Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 21:06:25 -0500 (CDT) From: bartling@cyrix.com (Steve Bartling) To: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org Cc: bartling@cyrix.com (Steve Bartling) Subject: Re: Irwin ( exabyte 8200 ) and Freebsd 2.1.5 RESOLVED (fwd) Message-ID: <199708260206.VAA15175@mega.eng.cyrix.com>
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This is an old problem resolution for anyone attempting to use an adaptec 1742A and the exabyte 8200 tape drive. Good luck ... - Steven Bartling Forwarded message: > From bartling Mon Oct 7 15:07:36 1996 > From: bartling (Steve Bartling) > Message-Id: <9610072007.AA19775@mega.cyrix.com> > Subject: Re: Irwin ( exabyte 8200 ) and Freebsd 2.1.5 RESOLVED > To: mega!bartling (Steve Bartling) > Date: Mon, 7 Oct 96 15:07:35 CDT > Cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, > dietz (Carl Dietz) > In-Reply-To: <9610031817.AA04092@mega.cyrix.com>; from "Steve Bartling" at Oct 3, 96 1:17 pm > X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] > > > For those of you with the 1742A or other aging Adaptec products ... > > I spent 1 week trying to determine why an Exabyte 8mm tape > drive would not work under Freebsd 2.1.5 or Windows95 with an > Adaptec 1742A. > > Symptoms ... : > > Freebsd 2.1.5 would properly recognize the tape drive upon > boot and could read tapes, but not write tapes. Attempting to > write the tape would cause SCSI bus lockup ( a hard reset is required ). > > Windows95 could recognize the tape drive with various backup > programs ( Arcada, etc ). However, attempts to write the drive would > lock up the SCSI bus. Unlike Freebsd however, the drivers under > windows 95 could recognize the bus problem and would reset the > SCSI bus. I would really like to know how this is done. > > Solutions : > > The Adaptec 1742A bios/microcode was not up to date. My card > had the following designations on the bios/microcode eproms : > > 450113-00 D > MCODE B7D6 > > 450216-00 A > BIOS DC00 > > Downloading the latest bios/microcode from Adaptec's web page fixed > the SCSI bus hang condition. There are two firmware updates on their > web page. The firmware file named 174XA.EXE has a corrupted bios > file. Do NOT use this firmware. The firmware file named 174XAS.EXE has > the more recent bios/microcode and is not corrupted. Please make sure > that you use the same EPROM types/speed as the original board uses. > Please note that the bios revision number that is displayed at > boot time does not change ( maybe microcode is the only thing > changed ? ). I do not know what was wrong with the old bios/microcode > as Adaptec's on line documentation on the firmware upgrades was > nil/non-existent and I never heard back from their technical support. > > Also, the switch settings on the MX controller card for the Exabyte > tape drive need to be tweaked. The card was set for fixed > block size mode. The best setting is variable block mode. The parity > checking was disabled ... this needs to be enabled if the rest of > your scsi peripherals have parity checking enabled ( like mine ). > Remember, parity must be ON for all devices, or OFF for all devices > on the same scsi bus. Another useful thing to change is the memory > check during scsi bus reset ( or power-on reset ). It takes about > 60 - 70 seconds to complete this test and this will delay your > DOS/windows95/unix boot until the test is completed. If you change > this setting to disable this test, boot times are greatly enhanced. > Note: reaching these switches is a pain in the butt. > > For the switch settings, please see the Exabyte web page at > http://www.Exabyte.COM/TechnicalSupport/ProductSupport/answers/in0111.html > > I want to thank those of you who responded. I especially want to > thank everyone at Exabyte for the following reasons : > > 1) Exabyte actually supports old products. Their web page is loaded > with information about older out of production stuff. They > even provide invaluable DOS based tape drive test programs. > Every firmware revision is thoroughly documented so that the > history is evident and you can evaluate if you need to upgrade > your current firmware. > > Most tape drive vendors only have info on their current products > in their web pages. > > Believe it or not, I actually decided to purchase an Exabyte > 8mm drive instead of other vendors 4mm drives due to their > support for old products. After spending 3 weeks browsing > web sites, BBS sites, old product reviews, etc ... I decided > on Exabyte. > > 2) Exabyte actually responded to my email about the problems I was > having. This is in stark contrast to Seagate and Adaptec from whom > I never heard anything. In addition, the support personnel at > Exabyte are well trained and knowledgeable. Many thanks to > Lance Blumberg at Exabyte !!!. > > Thanks to everyone who responded ... > > - Steve Bartling > > P.S. My original message is appended below. > > > > > Howdy, > > > > According to the Freebsd 2.1.5 documents, the st scsi tape driver > > has built in support for the Exabyte 8200. > > > > I have attempted to install this drive on SCSI ID 5. (Side note, > > the firmware revision is the generic 2618.) > > > > I have used the "expert" DOS software package that I downloaded > > from www.exabyte.com to test the drive under DOS. Other than > > a tendancy to report fairly high Rewrt and ECC percentages on > > the first couple of megabytes written, the drive passed all > > of the tests that this software provides. The Rewrt and ECC > > percentages will drop as you write/read more data from > > the drive. If you write/read enough data, the percentages > > average out to acceptable values. Is this typical behavior ? > > > > Oh well, I digress ... > > > > My real problem is with Freebsd 2.1.5. > > > > I have two tape drives installed. An Archive 2150s is present > > on SCSI ID 4. The 8200 is installed on ID 5. > > > > I created the proper devices in /dev using the "/dev/MAKEDEV st1" > > command. All of the proper devices were created. > > > > I rebooted just to make sure everything was clean and verified > > that Freebsd properly probed/detected the 8200 and attached it > > to the st1 interface. The Archive 2150s was also properly identified > > and was attached to st0. > > > > Now for the problem ... > > > > The Archive 2150s works fine. When I attempt to "tar -cvf /dev/rst1" > > the entire SCSI bus hangs, requiring a machine boot to clear the > > bus. I cannot use the st or the mt utilities to display status or > > set modes. When I attempt to do so, I get "Invalid Input/Output Error". > > > > Again, I can access the 2150s just fine. Hardware does not seem to be > > at fault since both drives are happy under DOS. > > > > Any clues ? > > > > - Steve Bartling > > > > email: bartling@cyrix.com > > > >
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