djh@neuromancer.metaphor.com (Dallas J. Hodgson) (07/21/90)
I recently decided to put the 30MB Seagate SCSI drive I was using in my A-1000 inside my A-3000 for a whopping 70MB total. The internal 40MB Quantum is reported by the HD Toolbox as residing at SCSI address 0, and the Seagate at SCSI address 6. The HD Toolbox was not successful at low-level formatting the Seagate; it would lock up. That's OK, it was already prepped anyway, I just wanted to be complete. I successfully used Change Drive Type to read the manufacturer's information off the disk, and created a new Drive Type. Using this information, I partitioned the drive (1 big partition) and saved all changes to disk. <REBOOT> NOW I have a working SDH1:, recognized by AmigaDOS. Next, I formatted it like so: "FORMAT DRIVE SDH1: NAME Seagate FFS" and all is OK. The drive works fine! I reboot all day and it works. THE PROBLEM WHEN THE POWER IS TURNED OFF! When the A-3000 is again brought to life, AmigaDOS no longer sees SDH1:; the device simply isn't present, visible, or recognized in any way. If I go back into the HD Toolbox and run Change Drive Type <losing all the drive's info after the reboot> my Seagate is recognized again until the next power-down. What Gives? --- THE SOFTWARE KICKER --- After giving up on HDToolbox to solve my problems, I thought I'd try the A-3000 Install Disks' Format & Prep utilities. I hoped that the utilities would give me a chance to BACK OUT of the program if, for example, they would only recognize the Quantum but not the Seagate. The low-level Prep utility displayed some message as : "Preparing to low-level format SCSI device *6*...", which was my Seagate. But when it FINISHED, it said : "low-level format of Quantum drive, SCSI addr *0* complete! What a mistake; it formatted a -Different- hard drive than it said it was going to, so I didn't even have a chance to reboot the machine before disaster struck. Way to go! The user should always be given a chance to back out before critical information gets destroyed. Similar things apply to the Install disk's HDFormat tool as well. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Dallas J. Hodgson | "This here's the wattle, | | Metaphor Computer Systems | It's the emblem of our land. | | Mountain View, Ca. | You can put it in a bottle, | | USENET : djh@metaphor.com | You can hold it in your hand." | +============================================================================+ | "The views I express are my own, and not necessarily those of my employer" | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
andy@cbmvax.commodore.com (Andy Finkel) (07/23/90)
In article <1321@metaphor.Metaphor.COM> djh@neuromancer.metaphor.com (Dallas J. Hodgson) writes: >I recently decided to put the 30MB Seagate SCSI drive I was using in my >A-1000 inside my A-3000 for a whopping 70MB total. The internal 40MB >Quantum is reported by the HD Toolbox as residing at SCSI address 0, and >the Seagate at SCSI address 6. We ship our SCSI drive on the A3000 as unit 6. Did you check before or after you hooked up that second one ? Based on what you just said, you've just committed the first Sin of SCSI, having two devices on the bus with the same address. (the second, of course is improper termination) All of our simple script assume the main drive is unit 6. If you moved the jumpers on the drive, I sure hope you changed the scripts appropriately. I have a feeling something bad is about to happen.... > >The HD Toolbox was not successful at low-level formatting the Seagate; it >would lock up. That's OK, it was already prepped anyway, I just wanted to >be complete. > >I successfully used Change Drive Type to read the manufacturer's information >off the disk, and created a new Drive Type. Using this information, I >partitioned the drive (1 big partition) and saved all changes to disk. <REBOOT> > >NOW I have a working SDH1:, recognized by AmigaDOS. Next, I formatted it >like so: "FORMAT DRIVE SDH1: NAME Seagate FFS" and all is OK. The drive >works fine! I reboot all day and it works. > >THE PROBLEM WHEN THE POWER IS TURNED OFF! When the A-3000 is again brought Yup, something bad happened. >After giving up on HDToolbox to solve my problems, I thought I'd try >the A-3000 Install Disks' Format & Prep utilities. I hoped that the >utilities would give me a chance to BACK OUT of the program if, for >example, they would only recognize the Quantum but not the Seagate. And they do give you a chance to back out. They all ask "Are you Sure ?" This the problem, though. > >The low-level Prep utility displayed some message as : "Preparing to >low-level format SCSI device *6*...", which was my Seagate. But when it >FINISHED, it said : "low-level format of Quantum drive, SCSI addr *0* >complete! What a mistake; it formatted a -Different- hard drive than And the problem is complete. Sounds like both drives listened to the 'format yourself' command, and the Quantum was the first one to answer. >it said it was going to, so I didn't even have a chance to reboot the >machine before disaster struck. Way to go! The user should always be Actually, the prep script does are you if you want to continue before it preps anything. Just after it warns you that "Any information on the hard drive will be lost!" You must have hit return without reading the prompt. >given a chance to back out before critical information gets destroyed. >Similar things apply to the Install disk's HDFormat tool as well. It also tells you what its about to do, and give you a chance to say NO. You're main problem sounds like you've got two drive set to the same unit number. After you fix this, make sure termination is correct. And make sure all drives have reselection turned off. andy >+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ >| Dallas J. Hodgson | "This here's the wattle, | -- andy finkel {uunet|rutgers|amiga}!cbmvax!andy Commodore-Amiga, Inc. "Of course it's the murder weapon. Who would frame someone with a fake?" Any expressed opinions are mine; but feel free to share. I disclaim all responsibilities, all shapes, all sizes, all colors.
jesup@cbmvax.commodore.com (Randell Jesup) (07/24/90)
In article <1321@metaphor.Metaphor.COM> djh@neuromancer.metaphor.com (Dallas J. Hodgson) writes: >I recently decided to put the 30MB Seagate SCSI drive I was using in my >A-1000 inside my A-3000 for a whopping 70MB total. The internal 40MB >Quantum is reported by the HD Toolbox as residing at SCSI address 0, and >the Seagate at SCSI address 6. I thought we shipped all the Quantums configured for address 6. Then again, I'm not in production, so I could be wrong. >The HD Toolbox was not successful at low-level formatting the Seagate; it >would lock up. That's OK, it was already prepped anyway, I just wanted to >be complete. Strange: low-level format is merely a FORMAT_UNIT command, nothing even slightly unusual. All SCSI direct-access CAM devices are required to support it. You say 30Meg: I didn't know Seagate made a 30Meg SCSI drive. If they do, it may be an _old_ drive (like the 225N's: barely compliant). >THE PROBLEM WHEN THE POWER IS TURNED OFF! When the A-3000 is again brought >to life, AmigaDOS no longer sees SDH1:; the device simply isn't present, >visible, or recognized in any way. If I go back into the HD Toolbox and >run Change Drive Type <losing all the drive's info after the reboot> my >Seagate is recognized again until the next power-down. What Gives? The problem is that Seagate drives (especially old ones) take forever to spin up, up to 30 seconds. There's a soft switch in the NVRAM in the A3000 for setting "seagate mode", but there's no prefs editor for it yet. The A2091 and A590 have dip switches/jumpers for this. The solution (until the editor appears): after power-up, wait a few seconds and warm-boot. -- Randell Jesup, Keeper of AmigaDos, Commodore Engineering. {uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!jesup, jesup@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com BIX: rjesup Common phrase heard at Amiga Devcon '89: "It's in there!"