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From: Don Lewis <Don.Lewis@tsc.tdk.com>
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Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 15:58:47 -0700
In-Reply-To: John Dowdal <jdowdal@destiny.erols.com>
       "Re: Is my NCR controller broken?" (Sep 18,  9:25am)
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To: John Dowdal <jdowdal@destiny.erols.com>,
        Walter Hafner <hafner@forwiss.tu-muenchen.de>
Subject: Re: Is my NCR controller broken?
Cc: freebsd-scsi@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG
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On Sep 18,  9:25am, John Dowdal wrote:
} Subject: Re: Is my NCR controller broken?
} I just dealt with solving the same problem.  In fact there were were
} several problems.
} 
} 7) Return home, reconnect the rest of my external chain.  Starts to boot,
}    and dies with error messsages you describe during fsck.  *Grumble*
} 8) Dissect each external case, try all combinations one at a time, turns
}    out that if I include the CD writer I get the above errors while
}    fscking.  "FunnySCSI" below is the "weird" connector which is on a
}    SUN-3 shoe box.
} 
}    [2 internal drives] -> [Computer-HD50] -> [Tape-Centronics] ->
}        [CDWriter-FunnySCSI] -> [Disk-Centronics]
} 
}    Next I swapped the tape and disk; same effect
} 
} 9) Next I bought a Centronics-Centronics cable, to remove the CDWriter
}    from the chain.  
}     -> this worked fine
} 
} 10) Broke SCSI spec by terminating the CD writer at the drive, leaving
}     an illegal stub of cable sticking out of the case [the other FunnySCSI
}     connector].  Connected this with one funnyscsi->centronics cable ..
}     -> this seems to work fine

I seem to recall problems with termpower and Sun 3 vintage equipment
(this stuff predates SCSI 1).   I believe the some Sun 3's actually
grounded the termpower pin which tended to melt things if you connected
them to post-standard equipment that supplied termpower.  I wonder if
your shoe box or the cables that connect to it don't pass termpower
through.  This might result in no power to an external terminator at
the end of your SCSI chain, and it is consistent with the configurations
that worked and didn't work.  You should be able to make it work by
putting either the disk or tape back at the end of the chain and
configuring the end device to supply termpower to the bus.

			---  Truck