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Cant Install OS on SCSI Drive???

S

SGtheArtist

Senior member
Hello,

I have a Seagate 18.4GB X15-36LP running on an Adaptec 19160 SCSI Controller, and I have not had very good success with installing an operating system on this drive no matter if I try installing it directly or indirectly (install OS on IDE HDD then copied to SCSI HDD). The Adaptec Controller has the lated BIOS, the Motherboard has the latest BIOS and is set to boot to SCSI, and the SCSI Drive is set to the correct SCSI ID jumper settings.

The Adaptec Controller can see the SCSI Drive (which is the only SCSI drive in the system) and I can partition and format the drive but upon trying to install the OS (Windows 2000 Pro in my case) the installation always freezes before it completes.

I do press F6 at the beginning of the W2K boot floppy install to load the Adaptec driver, but it seems that the installation forgets the SCSI Drive and therefore can't finish.

Note: I can install the OS to an IDE HDD with no problems at all, but even though I can do this if I try to copy the OS using Seagate DiskWizard or Norton Ghost, it does not work for some reason.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why this could be happening
 
Where does the install freeze? Do you get any error messages?

I just dealt with a similar issue with the 29160N controller, which was hanging when the installer was copying files, and fixed it by moving the card to another slot.
 
The 19160 should have native support from Win2k. Have you tried installing without the driver disk? Also be sure to check for lose cabling and proper termination. Also ensure you are using an LVD rated SCA adaptor if the drive is SCA. And as cleverhandle stated you can try a different slot in case of IRQ or memory conflict.

Sometimes a bad install can result from simply a dirty CD as well. Make sure it is a Legit Win2k CD as well. Ive seen lots of posts of failed installs from burned disks.
 
try installing a linux distro...linux has good SCSI support, and it will help you narrow it down to a hardware problem or a windows problem.
 
If Im not mistaken 19160 is a windows only controller.

Edit from Adaptec Site..

Affordable Ultra160 SCSI performance for Windows® workstation power user
 
hmmm, well i've seen quite a few in working linux boxes, so its not windows only (maybe adaptecs only writes windows drivers?)... uses the aic7xxx.o module same as the 29160 and 39160. support is compiled in the kernel of most distro's.
 
Sorry for not responding sooner, I had thought I posted this thread in the 'General Hardware' part of the forums 😛 anyway, (Sorry Admin, didn't mean to cross thread)

The install freezes up randomly anywhere between when it begins to copy the files from the CD to the finish of the installation it is not a consistant freezing point.

There shouldn't be a problem with IRQ conflicts because the Adaptec card is installed in the PCI3 which is not shared by any other hardware to my knowledge. (I'll try and move it around but every card slot is filled so, I have a feeling that this may not solve much)

I tried installing W2K on the SCSI Drive without giving it the Adaptec driver and when it gets to the point where it shows the discs to install W2K it does not show the SCSI HDD so I must give the installation the Adaptec drivers in order to install it on.

I am using the 68pin LVD SCSI Cable with Terminator which the retail Adaptec controller card came with so I'm sure the termaination is Ok, also the SCSI Drive is on the last position of the two device chain.

The W2K is an upgrade CD which my school has an agreement with MS so I could burn a copy but they did not sell or provide manufactured copies, in addition the CD I have works completely fine when I install the OS on an IDE Drive.
 
Sounds very similar to what I saw with the 29160N - again, try moving the card as far from the AGP slot as possible.
 
I've moved it down one slot from PCI3 to PCI4 and I'll try installing W2K again after I zero fill it and format (zero fill @ 15K RPM is just awesome 🙂)

I'll let you know. . .
 
Also something that may help determine the problem; I've run the Seagate SeaTools disc diagonistic and sometimes it finds problems and sometimes it doesn't. If it consistantly found problems then I'd conclude that it was the SCSI drive, but that isn't the case. It seems more like a communication type problem but I'm still not sure.

Also I've tried the Adaptec card in the PCI 1, 2, 3 & 5 positions and so far each OS install has froze somewhere between the initial file copy and the installation completion.

Not to make things more complicated but I have notice that after being turned off all night, if I turn the machine on the SCSI Drive seems to run better, then when it is on after a while. The longer the computer is on and I try to work with it the sooner during the OS installation the freezes seem to happen. This would suggest a heat problem however there is ample cooling and in addition not only does the SCSI Drive heat up but all the components just from being on (the Adaptec card as well).

By the way I was wondering if there is any diagnostic software for the Adaptec Controller similar to that of the HDD manufacturers (IBM DFT, Seagate SeaTools, etc.)? So I could test if it functioning correctly and narrow down the problem to either the cable or the SCSI Drive.

I almost forgot, I tried using the Adaptec Drivers from the Adaptec site and they performed just as the disk which came with the Adaptec card, in which case the install also froze.
 
I was thinking about if there was an error screen during the W2K installation and there is not unless I tried to crtl-alt-del to restart once the install froze and so the next time I came across it I wrote down that the message said.

***STOP: 0x0000007A (0xE11AE398, 0xC000009D, 0xA00D6AEF, 0x2FAE8860)
KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
***Address A00D6AEF base at A0000000, DateStamp 38438ff7 - win32k.sys

I don't know if it means anything than what we already know.
 
I started thinking that it maybe the RAM so I decided to test eace stick and dimm slot, but it isn't looking like these are the problem.

If it isn't the RAM sticks or DIMM Slots then I'll contact Seagate and Adaptec to see if they have any suggestions.

If I still can't get it working then I'll have them replaced 🙁 (so much wasted time if I don't learn why it isn't working)
 
I was fortunate enough to have be let borrow a SCSI HDD and after doing a simple test it turns out it is the X15 HDD that is the problem.

Before I started I zero filled the X15 and formated it.

I then booted into one of my IDE HDD's with W2K already installed on it and then proceeded to copy the I386 folder from the W2K CD to the X15 SCSI HDD and I ran into a write failure (something along those lines) to the drive. I restarted and tried again with the same results.

I shut down the computer and then replaced the X15 with the borrowed SCSI HDD and tried the test again & what do you know it worked flawlessly (unfortunately ).

This eliminates the possibility that it was the Adaptec controller or the cable.

Well now I know what the problem is but I have to RMA the drive and wait for a while before I get the replacement.

Thanks for everyones help I greatly appreciate it.
 
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