hawk@pnet01.cts.com (John Anderson) (12/31/90)
Does anybody know what the external SCSI connector line 25 "TPWR" is supposed to connect to? The other lines are esasy to figure what they connect to when going to a 50 pin connector, but line 25 has me stumped. What does it connect to and what is it for. Thanks for any help.
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (01/01/91)
hawk@pnet01.cts.com (John Anderson) in <6630@crash.cts.com> asks: Does anybody know what the external SCSI connector line 25 "TPWR" is supposed to connect to? The other lines are esasy to figure what they connect to when going to a 50 pin connector, but line 25 has me stumped. What does it connect to and what is it for. Thanks for any help. "TPWR" stands for Terminator Power, and is the +5 VDC point to which the termination resistor packs are pulled up. And the pin is 26 (NOT 25!) At each end of a SCSI bus, and ONLY at each end (for a total of two (2)), the bus needs to be "terminated" with pull-ups and pull-downs. For each data and control signal, the termination at each end of the bus is: +5 +5 V V | | X X X 220 Ohms X 220 Ohms X X | | +----------- ....(signal/data line).... --------+ | | X X X 330 Ohms X 330 Ohms X X __|___ __|___ / / / / / / Usually, a SCSI host adapter (e.g. Supra, GVP, A2091, etc.) will have the termination on-board, and SCSI peripherals are shipped each with its own terminator resistor pack(s) which need to be removed except for the LAST device daisy-chained on the bus. What I do is remove all devices' packs and use an external terminator that plugs directly onto one of the two 50-pin Centronics-style connectors on an external "shoebox" case; these external terminators are made by numerous companies and will cost approx. $10 if you buy smartly or $50 if you buy stupidly (Apple accessories). Now, the problem is to get the +5 VDC to the terminator(s) whereever they are. For the SCSI host adapter, power to its terminator is usually supplied and kept on-board. For SCSI peripherals, I've seen many permutations: (1) some supply +5 to their on-board terminators, (2) some supply a jumpered +5 to their on-board terminators, (3) some supply +5 through a diode to their on-board terminators (OBT), (4) some supply a jumpered +5 through a diode to their OBT, (5) some do (2) and supply +5 to SCSI pin 26 (6) some do (2) and supply a jumpered +5 to SCSI pin 26, (7) etc etc etc etc etc Point being, you NEED the specific peripheral's OEM or installation manual to understand how THAT peripheral handles pin 26. Some manufacturers do it "correctly" and some don't. It's my opinion that a device with both a diode-fed +5 and jumper selections is the safest; just imagine what happens when multiple devices all attempt to assert their +5 onto the bus. What I do (and I run a single-ended SCSI bus to the full limit of the specs: 20 feet) is remove ALL terminators and jumpers from all peripherals, have my host adapter supply the +5 VDC on pin 26, and have an external terminator pack at the last device. I showed a picture of this setup at a recent FAUG meeting when I gave a mini-talk about hard disks; this is the same setup I described earlier in this newgroup as staying up 6+ months at a time, etc etc etc and on which I have a LOT of SCSI peripherals. Enclosed is an extract of some material I posted back in 1988 and 1989; hope it proves useful. Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ] -------------------- begin enclosed material -------------------- Perhaps now is the time to briefly describe a SCSI bus. Consider the following (rough) illustration of a fully-configured (and loaded!) bus: Interface Devices whose LUNs are: +----------++-----------+ | Your || SCSI host | SCSI +-----+ +---+ +---+ | Computer || Adaptor |==========::=|SID=6|-----| 0 |--- ... ---| 7 | | (Amiga!) ||SID=7,LUN=0| BUS || +-----+ +---+ +---+ +----------++-----------+ || || +-----+ +---+ +---+ ::=|SID=5|-----| 0 |--- ... ---| 7 | || +-----+ +---+ +---+ where: .. .. SID = SCSI ID [0..7] .. LUN = Local Unit Number [0..7] || +-----+ +---+ +---+ ::=|SID=0|-----| 0 |--- ... ---| 7 | || +-----+ +---+ +---+ || -/\/\/\- Bus Termination Given the proper interface at each SCSI ID, one could place up to, say, 8 disk drives on it, and with 7 interfaces, one could have, say, 56 disk drives on one's bus. This is what the SCSI bus and its specs permit. [...] 3) Another set of potential problems concerns an improperly terminated SCSI bus , miswired cabling, and/or mis- or non-use of the SCSI terminator power line on the bus. SCSI bus wire 26 has been perverted by many manufacturers and users, and others have "done" non-standard things with other "undefined" SCS I bus wires. In a previous posting, I've detailed the SCSI bus lines that one should be SURE are not connected (improperly). I think this was also reprinted in one of the Amiga-related magazines, but I haven't seen it. In any event, among the mis-wiring offenders I've seen are included Supra, Seagate, Apple, etc. And a lot of "Apple" 3rd party disk subsystem assembl y houses really screw the bus by having too long a "stub" off the bus (spec is 10cm MAX, and I've seen up to 40cm; sheesh!). 4) And a BIG problem with using Maxtor drives is the use of an inadequate power supply. These mongo drives require tremendous startup-surge capabilit y AND very clean power during operation. Doug should look at both the +5 and +12 VDC lines on a 'scope while powering-up and running the drive. [...] -------------------- end enclosed material --------------------
ccplumb@spurge.uwaterloo.ca (Colin Plumb) (01/03/91)
In article <6630@crash.cts.com> hawk@pnet01.cts.com (John Anderson) writes: > > Does anybody know what the external SCSI connector line 25 "TPWR" is >supposed to connect to? The other lines are esasy to figure what they connect >to when going to a 50 pin connector, but line 25 has me stumped. What does it >connect to and what is it for. Thanks for any help. It sounds like terminator power (TERMPWR in the SCSI-1 and SCSI-2 standards). I think it's pin 25, with 26 being the only even-numbered line in a 50-pin connector that's not ground. It's no connect, so you won't short the terminator power to ground if you plug the connector in backwards. I may have even/odd mixed up, but it's the middle pair of pins. -- -Colin
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (01/04/91)
Some people have asked where to get the external SCSI terminators I recently
mentioned ("...$10 if you buy smartly or $50 if you buy stupidly (Apple ...").
If you're in Silicon Valley, HSC (aka Halted Specialties) in Santa Clara just
off Kifer (from Lawrence) and bordering Central Expressway has them for $9.95.
As you enter HSC they are in boxes along the left side of the entrance
hallway.
Mail/phone orders outside California:
800/442-5833 <==> 800/4-HALTED
Santa Clara CA 408/732-1573
Sacramento CA 916/338-2545
Santa Rosa CA 707/792-2277
I've only been to the Santa Clara store, and that's where I saw the
terminators; I'm holding one right now and it's only slightly larger
than the 50-pin Centronics, is sort of a light beige color, made by
Amphenol, and is marked:
200-IS000-05000
SCSI SINGLE ENDED
in case you have to describe the part to the phone people. They still
had them Monday when I last stopped by there.
Thad
Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]