Maxtor HD

[transcorpmla]

I have a question about my Maxtor 7120SR (external) HD...

This 120MB drive has been working perfectly in an external case using an external terminator. I usually keep the SCSI ID set to 5 because I use it for installations back and forth with three other computers.

I changed the SCSI ID to 0, removed it from the case and temporarily installed the drive internally in one of my SE's. Then I removed it, installed it back into the external case and set the ID back to 5 again. However, now when I connect the drive to another computer is still shows ID=0 for some reason. Is there another way to get the drive changed back to ID=0?

 

[tomlee59]

Did you remember to reconnect the cable that goes between the drive and the ID-setting switches on the case? Sounds like maybe not.

 

[transcorpmla]

Yes, it's connected. I may just reformat it.

 

[wally]

Something similar happened to me once. I had connected the switch cable upside down so the common wired side of my switch connector acted as all jumpers connected so long as the switch was set to any number asserting at least one connection.

 

[Scott Baret]

Wally is probably right. I've had that happen to me with far too many external hard drive enclosures.

When you go in to fix it, leave your cover unpopped when you test it. If the cable was indeed wrong, mark it in some way that you will remember which side goes up (you'll need one of those extra fine point Sharpies).

 

[porter]

Yes, it's connected. I may just reformat it.

Reformatting will have no effect on a drive's SCSI-ID.

As in you need an ID to talk to a drive to find out if it's formatted or not.....!

 

[tomlee59]

As porter points out, reformatting won't help. The SCSI ID is not a variable that is stored on the drive. Reformatting may be necessary for other reasons, but resetting the ID isn't one of them.

Look for some other problem, such as the one Wally identified. Carefully check how you hooked up the ID-setting cable. There's one right way, and several wrong ways to do it. If you didn't pay attention to how it was connected originally, and randomly hooked them back up without regard to orientation, then you should expect trouble. Just fyi, one pin of each pair of pins is connected to ground, so one entire triple will be grounded. The other three pins are then selectively grounded (or not) by the ID switches. That should be enough information so that, with the aid of a multimeter, you can hook it up right.