scsi hard drive | DataRecoveryUnion.com

Setting the Jumpers (see drive label for locations)

1. SCSI ID – 0 thru 15 for Wide devices. Each device must have a unique SCSI ID.
2. SE I/O – No jumper so the device can multimode (default).
3. Motor Start – Disable motor start (default).
4. Delay Motor Start – Disable Delay motor start (default).
5. Write Protect – Write Protect Off (default).
6. Parity Check – Enable Parity check (default).
7. Terminator Power – Host adapter or other device provides term power (default).

Set the SCSI ID
Each SCSI device must have a unique SCSI ID. Most SCSI drives come with no jumpers on SCSI ID (SCSI ID = 0). The SCSI host adapter usually uses SCSI ID = 7. If you are installing a drive model ending in LC (uses 80-pin SCA connector), the host normally sets the ID over the I/O interface.

Configure Termination
Only the devices at each physical end of a SCSI bus need to be terminated. The SCSI host adapter normally will provide termination for the controller end, therefore only terminate the last drive on the end of the cable. LVD drives do not have any provision for onboard termination; therefore, termination for LVD drives must come from another device or from an external terminator. Use only active SE or LVD terminators.

Configure Terminator Power
Active terminators must receive power from some source. The default configuration results in the drive not supplying termination power to the bus. Usually, the host adapter provides term power. Check the user’s manual for your host adapter. Drive models ending in LC cannot be configured to provide termination power to the bus.

1. Attach one end of the interface cable to the connector on the host adapter.
2. Attach the interface connector and a power connector to the drive.
3. Secure the drive using four 6-32 UNC mounting screws. DO NOT over-tighten the screws.

Troubleshooting
1. If the drive does not spin up, check that the power connector and the interface cable are securely attached.
2. If the drive spins, but there is no LED on/off activity, check the SCSI ID setting. Set the ID so that each device on the SCSI chain has a unique ID.
3. If the computer does not seem to recognize the drive, verify the drive is enabled by the SCSI host adapter setup utility.
4. If FDISK does not detect the drive, run the FDISK program with FDISK /STATUS to verify the drive is present

Hard Disk Repair

SATA/EIDE Hard Drive is detected as a SCSI Device?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM14 years ago4 years ago04 mins

1. Why is my Serial ATA hard drive detected as a SCSI device in Windows?
A Serial ATA hard drive is detected as a SCSI device in Windows Device Manager.

This issue could have several causes:

The Serial ATA controller (on the motherboard or through a PCI controller card) is assigned default Windows drivers. If Windows is unable to determine exactly what type of device the Serial ATA controller is, it will attempt to assign the closest matching device drivers. Since Serial ATA works using the same principles as SCSI, Windows will assign a Serial ATA controller a SCSI designation.
The Serial ATA controller’s (on the motherboard or through a PCI controller card) bus architecture is taken from a SCSI HBA (Host Bus Adaptor). Many companies that produce Serial ATA controllers also produce SCSI controllers. These companies often use an altered version of a SCSI HBA on Serial ATA controllers.
The Serial ATA hard drive is connected to a Serial ATA RAID controller. RAID and SCSI controllers have the same device designation in Windows therefore a Serial ATA hard drive will be detected as a SCSI device.

Since this issue is “by design” of the Windows operating system, there is no resolution implied or necessary. Any Serial ATA hard drive designated as a SCSI device will work properly at full performance and capacity. There may be device drivers for the Serial ATA controller that will list the hard drive as a Serial ATA device. Please contact your computer, motherboard, or Serial ATA controller manufacturer for any driver or BIOS updates.

2. Why is my EIDE drive displayed as a SCSI drive in Device Manager in Windows 2000/XP?
An EIDE drive is displayed as a SCSI drive in Windows 2000/XP.

It is common for Windows 2000 and XP to list EIDE drives as SCSI devices in Device Manager when they are connected to non-standard IDE controllers such as a Promise or SIIG controller card. This also occurs when the drive is connected to a specialized ATA or RAID port that is integrated into the motherboard. As long as you have the proper drivers loaded for the controller and are not experiencing any issues while using the drive, there is no cause for concern.

Hard Disk Repair

I can read and write from my SCSI hard disk, but I can’t boot from it

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM15 years ago4 years ago02 mins

Sometimes, the master boot record(MBR) on a hard disk may become corrupted as a result of installing other operating systems or through infection by a boot-block virus. When this happens, you can boot from a floppy (you must have the necessary files) and attempt to re-write the Master Boot Record (Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP only) by typing “FDISK /MBR” (leave out the quotes). If that doesn’t work, there are other ways to purge the MBR through the use of debug routines, SCSI low-level format routines, or the zero-fill utility in your SCSI controller BIOS. Consult your operating system vendor for assistance with this to determine if this is an operating system issue.

Or try these troubleshooting steps:

Check all cable connections.
Verify twisted-pair cable on any LVD SCSI drives.
Test the data cable by trying a different cable.
Try the cable on a known working drive.
Check the jumper settings.
Check the SCSI bus termination.
Check the host adapter card default settings.
Test the card by either trying a known good card or a known working drive.
Check host adapter settings.
Set the SCSI transfer mode to asynchronous negotiation and the transfer rate to 10MB/s (or the slowest setting).
Make the offending drive the only device in the system and re-test.
Run the “low-level” format (SCSI Format) routine if it’s provided by the host adapter manufacturer (data destructive).
Try drive in a different system to see if the same results follow.

Hard Disk Repair

How to Troubleshoot SCSI/ATA hard drive combinations?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM15 years ago4 years ago08 mins

When SCSI drives are connected to the SCSI host adapter, with an ATA drive installed, you are unable to boot from the ATA drive.

