Need help with A3000 SCSI

[ajk]

Hi,

I got an ACARD ARS 2000-SUP SCSI to SATA adapter for my A3000, to replace the old drive. I've used a similar ACARD device on my A4000 with good success, but I can't get the thing working on the A3000.

I put in a SATA drive which I had first formatted using WinUAE (I connected it to 'SCSI0' in WinUAE, not sure if it matters). However, when I put the drive in the A3000 it comes up as unknown in HDToolBox (3.1).

I can define a new drive type, read configuration, partition etc. on the A3000 but when I try to save the changes I get error -3 (unsupported command or something to that effect).

The A3000 is clearly recognizing the drive to some effect, I can't do anything in HDToolBox with just the empty adapter plugged in.

I've also tried another drive, and while I get a different manufacturer name pop up in HDToolBox, saving changes still does not work.

Anyone have some ideas as to what to try next?

Thanks!

[Kin Hell]

If you're using this drive only off the A3000 SCSI header, are the SCSI Termination packs in place on the Mobo?

Otherwise, be sure you enable Termination on the ARS 2000 SUP jumpers.

http://quadra605.wikispaces.com/file...UP(E)+v1.0.pdf

With only one real SCSI HD in your A3000, the Termination packs should be installed on the Mobo. With Dual SCSI drives off the A3K SCSI header, you either have to teminate the Cable after the last device or set the devices Term Pwr to ON. Your ARS 2000 SUP has the ability to set Term PWR to ON just the same as decent SCSI devices have.

Also, you may have better success with HDInstTool

[Kin Hell]

Have u had any luck with this yet fella?

[ajk]

Unfortunately not yet. I've been having weird stability issues with the A3000, and I have now noticed that the Agnus socket is cracked. Not totally open or anything, but it's probably not making very solid contact. It may or may not have anything to do with the SCSI issue but I'll fix it first anyway.

Will keep this thread updated

[mark_k]

This probably won't solve your problem, but have you checked the termination power diode (D800) in your A3000 is the right way around? See http://amiga.serveftp.net/A3000_Hard...termpower.html

Apparently some A3000s were manufactured with it fitted the wrong way around (the diode direction shown on the PCB silk-screen text may be wrong too).

[Kin Hell]

Originally Posted by mark_k

This probably won't solve your problem, but have you checked the termination power diode (D800) in your A3000 is the right way around? See http://amiga.serveftp.net/A3000_Hard...termpower.html <snip>

Actually, it might. - The Agnus Chip controls the entire Chipset & aside from that, any cracked socket either needs replacing or re-working with a surface mount applied to the issue. IE: - Soldered directly to the board.

Originally Posted by ajk

Unfortunately not yet. I've been having weird stability issues with the A3000, and I have now noticed that the Agnus socket is cracked. Not totally open or anything, but it's probably not making very solid contact. It may or may not have anything to do with the SCSI issue but I'll fix it first anyway.

Will keep this thread updated

Definitely fix that cracked socket first bud.

[zipper]

Cable tie, pliers and CA glue have worked for 15 years...

[Jope]

Originally Posted by Kin Hell

cracked socket either needs replacing or re-working with a surface mount applied to the issue. IE: - Soldered directly to the board.

The A3000's PLCC sockets are through hole, so there will always have to be a socket between the PCB and the chip. :-)

[Kin Hell]

Originally Posted by Jope

The A3000's PLCC sockets are through hole, so there will always have to be a socket between the PCB and the chip. :-)

Per se....

[ajk]

Heh, I finally gave this thing another go after a few years and found my own thread when googling for help...

I started over, running DiskPart clean in Windows to wipe the hard drive. Then I created a small partition on the drive using WinUAE and installed Workbench on it.

The A3000 still didn't boot from the drive just leaving me with a Kickstart screen. Then I added the "Delay start" jumper on the Acard adapter, and... it booted! I suppose the A3000 SCSI implementation is just slightly on the slow side during boot-up. In any case, the original SCSI drive can be retired

Now, to finally replace that cracked socket...

[A10001986]

I am running this very hardware configuration in three A3000s without a problem; however, I needed to run "SCSIPrefs" to enable a long boot delay, otherwise the SCSI Controller would not see the drive. Warm boots never were a problem, happened only during cold start.

IIRC I did not set the "delay" jumper. Interesting to see that adding a delay seems to have the same effect.... (perhaps that jumper causes the scsi-response to be delayed so that the controller gives the drive more time to boot up...)

As a sidenote, speed will increase massively with "synchronous" mode enabled.

[ajk]

Cool, thanks for the information. I'll have to see what combination is best once I've got a proper Workbench installation going.

[matt3k]

Hi,

You may need to flash the Acard with .14 (? will have to confirm the firmware number). There are some firmware that are not compatible with the 3000. Once flashed they work perfect. The only problem is that I haven't found a firmware to work with the Warp Engine SCSI...

[ajk]

I actually got everything working, it was just a matter of having the correct jumpers set