IIVX and harddrive problems.

[pancakewagon]

Hello!

So about 5 years ago I got a IIVX from a local thrift store. When I first booted it I got the "?" floppy. Rebooted it a few times and it finally booted to system 7. I think I was doing a Norton virus scan or something when it froze and never booted in to the OS again, just a "?" xx( . I bought a newer HDD for it, a 160mb apple formatted Conner to replace the (dead?) Quantum LPS that was currently in it. I put it on the last SCSI port, the same one that the original HDD was on. It turned on, does a start up noise but doesn't actually go anywhere from there, just a grey screen with a cursor. I also can't boot floppies when the new HDD is in. If I boot into disktools and swap the hard drive out while it's on (I don't think your supposed to do that } ) and do a scan with one of the HDD programs, it will put the program in an endless loop of spinning the hard drive up and slowing it down (does the same thing at grey boot screen). I tried Lido and got slightly better results. It says that "Arbitration failed!! Check connections and terminators on all SCSI devices.". Also, If Lido scans for the original HDD it says that "No disk could be found" or something around that.

I know very little about SCSI so I hope somebody on here knows what's wrong!

 

[beachycove]

If the IIvx has a CD drive, you need to make sure the drive is numbered/ identified differently than the CD. Typically, the CD is set to ID = 3 and the boot drive to ID = 0 (though 1 or 2 will work fine).

Many SCSI hard drives, and most likely a Connor 160MB drive, have pins for a termination jumper that must be installed underneath the drive, on small pins along with the ID. What you have underneath may look something like this:

** 0

** 1

** 2

** TE

but that is just a guess, as I don't have such a drive in front of me.

You would, in this case, minimally need a jumper installed across the ** TE pins ("Termination Enable," or some such thing). Thus:

** 0

** 1

** 2

_

** TE

_

Sorry, but that's the best I can do with the keyboard!

Chances are that the rest of the pins can be left alone, but you can most likely find the drive's specs online and see what you are supposed to do if all else fails.

Now, some drives also have automatic termination, in which case you don't have to do anything -- except check to see if termination is also set on the CD drive (which it shouldn't be). And it is also possible that your hard drive is dead, since spinning up and down can happen when that happens (google "stiction").

Try these hints and report back.

 

[pancakewagon]

My IIVX is special, it doesn't have a cd drive! Instead just a plastic covering where one should be.

Unfortunately my HDD didn't come with any jumpers. Is it possible I could make a makeshift jumper?

Also, in case both HDD's are dead and since 50 pin SCSI's are so expensive now. Would a 80 to 50pin adapter work fine?

Such as...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCSI-SCA-80-Pin-F-50-Pin-M-Internal-Adapter-/180498083556?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a06862ee4

http://www.ebay.com/itm/18-4GB-FUJITSU-80PIN-SCSI-HARD-DRIVE-MAN3184MC-1YR-WARR-/150749165535?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231959b7df

 

[beachycove]

The jumper is just a wire that bridges the two pins on either side, so you can make your own from some small copper wire or the like. For that matter, you could even risk bending the pins so they touch -- though that is not recommended! There may actually be a "proper" jumper on the old drive -- or use one from the Master/Slave jumpers of an ATA unit, as one of these will probably fit.

If the Connor drive has the pins described (marked TE or the like for termination), then there must be a jumper installed to terminate the scsi chain (your drive is at one end of the chain), or the machine will not boot/ will work very temporarily and erratically at best. What you describe in terms of symptoms is consistent with improper termination (among other things), so ensuring proper termination is the place to begin. If that doesn't work, then you may have other issues.

Use of a multi-gigayte drive in a 68030 Mac is unnecessary, in my view, as there is scarcely enough software in existence to fill one up. Use of most such drives also generates other problems, related to incompatible drivers, the problem of maximum partition size with the software you are likely to be running on a IIvx, etc., but yes, what you describe can indeed be made to work with knowledge and effort.

As it happens, however, you have a 160MB drive which may well work, and 160MBs would be plenty for playing around with the thing. So begin there. Scsi is a fussy system to work with as a beginner, but once you get it set up right, it will be trouble-free.

 

[pancakewagon]

So I got some bad news (or at least it seems). I looked up the jumper configuration for my HDD online. I found http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-drives-hdd/conner/CP-30170E-170MB-3-5-SL-SCSI1-SE.html which isn't my exact model # but it's just a different sized version of mine. It doesn't say anything about termination jumper configurations, just normal scsi id ones. So I'm assuming it has automatic termination? I think I remember reading that. But in good news the original HDD did have a jumper if I need it. Thanks so far for the help

Model #cp30175E

Oh and yeah, I know I won't need much space, I just picked a cheap one off ebay for example.

Edit: Just reread your first post and about the automatic termination. I wouldn't be surprised if the newer Conner drive was dead, since it's been sitting in my room for 5 years!

 

[beachycove]

I just had a rootle through my box of drives and found an early Connor, which has two sets of pins.

On some of them, termination is provided on the pins labelled E1 etc., and ID is set at the pins at the end of the drive. See here: http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-drives-hdd/conner/CFA-170S-170MB-3-5-SL-SCSI2-SE.html

 

[zuiko21]

Some drives do not have a jumper for Termination Enable, but socketed resistor packs (typically three) which must be removed if termination is not needed (e.g. if the board is already terminated)