Getting Commodore "insert WB disk" animation after attachng Jaz drive

[garyg]

I'm trying to back up my HD to a 2GB Jaz disk, but after attaching it to the SCSI-2 port of my A4000's Phase 5 SCSI-2 port I get the Commodore "insert WB disk" animation, yet the computer starts up normally if the Jaz drive is disconnected.

Anyone have any idea what's wrong and how to fix it? The Jaz drive's SCSI ID is 4, the internal CD-ROM's ID is 6, and the HD is of course 0. That's all the SCSI devices.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Improper termination confusing the SCSI chain?

[garyg]

Improper termination confusing the SCSI chain?

At first, when I improperly terminated the cable on the Jaz end I got no response at all from the A4000. Isn't that the usual (non-)response when the SCSI chain is improperly terminated?

Nevertheless, I'll try moving the SCSI-2 cable to the other connector tomorrow if no more likely answer appears.

Thanks!

[guest11527]

At first, when I improperly terminated the cable on the Jaz end I got no response at all from the A4000. Isn't that the usual (non-)response when the SCSI chain is improperly terminated?

The "usual response" is that anything could happen if you have an improperly terminated SCSI bus. Anything from "does not boot" to "appears to work most of the time". It just makes any type of transfer unreliable.

Currently, if you see the "insert floppy" animation, it means that the firmware on the host adapter is not able to locate any drive on the SCSI bus, which is one of the many possible outcomes of a communication problem on the bus. Another one is that the scsi scanning process just hangs.

[dovegrace]

It's a longshot, but you could try going into Early Startup (hold down both mouse buttons when powering on the Amiga) and selecting the boot drive.  I've only ever had to do this once that I remember, but it might work.

[garyg]

I tried that once, holding down the "outside" buttons on my 3-button mouse, and the Early Startup screen didn't appear, but I'll try it again if reconnecting the SCSI cable to the other terminal on my Jaz drive doesn't work.

I wonder if connecting the Jaz drive to the SCSI-1 port on the back of the A4000D might work? What puzzles me is that the present configuration HAS worked in the past.

[garyg]

It's a longshot, but you could try going into Early Startup (hold down both mouse buttons when powering on the Amiga) and selecting the boot drive.  I've only ever had to do this once that I remember, but it might work.

I just tried that (after connecting the SCSI cable to the other terminal on the back of my Jaz drive) and HD0: was MISSING from the list of drives (none of which were bootable, which included df0: and a second HD). I even tried booting w/o a startup-sequence but got the Commodore animation again.

[TCMSLP]

Do any of your devices have internal termination available/enabled?  I think that may be a 'thing' - it's been some years since I've had any SCSI equipment.  If you have multiple devices terminating unintentionally, the wheels on the SCSI bus may fall off.

[garyg]

Not at present. My external CD-R/W is not connected, and an examination of the SCSI chain just shows 0 for the HD and 6 for the internal CD-ROM

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Not at present. My external CD-R/W is not connected, and an examination of the SCSI chain just shows 0 for the HD and 6 for the internal CD-ROM

I think you're misunderstanding the concept of "SCSI termination".  Check all of your jumpers.  In general, the last device on your chain should be the one with the jumper.  I.e., if a jumper currently is installed on your optical drive and you're adding an additional device on the chain, then you'll need to move that jumper to the (new) last device.

[garyg]

Well, what frustrates me is that the Jaz drive has worked perfectly (and the Amiga has booted normally) with this very configuration.

I'm assuming that the Jaz drive is the last in the SCSI chain. Its ID is 4.

[zipper]

ID has nothing to do with the chain vs. last device. The last device is just a physical definition, IDs can be in any order.

[garyg]

Yes, I knew that. I was just adding it to illustrate that I had no SCSI conflict.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Yes, I knew that. I was just adding it to illustrate that I had no SCSI conflict.

You keep giving us the ID #'s, but you haven't said anything about if you've checked the device termination.  We're trying to help, really we are, but you're not giving us much to go on! :confused:

[garyg]

I've connected the SCSI cable to both connectors on the back of the Jaz drive. What else should I do? The way I have it connected right now is the way I've always (successfully) connected it in the past

I'm thinking of using a SCSI-2 to SCSi-1 cable and connecting the Jaz drive to the built-in SCSI-1 port on the back of the Amiga 4000.