controller adapter I received had no EMI "Fingers" and so adjacent boards/fillers require the plastic sheaths. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Generic Disclaimer Generic Disclaimer Generic Disclaimer Generic Disclaimer Bob Corwin Eastman Kodak (716) 726-5986 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=