jeffrey@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Jeffrey L Bromberger) (04/01/91)
Howdy all. I'm battling a problem so bizarre, I just wanna chuck my
machine through a window. Here's what it is.
I've got a 3b1 (2Mb/DRUN from factory/2010/ICUS). It worked well
until last Sunday. That's when my primary drive (an old DEC RD-52)
finally bit the dust. It looks like one of the heads crapped out, as
the errors hit starting on block 64 (maybe the 8th head). No problem,
I say, I just bought a new Maxtor 2190 (well, refurbed not new). I'll
put that new drive in as a primary. That's when things started going
wrong.
I put the drive in the place the old drive was. I pull out the
terminating resistor, and try to format it. And it hangs. It goes as
far as asking for confirmation, and that's it. I never get the
message "Formatting Cylinder XXXX". OK. Maybe I did something wrong,
so I changed it to the second drive. And the same thing (nothing)
happens.
Next idea - I've done some minor goof on the ICUS board (even though
I've been using it for the last 6 months). So, I take it out
(dropping the main board back to a P5, not 5.1) and replace it with
the correct jumper. To the same result.
With or without the ICUS board, with or without the 2010, with or without
the terminating resistor block. I get the same thing.
And I know the machine works! I can read both disks (at
least the first disk reads until the errors hit). It ran fine.
Except it won't format.
Can *ANYONE* give me an idea as to what might be going on??? This is
slowly giving me an ulcer. Maybe faster than I originally thought.
Boys and girls, can you say f r u s t r a t i n g ?? I knew you could
:-(
Help! Please!
j
(PS: pardon my sentence fragments - I'm just in that sorta mood right
now.)
--
Jeffrey L. Bromberger
System Operator---City College of New York---Science Computing Facility
jeffrey@sci.ccny.cuny.edu jeffrey@ccnysci.BITNET
Anywhere!{cmcl2,philabs,phri}!ccnysci!jeffreyjeffrey@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Jeffrey L Bromberger) (04/02/91)
In article <1991Apr1.023108.22419@sci.ccny.cuny.edu> I wrote: >That's when my primary drive (an old DEC RD-52) >finally bit the dust. It looks like one of the heads crapped out, as >the errors hit starting on block 64 (maybe the 8th head). No problem, Well, it wasn't the drive. Must've had a brownout, cause the drive formatted on my stock 7300 (1/2Mb, no DRUN, no ICUS). Once I can scrape up the $$$, I'll get a UPS. But that's besides the point. >With or without the ICUS board, with or without the 2010, with or without >the terminating resistor block, I get the same thing. >And I know the machine works! I can read both disks (at >least the first disk reads until the errors hit). It ran fine. >Except it won't format. > >Can *ANYONE* give me an idea as to what might be going on??? I *am* able to get the MAXTOR to format on the stock machine. Unfortunately, it's formatted as the 67Mb size. Almost 100 Megs of wasted space. :-( Can a WD2010 be functional but not work when it comes to formatting? Could the ICUS board extend some things so far that it won't work? I realize that I had initial problems with the board - the ribbon cable from the main board to the upgrade board was soo long (8 inches) that I had timing problems. Now, the cable is 2 inches long (plug included). The machine runs (well, ran) fine with the shorter cable - the longer one gave almost 4 megs a day of HDERR's. The ECO wires I added to the board for the ICUS socket are all as short as possible. They all are intact. No spare loops :-) Has anyone else had this problem? Up until the mods to the main board (about 2 years ago), it formatted drives. Come to think of it, I haven't needed to format drives since then. Is anyone out there willing to format the MAXTOR for me since I cannot? :-) Maybe someone just wants to buy it? It's only got 1 hour of spin-time on it. j -- Jeffrey L. Bromberger System Operator---City College of New York---Science Computing Facility jeffrey@sci.ccny.cuny.edu jeffrey@ccnysci.BITNET Anywhere!{cmcl2,philabs,phri}!ccnysci!jeffrey
dt@yenta.alb.nm.us (David B. Thomas) (04/03/91)
jeffrey@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Jeffrey L Bromberger) writes: >I *am* able to get the MAXTOR to format on the stock machine. [...] >Could the ICUS board extend some things so far that it won't work? I tried to build an ICUS board and had some really nasty problems with noise (couldn't do anything with either drive, without massive errors). In fairness to Lenny & Gil, I did use a different pin arrangement on the socket that goes on the motherboard. Shortening the cable and otherwise tightening up my construction (extra bypass caps, double wires for power and ground... ) got me to the point where I could do everything except format a drive. It was still noise- related (I could see it on my scope), and perhaps also the long lines loaded down the 74foo02. Anyway, my solution was to build the upgrade right onto the motherboard, by piggybacking ic's right in the critical area of the motherboard, so that all wires were kept extremely short. Suddenly, the thing is solid as a rock. (I have a diagram describing it briefly.) So, yes, you might be having problems similar to what I had. Again, in fairness to Gil & Lenny, theirs works, and dozens (?) of others have come out just fine, too, so the design may not be foolproof, but it is known to be workable. Maybe I just have lots of nasty rf nearby. little david -- Robert Thomas, speaking of good software for Unix vs. MsDos: "Quality is either the result of a whole lot of dedication, or it's a thin layer of cream on top of a whole lot of milk."
