Re: sane: UMAX Astra 2200 SCSI problems

From: Kenneth E. Harker (kharker@cs.utexas.edu)
Date: Mon Feb 28 2000 - 12:56:00 PST

  • Next message: Oliver Rauch: "Re: sane: UMAX Astra 2200 SCSI problems"

    On Mon, Feb 28, 2000 at 07:38:49PM +0100, Oliver Rauch wrote:
    > "Kenneth E. Harker" wrote:
    >
    > >
    > > a) How would I be able to tell if the scanner is really broken? I do
    > > not run Windows at all, and my Macintosh is pre-Power-PC, so the software
    > > it came with won't help me.
    >
    > I don`t think that it is a problem of the scanner. It is a known problem caused by
    > termination, cable or scsi-driver problems.

    I don't think it's the cable - I've tried two different ones with the
    same result.
     

    > > b) Could this be something like active termination vs. passive
    > > termination on the SCSI bus? The scanner is obviously using passive
    > > termination.
    >
    > The scanner does not do any termination. You mean the termination that came with
    > the scanner? That is a passive one. If you work with a fast scsi card that should be ok,
    > for an ultra scsi card you should use an active one.
    >
    > > c) Do I need to terminate the "internal" 50-pin connector on the
    > > SCSI card if I don't have a hard disk or CD-ROM drive on it? How would I
    > > do that?
    >
    > YES, YOU NEED TO!
    >
    > Normally there are jumpers or resistor arrays on the scsi card or the termination
    > can be activated via the bios. Some cards automatically activate the termination
    > but you really have to make sure it is terminated!!!

    This will be the first thing I check.
    There aren't any jumpers that are labelled "termination on/off" or anything.
    In fact, I had to jumper the BIOS address as "disabled" in order to get
    the machine to boot with the card in it - I think it was trying to use the
    same address space as the IDE controller. When I got the card, I think it
    had been used with a boot disk and floppy drive. I'll research this some more.

    Would there be an easy way to put an out-board terminator onto that connector?

    > > Any other ideas to get this working?
    > >
    > > d) and on another note - there's no power button on this thing, and
    > > the scanning bulb stays lit _all_ the time. Is that normal?
    > >
    >
    > The driver is responsible to turn out the light for the astra 2200, but I don`t have
    > the command sequence for that.
    >
    > In the moment: pull the power connector to turn off the scanner.

    OK - I was wondering about that. Won't that cause problems with the SCSI
    bus?

     
    > It also may be a problem of the scsi driver of your scsi cards.
    > Lots of 1.x.x kernels had buggy scsi drivers. The 2.2.x kernel should be ok
    > for the most scsi cards, so the 2.3.x also should be ok. But when the scsi card is a
    > new product the driver may also be new and buggy.

    In this case, the Ultrastor 14F card and driver have both been around since
    about 1994, so I think it's a reasonbaly robust driver.

    -- 
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Kenneth E. Harker      "Vox Clamantis in Deserto"      kharker@cs.utexas.edu
    University of Texas at Austin                  Amateur Radio Callsign: KM5FA
    Department of the Computer Sciences         President, UT Amateur Radio Club
    Taylor Hall TAY 2.124               Maintainer of the Linux Laptop Home Page
    Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA            http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    

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