SCSI HDD detected but inaccessible

[hotshot2000]

I'm trying to get some data off a very old Micropolis 3391WS HDD. Last I checked (about a year ago) the drive was working fine as a boot drive. I just built a new system, put the Adaptec 2940UW controller in, plugged in the HDD (termination and IDs are correct), and Windows 2000 sees the controller _and_ the drive (it lists the drive in Device Manager) but refuses to assign it a drive letter. I tried Disk Management Console, etc., and it's as if the drive's not there.

As part of trying to diagnose the problem, I booted from the W2K setup CD as if to install W2K on it. When I got to the drive selection screen, it said: "0 MB at SCSI bus 0 LUN 0 drive 0" or something like that, followed by: "<Setup cannot access this drive>". My next step may be to boot from a Linux liveCD (Ubuntu, perhaps) but that will involve swapping out my video card for an older one that has Linux drivers, so I'm loathe to try that unless it'll really work.

It's really frustrating to be _that_ close to my data but unable to get to it. Has anybody experienced anything like this and have any suggestions? Perhaps some kind of low-level software that can pull the raw data off the drive and copy it to a new partition on my regular HDD?

Thanks in advance!

 

[corkyg]

Did you install the Adaptec BIOS etc.? That should run right after POST.

 

[hotshot2000]

Yup, it shows up in the Adaptec device list during POST, and the Adaptec BIOS is enabled.

 

[corkyg]

OK - sorry - I have not experienced that with SCSI. Could it possibly be a cable? Would a cable swap be feasible? This really is a puzzler.

 

[hotshot2000]

Unfortunately, SCSI cables are quite expensive and I only have 1 UW cable at the moment. I might be able to test it a relative's SCSI system and see what happens, I was just wondreing if anyone had any experience with something like this and potentially some (free as in beer) software suggestions!

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[corkyg]

One more thought - is the drive terminated?

 

[alzan]

Does that drive have a Terminator Power jumper and how is it set?

alzan

 

[hotshot2000]

Yep, I've set it both to terminate (as it's the only device on the chain) and to provide term power. I can't really diagnose this, because I don't have an external terminator nor another UW device to plug into the SCSI bus that it's on.

 

[alzan]

You might be able to use a copy utility to get the data, but you'd have to load the Adaptec ASPI drivers so that the utility could see the drive.

I'm rolling the dice on this one; try setting the drive to different ID's and see if that makes a difference.

alzan

 

[hotshot2000]

I actually had the ASPI driver installed and alas it made no difference to Windows. Do you have an idea of a copy utility that could bypass Windows's refusal to issue a drive letter?

I'll try the ID trick tomorrow. Not sure why it would work, but hey, who knows, right?

 

[alzan]

Sorry, I should have been more specific; I meant load the ASPI drivers for a "DOS" or "DOS"-like copy utility.

Are you familiar with Hirems Boot CD or the Ultimate Boot CD? The Ultimate Boot CD has an XP-like shell for booting, possibly it would be able to see your drive and allow the copy to take place. Hirems Boot CD has some good copy utilities on it; I'm not sure if they'll see a SCSI drive but they might. Google Ultimate Boot CD or Hirem's Boot CD for the downloadable ISO files.

You mentioned in your first post the possibility of booting to Linux (ubuntu); it's starting to look like that may be your best bet.

Switching ID's is something that worked for me in a one time situation, I've never been successful with it on any other SCSI drive. Like I said, it's a roll of the dice.

alzan

 

[hotshot2000]

Alzan, those were great suggestions. I also found some others on a Storagereview.com thread. Unfortunately, when I plugged the AHA-2940UW back in and attached the HDD, it started to make jet engine noises as it spun up, and now no matter what I do the HDD LED stays lit and it keeps spinning endlessly. The Adaptec can no longer detect it and for some reason W2K is also crashing when I have that drive plugged in now. I fear my data might really be dead at this point, but again, I really appreciate the help and the ideas. Hopefully someone else who comes across this thread will be able to make use of them!