AT-BB/Elite i/o
13 messages in this thread
Just received Elite's SVGA/multi i/o board yesterday and am trying to get
it going with my AT-BB.
Have the color-80 video coming from the card just fine. Mono still goes
to the Amiga – do I have to remove the monochrome jumper from the AT-BB
and leave it disconnected for the mono mode to go to the SVGA board?
Right now I have the floppies coming from the AT-BB. They also work
coming from the i/o board, unless I remove PCDisk from the user-startup
file.
My problem is getting the HD controller working! With the IDE controller
jumper open, I get the message "1782-Disk Controller Failure", then the
versions of the janus handler/library, and everything seems to stop
there.
Put the jumper back in, and I can boot up just fine using a boot floppy in
A: (The ABoot stuff was eliminated, so it was just like starting up a
fresh AT-BB).
But I can't do anything with the HD (like format it) – get the message
"Invalid drive specification"
Drive is a Quantum ProDrive ELS 170 MByte, 1011 cylinders, 15 heads, 22
sectors. I am using Janus 2.0 (handler 2.63, library 33.1) (what came
with the AT-BB) The closest thing I can select for Hard Disk 1 is type 9
(900 cylinders, 15 heads, 17 sectors 112 MB), but still can't get it to
go.
So what is the problem? Would upgrading to Janus 2.1 solve this problem,
or am I just up the creek with this combo on the AT-BB???
Kelly,
First off you need to turn off the color and mono for the Bridgeboard.
In PCPrefs set both to disabled. You should leave the jumper on the I/O board
at the enabled position. I believe the board comes with IDE controller
disabled. On JP4 put a jumper across the set of pins labeled 1, which are at
the top of the JP4 block. You should leave everything else at their defaults.
Boot the BB from a floppy disk and when you get to the point where you can
access the CMOS settings (either run BBSERUP when the BB is booted or use
CTRL-ALT-ESC if you have a Januse message and the boot has failed.) In the
CMOS settings go to HDrive 0 and then select USER (40) from the list. When you
hit return you will be presented with a window for entering information on the
User drive. Put in 936 for cylinders, 14 for heads, and 0 for wcp and landing
zone. When you TAB the last item you should then save the new CMOS settings.
You must now do a PCReset TWO or THREE times in succession. If all goes well
the drive should be recognized, but it won't be usable until you first do
FDISK, reboot the PC side, then FORMAT /S.
Steve,
There is no HDrive 0 selection – first one is Hard Disk 1. There is no
User (40) selection. 40 is a 830 cyl, 10 head, 17 sector, 68MB setting.
I have an AT-BB with Janus 2.0. The Ctrl-Alt-Esc brings up CBM A2286
Setup Utility V1.2. Running Dos 3.30.
Why would I want to tell the system I have an 936 cyl/14 head drive when I
have an 1011 cyl, 15 head, 22 sector HD??
Obviously I can't use the HD controller with the version of Janus I have.
Will Janus 2.1 allow me to use the HD controller/ drive with the 2286
AT-BB, or would I have to upgrade to the 386sx BB? Could use the speed,
but don't really want to dish out the bucks..
73, Kelly
The 386 bios lets you set your own HD specs…everything he mentioned is
for the 386.
I would recommend the upgrade to the 386 board…they are at an all time
low right now, and that would also give you DOS 5.0, which is much better
then your current 3.3.
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Kelly,
Well, then find the first USER entry in the drive list whatever the
number is and use it for Hard Disk 1. The parameters I mentioned were an
example of how mine is entered. You enter the ones appropriate to your drive.
However, check the instructions with the drive to determine what is recommended
for the entry. FORMAT normally uses 17 sectors/track, not 22. The drive
manual should tell you what is appropriate to use as alternative cylinders and
heads.
There's no reason why the controller won't work with your setup. The
controller runs under DOS and not under Amiga, so the version of Janus isn't
important. Janus 2.0 will work fine. You just need to be sure you get the
correct drive parameters entered because most controllers and drives won't
setup properly if the cylinders, heads, spt, etc. are not what are expected.
Check your drive instructions. My Maxtor came with a sheet which
listed the cylinders and heads combinations which were to be used. I should
think your drive should have similar information.
You can upgrade to Janus 2.1 through your Amiga dealer. You don't need
to buy a 386 BB to get it and it will work with your bridgeboard.
73, Steve (W4YVP)
Steve,
There are no USER setups in the drive lists in the versions I have.
Looked at the Janus.Library file and don't think any of the setup program
is hidden in there, can't find where the Janus.Handler is hidden, so I
think what needs to happen is a BIOS upgrade, which means upgrading to the
386BB. The speedup wouldn't hurt, along with the larger memory
capabilities, and only taking up one slot in my machine (bloody
daughterboard) .. Didn't take much to convince myself, eh!
