Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!blake!jwcote
From: jwcote@blake.acs.washington.edu (Jim Cote)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Comatose Seagate hard disk
Message-ID: <1689@blake.acs.washington.edu>
Date: 21 Apr 89 16:45:11 GMT
References: <5283@cs.Buffalo.EDU> <5660041@hpcvca.CV.HP.COM>
Reply-To: jwcote@blake.acs.washington.edu (Jim Cote)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Lines: 22

I purchased a Seagate st-277n about two months ago and have nothing but
trouble. I have been extremely busy with other things such that I haven't
resolved my drive problems yet. Problem --- I have never yet been able
to do a low-level format of the drive. Obviously, I have never gotten
any use from it yet. The configuration :
A1000
Starboard II w/stardrive module
home brew db25 to centronics 50 pin cable
home brew 50 pin cent. to dual row connector cable
hard drive expansion box

I have checked the cabling over and over with an ohmmeter and such, plus I
have built two different sets of cables assuming the problem was my cables,
but nothing works. I am confident the cables are ok.
Using the stardrive formatting program, I can get the drive to mount, but
when I try to do the low-level format, I receive a message that the SCSI
bus is unavailable, no select. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

BTW, I continue to see comments about tweaking the spindle to allow the
drive to spin when it gets locked up using a pair of pliers. I can move
the spindle (or what I beleive is the spindle) on my drive with the
tip of my finger, it moves that easily. Is this normal?