The following tips were collected by the Micropolis tech support team
and were used in resolving customer issues. At one point in time, these
tips were available via the Micropolis BBS.
Tech Tips
1. Ultrastor 12F when installing NETWARE 2.15A
Low-level format using the physical parameters(no
translation) to use the full capacity of Micropolis drives
that exceed 1024 cylinders. Install Advanced Netware 2.15A
using the "Default" configuration.
2. Ultrastor 12F in EISA machines.
To configure an Ultrastor 12F in an EISA bus you must use the
file USC0120.CFG located on the ultrastor diskettes.
3. WD1007x
Say "NO" to "enable alternate sectors?" during low-level the
format. The use of alternate sectors will disable WD1007x 63
sector translation mode. *NOTE* alternate sectors may be
enabled when no translation will be required.
4. WD1007v-SE1/SE2
Models 1568-15 and 1664-7 must have the W2 jumper removed from
the drive. Removing the W2 jumpers changes the drive geometry
from 54 to 53 spt. The WD1007V does NOT support 54 spt.
5. SCSI
The drive and host adapter must have different SCSI ID's.
Conflicting SCSI ID's will cause a variety of problems.
6. ESDI Drive Splitting
Enabling drive splitting with ESDI controllers will limit the
system to one physical EDSI drive. The computer CMOS must be
set for two physical drives set to type (Type 1)
7. ESDI
When using ESDI controllers and drives, you must be sure that
the controller has a transfer rate equal to or higher than the
drive. Eg.. WD1007A is a 10 Megahertz controller, with a 1664-7
which is a 15 Megahertz drive. This is an incompatible mix.
8. UltraStor and Netware
UltraStor 12/f is certified for Netware 2.2 and Netware 386
v3.11 with the Rev 009 bios on the controller.
9. In-2000 Synchronous negotiation
Set SW-8 to "ON" position to force the IN-2000 to initiate
synchronous negotiation.
10. HS Code
HS code supports 512 bytes per sector only. This applies to
firmware P/N 800574-XX-X.
11. RS6000
HSP4 (800574-03-0) will issue an Illegal request in
CDB(05/24h) when formatted with AIX "Service and Diagnostics
Module". ASOC must be used in an IBM RS6000 machines. HS code
doesn't support a command issued by the RS6000.
12. Future Domain 1680 Host Adapter
Disk Manager will not initialize a drive over 1.2 gigabytes.
You must use have a bios revision of 2.0 and higher for the
Future Domain 1680. You must use Disk Maestro or Debug to
format the drives.
13. SCO UNIX
The boot partition must reside under 1024 cylinders or you will
have erratic behavior of the OS.
14. Ultra 12f-24 with Two drives
When a 1518-15 is attached to the 12f and additional drive will
be will be added , the bios on the Ultrastor should be Rev.
-010.
15. DPT / MYLEX WITH 1598 AND 1528
The firmware on the drives must be DD24_1 to work with DPT and
Mylex Host Adapters.
16. PS2 Model 95 and 1528
Configure automatically with the reference diskette and the
utility will return '????' as the 2nd drive.
After configuration, the drive will respond normally.
17. Always and UNIX / XENIX
If a customer has problems creating the N1 boot diskette, the
customer can call Always and they will create the N1 diskette
for the customer.
18. WESTERN DIGITAL 7000FASST
The WD7000FASST host adapter does not support parity.
Micropolis drives must have parity disabled by placing a jumper
on W9 on the 1674 /1684 or w4 on 1578/1588/1598/1528. On the
models 1548/1908/1624 drives to disable parity jumper in 13-14
in the J2 connector. (Download the drive spec sheet from the
files section of the BBS).
19. ULTRASTOR(ALL CONTROLLERS)
Ultrasor ESDI controllers will not co-reside with any other
manufacturers controller card under Netware.
Collected Problems and Solutions
Here are some problems that people have encountered, and solutions suggested by Micropolis Technical Support.
These are preserved here for legacy support, but keep in mind that this is information dated September 1996.
Either 2 drives or 7 drives are seen when only one drive is installed.
Your drive is incorrectly set to SCSI ID 7, which is what most controllers or SCSI Host Adapters are set to. Change your drive's SCSI ID to anything other than 7. (For multiple drives, each drive must have a unique SCSI ID number.)
Drive does not appear to spin-up or power-on.
Check for correctness of termination, and verify that the the power cable is connected and that power is actually on. If the drive still fails to spin up, follow this self test: Disconnect the SCSI cable from the drive and terminate the drive. Observe the LED on the front of the drive as you apply power. If the drive is "healthy" there will be 3 blinks. Any other sequence of blinks or a repeating pattern may indicate a defective drive.
When booting up, the system hangs at the BIOS banner of the controller or SCSI Host Adapter.
There are several possibilities:
- There is a drive set to the same SCSI ID as the controller or SCSI Host Adapter.
Change the drive's SCSI ID to a number that is not is use.
- There are 2 or more drives with the same SCSI ID number.
All drives must have different SCSI ID numbers.
- There could be a BIOS conflict.
Change the BIOS address of the controller or SCSI Host Adapter to a different memory location.
- There could be a conflict with other add-in boards.
Check that there are no memory conflicts, and check DMAs, IRQs, and port addresses.
When you boot up, the computer gives you a message like "DRIVE C NOT FOUND" or "DRIVE 0 NOT FOUND"
(DOS only) Check your system CMOS. Set both DRIVE 0 and DRIVE 1 to "Not Installed" or 0. (CMOS drive settings are for ESDI or IDE drives only; not for SCSI.)
Drive does not appear to format over 1 gigabyte.
You need to enable the extended or "above 1 gigabyte" translation that is found with the controller's or SCSI Host Adapter's BIOS. Some SCSI Host Adapters may need a BIOS upgrade to see over 1 gigabyte.
Drive will not allow you to create a primary partition over a certain size.
DOS can only create a maximum primary partition of 2 gigabytes. In this case you would need to create an extended partition to take advantage of the capacity above 2 gigabytes. Other operating systems have other limitations.