Re: hardware question: scsi disk and SS10

[Riccardo Mottola <riccardo.mottola%libero.it@localhost>]

Hi,

thank you guys.

Mouse wrote:
> > I want to put a newer disk in my sparcstation 10, the one I had up to
> > now is a 4GB disk, 50pin, which are exceedingly rare to find.
> > Anybody has a SS10?
> I've got at least a few 10s.
I love mine, it could use more than 128MB RAM, but the 75Mhz with 1MB 
cache are nice, the machine is also relatively quiet.
I'd prefer not to use an external enclosure: another fan, more noise, 
more space, more consumption. I'd prefer one hard drive than two inside. 
I try to pack several machines together at home, to have several test 
platforms.
> > 68pin wide disks are easier to find, actually I got a "new old
> > stock".  I have a 68-50pin SCSI adapter (and just to be sure I bought
> > one off ebay which is specified to have termination).
> It might even actually have it!  (In view of the below, I'd guess it
> probably does.)
I think that's the problem indeed, from what Hauke wrote. If the 
internal SS10 connectors have termination, this one is going to cause an 
additional problem. One should be "active", I'll check again. Active 
termination usually doesn't pose a problem if double-terminated, while 
of course resistors do. That's at least my past experience with Macs and 
lots of SCSI drives...
I'll try to open it.

Or off checking ebay.
> > - The disk is seen (probe-scsi and is bootable) if inside an external
> > enclosure
> > - The disk is seen (probe-scsi and is bootable) if put inside another
> > SparcStation, an older IPC
> > - The disk is not seen and can't be booted if connected to the
> > internal connectors of the SparcStation 10, I tried both connectors
> Did you check that the cable is firmly seated at the motherboard end?
> I just opened up a handy 10 and the cable was loose enough I could feel
> it seat better upon pressing down on the connector, even though it
> didn't look loose.
It is. If I attach an old 50-pin drive, it gets detected!

Are the two attachments equivalent? is tehre any preference in your 
experience? I think to remember that the right one (near floppy) is more 
lenient, reliable, the last time (years ago) when I replaced the 
original 400MB disk with the current one I want again to replace.
> Perhaps the SS10 is trying to run it in "fast scsi or something"?
> Possible, but in my (limited) experience, trouble there would lead it
> to fall back to slower operation, not fail entirely.
>
> Especially since you say it's "not seen" - IIRC device location always
> operates at slow async speeds.
So it should be, you are right. Thus there is probably a lower-level 
communication problem with the drive.
On the net there are reports where if the hard-disk is not properly 
formatted/partitioned probe-scsi will fail to detect it, but I think 
these are misleading.

Riccardo