SCSI card reader questions....

[mechy]

I replied about this to goose in PM,but i forgot to add... ALL slots will work with the proper controller and LUNS on.Some older hdtoolbox version may have troubles. Also in the icon info make sure LUNS=4 at least or hdtoolbox in some cases will not scan for luns past 0.you scsi controller must ALSO support luns(the 4091 and a4000t need the dip switches set,and 2091 needs a OPTION jumper set-6.6 roms or newer-i havent tried with older.). all slots but the boot drive slot you use are usually hot swapable but some controllers may not support diskchange correctly(also make sure reselection is on).
In some cases you also need DEVICE=SCSI and not XT in hdtoolbox icon info i recall.
the aminet patch may help with the removeable problem.
Goose didnt mention what machine,scsi controller,roms or particular card reader he has so its partly a problem with lack of info.
under 3.1 the 8gb cf may need td64/nsd stuff to work well. not sure here.
Type's of cf's can also be a problem,some cf's are set from the factory as removable only and no matter what,unless you can get a utility from the mfg and change it on a pc the card will not work.
hope this helps



mech

Folks, I got one of these and just got round to installing it. So far I see that the only slot that can be seen as a fixed hard drive is using the PCMICIA slot with CF adapter stuck in it.

SD or CF slots show up but are "unsupported" in HDToolbox.

So I re-read the page carefully:
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=68&products_id=184

I come to understand this is all normal, that only (on an Amiga) the PCMICIA slot is recognized for a fixed device. That right? Anyone else using one, can help?

[mechy]

I've got three of them (so far) and it depends a lot on the driver.

On my 4000T it works great in multiple slots.

On the Warp Engines, the same thing as you, I need the adapter.

Yes, I've enabled LUNs and mechy has even seen it for himself.  It seems to be a driver that isn't very good with LUNs.

If you don't mind the adapter they are great though.

Given enough time i bet i can solve your warpengine problem,but time was too short and there was too much to do. others reported back with 2091 and 6.6 roms they have all slots working,so it was a matter of figuring what i missed that day
i have one of these 5 slot card readers working on a gvp 530 with 4.15 rom and all slots are seen and useable.
Mech

[mechy]

goose, do you have a clock battery in the 3000? its got scsi settings in nvram that may also be a issue.there is a setbatt prog on aminet to check nvram stuff.

mech

[mechy]

Heya Mech, I had an idea that could maybe help out people with these drives, and anyone looking to buy one for themselves in the future.

Maybe everyone who has got and used one of these SCSI card readers can write up a little bit about how they got it to work and detail their hardware setup, then we could combine the information to make some documentation to give to people who buy the drives, and post it on the website.

I can borrow one from Rebel, and maybe with Lunithy's help we can write up how it works on the A2091, then maybe test the GVP HC-8 with it too, and I can try it with the Squirrel SCSI interface on my A1200 and A600 if I can get it to work with my CD ROM drive in my external SCSI minitower.

I wouldn't mind compiling all the info and making up some form of document to display online or print out, maybe we could even work out some kind of boot disk to help mount and format the cards for people who don't have the software already downloaded, and haven't got an easy way to transfer files to their Amiga from a PC yet (which is perhaps why they bought the SCSI card reader in the first place).

It's just an idea, but I feel it would help people out a bit and I'd like to help out in any way I can.

That would be a major help cammy i had intended to write up what i tested with or do video's but seems there is always one more project and i don't get to it. some have left reviews on the shopping cart,but its usually not enough info of the setup to help much. This would be a great help if you have the time thanks!.It "should" woprk on on the hcII+8 as i think its the same controller in the gvp A530,which i have a card reader in and all slots work like a champ.

mech

[mechy]

I've got several different SCSI cards, usually not the newest firmware, but it's more points of reference.

I wouldn't mind giving you feedback on each of them.

Everyones feedback is welcome. Noting card revisions,card roms,jumper settings would help compile a accurate working list.

