SCSI help :(

[Steve B]

Hey chaps,
any thoughts on this would be much appreciated!

I've installed an Initio INIC-1060 SCSI card and i've installed an 18.2GB SCSI drive.
I've connected the SCSI cable using the first connector to the drive, and the second connector has a terminator. The other end of the cable I've attached to the SCSI card.

I did a clean install of windows onto an IDE drive, then cloned the drive using the MaxBlast tool onto the SCSI drive. This is because I was having trouble loading the driver for the SCSI card using the F6 method whilst installing windows.

Okay, so I turn it on and I can access the SCSI BIOS by pushing CTRL+I. The only thing I'm worried about is that it shows !# after the drive when I scan for devices in the SCSI BIOS. I've set the BIOS on the P5B to boot from "SCSI Card" and changed the boot ID in the SCSI BIOS to ID0, the ID of the SCSI drive.

However, I'm getting a "Reboot and Select proper Boot device" error, when I try to load windows off the drive. I'm a bit stumped and would appreciate any pointers that you could give.

Thanks in advance chaps!
Steve

[Funkstar]

Dosn't the terminator go at the end of the cable?

I can't really remember, it's been a lot of years since i dealt with SCSI, but i'm sure thats how my 68pin cable was configured.

[aidanjt]

Yes, the terminator goes after the disks in the chain.

[climbingkid]

I too have to cast my mind back a long way to SCSI, Wide Scsi and LVD SCSI....!

Definitly check your terminators - remember this is both ends of the cable, so you shoudl make sure your card is terminating that end (it probably is)

If it was me, I would go back to basics - take a dos boot disk and see if I can get to the drive etc

This will at least prove the hardware side - you may find the issue is with the cloning process.

CC

[Steve B]

the cable is configured like so:
SCSI Card ------- Drive ------ Terminator ------- Free Connector ------- Free Connector
A small update, I've tried slipstreaming the INF driver in text-mode but i get a could not find a .sys error.

[aidanjt]

The terminator can right after the disks, like so:

Controller -> SCSIID0 -> Terminator -> Empty -> Empty -> etc. etc.

And try spinning up a Linux LiveCD to rule out driver issues.

[Steve B]

I burned an Ubuntu ISO to CD to boot from, but the kernel goes belly up just after initialising the installation. I get the blinking Caps and Scroll Lock lights.

I've installed the version of XP onto an IDE drive and have installed the driver in XP, to be able to access both disks. I've formatted them both to NTFS, so I can access them from XP, the installation just wont recognise the driver when using the F6 method.

[aidanjt]

I was thinking of something more traditional, like Knoppix.

I couldn't give you any more pointers really, it could just be down to a failing controller.

[Lucio]

Have you got a cable without all the extra ports on? I had some weirdness with the SCSI drives on our new server and despite my external IT support telling me it wasn't neccessary, I made sure that all the empty ports were terminated and voila, system finally worked.

Also, have you set the jumpers on the drive? It might be worth moving them off their default channel and onto a new one, just in case the card is playing silly buggers.

[climbingkid]

I dont think you should have spare connectors after the terminator - the terminator should be at the very end. Its these to provide electrical termination to the bus, and prevent stray electrical reflections.

CC

[Phillikon]

The Terminator can go anywhere in the chain as long as it is the last device in that chain.

however some SCSI cards need also to be terminated, depending on how many connectors there are on it. basically unless you have a self terminating card, if there is an external SCSI connector it too may need terminating, check your manufacturers home page for exact settings.
It is also possible that the drive it self may already be terminated on the daughter board and therefore the extra termination on the chain will be confusing the SCSI signal.
Again check your drive specs for the settings, you will see the terminators on the drive, they are about an inch long and usually dark brown or black in colour at the connector end of the drive.

also have you set the SCSI ID on the drive, you may also need to set the drive to spin up automatically as some can get this command from either the card or the drives own bios.
next, go in to the cards bios and do a scan for the drive, to make sure it is picking up an ID from the drive.
this should fix your problem.
unless your card or drive are faulty.
hope this helps