SCSI Chain Problems

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Brad Eldridge - 23 Sep 2003 03:38 GMT

I have an older Mac clone.. PowerComputing Power Base.. slow.. like 128
Mhz.. anyway, I have hooked up two external hard drives (2 gig from Club Mac
and 1 gig Apple) and an external CD. Seems like the hard drives get lost
over time.. I'll start it up and the system can't find the hard drives. I
have separate ID's on each, formatted with Apple's Drive Setup.

Does the "Shut Down" command park external drives making it safe to kill the
power on them? If not do I have to park them manually? What else could be
the problem?

One of the hard drives (2 gig) can't be seen at all now.. not even with
Drive Setup. Why would this be? Anyone know of a utility good at discovering
really hidden/damaged drives?

Any help greatly appreciated..

Brad

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GCZ - 23 Sep 2003 04:49 GMT

I too use old mac gear with SCSI. I suggest:
1. Try replacing SCSI cables if possible. The do get old.
2. Check that terminators are correct type. There are Non-mac SCSI termionators
and they don't work quite right.
3. Get "FWB Toolbox" if you can find it, excellent for SCSI problems, even
allows you to format odd drives for macs.
4. Beware long SCSI cables and chains - use shorter cables if possible.
Beyond that, things start getting very technical - newer drives can be a
problem since they expect a faster bus, etc. etc.
ALL drives past about 1980 should park automatically no probs unless faulty.

Hope this helps,
Greg
<zag7@nospam.optusnet.com.au>

> I have an older Mac clone.. PowerComputing Power Base.. slow.. like 128
> Mhz.. anyway, I have hooked up two external hard drives (2 gig from Club Mac
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Brad

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The Castle Family - 25 Sep 2003 23:31 GMT

I also am still behind the G3 eightball

You could also check the order in which you have linked the drives and CD. I know it
sounds like everyone should know this stuff, but it seems best to have the hard
drives first in line and the CD at the end.

> 1. Try replacing SCSI cables if possible. They do get old.
> 2. Check that terminators are correct type. There are Non-mac SCSI termionators
> and they don't work quite right.

you could also check whether the drives themselves are already terminated
internally, some are, and don't need the external terminators. Too many terminators
spoil the SCSI chain.

> 3. Get "FWB Toolbox" if you can find it, excellent for SCSI problems, even
> allows you to format odd drives for macs.

Bear in mind that once you format using FWB toolbox that you can't reformat with
Apple drive setup for some reason. Having said that, FWB toolbox does a great job.

> 4. Beware long SCSI cables and chains - use shorter cables if possible.
> Beyond that, things start getting very technical - newer drives can be a
> problem since they expect a faster bus, etc. etc.
> ALL drives past about 1980 should park automatically no probs unless faulty.

Agreed, just shut down as per usual.

HTH.

Wayne.

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Mac Forum / Country Specific / Australian Mac Group / September 2003

SCSI Chain Problems