Compaq (Adaptec) Ultra160 SCSI card connected to ADIC Scalar 100 tape library

[Matt Shaffer]

i'm having much difficulty getting my compaq ultra160 card to recognize the scalar 100 during the bus scan. i know the card is being recognized by the server (proliant ml370 g3, win2k) because the hp ultra3 bios (rev 3.02.2) shows up before the scan but then nothing is found, even though the library is connected, so i get the message that 'SCSI BIOS (are) not installed' following the scan. when windows boots up and i log on, i see a string of error messages in the system log (the driver detected a controller error...adpu160m...event id 11) until i disconnect the library. i've tried several revisions of the driver for this card with no luck.

i talked to ADIC and they hadn't heard of such a problem (of course). they said the library is pretty dumb and should simply be recognized by the system when attached. oh, if it were so easy! i'm wondering if the library isn't a wide device and the card is, then problems might arise. i figured the card would step down automatically but that doesn't seem to be happening. i can't for the life of me figure out how to change the BIOS on the card itself, though. it's not a retail adaptec product, so the alt-p (or whatever it is) doesn't work. i can't find any place in the compaq server BIOS to modify the card settings like turning off the wide capabilities.

hopefully somebody out there has run into this issue. would appreciate any tips you could provide. if you need more information from me, i'd be happy to provide it.

thank you very much.

[Matt Shaffer]

ctrl-a, not alt-p. sorry, no clue where i pulled that from. :-)

[Joshua Scott]

This may be a shot in the dark...

I looked up the data sheet for the ADIC Scalar 100 Tape Library, and there's a selectable switch for SCSI Mode... HVD or LVD/SE. Make sure the switch is set on LVD/SE.

-Josh

[Matt Shaffer]

josh,

thanks for the reply. yeah, i've already verified that it was switched to LVD/SE. i thought i happened upon some information somewhere on this ITRC that a special cable might need to be used to to connect the wide card to the non-wide library device. heard anything of those? is there truly no way to modify the card BIOS settings on a compaq-branded adaptec card? maybe the best bet is to go out and buy a retail version so i'd have more control over the connection. still stumped but thank you for your reply!

matt

[Marino Meloni_1]

hi,
no there is no wasy to access Bios in a Porliant integrated scsi controller, the access is locked.
anyway what you need to do in order to connect a narrow device (8bit) on a wide controller (16 bits) is to terminate the 8 bits that are not used.
other option is to use a narrow HBA

[Matt Shaffer]

thanks marino. the adapter is not integrated, it is sitting in a PCI slot. it is a compaq branded adaptec card. i do have a terminator on the library but i'm not sure what you mean by terminating the bits not being used, or how to do that. may just invest in a narrow adapter, as there doesn't seem to be a better solution. appreciate the help.

[Marino Meloni_1]

have a look here:

http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/supporteditorial.html?prodkey=8_and_16_bit_devices

example:

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/wide-narrow-scsi-adapter.html

http://www.paralan.com/convert.html

check with google, you will found lots of info

marino

[Marino Meloni_1]

http://www.mrichter.com/cdr/files/68_50_n.htm

[Matt Shaffer]

thanks again, marino. i'll check into these possibilities when i get a chance. appreciate your time.

[David Ruska]

> i do have a terminator on the library but i'm not sure what you mean by terminating the bits not being used, or how to do that

This gets into the finer detail of SCSI cabling. You only need to use a high-byte terminator when you have another wide device also on the bus (e.g. if you went from the host to a drive [wide], to the library controller [narrow]).

If the only device on the bus is narrow, the high bytes don't matter as the device will never negotiate for wide data transfers. Remember, the full bus is also terminated on the HBA (assuming the HBA is not in the middle of the bus).

> i can't find any place in the compaq server BIOS to modify the card settings like turning off the wide capabilities.

You don't have to turn off "wide", as a narrow device will never negotiate for wide data transfers.

Can you explain the exact cabling from the HBA to the library?