General Install Notes

Drive Handling

Your Micropolis drive is a precision piece of equipment; reasonably careful handling will avoid the risk of damage. Minimize handling of the drive's circuit board. Do not subject the drive to electrostatic discharge.

Set/Confirm the SCSI ID Number

If this is the only drive, the SCSI ID should usually be set to 0 (all of the SCSI ID jumpers removed). For multiple drives, each must have a unique SCSI ID number; do not use SCSI ID number 7 (ID 7 is usually used by the controller or SCSI Host Adapter). Drives are shipped from the factory set to ID 0; three jumpers are provided in a poly bag in case you need to change the ID. (Some earlier drives were shipped from the factory set to ID 7.)
See the specific information for your drive model.

Check the Interface Terminator(s)

SCSI Terminator(s) should be installed only in the end devices on the SCSI cable (usually the controller or SCSI Host Adapter is terminated). The drive is shipped with active terminator(s) installed. If the drive is not at the physical end of the cable, remove the terminator(s). If external terminators are used, they should be active terminators.
See the specific information for your drive model.

Physical Installation

Micropolis uses industry-standard dimensions and mounting hole locations for each class of drives. Mounting screws must not penetrate bottom mounting holes by more than 0.20 inches or side mounting holes by more than 0.156 inches (they might short-circuit components or interfere with the shock mount system).

Connect the SCSI Interface Cable and Power Cable

Micropolis uses industry-standard connector sizes and pin assignments. Cables are available locally at computer stores if needed.

Controller or SCSI Host Adapter Configuration/Software Installation

Follow the instructions that came with your controller or SCSI Host Adapter (or with your system). Your controller or SCSI Host Adapter may have capacity limitations which will require special setup.

Formatting and Partitioning

Low-level Formatting or Initialization is not required for Micropolis drives (they are shipped low-level formatted). Your computer's operating system may put limitations on partition size.

System Integration Notes

PC Integration

When installing a Micropolis SCSI drive in a PC, the most common method is to run your SETUP program and define No Drives Present. The SCSI host adapter will automatically self-configure on power-up. To install the drive, follow the computer or host adapter manufacturer's instructions to use the on-board BIOS routine or software that was supplied with the host adapter.

Remember that the drive is shipped with a SCSI Address of ID0. If your system requires that the drive be set to a different SCSI Address, see the specific instructions for your drive. Three jumpers are provided in a poly bag for this purpose.

Certain drive models may require special brackets and/or cable adapters. Such brackets are available from third-party vendors like DataStor (dstor) or similar.

UNIX Workstation Integration

Installing a Micropolis drive on most UNIX workstations is easy.

In most cases, the DISKTAB (or FORMAT.DAT on SUN systems) file must be modified to include an entry describing the drive's geometry. The DISKTAB (or FORMAT.DAT for SUN) is usually contained in the /etc directory, and can be edited using VI or any appropriate text editor. Other systems require no modifications and will auto-configure the drive.

• HP Workstation (disktab) entries
• Sun Workstation (format.dat) entries

For other systems or additional information, check with the Micropolis Technical Support Bulletin Board or on the Micropolis Forum on CompuServe®. Feel free to contact either of these sources for assistance in installing your Micropolis drive (click here).

Macintosh Integration

All Apple Macintosh models created since and including the MacPlus are compatible with Micropolis SCSI drives.

Certain drive models may require special brackets and/or cable adapters. Such brackets are available from third-party vendors like DataStor (dstor) or similar.

Macintosh Software Installation

To make a Micropolis drive usable on the the Macintosh platform:

1. Install the Macintosh Operating System.
2. Install a Macintosh device driver.
3. Create a Macintosh partition map.

There are many third-party software products commercially available to perform these functions. Some of these products will identify the three functions referenced above as "partition," others as "initialize," and still others as "install disk drive." There is generally no need to "format" the drive. If the drive is "factory fresh" (i.e., unused since it was shipped from the factory), low-level formatting of the drive was already performed at the factory. Most of these software products will automatically set the drive interleave to the proper value; for those that do not, an interleave value of "1" or "1:1" is most often the correct setting.

Recommended third-party software products include, but are not limited to, current versions of:

• Anubis by CHARISMAC Engineering
• Drive 7 by Casa Blanca Works
• Formatter One by Software Architects
• FWB Toolkit of FWB Personal Edition by FWB
• SCSI Director by Transoft
• Silverlining by LaCie
• Spot-On by MacPeak

Micropolis drives conform to the termination requirements detailed in the ANSI SCSI specification governing the appropriate class of Micropolis drive models. The user should be aware of whether the Macintosh model does or does not supply terminator power (TERMPWR) to the SCSI bus, and should be prepared to change the drive's TERMPWR jumper accordingly if the internal drive terminator is used. The drive's default TERMPWR configuration is correct for all Macintosh models except the MacPlus; the MacPlus does not supply terminator power to the SCSI bus.

If the drive is used in an external enclosure and is terminated externally, the user may have to place a jumper on the drive's "+5V to Bus" pins if the Macintosh model does not supply TERMPWR to the SCSI bus. Quadra users should remove the drive's internal terminators (RN1 and RN2) if the drive is installed on the Quadra's internal bus.