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mdjoint

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sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Oct 24^th, 2003 at 1:36am

10/24/03
Greetings Radifieds!
I have a Compaq branded IBM drive type DMVS 09D (wide ultra scsi/se) with an SCA connector. This drive also has SCSI ID jumpers. The SCA adapters I have and have seen all feature SCSI ID jumpers. How is it possible to use this drive with the adapter? Are there any SCA adapters out there without the SCSI ID jumpers? It is my belief that each device (drive and adapter) must have an ID set. Believe me, I have searched all over to no avail. Any ideas?
Yours truly,
md

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Jimmy John

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Re: sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Reply #1 - Oct 24^th, 2003 at 2:06am

not sure i follow you. your use of the word 'adapter' confuses me. you could mean either an 80-pin to 68-pin "adapter", or a pci card called a scsi "adapter" or controller card.

what pci interface card are you using? that would help clear up the confusion.

i wouldn't worry about jumper id's, especially if this is the only device on your scsi bus. the drive probably has the proper default id.

more importantly, that drive is old, small and slow. it's honestly not good for anything but a door stop. if you want real scsi performance, get yourself a cheetah 15k.3 from seagate. they can be had for about $200. you won't find a faster drive anywhere.

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mdjoint

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Re: sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Reply #2 - Oct 24^th, 2003 at 2:39pm

10/24/03
Jimmy John,
Thank you for your reply. I am using a Tekram DC390UW PCI host adapter having 1 Ultra2 LVD/SE, 1 Ultra Wide, 1 external Ultra2, and 1 Ultra SCSI connectors. The adapter I refer to is an 80/68/50 internal. The drive is old in computer years (manufactured in Y2K) but to date unused and it is what I have. It is a 9gig SCSI SE/LVD . I haven't tried setting it up on channel A on the Tekram so I'll see how that goes. My concern with the id's is potential conflicts between the id jumpers on the drive and those on the 80/68/50. I can't seem to get this set up so the drive is seen at boot (by the host adapter) and by extension in Windows.
Let me know what you think. Thanks.
md

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Re: sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Reply #3 - Oct 24^th, 2003 at 2:51pm

do you have a link to that scsi adapter card?

i looked at tekram but couldn't find anything matching that description (dc390uw).

when you say "80/58/50" what do those numbers stand for? i think 68 and 50 are pin-counts, but i can't find a card that comes with an 80-pin connector.

maybe you mean the dc-390u2w? but that doesn't have a 8-pin connector either.

when you boot, it should tell you what the scsi id's are. adapters usually take #7 for themselves. drives are usually 0 through 6.are there any other scsi devices on the chain?

have you terminated the drive?

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mdjoint

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Re: sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Reply #4 - Oct 25^th, 2003 at 12:17am

10/24/03
Greetings!
The Tekram is a DC-390U3W PCI SCSI host adapter. 80/68/50 references the SCA (Single Cable Attachment or Single Cable Adapter) drive adapter - an adapter that links the drive to the data cable and power connector found in PC's. This drive is made to work in a specialized, most likely a server, chassis wherein the drive can be plugged right in to the SCSI bus. I am not sure how the SCSI id is set in such an environment. The 80 is the link to the drive, the 68 and 50 are SCSI cable connectors. The SCA adapter is configured as a small circuit board with the 80 pin connector on one side, the 68 and 50 pin connectors on the other side with a power plug and jumpers. See this link at Cable Club dot com http://www.bonuscable.com/popup_image.php?pID=36
The Tekram is configured as id 7. I have tried different combinations of jumpers on the drive and/or the SCA adapter with no success. BTW, I am booting from a SCSI drive on the A channel on the Tekram. This drive has a 68 pin interface and requires no SCA adapter. The B channel is supposed to operate independently from the A (in re-reading the User's Manual I see where using both channels disables the auto termination - hmmm - I have successfully run a Fast SCSI drive on the 50 pin line while being booted from channel A - drives are otherwise rigorously terminated). I have tried running both drives on the same cable with no success. I still haven't tried running the SCA drive solo. I'll let you know.
md

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Spanky

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Re: sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Reply #5 - Oct 25^th, 2003 at 9:13am

i've heard of problems with 80-pin to 68-pin adapters. you may have a bad adapter.

if i recall corectly, the tekram u2w has only one u160 channel, which mean, if you are trying to run two lvd drives, one would by on the non-lvd channel.

the tekram u3d card has two u160 channels.

i'm trying to visualize how you have the bus connected, configured and terminated.

the u3w card has two channels i think. one u160 lvd and the other uw se. no?

what drives are on what channels?

you know that lvd drives do not come with termination?

lvd terminators are different than se termination.

do you have active or passive termination?

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mdjoint

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Re: sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Reply #6 - Oct 27^th, 2003 at 11:32pm

10/27/03
Greetings Rads!
Thank you for your replies.
I have gotten the SCA drive recognized on the SCSI card at boot by running it by itself on channel A. Hi, Spanky - the termination is on the cable(s) and is marked LVD/SE - can't confirm if it is 'active' - it was supplied by Tekram in the host adapter kit. Running two LVD's on the same channel should be OK as these drives can negotiate priorities - it is not working that way though. Running the drives on separate channels doesn't work also. I do not see my set up as being a 'Y' chain as opposed to a straight line chain (although a 'Y' may be the improbable result of using channels A and B together. If this is the case, channel B splits off to the 50 pin connector but drives connected to it work when channel A is also being used). Seems odd the bit of auto termination being disabled on the host adapter when channels A and B are being used. Where does one terminate in this case? And does one set SCSI id jumpers on the drive and/or the SCA adapter? This is more a home brew project than anything else that I've been looking forward to for over a year.
Let me know what's up.
Thanks.
md

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Spanky

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Re: sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Reply #7 - Oct 27^th, 2003 at 11:56pm

If the terminator came with the card, it is god.

Make sure it goes on the VERY LAST position on the cable.

If you have two drives with the same SCSI ID on the same channel, that would definitely cause problems.

You say you cannot determine the SCSI ID id the SCA drive?

Check with the boys here:

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=4

or here:

http://forums.storagereview.net/

I've always heard to stay away from SCA drives and 80-to-68-pin adapters are evil.

Have you rooted around in your SCSI bios? I think you hold down CTRL-C while the adapter is scanning the SCSI devices. It will tell you what keys to hit. Lots of good settings to play with in there. Make sure everything looks hunky-dory.

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mdjoint

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Re: sca drive and adapter scsi id's
Reply #8 - Oct 28^th, 2003 at 11:56pm

10/28/03
Greetings Rads!
Termination and id's are always checked very carefully. In my travels on the Web it is becoming apparent the way to go is to set the SCSI id on the adapter only (the drive by default would probably be id 0). I have not been able to get the drives to be seen/sensed on channel B (68 pin) of the Tekram using combinations of pin and drive settings. Maybe the channel is dead. I am however able to boot from channel A and have drives operate on the 50 pin channel. The SCSI BIOS seems to have limited functionality. Will hack at it some more.
Regards,
md

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