#2090 and A2091
6 messages in this thread
[ continuation ]
cylinders from 2 to 698, only to fail at the very last. After additional
rebooting, the 2090 DH0: can't even be referenced until RES0: is rePrep'ed.
On a simular experiment, Mike sets up a MountList entry for a second
partition on the Tulin drive, from cylinders 3 to 698 and rePrep's RES0:.
But the Format statement still fails at the very end.
As the chapter ends, Mike has many questions unanswered like: Why is
there no 2090 command to PreFormat or LowFormat the main partion, like I
need to do with every HardDisk on every machine I've ever used? Should I
still call the device RES0: in the MountList if I'm trying to use Unit =
11?
Join us next week as Mike gets desperate and starts using multicolored
cables to "…make the 2090 *feel* better".
Mike,
I think you are going to continue to have trouble as long as you have
the DH0: partition on your SCSI drive. What I suggest you try is to change
the partition information for the drive connected to your 2091 (BE SURE YOU
HAVE A GOOD BACKUP FIRST). Using the Hdtoolbox program, redefine the
partitions on that device, and use different partition "device" names
instead of dh0:, dh1:, etc. I believe this is possible, as the
RigidDiskBlock standard is not hardwired to specific names, unlike the 2090
system (which predates the RDB standard). If you are careful with
HDToolBox, you shouldn't lose the data that exists on the partitions, but
if you miss setting the partition boundaries from what they are currently,
there is a good chance of losing everything (hence my strong suggestion
concerning BACKUPs).
Hope this helps, and good luck ….
…BobR
Michael,
The easy answer is to tell it it only has 698 cylinders and thus
you won't have any problems formatting the last cylinder.
Don
Well, what I meant was, it formats *all* the cylinders and fails right at
the point where it would be saying "Initializing disk.". Also, I tried
dividing the disk into 100 cylinder partitions and successfully formatted
each partition, but they didn't last through a reboot. Every single one of
them was listed as "Not a DOS disk".
I'm still trying to find out how to LowLevel format the disk with the
2090. I'm also trying to find out what the J4 connector is for on the 2090
board. It's right next to the J5 connector that you can use to hook up an
LED with. I'm having this terrific urge to jumper it to make the board know
that it's the second controller.
Mike McC
Mike,
If I remember correctly, the J4 connector is the same thing as the J5,
except that it's an LED connector for the SCSI drives, rather than the
ST506 drives. It's been a while since I've mucked about with my 2090, so I
don't remember for sure (nor do I remember where I stuffed the docs that
came with it).
Hope this helps….
…BobR
Michael,
The J4 jumper is for an LED for SCSI drives…it has nothing to do
with which controller it is.
The A2090 has no low level format routine for ST-506 type drives
that I'm aware of.
Again…call Commodore, ask them about how to properly address the
drives when you have both an A2090 and A2091 in your system.
You do have one other choice…you could get either an Omti or
Adaptec SCSI<->ST-506 adapter, and simply hook that drive to the SCSI bus
of your A2091. Those adapters cost in the $80 or so range.
Don