rey@ecl.psu.edu (05/17/91)
Many thanks to those who promptly responded to my request for help with the Xetec Fast Trak controller/ram expansion. At 5 am, the system finally began to work (with the Insider card installed). There must had been something in the startup-sequence that made the thing guru. Much wiggling of the card as well as breaking the startup sequence yielded a completely usable system. Now a new frustration has arisen. I was able to get the card going with my friends drive (from Xetec) but couldn't get my drive (a 105 m Quantum from HDI Inc) going. After much calling around and a lot of tearing my hair as well as the hardware, I think that the problem may involve the way that the Xetec attains its power. Correct me if I'm wrong, but does it get its supply from pins 24 & 25 from the HD? Checking the traces as well as putting a meter to all of the pins makes me suspicious of this. Testing these two pins on my drive shows that nothing is supplied here. Further, checking the Xetec shows that pins 24 & 25 appear to be a short circuit (or at least a path of little resistance). I noted a couple of jumpers on the inside of the controller. Is there anyway to get the controller to take power off the Amy bus rather than the HD? By the way, when my drive is not connect to the Xetec (it doesn't matter if the Xetec is turned on or not) my drive will not spin up. Once it is disconnected from the Xetec it spins up nicely. If you have anymore suggestions, I'm all ears. Right now I am a bit frustrated with the card, but I hate to give up on it. Thanks again, Bob rey@psuecl.bitnet rey@ecl.psu.edu
uubell@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Jeff Bell) (05/17/91)
In article <1991May16.214139.1219@ecl.psu.edu> rey@ecl.psu.edu writes: [Edited] >Now a new frustration has arisen. I was able to get the card going with >my friends drive (from Xetec) but couldn't get my drive (a 105 m Quantum >from HDI Inc) going. After much calling around and a lot of tearing my >hair as well as the hardware, I think that the problem may involve the way >that the Xetec attains its power. Correct me if I'm wrong, but does it get >its supply from pins 24 & 25 from the HD? Checking the traces as well as >putting a meter to all of the pins makes me suspicious of this. Testing these >two pins on my drive shows that nothing is supplied here. Further, checking >the Xetec shows that pins 24 & 25 appear to be a short circuit (or at least >a path of little resistance). I noted a couple of jumpers on the inside >of the controller. Is there anyway to get the controller to take power off >the Amy bus rather than the HD? According to my FastTrak Installation manual, there is a jumper that can be set so that the controller draws power from either the drive (if it's housed in a powered Xetec case), or from the host, which is what you want. Look for a jumper sitting on two pins labelled 'D Power', and move that jumper over to the pins labelled 'H Power'. The controller should then draw power from the 1000, and everything will be peachy (hopefully :). Hope this helps. BTW, have you thought about talking to Xetec about getting some manuals from them for your FastTrak? There is some useful information in there, and I've got nothing but praise for Xetec's customer service (they've always been very helpful with regards to my queries). Jeff -- uubell@ccu.umanitoba.ca