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Q: Micronet SCSI Utility Problem

I have recently obtained an Apple HD20SC with its drive replaced with an IBM 153 MB drive. At first, the drive wouldn't mount on my System 6 Desktop when I booted from a disk. I would have to use the Micronet SCSI Utility to mount it manually. I used the Micronet SCSI Utility to create two partitions, 0 and 1. 0 was just a filler partition, with 1 megabyte, while 1 was 152 megabytes. Partition 1 mounted, so I put a system folder on it. I then tried to boot from the drive, but my Macintosh Plus stayed on the ? Floppy Disk Screen. No X. I then tried to format the drive with interleave 3. (I find it strange that the interleaves were in 1, 2, 3, as opposed to , 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, etc.) When I tried to do that, I got a Sense Key = 5, Error Type 36. Formatting Failed. I tried formatting in every interleave, 1-7, but only interleave 1 would work. I know that the Macintosh Plus requires interleave 3 or 3:1. The Micronet SCSI Utility will not let me do that. The Drive is terminated properly, with the terminator in the upper SCSI port on the drive, and the SCSI Cable on the lower port. What is going wrong? Should I use the Apple HD SC setup instead? Do I need to have a battery installed? I have a Utilities Disk with the Apple HD SC setup on it coming in the mail, along with a replacement battery.

 

Maybe it won't boot because I have no proper way to install System 6, other than dragging the system folder on to the hard drive icon on the desktop.

Macintosh Plus 1MB, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier, Most likely converted from a 128k or 512k

Posted on Jul 26, 2015 7:50 PM

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Q: Micronet SCSI Utility Problem

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  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 8, 2015 1:55 PM in response to aidancaamano
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Aug 8, 2015 1:55 PM in response to aidancaamano

    >I Have a beige Macintosh Plus, most likely converted from a 128k, 512k, or 512ke.

     

    Normally, that should mean one of the two first ROM versions mentioned in the technical note above (but we do not know if a possible conversion has changed this).

     

    >How would I perform a PRAM reset?

     

    Under System 6.0.8, start the computer. Wait until the Desktop can be seen. Now, press and hold the three keys Command + Option + Shift (in the lower left corner of the keyboard) and then choose Control Panel from the Apple menu. A dialogue box will appear; click Yes.

     

    >Is there a way to check how much buffer capacity the cache has?

     

    None that is known to me, but you may want to post the exact IBM hard drive name/model/type in order to make it easier to search for relevant information.

     

    >What would prevent various formatting utilities from formatting to an interleave other than 1 or 0?

     

    Just guessing, but we should perhaps not rule out that the formatting utilities read configuration data from the hard drive, and that this somehow would create limits. Since you obviously have installed a system on the hard disk, which apparently is working OK (apart from booting), it may well be that everything already is fine as far as the formatting is concerned. What about various drive test options in the utilities? Do the programs report any hard drive errors at this point?

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 8, 2015 2:18 PM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Aug 8, 2015 2:18 PM in response to Jan Hedlund

    Correction

     

    >installed a system on the hard disk, which apparently is working OK (apart from booting)

     

    I mean that the files installed on the hard disk appear to be OK as such (readable when the computer has started from a system on a floppy).

  • by aidancaamano,

    aidancaamano aidancaamano Aug 8, 2015 9:03 PM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Aug 8, 2015 9:03 PM in response to Jan Hedlund

    The PRAM Reset did not appear do change anything. I remember getting an error in apple HD SC setup saying that it could not read certain information from the drive. I used Lido to test the disk in various ways. First, I verified blocks, which returned no errors. Then, I ran the overnight test for one pass, with a 128k Transfer Size, once again, returning no errors. I then ran a seek test, and the average seek time was 18 ms. The Driver Test Read Transfer Rate was 235 kBytes/sec, while the Write Transfer Rate was 242 kBytes/sec. The Direct SCSI Test Read Transfer Rate was 239 kBytes/sec, while the Write Transfer Rate was 243 kBytes/sec. The HD SC Setup drive test was "Successful." PMount did not have any drive test options. In short, the various drive test options did not return any errors. I plan to disassemble the drive soon so that I can see the label. (I already took it apart before, but I didn't pay attention to the label.)

