aru@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Sri-Man) (06/10/91)
I seem to be having a problem with my serial port and the scsi port. First off, the computer thinks that something is using the serial port when nothing is connected to it, this means that I can't run any communications programs at all except in something called share mode, which I can't seem to find any documentation on in the manuals. What I was trying to do is connect a null modem between my XT to my Amiga and transfer some files. My second problem seems to be that the scsi interface won't recognize my tape drive. It keeps telling me that the drive is of type unknown. I've tried everything I could on this and I just reached a dead end. Sri
johnhlee@CS.Cornell.EDU (John H. Lee) (06/10/91)
In article <13363@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> aru@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Sri-Man) writes: >I seem to be having a problem with my serial port and the scsi port. >First off, the computer thinks that something is using the serial port when >nothing is connected to it, this means that I can't run any communications >programs at all except in something called share mode, which I can't seem to >find any documentation on in the manuals. What I was trying to do is connect >a null modem between my XT to my Amiga and transfer some files. > >My second problem seems to be that the scsi interface won't recognize my tape >drive. It keeps telling me that the drive is of type unknown. I've tried >everything I could on this and I just reached a dead end. Could you please provide a little more information, like the model of your Amiga, version of AmigaDOS you're running, the communications program, the SCSI utility program, and the exact errors you're getting? Otherwise, what little help I can provide will be based on guesses. I'm guessing you have an Amiga3000 and are using HDToolbox, based on your comment that your tape drive is identified as "type unknown." I can't tell what version of AmigaDOS you are running. First thing: the serial port. It sounds like that the problem isn't that nothing is physically connected to your serial port, but rather that some other program has already allocated the port for its own use. Check for other communications programs or utilities like the debugging utility "Enforcer" (which allocates the serial port) that might have been automatically started up in your Startup-Sequence. Solution: Make sure they aren't started. This might also occur after you print something and the printer port is set to the serial port. The serial port may then remain allocated if the printing program does not close the printer device. This is unlikely since all programs I've seen close the printer device after printing. Solution: Finish all printing or don't print before. Second problem: the tape drive. If HDToolbox finds the tape drive but can't identify the type, there may be nothing wrong. HDToolbox only displays information about drives for which it knows the parameters, and then only for SCSI devices that identify themselves as "direct-access devices." HDToolbox also displays my tape drive as "type unknown", but the fact that HDToolbox can even find it indicates that the drive is hooked up and active on the SCSI bus. HDToolbox is designed for formatting, testing and partitioning direct-access devices only. To use a tape drive you'll need other software such as the BTNTape driver and Tar tape archival programs. Solution: Nothing may be wrong, unless additional information indicates otherwise; get software designed for a tape drive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The DiskDoctor threatens the crew! Next time on AmigaDos: The Next Generation. John Lee Internet: johnhlee@cs.cornell.edu The above opinions are those of the user, and not of this machine.