Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!nic.MR.NET!shamash!com50!bungia!cimcor!jim_d
From: jim_d@cimcor.mn.org (Jim Dahlberg)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Perstor PS180-16F HD Controller Problem
Summary: Persor PS180-16F problem solved
Message-ID: <641@cimcor.mn.org>
Date: 5 Feb 89 02:49:52 GMT
References: <638@cimcor.mn.org> <5060047@hpccc.HP.COM>
Organization: Grenier & friends, Forest Lake, MN
Lines: 35


   This is really to Samuel Chau, but I can't seem to be able to email directly
to him, so I'll post it here.  It may be of benefit to someone else with a
similar problem now or in the future anyway.
   I fixed the slow write problem with my Perstor PS180-16F HD
controller by getting a new board from the dealer.  My original BIOS was
rev 2.05, and the new one is 3.01, which Ted @ Perstor tells me is the
latest. 
   Alas, I then had a different problem, which may relate to the new
BIOS "trapping reset calls" mentioned in Samuel Chau's previous
response.  I then got an error when doing a warm boot (CTRL-ALT-DEL). 
After the drive polling was complete, the computer went dead for a
minute or so, then a beep and an "ERROR FOUND.  PRESS ESCAPE TO
CONTINUE" message was displayed.  When I pressed ESC, the boot process
continued normally and everything was fine. Warm hardware resets did the
same thing, but power-off power-on "resets" worked OK.
  I got in touch with Ted @ Perstor about this problem.  He sent me a
new microcode ROM (not the BIOS ROM).  The first time I tried it, the
computer booted into the Zenith ROM monitor program (definately NOT
normal, even for a Zenith machine), so I put the original ROM back in. 
My local dealer advised me to change the drive controller cable to use
the untwisted connector end and change the drive unit number to 0.  I
did this, and still had the warm boot problem.  I then decided to try
the new microcode ROM one more time.  This time it worked! I don't
understand why, or if changing the drive unit number really had anything
to do with it (logic tells me it shouldn't have), but everything now
functions properly. 
    I forgot to mention in my first posting that I am using the new
Zenith MS-DOS 3.3 Plus.  This allows me to partition the entire 78
Mbytes the Perstor controller gives me, as one partition.  It allows
partitions of up to 512 Mbytes. 

    Jim Dahlberg
    Internet: jim_d@cimcor.mn.org
    UUCP:     uunet!rosevax!cimcor!jim_d