gglabs a2scsi

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gglabs a2scsi

GGLABS A2SCSI - Clone of APPLE SCSI CARD 607-0291 rev. C

 

I have Enhanced Apple IIe with Grappler+ in slot 1; SSC in slot 2; 5.25 disk controller in slot 6; A2SCSI in slot 4. Trying to boot ProDOS from 5.25 floppy.  

Finding the boot hangs whenever the A2SCI is installed, regardless of the state of the SCSI hard disk (on off connected disconnected).

 

Am not finding much documentation on this card and it's hard to run diags if the machine won't boot.  

Anyone have experience with this card?

 

Thanks,

 

Paul

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The normal location for hard

The normal location for hard disk interface cards on the Apple II is Slot 7. The Apple SCSI Card can also be used in Slot 5.

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A2SCSI

Thanks. Yes, I put it in slot 7, to give it a first shot at booting; just the "Apple //e" at the top of the screen, then nothing.

I tried slot 5, but results were no different than slot 4.  Moved to slot 4 for breathing room. The card is new; the drive is an unknown 80 MB CMS.  

 

 

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Is the drive terminated?

Is the drive terminated?

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Does the drive spin up?  Got

Does the drive spin up?  Got an old Mac to hook it up to and run SCSI Probe or diagnositcs on it?

 

 

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I understand that the gglabs

I understand that the gglabs SCSI card is basically a clone of the Apple rev C SCSI card with the improvement that it does term power.

You’ll need to format and partition it with something like the Apple II SCSI card Utility

 

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GGLabs SCSI Card

I have resumed my quest to get this working and read my original post with enthusiasm before I realized it was my own post!

I sent the card back and they returned it promptly.  According to GGLabs, there was a timing problem using the card with the IIe. The original chip  74F245 was replaced with a 74LS245.  GGLabs advises the IIgs will work with either chip. 

I have since acquired a IIgs and just popped the hood on it and will continue to try to hang a CMS SD60 off it using the GGLabs card.  BTW...  The CMS manual says the drive "has termination in place and operates.... with no changes needed. "

Thanks

Paul

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GGLabs A2SCSI and CMS SD60

The quest continues:

Recently acquired IIgs and getting to know it.

Have set control panel:

Slot 2 - "Your Card" (no longer modem)

Slot 5 - "Smart Port" 3.5 Floppy Drive

Slot 6 - "Disk Port"  5.25 floppy drive

Slot 7 - "Your Card"

Boot Startup Slot:  5

The results are the same whether the A2SCSI controller is in slot 2 or slot 7.

A2SCSI installed in slot 7.  A2SCSI is connected to a CMS SD60 drive.  The drive is not terminated; drive manual advises no need to add termination.  SCSI ID 6.  

The CMS Drive is an SD60 model; NOT the SD60/A2S model which comes preformatted in PRODOS.  It may/may not be formatted.  Don't know.

CMS SCSI Utility disk in 5.25 drive; IIgs system disk in 3.5 drive.

Turn on the CMS drive; give it 15-20 second to get up to speed.

Turn on the IIga. The IIgs system 3.5 floppy (Slot 5) starts.  Disk Activity light on the CMS drive flashes.  Wait Wait Wait 2½ minutes.  The floppy drive boots to the IIgs Program Launcher.  Disk Activity light stops flashing and goes to steady on.

At the desktop, open up the SCSI Utility Disk and run FILER.  I tell FILER to list the volumes.

It shows "RAM DISK" in slot 3; IIgs system disk in slot 5; CMS SCSI Utility disk in slot 6.

All this time the disk activity light is steady on, but it is not recognized as a volume by FILER.

I tell FILER to format a drive.  I select slot 7, disk 1; give it a volume name.  I responds with something like, "You're about to format a large disk" but .... bang ... "I/O ERROR"

I can't format the CMS drive because FILER does not see any media at the A2SCSI slot.

There is some connection between the controller and the disk, but there is something lacking in the communication.

Other than the obvious (the drive is toast), is there something I am missing?

Thanks for your interest.

Paul

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Has that hard drive run

Has that hard drive run recently?  Can you hear it spin up?  You may need to open up the case to hear.  If not many drives, especially early Quantum (which was commonly used in CMS chassis) SCSI drives (like 20MB-240MB capacities) often sufferef from something called "stiction".  That's when the platter libricant kind of gells up and the head gets stuck to the platters.  This causes the drive to fail to spin up.  Sometimes shaking or smacking the drive will jar the head loose...  but it cal also damage the drive.

 

If you open up the drive chassis, you might also want to meter the power supply.  If it isn't providing the right voltages the drive may not work correctly.  The power supplies in external SCSI enclosures can suffer the same kinds of issues with electrolytic caps going bad as any other vintage power supply.

 

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A2SCSI and CMS SCSI Drive - Close out - Drive is toast
"Softwarejanitor" ... your comment brought back memories of working with Novell 3.1 servers thirty years ago and one cantankerous drive that would just click and click until one day, after a full backup, I just whacked it upside and, lo and behold, it started working again!  This Quantum drive did in fact have sticking problem.

 

First, however,  I turned it over and found it was not an SD80, but an SD60. After many failures to get it to work, I opened to enclosure to find it was not an 80MB, nor a 60MB, but a 40MB drive. You could set the SCSI ID switches on the back all day, to no avail, because the switches were not connected. The drive was not spinning up.

 

I opened the drive to find the heads were stuck. The rubber on the bumpers that limit the movement of the heads had deteriorated to a sticky mess and the magnetic counter arm was stuck to the rubber. Cleaned it up and put a single layer of masking tape around the rubber. Put the mess back together; set the ID jumpers on the drive; and now it spins and the head moves freely. Still doesn't respond. "The operation was a success, but the patient didn't survive."   The power supply checks out, so it's not a complete boat anchor; will replace the drive with a truly functional one.

 

I understand this rubber deterioration is a common problem with really old drives.

 

The A2SCSI card is doing its job; the drive is toast.

 

Thanks to all!

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GGLabs A2SCSI and the CMS Drive - Matter Resolved

Matter resolved.

It was a case of " Schrödinger's cat" drive; wasn't sure if it were dead, but opening it ensured its demise. But, at least I learned what was wrong with it!

Got a 40MB Quantum SCSI drive from Apple Rescue and dropped it in the CMS enclosure.

With no fuss or bother, partitioned it to two-20MB partitions and all works like a champ.  It sits in slot 7, but through the control panel (CTRL+Option), I can set either the 3½, 5¼, or the SCSI Drive to boot.

Thanks to all.

Paul

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