Opry99er Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Do any of you use zip drives for TI mass storage and transfer? Does the TI SCSI card even support a zip drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 (edited) yes it supports ZIP drives. I use the EZ135 by SyQuest. I have used a ZIP drive as well. Did you land a SCSI card ? Edited March 3, 2018 by Shift838 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 I didn't... but I have been in conversations with a fellow enthusiast who has one, and I've been trying to get him to let it go. That's good to know that they can run zips. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swim Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 I didn't... but I have been in conversations with a fellow enthusiast who has one, and I've been trying to get him to let it go. That's good to know that they can run zips. Be aware that the WHT SCSI "E," "F," and "G" controllers require the version 1.6 upgrade to be dependable in all operations and also PDMA (Pseudo Direct Memory Access) compatable for the Geneve. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astharot Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 I used snug scsi and work perfect. How mass storage use iomega zip and iomega jazz and all ok. For test i try at home friend that scsi card + iomega jazz work perfect also on geneve 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 I think I recall reading somewhere the removable drives can be used but not as removable, meaning you have to reboot to change the disk. Do I recall correctly? Anyone ever try a LS-120? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swim Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 I used snug scsi and work perfect. How mass storage use iomega zip and iomega jazz and all ok. For test i try at home friend that scsi card + iomega jazz work perfect also on geneve Yes, the SNUG ASCSI is the preferred controller. The 1.6 upgrade on the WHT series of controllers brings them as close to the SNUG ASCSI as you can get them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 I think I recall reading somewhere the removable drives can be used but not as removable, meaning you have to reboot to change the disk. Do I recall correctly? Anyone ever try a LS-120? I have been able to remove my cartridges without rebooting on my EZ135 with the WHT SCSI with no problem. Once I insert the new cartridge it takes a few seconds for the status light to go back green on the drive but then it's ready. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 You can remove and insert the cartridges but to be safe, you should reset the system at that point. The DSR caches information about each drive at powerup and after certain accesses, and makes some assumptions that lean toward a non-removable device. So while things may look OK you run the risk of information from the prior cartridge being applied to and used for the newly inserted cartridge until/unless the DSR re-caches the information.. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Last night, I continued to try to get a SCSI EZ135, Iomega JAZ, or a hard drive to work on my, basically repaired and non modified Geneve (not the one I got from, you, oh Insane one), but the one I had blown most of the chips on by plugging into a PEB, that did not have a switching PS in it. I was trying to use MYS, but it kept locking up at the beginning of the program startup, as it was just starting to display the LUN's. What am I doing wrong? The card did work and format with a TI about a year ago, and also with my PFM+ Geneve, prior to that, till that card stopped responding. I don't think there is anything wrong with either the Genny or the Scsi card. It is a version 1.6 card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 What version of MDOS? If you are using v6.5, be sure to use MYS 6.5. Type "PDMA" at the command line. It should report PDMA ON. If it reports PDMA OFF, and you try to access the SCSI device, the Geneve will lock. Type "PDMA ON" to enable. The default PDMA status should have been ON in that release; I either made a mistake or at the time OFF seemed like the right choice. The 'upcoming' release defaults to ON and also tries to detect the EPROM version. CYA will force the setting or you can run an autoexec from a disk device. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 What version of MDOS? If you are using v6.5, be sure to use MYS 6.5. Type "PDMA" at the command line. It should report PDMA ON. If it reports PDMA OFF, and you try to access the SCSI device, the Geneve will lock. Type "PDMA ON" to enable. The default PDMA status should have been ON in that release; I either made a mistake or at the time OFF seemed like the right choice. The 'upcoming' release defaults to ON and also tries to detect the EPROM version. CYA will force the setting or you can run an autoexec from a disk device. Well the two versions of MDOS I've tried are 5.00 and 6.70, and I get the same result, seen in the picture. I'm beginning to believe that one of my two 32k sram chips may have issue, as they weren't changed in the blow out. It has worked, so I have assumed that everything was okay, but it may not be. I haven't loaded 6.5 to my HxC yet, but don't think I'll change the results. I have printed out the Scsi manuals and have checked the settings, but till I get this issue resolved, on the Geneve, or get one of my jumpered flex cards operational to test on a TI, I won't know if the problem is in the SCSI card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Well the two versions of MDOS I've tried are 5.00 and 6.70, and I get the same result, seen in the picture. I'm beginning to believe that one of my two 32k sram chips may have issue, as they weren't changed in the blow out. It has worked, so I have assumed that everything was okay, but it may not be. I haven't loaded 6.5 to my HxC yet, but don't think I'll change the results. I have printed out the Scsi manuals and have checked the settings, but till I get this issue resolved, on the Geneve, or get one of my jumpered flex cards operational to test on a TI, I won't know if the problem is in the SCSI card. If you have MEMTEST, run it to check the ram. The more likely possibility that comes to mind is a termination issue or a problem with the SCSI card. The MYS formatter first queries the devices on the SCSI bus. If the PDMA setting is wrong or the termination/card/device is hung, you won't get very far. And not to sound like a broken record but be sure PDMA status is ON. Type PDMA at the command line before running MYS. I think the later version 6.7 will do it's own detection but 6.5 relies upon the MDOS command setting, so if it is wrong, it will lock up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dhe Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Tim, What file contains the PDMA - or is it a setting spread out amongst multiple files? Thanks, d. