#SCSI Quantum Help
22 messages in this thread
HELP!
I have a Quantum 245 meg SCSI drive that is acting strange. I run the
format (high level) command and it gets to the very last track, trys to
validate the drive then dumps outand says "Not a Dos disk in device Dh0".
Every program that I have tried that claims to low level format seems to
say the drive is ok but I'm not so sure.
It seems like it would take longer than 30 secs to low level format.
BTW It's not the controller, my other drive works fine.
Thanks
Mark
Mark,
Sounds like you may have told the prep software (HDToolBox or
equivalent) that the drive is one cylinder bigger than it really is. Try
cutting it back by one cylinder.
Many drives won't actually low level format…but they have to accept
the command so you don't get an error…but you get a real quick return <grin>.
Don
Thanks for the reply but the cylinders are the same as when it worked
before. I think I may have a garbage drive. I sent a Quantum back to
GVP about 6 months after I bought it (combo unit) and they sent me
this one. I had different problems with this one so I called Quantum
and they sent me a new rom for the drive. Everything worked about 8
months then All 3 partitions lost the bitmap and gave me checksum
errors. I would agree about the extra cylinder but any size
partition won't high level. I'll never by a SCSI quantum again! Hell
the old palamax I had on my old 500 was just as good as this
thing…. What do common folks do with problems like these? I repair
this stuff every day.. I wonder how they survive….
Sorry to hear of your Quantum troubles, I have had my Q-105 for 3 – 4 years w/o
any probs whatsoever. I have replaced it w/ a Maxtor 345s only because I could
not get a Quantum of that size. Sure hope your luck improves. ED R.
>…I have had my Q-105 for 3 – 4 years w/o any probs whatsoever. I have
>replaced it w/ a Maxtor 345s only because I could not get a Quantum of
>that size.
Does this mean that you now have a Quantum 105 SCSI drive for sale?
Dan, I'm sorry to say that I plan to run both drives in my Amiga 2000 The big
one on the Amiga side and the small one one on the 386SX BB side.
You can't fault one for asking…can you? Thanks!
There IS a brand new Quantum product – a LPS 340 meg FAST SCSI2 drive
at very attractive price now available. So Quantum now does have
something attractive in that size/capacity range. If interested, just
EMail me for more info.
Sure wish I'd known that earlier, have already bought a Maxtor 345. Hard Drive
International in Arizona told me there was no 340 size available in Quantum.
How long has the LPS 340 meg been out? I sure would have gotten it had I known.
Thanks anyway, ED R.
Brand new from Quantum. Getting our first ones in next week. Maybe
been available about 7 to 10 days now. What'd they sock you for the
Maxtor 7345s? I also like the Maxtor 540S I use in my A4000 (on a
4091). It is super super fast and now the price is very very
attractive for a ultra high tech 500 meg FScsi2.
I never heard of any troubles except with the LPS245 series. I have had a
lot!! I have a Maxtor now and it seems to run great.
Thanks for the luck.
Mark
interesting – some Maxtors are wonderful on Amiga, but I've heard some
of the newer IDE Maxtors don't spin up fast enough for a cold boot on
A4000. Anyone out there with more info on that issue?
Daniel,
I don't know about the IDE Maxtors but I have an SC7120 SCSI drive
which rarely come to life anymore since I installed a Quantum LPS240
in my A2000 with the Quantum on SCSI ID #6 and the Maxtor ID #0, both
internally with a SCSI ribbon cable with two plugs on it. Have I
missed out on something when adding the second drive, or might it be
that my A2000's PSU doesn't give enough "oomph" to get the Maxtor
going anymore (what with a CSA-MMR/512KB SROM/4MB SRAM, 4MB FastMem
board, Multi I/O board, Merlin graphics board, and Evolution SCSI
host adaptor in the machine…)?
If your power supply were dropping low enough that it affected the Maxtor
7120S, then I suppose it would be low enough that nothing would work at all!