I figured out why the card reader didn't work at your house that day john,apparently the 2091 is a bit odd on luns,and only likes the card reader at device 0 when using all the slots. like this every slot is bootable/useable and such.
i really need to take better notes on this stuff i shouldn't say its odd,but its probabaly a case of using a true scsi II device(card reader) on a scsi 1 card like the 2091. I wonder if updating the western digital proto4 chip to rev 8 would do anything like in the A3000,it makes for a proper scsi II mode in the A3k.. if i have a spare WD8 i will check it.

Mech

[mechy]

"I wonder if updating the western digital proto4 chip to rev 8 would do anything like in the A3000,it makes for a proper scsi II mode in the A3k.. if i have a spare WD8 i will check it."

Mechy, I am using WD8 in my system. Maybe do a youtube video later today...

Good deal goose,look forward to it. be sure and post a link for us here.

Mech

[mechy]

I'm having problems with mine in an A3000.  I have a 1 GB CF card in the CF slot.  I can see the card in HDToolBox and can read the attributes and partition it.  However, I can't see it in the OS at all so I can't format it and when I reboot, I get a Guru error.  My OS is v3.1.  Any hints?  I have to remove the card in order to boot into 3.1 on my SCSI hard drive.

Do you have a battery installed?It is needed to address luns.
have you turned LUNS on in the 3000? use a tool like scsiprefs from aminet to do this.you must have a battery to save scsi settings or they revert back to no luns on the next cold boot.
Hd toolbox needs to be told to check luns,check the icon info.

Try formatting the card in the pcmcia/cf adapter plugged into the pcmcia slot on the reader..Once it is setup there,you can move it to the cf slot.
Try different brand cf.
Some cf's are set to removable only and can cause trouble.. If that doesn't work you may also try patching the hdtoolbox prog with the aminet patch so it can handle removable cards better.

Anyone having trouble: please email me direct on the store. My time has been so short i don't get to the forums like i should.

thanks,
 Mech

[mechy]

So, has this information been gathered and given a logical home since last August?  I recently acquired one of these card readers and love the concept (good job Mechy).  This thread is the most useful info I've seen so far.  

My goal is not necessarily to boot from CF cards, but rather, to read (and share) files through SD cards with my Palm, Mp3 player, camera, etc.  Apparently, no one has done this so far?  I think I'm going to need to mount a compatible file system.  Formatting the various style cards with a file system only usable with Amiga has little utility for me.   I'm not afraid to experiment and share results.

There is a program on aminet called scsipcmcia that used to work with the old pcd-25B scsi card readers that allowed them to use a fat formatted card in the pcmcia slot. I have not managed to get this to work on the pcd-50B. scsipcmcia was used in conjunction with fat95 to read and write fat cards.  You might want to experiment with this and see if you can make it work. I ran out of time with everything going on and have not been back to it.

mech

[mechy]

Well what do you know.....  The card reader works flawlessly in my backup a3000.

mmmm....  Is the problem with my main a3000 hardware or software related?

Assuming termination and the scsi chain is setup right it is more than likely software. the pcd-50B will not care if it is hooked to a 030 machine, 040,or 060. the cpu really has no bearing on it.
unofficial boing bags and such could easily cause troubles here. patched scsi devices etc, you just cant be sure.

A easy way to test the machine would be boot from a clean wb3.1 floppy,then partition and setup the card.

Also,the dataflyer was not a very good scsi card, it didn't follow the scsi protocol very well. Some trumpcards seem to have lun problems but work fine on 0.rom revisions on these cards will probably have alot to do with it also. When these old cards came about more than likely there were not many lun based devices out or available for testing.

Mech

[mechy]

Yes, when in the PCMCIA slot, it will try to boot from the card.
 
I haven't tried SCSI mounter, but I'll try that next.  Thanks

That is a very strange problem, i have never ran into it... many people use these on 3.9.
is the pcd50b a lower device # than the other HD?

i seem to remember os3.9 tools sometimes set the lastdrive flag and if that is after the HD it may be the problem, but i am just shooting in the dark.

It almost seems a os3.9 thing. is it possible to skip the scsi and rom updates for os3.9 and see what happens?

Worst case if you simply cannot get it to work to you're satisfaction you can return it for a refund.

thanks,
 Mech