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 8, 2015 11:49 PM in response to aidancaamano
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Aug 8, 2015 11:49 PM in response to aidancaamano

    The transfer speeds appear to be what one could expect for a hard drive connected to the SCSI port of a Macintosh Plus. Nothing to say about the seek time either. No errors during verify tests, and no other errors. Based on this, the hard drive (including formatting, interleave, drivers) seems to be OK. Also, no reason to think that there is a problem with the SCSI bus as such, nor with termination (but you could of course carry out tests with different SCSI cables, use other terminators, try an additional SCSI device like a Zip drive, etc). With a "blessed" system folder, it ought to be possible to boot from the hard disk, but it is not. At this stage, one should perhaps not rule out that the computer's ROM in fact could have something to do with it, unless there is another fault on the logic board.

  • by aidancaamano,

    aidancaamano aidancaamano Aug 9, 2015 12:46 AM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Aug 9, 2015 12:46 AM in response to Jan Hedlund

    If this helps, here are pictures of the ROMS and the Motherboard/Logic Board:

     

    Also, I do not have any other SCSI cables. If the problem is the ROMS, could they be swapped for newer revisions? If so, where could I get newer revision ROMS? Does the Logic Board here seem to have any faults? (Note: this picture was taken before I upgraded the memory. The only difference now is that the board has four 1MB SIMMS instead of four 256K SIMMS, and the appropriate resistor was cut.)

    IMG_0001.jpgIMG_0002.jpg

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 9, 2015 2:42 AM in response to aidancaamano
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Aug 9, 2015 2:42 AM in response to aidancaamano

    >If the problem is the ROMS, could they be swapped for newer revisions?

     

    Probably, but I do not know where to find them. Also, the aforementioned technical note (https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/technotes/hw/hw_11.html) seems to indicate that all ROM versions have the same part number.

     

    Additionally, the "ROM boot code problems" section in the technical note "SCSI Bugs" (https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/technotes/dv/dv_14.html) may be of interest to you.

     

    Could your hard drive be a "unit attention" drive, and if so, would it be possible to disable this feature (compare ? Disable Unit Attention on second SCSI Drive?)? Once you know the exact model from the label (a picture of both sides of the drive would also help), we may be able to investigate the matter further (in the meantime, you could perhaps check whether the MicroNet SCSI utility reports hard drive name, model, etc under drive info). It may be worth checking whether any formatting utility (available or other) has a hard disk drive driver option/setting that somehow could assist.

     

    >Does the Logic Board here seem to have any faults?

     

    Difficult to say. Normally, one would need to carefully inspect both sides using a magnifying glass. One should look for things like leaking/bulging electrolytic capacitors (a capacitor has a C reference on the board; an electrolytic type has a polarity indicator, such as the larger barrel models in your picture), cracked/discoloured components, broken traces and bad solder joints.

  • by aidancaamano,

    aidancaamano aidancaamano Aug 9, 2015 12:56 PM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Aug 9, 2015 12:56 PM in response to Jan Hedlund

    Here are some pictures of the drive, and what the Micronet Utility Showed (this is the only SCSI device that I have, and there does not appear to be a drive info option in this utility):

     

    IMG_0007.jpgIMG_0008.jpgIMG_0009.jpgIMG_0010.jpgIMG_0011.jpgIMG_0012.jpgIMG_0013.jpg

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 9, 2015 3:50 PM in response to aidancaamano
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Aug 9, 2015 3:50 PM in response to aidancaamano

    Unfortunately, only very limited (and not very clear) information is available for this hard drive, model WDS-3160. The drive does not appear to have a "disable unit attention" jumper. That would mean that "unit attention" would have to be disabled via special software, if at all applicable and possible.

  • by aidancaamano,

    aidancaamano aidancaamano Aug 9, 2015 4:31 PM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Aug 9, 2015 4:31 PM in response to Jan Hedlund

    I am assuming that this drive has "unit attention." I will upload a picture of the drive board soon (the bottom of the drive). Maybe there is a jumper, but it just isn't obvious. Do you think that this "unit attention" feature is the problem? I suspect that if there is a way to disable "unit attention," it might involve modifying the drive board, such as clipping a resistor, or a solder joint. I will examine it soon. Would an upgraded ROM fix it? Is there a way to check which ROM revision that I currently have? Also, I have examined the Logic Board thoroughly, and have found no obvious faults. I shall try and find out more about this drive as well.