dnichols@ceilidh.beartrack.com (DoN Nichols) (04/03/91)
In article <1991Apr2.155122.23817@sci.ccny.cuny.edu> jeffrey@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Jeffrey L Bromberger) writes: [ ... ] >Can a WD2010 be functional but not work when it comes to formatting? >Could the ICUS board extend some things so far that it won't work? I >realize that I had initial problems with the board - the ribbon cable >from the main board to the upgrade board was soo long (8 inches) that >I had timing problems. Now, the cable is 2 inches long (plug Replace the 74ls02 with a 74S02 or a 74F02 and your cable-length sensitivity will go away. The 74ls02 is marginal, at best, when driving the data separator on the 3b1/7300. With the 74ls02, I could see the pulses going INTO the chip with a logic probe, but not see them coming OUT of the chip to the data separator. (One brand of 74ls02 from my stock gave LOTS of HDERR's, another very few, and the 74F02 or 74S02, none, even with nearly a foot of cable!) Your 74ls02 may have simply given up the ghost after fighting the load for so long :-) Replace it, even if you think that it still works. >included). The machine runs (well, ran) fine with the shorter cable - >the longer one gave almost 4 megs a day of HDERR's. The ECO wires I >added to the board for the ICUS socket are all as short as possible. >They all are intact. No spare loops :-) > >Has anyone else had this problem? Up until the mods to the main >board (about 2 years ago), it formatted drives. Come to think of it, >I haven't needed to format drives since then. Is anyone out there >willing to format the MAXTOR for me since I cannot? :-) Maybe >someone just wants to buy it? It's only got 1 hour of spin-time on >it. You're not close enough for me to yield to temptation, I think :-) Do you have the enhanced diagnostics disk? It should be able to format either drive, and anywhere up to the full size of the drive. (I understand that the /etc/iv may be restricted in maximum size unless it is modified, but I have always used the diagnostics disk.) Good Luck DoN. -- Donald Nichols (DoN.) | Voice (Days): (703) 664-1585 D&D Data | Voice (Eves): (703) 938-4564 Disclaimer: from here - None | Email: <dnichols@ceilidh.beartrack.com> --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
jeffrey@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Jeffrey L Bromberger) (04/04/91)
In article <1991Apr3.021828.11340@ceilidh.beartrack.com> dnichols@ceilidh.beartrack.com (DoN Nichols) writes: > Replace the 74ls02 with a 74S02 or a 74F02 and your cable-length >sensitivity will go away. The 74ls02 is marginal, at best, when driving the >data separator on the 3b1/7300. With the 74ls02, I could see the pulses >going INTO the chip with a logic probe, but not see them coming OUT of the >chip to the data separator. (One brand of 74ls02 from my stock gave LOTS of >HDERR's, another very few, and the 74F02 or 74S02, none, even with nearly a >foot of cable!) Well, I did that. Way back when. It *is* running with the 74s02. The ls02 just didn't cut it. But, even with the s02, the cable between the motherboard and the expn board still made a difference. Nearly 4 megs a day difference :-) > Do you have the enhanced diagnostics disk? It should be able to >format either drive, and anywhere up to the full size of the drive. (I >understand that the /etc/iv may be restricted in maximum size unless it is >modified, but I have always used the diagnostics disk.) I am using the new diagnostic disk to do the format. As I said, the drive works! It only refuses to format on the machine with the upgrade board. It will format down to 67Mb on an old 7300, but that's without either the 5.1 or 2010 parts. What I've finally decided to do is to beat upon my stock machine, and put in the DRUN and the p5.1 (from brian botton). That will at least get it to format. Then the question comes down to this, how to tighten up the icus board? Would bypass caps make a whole lot of difference? Maybe shortening the ECO wires from the motherboard? > Good Luck Thanks, I'ma gonna need it. Especially once I dump my other 2 machines, leaving me only the ICUS upgraded one. Let's hope I can figure this one out before June - I have a new second drive coming then. j -- Jeffrey L. Bromberger System Operator---City College of New York---Science Computing Facility jeffrey@sci.ccny.cuny.edu jeffrey@ccnysci.BITNET Anywhere!{cmcl2,philabs,phri}!ccnysci!jeffrey