I'd check out the Maxtor separately outside your system and get it replaced if
under warranty and it turns out to have flaked on you. I have a A2000 much
more loaded than yours. I'll bet the 7120 is coming up late and not noticed by
the SCSI controller – maybe you can set the scsi controller to give the drives
more time to spin up.
the Maxtor seems ok enough, it even comes on again fairly regular now
after having abandoned me for a few months… <g> The first symptoms
back then really were that I had to warm-boot after a cold-boot if I
wanted the Maxtor a appear, but a short time later the Maxtor
wouldn't start at all. Sometimes, after having worked on the machine
for a few hours, suddenly the Maxtor would spin up, more often than
not if I had just inserted a floppy disk(?!)… On the other hand, it
would just as well stop somewhere in the middle of something and not
come on again. What about "termination resistors" or whatever these
are called? I used to have the Maxtor as my only drive and just sort
of plonked the Quantum in between the host adaptor and the Maxtor
without changing anything on the drives or the hast adaptor. SHOULD I
have done something?
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.061……….
Chris,
The only thing you should have done is remove the termination
resisters on the Quantum. If you didn't, then that may very well
account for the Maxtor problems…if the system assumes the Quantum
is the "end of the line" and stops looking further.
Gary,
right, I should have removed the resistors – WHAT resistors? Any hints?
Sadly enough, the scrap of paper I received with my Quantum LPS240 didn't
tell me ANYTHNG about resistors or, takling about that, the jumper layout.
Anyone out there who can tell me which jumer does what on the thing?
Thanks,
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.061……….
I think you probably DO NEED TO DO SOMETHING to check if you have your chain of
drives properly terminated. If the Quantum is 'in between' then it should not
have termination resistors. And the Maxtor SHOULD have them if it is at the END
of the chain. Please check the Quantum and REMOVE terminators on the Quantum if
they are still there. If performance changes, please reply.
Mark,
=>I never heard of any troubles except with the LPS245 series. I have had
=>a lot!!
Oh oh!! Specifically what kind of problems? I have a Quantum LPS245,
and while it has run for over 2 months without a hitch, what would I have
to look out for?
Trent
"If in doubt, empty the magazine"
I've sold LOTS of hard drives in the last 3 years and found that all
the large manufacturers (Quantum, Maxtor, Micropolis, Seagate,
Conner, etc.) seem to make very high quality products. NOTHING is
perfect and failure of any mechanical device can occur without
warning. My experiences with Quantum have been superb. One old
40meg SCSI ran continously for 3.5 years until I retired it to make
room for something beefier. I think your Quantum problems are
probably NOT reflective of overall Quantum quality. That may not
assuage hard feelings now, but … hope your luck turns around. Some
Quantum 240's early on were definitely NOT Amiga compatible, but that
has definitely been fixed.
I've had 2 Quantum LPS 245's and both failed. Makes one wonder. I guess
some people like Fords, some Chevy, etc. Just seems like the two I had
were Garbage!
Being in the business of selling lots of data storage equipment I'm
much more interested in performance/price/quality/warranty than
personal tastes of my own. Not to say I lack my own preferences. But
the more I work with different types of drives and learn of their
behavior from customer feedback, I'd have to say that ALL the big
makers do a very very good job, especially on the newer technology
drives. I hope your Q240S drives were still under the standard
Quantum 2year wty when they went bye-bye. Quantum is excellent about
repair/replacement (at least through bona fide resellers, my own
experience). There are lots of fairly fly-by-night folks out there
selling questionable product (third-party refurbs, used but cleaned
ane repackaged, etc.). I have seen everything in the book in the
three years I've been handling disk drives. I've learned WHERE to
buy is as important as WHAT to buy. Sometimes PRICE isn't
everything. Others have said this, but I can't feel more strongly –
BUY FROM REPUTABLE PEOPLE. It isn't worth taking a chance with your
system and/or livelihood to save $50 on a $300-500 purchase.