  • by aidancaamano,

    aidancaamano aidancaamano Aug 9, 2015 4:49 PM in response to aidancaamano
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Aug 9, 2015 4:49 PM in response to aidancaamano

    Here are some photos of the underside of the drive:

     

    Does there appear to be a "Unit Attention Jumper" here, or any other way to disable Unit Attention, such as through the solder joints?

    IMG_0014.jpgIMG_0015.jpgIMG_0016.jpgIMG_0017.jpgIMG_0018.jpg

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 9, 2015 5:05 PM in response to aidancaamano
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Aug 9, 2015 5:05 PM in response to aidancaamano

    Yes, the hard drive probably has "unit attention" (albeit not confirmed), but the question is how to disable it. The data sheets I found for the exact model WDS-3160 did not show a "disable unit attention" jumper, only "hard reset in" and other options. However, an appropriate program may be capable of turning off "unit attention" (if applicable).

     

    Utilities like TechTool and TattleTech (both System 7.x) report ROM versions. A control panel called MacEnvy (which should work under System 6) is mentioned at http://www.jagshouse.com/plusrom.html, together with a workaround for the boot problem (I have not tested this).

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 9, 2015 5:50 PM in response to aidancaamano
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Aug 9, 2015 5:50 PM in response to aidancaamano

    The jumper block has seven rows (each with two pins, except for the one in the middle with one pin). The three rows to the left are, according to the label, for SCSI ID. The other four rows are marked with an X on the label, which could indicate that they are not related to SCSI ID or that they are not in use. The block in the photos appears to correspond to "Type B" jumper settings that I have seen in data sheets. The fifth row seems to have something to do with "Motor start", the sixth with "Hard reset input", and the seventh with LED, but is is not clear what the jumpers do, or if the positions are active.

     

    SCSI ID 6 means that the first (left) row is empty, but with jumpers in the second and the third row. For SCSI ID 0 there would be no jumpers in the first three rows.

     

    The labels T RES appear to be for the termination resistor packs.

  • by aidancaamano,

    aidancaamano aidancaamano Aug 9, 2015 6:47 PM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Aug 9, 2015 6:47 PM in response to Jan Hedlund

    I should also mention that I used to have another "Micronet" Branded SCSI Drive. I was able to boot from it, but it had a stiction problem, and the only way to get it to spin up was to have the platters exposed so that I could give them a head start by pushing the spindle. When it did work, I was able to put a system folder on it and it would boot. It held around 40 MB. Unfortunately, I tried to clean it with rubbing alcohol, and when I tried to read and write data, I would get constant read errors. I destroyed the drive later, since it was irreversibly damaged. The rubbing alcohol did not fix the stiction problem, either. Since it booted, I would assume that the problem has to do with the difference between that drive and the current one.

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 10, 2015 12:54 AM in response to aidancaamano
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Aug 10, 2015 12:54 AM in response to aidancaamano

    That would be you the one mentioned in Macintosh Plus SCSI Hard Drive Problem. If it was an ST-157N, that drive was smaller (57 MB) and older, and it is quite possible that it worked differently (on the other hand, we have not been able to fully prove that the new WDS-3160 drive works with "unit attention").

     

    Your information confirms that the computer can boot from SCSI, and not only from a floppy drive. You could of course use the enclosure with the WDS-3160 as an external SCSI drive without bootability. Alternatively, you may want to experiment with software, or possibly even with a modified SCSI cable. Another (and probably safer) way could perhaps be to look for and try out a SCSI hard drive with a jumper position for "disable unit attention" (some of the somewhat newer IBM/Hitachi drives had that).

     

    >The Drive is terminated properly, with the terminator in the upper SCSI port on the drive

     

    Just one more thing. Have you checked that the termination method is OK? Normally, there should be only one terminator at the last SCSI device. If there are resistor packs (as the picture indicates) on the WDS-3160 drive (making up one terminator), one would not expect an additional external terminator.

  • by aidancaamano,

    aidancaamano aidancaamano Aug 10, 2015 12:10 PM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Aug 10, 2015 12:10 PM in response to Jan Hedlund

    I tried booting without the terminator in any port, to no avail. I should also mention that inside the drive enclosure, there is this cable coming from the drive ID selector, which is not connected to anything. Perhaps the drive's dip switches make the cable unnecessary, since the ID on the back is 1, but in the various SCSI Utilities, it is 6. Finally, do you know of any software that could disable unit attention, or how to disable with a modified SCSI cable?

     

    IMG_0019.jpgIMG_0020.jpg

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