Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!petunia!news
From: cambler@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Fubar's Carbonated Hormones)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Hard drive/controller FRUSTRATION (HELP!)
Message-ID: <277c4633.2368@petunia.CalPoly.EDU>
Date: 29 Dec 90 07:30:59 GMT
Reply-To: cambler@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Fubar's Carbonated Hormones)
Organization: Fantasy, Incorporated: Reality None of Our Business.
Lines: 47



I am having some trouble, I hope some hardware guru can help.
The symptoms:

I am running a generic 10MHz XT, with a Western Digital WD-GEN-2-PLUS
controller card and a miniscribe 3425 21 meg HH hard drive.

The cable is NON twisted, and the drive is the only drive in the system.
I called miniscribe/maxtor and made sure that the sip switches are correct.
I then called WD and made sure that the jumpers on the card are correct.

Now, my manual for the drive says that it's a 615 cyl. drive, while WD
told me to format it as 612. They also said NOT to jumper the controller
with the jumpers for a 612 cyl. drive. Ok...

In any case, I've tried it both jumpered and unjumpered, and as 612 and 615
cyls, and nothing works. It's formatted once, and i put the case on, and it
died. I took the case off, and now can't get it to format again.

MORE INTERESTING SYMPTOMS:

when i turn the machine on, the drive resets, and then the LED comes back
on and stays on.

I run debug, g=c800:5, and it seems to format ok, but the drive doesn't
DO anything except light the LED. Intersting that it stays lit until the
formatter asks me if i'm virtually configuring the drive. at that point,
the light goes off when I say no, then goes on when the formatting starts.
But the drive makes no noise. When it formatted before, the drive clicked
audibly.

So I then run fdisk, and it always says no fixed drives. All diagnostics
reset the drive, but report seek errors, which makes sense seeing what
format is doing.

I'm sure all cables are correctly pinned, and configured, the card is
jumpered, and the drive is jumpered correctly.

ANYTHING I OVERLOOKED? 

Argph!

-- 
++Christopher(); --- cambler@polyslo.calpoly.edu --- chris@erotica.fubarsys.com
---
A feature is a bug with seniority.