The other Quantum drives in the series (42 MB, 85 MB, and 127 MB) are 17
sectors drives, but the label says 22 for the 170 MB drive. The format
command does have an /n:sectors switch for the number of sectors/track for
floppies, though I would hope the format command has enough smarts to use
the number sectors as specified in the setup program for the HD instead of
any default.
Looking at the setup program, they have hard disk selections with 26, 27,
28, and even 33 sectors, so doubt 22 sectors should be a problem. No
manual or info sheet with the HD, just the info on the label.
73, Kelly
Kelly,
On the AT-BB you should have a CMOS setup program which is built into
the ROM. Check your manual. On my BB it's accessed via CTRL-ALT-ESC or by a
small .COM file in the DOS directory called BBSetup. It's on the PC side, not
on the Amiga side. It's not part of Janus, but part of the PC. The low level
setups for hard drives on the PC is handled via routines in the ROM, which is
where the spt is fixed. It's really just a matter of choosing the combination
of heads and spt which will determine the formatted size of the drive. My
Maxtor drive's actual specs are 4 heads and 42 spt, but the format is done at
16 heads and 17 spt. Check the manual to see how to access the setup. It's on
page 35 of the manual. Select Hard Disk 1 and scroll thruough the drive table.
If you cannot find a selection where you can install your own parameters,
choose one which comes closest to your drive. After you save it, reboot the PC
side from a floppy and see if the drive isn't recognized. You will then have
to run through FDISK to get the drive recognized by DOS and set up the DOS
partition.
Don't give up on it yet. You should get it to work. Note that when
you run FDISK to initialize the drive, it will take a while. You will have a
period of apparent no activity, then eventually FDISK will start to run through
the verify stage, which takes quite awhile on a large drive like yours.
Steven,
The key word is FDISK FDISK FDISK FDISK …. why didn't somebody say that
earlier <grin>
I thought FDISK was just for breaking up the HD into partitions, but I
guess it is closer to the Amiga's equivalent to a mountlist or RDB setup
utility.
Now I have three 33M and one 16.7M partition using the one drive selection
that supported 15 heads. Forgot 3.3 had this stupid 33M partition limit.
This gets larger in dos 5, right???
Am not going to cancel the 386BB order. Could use the capabilities of the
386BB, and the extra Amiga slots getting it will free up (Had to remove my
mimetic FrameBuffer to make room for the VGA/io card)
Now to make up another HD mounting bracket. There should be room for two
of these 1" high drives in the 5.25" drive bay – just need a little sheet
metal (why didn't I make it up when I was at work yesterday…)
73, Kelly
Kelly,
Great! You got it up and running. Terrific! Knew it should work.
Yes, DOS 3.3 has that limit. DOS 4 and up expand the limit significantly. So
does DRDOS. I would recommend the upgrade. If you have ordered the 386 BB it
will come with DOS 5. I would recommend not loading too much on the drive if
the new BB is due shortly, since you will want to change the partitioning under
DOS 5. Under DOS 5 you can create a partition as large as the drive if you
want.
You will like the 386 BB. Not only is it faster, but the new Janus
software is more reliable and flexible. However, the mechanical setup can be a
bit frustrating. The new Janus has a program called Flipper which will allow
you to share an Amiga internal drive between the Amiga and the bridgeboard.
However, if you use AMAX you cannot have both Flipper and AMAX sharing the same
drive. Given that most windows software now comes on 1.2 meg 5 1/4" disks or
1.44 meg 3 1/2" disks, you might want to consider buying one of these new combo
drives. It has the 3.5 and 5.25 drives in one package the size of a 5.25
drive. Cost runs around $150. You can hook it up either to the bridgeboard or
to the floppy controller on the multi-i/o board.
Steve,
Yes, I am not planning to load up the HD until after I get the 386BB and
can repartition the drive. Should be able to get access to the full
170Megs of the HD instead of the 115M or so I can get now. Besides, right
now I don't have a heck of a lot to put on there.
Have no intention of running Flipper. I have the 5.25" HD floppy from the
286BB, and alread have added a 3.5" HD floppy to the 286BB, so have all
the floppies I need. I run them external, though the combo drive could go
in the 5.25" drive bay.
73, Kelly
Kelly,
Well, if you already have the drives it's a waste of money to buy the
combo. I don't run the Flipper myself because I have an Amax card in the box
and Amax and Flipper can't share the same drive, so I have a dedicated PC
drive. I had the old 360K PC drive from my 2088 BB, which was a pain. So I
shelled out about $75 and bought a 1.2 meg 5.25" floppy to replace it. I also
have an Amiga external 3.5" floppy drive which I can use on the BB if I need to
access 3.5" disks.
Guess your having much the same problem as me Kelly. Bloody nuisance isn't
it>
Pete
Clones ….. yeuck…..