gglabs a2scsi

Thanks. Yes, I put it in slot 7, to give it a first shot at booting; just the "Apple //e" at the top of the screen, then nothing.

I tried slot 5, but results were no different than slot 4.  Moved to slot 4 for breathing room. The card is new; the drive is an unknown 80 MB CMS.  

I have resumed my quest to get this working and read my original post with enthusiasm before I realized it was my own post!

I sent the card back and they returned it promptly.  According to GGLabs, there was a timing problem using the card with the IIe. The original chip  74F245 was replaced with a 74LS245.  GGLabs advises the IIgs will work with either chip. 

I have since acquired a IIgs and just popped the hood on it and will continue to try to hang a CMS SD60 off it using the GGLabs card.  BTW...  The CMS manual says the drive "has termination in place and operates.... with no changes needed. "

Thanks

Paul

The quest continues:

Recently acquired IIgs and getting to know it.

Have set control panel:

Slot 2 - "Your Card" (no longer modem)

Slot 5 - "Smart Port" 3.5 Floppy Drive

Slot 6 - "Disk Port"  5.25 floppy drive

Slot 7 - "Your Card"

Boot Startup Slot:  5

The results are the same whether the A2SCSI controller is in slot 2 or slot 7.

A2SCSI installed in slot 7.  A2SCSI is connected to a CMS SD60 drive.  The drive is not terminated; drive manual advises no need to add termination.  SCSI ID 6.  

The CMS Drive is an SD60 model; NOT the SD60/A2S model which comes preformatted in PRODOS.  It may/may not be formatted.  Don't know.

CMS SCSI Utility disk in 5.25 drive; IIgs system disk in 3.5 drive.

Turn on the CMS drive; give it 15-20 second to get up to speed.

Turn on the IIga. The IIgs system 3.5 floppy (Slot 5) starts.  Disk Activity light on the CMS drive flashes.  Wait Wait Wait 2½ minutes.  The floppy drive boots to the IIgs Program Launcher.  Disk Activity light stops flashing and goes to steady on.

At the desktop, open up the SCSI Utility Disk and run FILER.  I tell FILER to list the volumes.

It shows "RAM DISK" in slot 3; IIgs system disk in slot 5; CMS SCSI Utility disk in slot 6.

All this time the disk activity light is steady on, but it is not recognized as a volume by FILER.

I tell FILER to format a drive.  I select slot 7, disk 1; give it a volume name.  I responds with something like, "You're about to format a large disk" but .... bang ... "I/O ERROR"

I can't format the CMS drive because FILER does not see any media at the A2SCSI slot.

There is some connection between the controller and the disk, but there is something lacking in the communication.

Other than the obvious (the drive is toast), is there something I am missing?

Thanks for your interest.

Paul

bumpers

bumpers 2

bumpers remediated

IMG_5489.MOV

"Softwarejanitor" ... your comment brought back memories of working with Novell 3.1 servers thirty years ago and one cantankerous drive that would just click and click until one day, after a full backup, I just whacked it upside and, lo and behold, it started working again!  This Quantum drive did in fact have sticking problem.

First, however,  I turned it over and found it was not an SD80, but an SD60. After many failures to get it to work, I opened to enclosure to find it was not an 80MB, nor a 60MB, but a 40MB drive. You could set the SCSI ID switches on the back all day, to no avail, because the switches were not connected. The drive was not spinning up.

I opened the drive to find the heads were stuck. The rubber on the bumpers that limit the movement of the heads had deteriorated to a sticky mess and the magnetic counter arm was stuck to the rubber. Cleaned it up and put a single layer of masking tape around the rubber. Put the mess back together; set the ID jumpers on the drive; and now it spins and the head moves freely. Still doesn't respond. "The operation was a success, but the patient didn't survive."   The power supply checks out, so it's not a complete boat anchor; will replace the drive with a truly functional one.

I understand this rubber deterioration is a common problem with really old drives.

The A2SCSI card is doing its job; the drive is toast.

Thanks to all!

Matter resolved.

It was a case of " Schrödinger's cat" drive; wasn't sure if it were dead, but opening it ensured its demise. But, at least I learned what was wrong with it!

Got a 40MB Quantum SCSI drive from Apple Rescue and dropped it in the CMS enclosure.

With no fuss or bother, partitioned it to two-20MB partitions and all works like a champ.  It sits in slot 7, but through the control panel (CTRL+Option), I can set either the 3½, 5¼, or the SCSI Drive to boot.

Thanks to all.

Paul