External SCSI HD Identity Crisis

hey guys,

just picked up an external SCSI HD finally. it's a SCSI 18gig Drive - ST118273LC Barracuda 18 ultra speed mounted in a small SCSI HD case. i have a small converter to change the connector from ultra to a standard SCSI serial type.

i've check and double checked my ID pins on the drive + converter and both are set to id 2 and i am still not getting anywhere with it.

i've been able to see the name of the drive by daisy chaining it into the mpc through my external zip 250.. but plugged in on it's own it just has a solid HD activity light. also, when i do see the drive name on the mpc it won't allow me to save or format.. keeps saying "no device" then stopping again on the ID number. i've also tried the drive in my s5000 and it just hangs alot then boots up with no drive listed. i've also tried it on my pc.. shows the name on boot up but i think because it's XP it doesn't support my SCSI drive so it doesn't show in "my computer".

if there is anyone out there that can help me you would be extremly happy. i'd appreciate and advise or ideas..

thanx alot,

1-0ne

p.s the converter i have i can't find any info on but there are jumpers for ID0, ID1, ID2, ID3, MTR and DLY... also my drive has a simlar jumper setup but also an additional ground jumper... anyone know what i should do with the MTR and ground jumpers?

it's a SCSI 18gig Drive -

Oh dear......... I seem to remember from other threads on here that it was difficult finding a SCSI HD to work with an MPC because it needed to be one old enough to be not much more than 1GB.

I hope someone is going to say I'm wrong & sort you out.......

well i also read on the AKAI website that the mpc recognizes more than 18gig.. i didn't really have a choice in that matter when it came down to choosing a HD.. they are rare.

1-0ne

have you terminate the SCSIbus in the other end(HD end)?
theres 2 SCSI connectors on the HD case, right? - one for the cabel and one empty - have you placed a "close-ended" terminator plug in there? btw i think the MPC2K's supports HDs up to 4.5Gb. and a think the 18Gb will work but you will only get 4.5 Gb out of 18Gb HD. (i might be wrong on this)

Last i heard but i may be wrong,the mpc could only support up to 1gb like featherboy said.But,i could be wrong................Peace.

im pretty sure u can have multiple partitions.

nanoloop wrote:im pretty sure u can have multiple partitions.

yah that's what i am working on right now although i can't even get my XP PC to bring up the drive.. although it shows it in the SCSI BIOS boot it does not show it in "my computer"... i think it's in a bad format or something.. when i go to fdisk it i get an error saying "no local drives present".. perhaps there is something wrong with my SCSI controller cause the BIOS won't give me access to anything.. LOL!! this is nuts i just want a HD for my mpc. anyway i'll keep trying to update the image on the drive to a non DOS format so my mpc can format it.

thanks for the suggestions guys.. i've already figured out that my drive has non way to terminate and it needs to be terminated by a device in the chain.. that was causing alot of problems..

1-0ne

I'm not for sure either, but I do believe 18 GB is alot for the MPC to format and process. It does however read more than 1 GB because I have a 2 GB Jaz drive on mine.

An 18 Gig drive *may* work with that MPC, but it does have to meet the following conditions:

1. It must be terminated if it is the last device in the chain (SCSI drives have the ability to be terminated).
2. Ultrawide drives need the upper bits terminated to make it a 'narrow' drive.
3. Ultrawide drives usually need to 'supply term power to bus'.

These can be set by jumper on the drive itself. If you are unsure then I suggest reading the technical docs on the drive and possibly a few SCSI Faq's that are commonly found by common search engine.

End of free advice. Any more will cost.

yah that's what i am working on right now although i can't even get my XP PC to bring up the drive

You can't use a MPC HD w/ a PC one. I got my 2GB HD from SCSIforsamplers.com along with the correct linking cables. You have to cap off the secondary drive post on the HD as well. Anything over a gig will have to be partitioned. I have 3 partitions for mine

www.scsiforsamplers.com

thanks for the help mpc3000.. i'm going to look into that. i did have a look at my specs for the drive and they said that the drive can't be terminated and that it needs to be terminated by some other device in the chain.. i'll take a look again though for that other suggestion you had about supplying term power.

your right sizzahanz73 - the pc can't recognize an AKAI formated HD but what i am trying to do is partition it into some non DOS format so my mpc can format it but i don't even see it in the fdisk. i still need to akai format the HD.

{n8}

To format your drive, you have to hold SHIFT and press LOAD to get to the disk mode. Press FORMAT to display the format screen. From there select the SCSI ID number in the DEVICE field, set the partitioning and press DO IT.

LOL i'm sorry cat... i'm guessing that you don't understand my situation here.. the drive doesn't show up on my mpc.. that's the problem.

thanx for the effort though.. i appreciate the input.


1-0ne

ok here are some pics so you guys know what i am talking about..

the case

back of the case

the HD and converter

the converter from ultra to standard


hope that helps.. again i can get the ID to sort of show on the mpc but won't allow me to do anything. keeps saying "no disk.." or "disk not ready" when i try to access it or format it. i have the same thing with the pc.. fdisk won't allow me to partition it "no local drives available". is the drive bad or something?

i wouldn't think so since the ID is showing correctly with what i set it to.. again no terminator on the drive.. has to be terminated externally (manual says so). i'm using an external zip 250 for the termination. i also have a cdrom but need a cable to terminate with it. pins for the ID are on the front of the drive. the drive is hot swapable so the power comes through the cable.. do i need to do something else because it's hot swapable?

thanx alot guys..


1-0ne

"keeps saying "no disk.." or "disk not ready" when i try to access it or format it. i have the same thing with the pc.. "

Unless the SCSI card for the PC has an onboard BIOS then fdisk will not find the drive.

That big square thing on the connector in the pic 'back of the case' is called an external terminator, but I am sure you already knew that after all the research you have done elsewhere. You only need one terminator on the end of the chain. The internal jumper terminator is there only if you do not have another terminator.

"what i am trying to do is partition it into some non DOS format so my mpc can format "

Not needed. MPC's can format any drive it successfully recognizes (I have run across one exception but it would not apply here). The question here is whether your drive is recognized. There still are two things to still find out if the MPC will recognize the drive:

2. Ultrawide drives need the upper bits terminated to make it a 'narrow' drive.
3. Ultrawide drives usually need to 'supply term power to bus'.