SCSI and the 2.14 OS HELP!!!

hey ya'll. i've been reading thru EVERYTHING on this site and can't figure out whats wrong. please help!
allright. i bought off of ebay ($400 US) got myself a mpc60 and it has the 2.14 OS, and inside i see the Marion SCSI and a ribbon running to the back of the mpc, and it is connected to a 25 pin that runs out to the RS232C connection. I have an Iomega 100 zip, and the parallel SCSI connector. i try to hook up the mpc and the external zip drive, termination set on, scsi id is 5.
i power on the zip drive first, then power on the mpc. i hit disk button, then hit 9 (other functions) and then hit 2 (format hard disk) and i get a screen that says : FORMATING WILL ERASE ENTIRE HARD DISK!
The disk will be divided into partitions of less than
30 megabytes each. press proceed to go to next
screen.
So I hit proceed and get another screen that is the enter partitions screen. I just leave it at its recommended settings and proceed to format. Then it says:
HARD DISK FORMAT FAILURE!
so whats the deal? anything i'm doing wrong? could it be the mpc is not working properly? not connected properly? do i need the upgraded OS to use SCSI? everything else with the mpc works fine except the floppy drive doesn't read disks anymore, it did when i first got it, but the other day it stopped reading, formating, or loading floppies.
thanks in advance for any help!
peace!

arcadefunk wrote:the 2.14 OS, and inside i see the Marion SCSI and a ribbon running to the back of the mpc, and it is connected to a 25 pin that runs out to the RS232C connection.

By your description it seems you are using the correct SCSI ZIP drive with TERMINATION and ID selectors and two SCSI ports on its rear. ( So I can assume you're not using a parallel/hybrid ZIP drive.)

2.14OS on your unit is the last "AKAI BRANDED" one and first version to support the MARION SYSTEMS SCSI board.

From memory it does not have full support for certain firmware versions and particular hardware serial numbers of SCSI ZIP100 devices. ( Although my memory is a little vague and I have not had a chance to hook an OS 2.14 fitted and SCSI equipped MPC60 to my analyzer for further confirmation of this )

ZIP devices with certain firmare versions and particular hardware serial numbers are known to have problems with the standard SCSI "FORMAT UNIT COMMAND". ( Ensoniq ASR10 and EPS users know all about this )

Roger Linn Design's OS 3.10E has the work arounds present to deal with the most common version of SCSI ZIP drive that behave badly when presented with a SCSI "FORMAT UNIT" command.

You could check that the SCSI board is performing correctly by trying a conventional SCSI hard disk ( assuming you have one available to try ).

Rohan.

i think i understand what you're saying, rohan, but as new to this as i am, i'm not clear on all that you said. are you saying that the SCSI zip drive that i have might not be compatable with the marion systems mpc-scsi?? how do i know which zip drive would be compatable?
and so i was just "digging" some more and found that i had skimmed over something on the rogerlinndesigns website, which might be my answer. On that sight, under the description for buying and installing their SCSI upgrade for the mpc60, it says that the Marion Systems MPC-SCSI requires version 3.10 software to run. is that my answer?
if that is the case, why did they include the MPC-SCSI in the MPC60 with 2.14? did they already know that they were updating to 3.10?
thanks for your help too!

arcadefunk wrote:i think i understand what you're saying, rohan, but as new to this as i am, i'm not clear on all that you said. are you saying that the SCSI zip drive that i have might not be compatable with the marion systems mpc-scsi?? how do i know which zip drive would be compatable?

The most common SCSI ZIP100 drive in the market is a DDXZ100S2 ...

This information will be stamped on its base.

Is this the model you have ?

If so ...... whilst it will capable of being connected to the MARION SYSTEMS SCSI board ...... then there is a strong possibility that your MPC60 2.14 OS won't have software support for control over said drive.

arcadefunk wrote: On that sight, under the description for buying and installing their SCSI upgrade for the mpc60, it says that the Marion Systems MPC-SCSI requires version 3.10 software to run. is that my answer?

3.10E would certainly be a better option in that it has improved support for control of certain device types. Like ZIP drives.

arcadefunk wrote:if that is the case, why did they include the MPC-SCSI in the MPC60 with 2.14? did they already know that they were updating to 3.10?
thanks for your help too!

I could speculate on that but ... maybe not.

Regardless of the reason just be happy that you landed a 60 with the SCSI board for WAY cheap !

Rohan.

the zip drive i have is the DDXZ100S2.
i've tested the zip drive and it does work, so i'm left thinking that it's the 2.14 that needs to be updated for the zip to work. thats ok, if thats the case cause i've been planning on getting that update anyways.
- and yes, i agree.....i did get this mpc60 with SCSI for a good deal. i'm one of the lucky ones i guess, since ebay has a questionable reputation......
thanks for you help rohan!

arcadefunk wrote:the zip drive i have is the DDXZ100S2.!

Bingo !

arcadefunk wrote:i've tested the zip drive and it does work, so i'm left thinking that it's the 2.14 that needs to be updated for the zip to work..!

Fair call. You'll enjoy the 3.10E update.

...and the fact that your ZIP drive will more thank likely perform properly.

arcadefunk wrote:- and yes, i agree.....i did get this mpc60 with SCSI for a good deal. i'm one of the lucky ones i guess, since ebay has a questionable reputation......
thanks for you help rohan!

Yep, very lucky.

All is good then.

Rohan.