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Depends on the OS and program version. MDOS 6.70RC2 and 7.00 (not released) contain routines to detect the type based on SCSI card's EPROM version number. Since version 6.0 the flag is stored in the OS and is accessible by typing PDMA (to show status) or PDMA <on/off> to change the status. MYS and a few other programs may detect the mode themselves or with help of the OS. There are caveats to both approaches. I believe that in MDOS 7.00 the command line PDMA command can override the initial detection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Well I believe I have found some issue's when i tried testing the pdma stuff, my repaired Geneve stopped working, I believe some of my problem is old TI gear. I will be asking questions about PEB on another thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Well I am still down on my Geneve(s), but finally got a PEB up and running for TI. I am trying to use my SCSI card which seemed to be working with my Genny, previously, but am running into a problem on the TI. I am loading Freds DU 2K 2.1 from FinalGrom99 and then looking at available devices, and I see my drive(any drive I throw at it, Zip,EZ135, SCSI2SD). But afterward when I go into the Format and Initialize option, It seems to format the device, then give a quick, brief Initializing message, then goes to the menu. When I try to Rename, or Sector edit, I get a read error on the zero sector. The switch is set off for a TI, not Geneve. Can someone tell me what may be going on, I have successfully formatted with the TI in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 I remember seeing this issue on my SCSI card a few years ago and it caused days of hair pulling. (and i don't have that much to begin with). I have not tried it with the Final Grom since I now have it in my Geneve. When I saw this issue I was before the FinalGrom or the FlashRom99 came out. I found it when I was using a cartridge Expander. I did remove the cartridge exapander and loaded up DU2k via EA and all was working. Try loading it up via EA Option #5 instead of the Finalgrom and see if that makes a difference. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 I remember seeing this issue on my SCSI card a few years ago and it caused days of hair pulling. (and i don't have that much to begin with). I have not tried it with the Final Grom since I now have it in my Geneve. When I saw this issue I was before the FinalGrom or the FlashRom99 came out. I found it when I was using a cartridge Expander. I did remove the cartridge exapander and loaded up DU2k via EA and all was working. Try loading it up via EA Option #5 instead of the Finalgrom and see if that makes a difference. Thanks, I was going to try this tonight, just have to get the program onto a Gotek image and see, I sort of felt this was probably the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Okay, that did not do it. I copied DU2K to a dsik image and mounted it to the Gotek and ran it, still the same. The devices format and are accessible to both my PC and to my Macs, so they are not the issue. I am using a flex card that was stored and a TI that has seen a lot of use over the years, then the scsi card itself, which other than being shifted around in storage and so forth has not seen a lot of use, till I started playing around with it on my Geneve, about the time the Acard and scsi2sd craze started. Could the card be doing this due to a buffer chip problem, or memory issue? Seems like I can go into Edit from the scuzzy archive and sector edit the device, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Okay, that did not do it. I copied DU2K to a dsik image and mounted it to the Gotek and ran it, still the same. The devices format and are accessible to both my PC and to my Macs, so they are not the issue. I am using a flex card that was stored and a TI that has seen a lot of use over the years, then the scsi card itself, which other than being shifted around in storage and so forth has not seen a lot of use, till I started playing around with it on my Geneve, about the time the Acard and scsi2sd craze started. Could the card be doing this due to a buffer chip problem, or memory issue? Seems like I can go into Edit from the scuzzy archive and sector edit the device, however. Have you tried using the SCS2SD on it with the TI. I see you are using a ZIP drive. You did remember to use a terminator right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 (edited) Yes I have if you look at post #17 " and I see my drive(any drive I throw at it, Zip,EZ135, SCSI2SD)". And I have tried terminated, non terminated with out any success. The SCSI2SD actually pops up saying it will only format 260 MB, then when I go ahead and try it quickly says formatting SCS1, then jumps through the initializing phase (this whole process on the SCSI2SD takes less than 5 seconds), then I get the same problem as stated above. Edited February 7, 2019 by RickyDean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 After formatting on the TI, can you read sector 0 (which will be a 512 byte sector containing TI sectors 0 and 1) with the drive connected to a PC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 After formatting on the TI, can you read sector 0 (which will be a 512 byte sector containing TI sectors 0 and 1) with the drive connected to a PC? That's something I have not tried, I have just formatted them on the PC and Mac to see if they worked and could read and write to them, I will have to try that tonight if I get time and see wha happens. Thanks Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXB Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) According to Hard Drive Manufactures the fastest way to destroy a Hard Drive is keep Formatting it over and over. See when Manufactures format a hard drive they use a extreme power supply and make sure the Format is as perfect as possible. Home users have flaky power and controllers that just enures a bad formatted track or two and creates erratic behavior more over time. This is why Windows, OS X and Linux mostly always only use Soft Formating keeping the Factory Format intact and let drive track bad Tracks. Edited February 11, 2019 by RXB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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