HELP w/ SCSI RAID !!!

[mandatory]

mastertech01 has good advice. The one thing he's alluded to but I think needs to be stressed is the SCSI bus needs to be terminated on both ends. If you're putting the controller on one end of the cable, this means the last drive and the controller need termination. Until you get the SCSI bus right, you'll get nowhere as it's very unforgiving. You also, of course, need unique SCSI IDs for each device, which it sounds like you've done. I think I'd recheck the bus to make sure it's right. Also cables can be a major source of grief and you might try another one.

Also I noticed in the installation guide there is a bios setup utility. This is where you setup the controller termination. if you can't get in there, something else is wrong. Is perhaps your PCI bus overclocked? It will probably need to run very close to spec.

Gene

 

[joinT]

ok, next up on the "attempt" list

[*]try my other cable
[*]pretty sure the ID's are correct, but another friend told me the ID0=1 ?
[*]need to find out how to set termination on controller

 

[joinT]

switched the cable, didn't detect any drives, got this message

Couldn't open the boot partition to check for a signature

This is with ID 0 set on the 1 drive w/ Active Termination set. Now If I find a way that for sure the Termination is set on the controller, & it still doesn't work - does that mean the drive is faulty ??

 

[joinT]

well.... just cuz I'm lazy I let it attempt to boot & install Win2K. Well this time it made it to the first screen where I have to hit enter to continue.... woohoo !!!!


..
..


DOH !!! BSOD !! RUnnn!!!!

 

[Woodie]

Since I have one of these, let me comment here. (I've been PMing w/ joinT as well).

The card auto-terminates, you don't need to set anything there.

The Ctrl-M for bios doesn't do squat on his BIOS revision.

I used external termination for my cable, so I'm thinking that's really the first problem that needs to be addressed.

The configuration utility (daccf.exe) can only be run if the card sees at least one connected SCSI drive. It may also require a DOS device driver loaded "DACDRVR.SYS" before the utility can see the controller.

Best bet:
Build a DOS bootable diskette.
Add the DACDRVR.sys to it.
If your CD is also attached to the controller, add the appropriate CD device driver (BTCDROM.SYS or ASPIDAC.SYS).
Get at least one drive recognized by the controller at boot (the error message "No system drives defined" is good.).
Boot off the floppy, then run the DACCF.exe utility. From there you can create your arrays, etc...See the manual.

--Woodie

 

[Woodie]

You should have received the utility (self-extracting zip) at your hotmail acct by now...

What jumpers are set on the drive?

--Woodie

 

[joinT]

ok, if I'm installing Win2K Advanced Server, do I need to made a bootable disk from that OS ??

oh, nm I just read DOS bootable, do I just copy the system files while I format ??

on the drive I have the jumper for active termination set & ID 0 (on both sides ?)

 

[joinT]

ok Woodie, umm do I need to extract the files from the .exe to the disk, or just put the .exe on the disk ??

 

[Woodie]

What you need to execute from the command prompt, is the DACCF.EXE which is contained inside the DACCF478.exe (self-extracting zip). The .sys files which you need to load in the config.sys are also in the compressed file.

I will send you a copy of my config.sys & autoexec, so you get the feel for it.

--Woodie

 

[joinT]

thanks Woodie

 

[Woodie]

Well, I see that the last reply I tried to post yesterday failed to make it It said I had to leave to drive to Boston.

From my Windows 98 Boot diskette:

Add the following files:
DAFCDA.sys
DACDRVR.sys
ASPIDAC.sys

Modify the config.sys:
Add the DAC related lines in, in this order!
The CD driver is the one for my system...you can leave it out or use the other one (BTCDROM) if necessary.

[CD]
DEVICE=DACDRVR.SYS
device=himem.sys /testmemff
DEVICE=ASPIDAC.SYS
DEVICE=DAFCDA.SYS /D:mscd001

the last two lines should be:\

devicehigh=ramdrive.sys /E 4096 note the change in size
lastdrive=z

Modify the autoexec.bat:
Look for this line:
LH %ramd%:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001 /L:Y Make sure the /D:mscd001 matches the /D in the config.sys. /L tells it which letter to assign to the CD.

I think that's it.

Oh, before I forget:
There's no point in trying to load the utility until it starts seeing drives. General order of things:
1. Card must see the HDs
2. When card sees all the HDs for the array (2 for RAID 0 or 1; 3 for RAID 5), then boot with floppy.
3. Configure the RAID array (with DACCF.exe), and create a system drive.
4. Don't forget to INITIALIZE the array, still within DACCF.
5. exit the utility, reboot.
6. Now, boot to the OS CD or floppy, and install the OS.

g/l. What a PITA! Once it's set up, you'll feel much better.

--Woodie

 

[joinT]

whoa!

couple questions Woodie, is this boot disk supposed to let me configure the controller to see the drives ??

& I assume those .sys files are in the .exe I downloaded ?? (same as you gave me)

can I just remove this....
<<
DEVICE=DACDRVR.SYS
device=himem.sys /testmem: off
>>
if I use an IDE CDrom ?

 

[Woodie]

In order:

The boot disk is for configuring the card/drives, NOT to allow you to see the drives. I suspect that's a termination issue, and you'll need a cable that has one more connector, and an external terminator on it. The boot disk is just so you can get to a prompt, and run the array configuration tool. (daccf.exe)

Yes, the .sys files are in the DACCF478.exe. (put it in a temp directory on your workstation, and run it--it'll extract all the files right into that directory, so you can see them.

Yes, you can remove the DAFCDA line since you don't have a SCSI CD. If you do this, make sure you modify the matching line in the autoexec, that refers to this device. (the /d:xxx parameter). I may have removed the original IDE device driver for CD-roms from the config.sys.

I would say, leave all the CD lines alone, since you're starting from a fresh diskette. Just add the ASPIDAC and DACDRVR entries/files.

I'll keep watching...

--Woodie

 

[joinT]

ok, so really I need a new cable ???

what kind of cable do i need ?? can you sell me one Woodie ?? 1 cable for 3 drives, 68 pin.

 

[Woodie]

Yeah, I got one, 24&quot;, 5 connectors: controller, terminator, 3 available for drives. Brand new. comes with terminator.

Ship to the same address as before?

--Woodie