The SCSI host adapter and the ATA port on the motherboard could be set for the same IRQ or address or both. Check the following:

For the primary port, the ATA ports on the motherboard will likely be set to IRQ 14, and the I/O address will likely be set to 1F0-1F7.
For the secondary port, the ATA ports on the motherboard will likely be set to IRQ 15, and the I/O address will likely be set to 170-177.
The SCSI host adapter’s IRQ and I/O address should not conflict with the above settings.
If using a plug-in controller or host adapter with a BIOS, make sure the BIOS address does not conflict with the address settings of other cards or devices.
Check the documentation for the motherboard or SCSI host adapter for detailed information on how to change these settings. If unavailable, contact the vendor of the ATA or SCSI host adapter.

Once these setting are properly implemented, your computer should be able to recognize available ATA and SCSI drives with no problem.

You are unable (or there is a long delay when trying) to boot from the SCSI drive.

The motherboard’s BIOS might be “pinging” the ATA bus looking for an ATA drive. When using a SCSI drive as a boot device, there should not be an ATA drive physically attached as the Primary 0 (master) drive, and the CMOS settings for the Primary 0 drive should be set to “none” or “not installed”. In addition, check the CMOS settings for the Primary 1, Secondary 0, and Secondary 1 drives. If any of those drives are not physically present, the corresponding settings should be set to “none” or “not installed” as well.

If you are still unable to boot from the drive, make sure it has been properly prepared as a bootable drive – make sure it has been formatted and has active partitioning set.

The SCSI drive is not recognized at full capacity.

Make sure the SCSI host adapter’s setting for “above 1GB support” is enabled. For drives larger than 8.4 Gbytes, enable the BIOS’ INT13 Extensions.

If the drive is reporting less than its full factory capacity to the controller BIOS, it is possible that the drive may have been programmed to a smaller capacity (Seagate SCSI drives support a change capacity feature).

If this is the case, standard drives may be returned to full capacity (or reprogrammed to any capacity up to full capacity) using Seagate’s SeaTools utility.

The SCSI drive is not performing optimally.
Try the following:

Make sure your card and motherboard’s BIOS are optimally configured for performance. You might need to contact the manufacturer of the card for assistance with these options.
Check your SCSI cable and the drives’ ID, termination, and termination power settings.
Make sure the cable is of good quality and is not coiled up inside the computer.
Try to route SCSI ribbon cabling away from the power supply.
If this is the only device attached internally, set the ID to 0 and terminate the drive.
If there are 2 or more devices internally attached to the SCSI cable, set the boot drive to ID 0, set the other devices to any other unassigned SCSI ID (except 7, which is usually reserved for the SCSI host adapter), and terminate the drive that is physically at the end of the cable. Termination power should be set on both drives to match the requirements of the SCSI host adapter.

The following recommendation is DATA DESTRUCTIVE. Proceeding will ERASE ALL DATA FROM THE DRIVE.

We recommend that you use the SCSI host adapter’s utility to low-level format (or initialize) the SCSI drive. This will help ensure that the drive is properly communicating and optimally synchronized to the host adapter. If possible, BACKUP the drive(s) before following this procedure.

If this is not possible, and the data is needed, please consult a data recovery service to assist you in recovering your data.
A low-level format typically takes 45 – 60 minutes per gigabyte. The larger the drive, the longer the time required for completion.
DO NOT TERMINATE OR ABORT THE LOW-LEVEL FORMAT! The drive(s) can become permanently damaged.

After the low-level formats are completed, reboot the computer from a bootable system or recovery diskette and proceed to prepare the drive for use. In a DOS or Windows 95/98 environment:

1. Use FDISK to partition the drives as desired. Ensure that the C: partition is a “PRI-DOS, ACTIVE” partition.

2. After partitioning the drives, reboot the computer.

3. Use FORMAT to high-level format each partition on the SCSI drives.

a) Type format X:, where X is the drive letter of the drive you wish to format.

b) If you want to make the C: partition bootable, add the “/S” parameter to the end of the command to transfer the system files. (At the command prompt, type FORMAT C: /S)

Each partition should now be formatted to its full capacity, ready to store data.

Hard Disk Repair

How to terminate A SCSI hard drive?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM15 years ago4 years ago04 mins

With today’s high speed hard drives combined with long cable runs, only use high quality ‘twisted pair’ cable and external active (cable end) terminators. Active termination boosts data integrity and reliability. With active termination, a 110-ohm resistor on each signal line connects to a voltage regulator. The regulator ensures signal quality over the entire length of the SCSI bus. This reduces under and overshoot signals typically found on passive resistor termination schemes.

Passive termination draws its electrical power from the SCSI host adapter. A 220/330-ohm resistor is used to provide the necessary impedance to prevent the data signal from ‘reflecting’ back. Fluctuations in termination power (or failing cables) can show up as error symptoms in the drive, yet do not originate there. In general we recommend you enable SCSI Termination Power if available.

Maxtor (and Quantum) SCSI disk drives have either onboard active termination (jumpers). Older drives (circa 1994) enable active termination by two removable (10-pin) termination resistors. Some use passive termination with three removable (8-pin) terminating resistor packs. Seagate does not supply terminating resistor packs for older drives.
SCSI Single Ended Hard drives using active onboard termination have a jumper setting labeled ‘TE’ to control the termination setting.
All Quantum Single-Ended SCSI drives ship defaulted to provide SCSI Termination Enable.
SCSI LVD(low voltage differential) drives do not supply SCSI Termination Enable. Refer to the drive configuration guides for proper setting of this feature.Notes:
1. Some Quantum SCSI disk drives are available in both Single-Ended and LVD versions. Specifically, the Atlas III and Viking II drives offer both types of termination. Atlas III Narrow (50 pin) drives are Single-Ended, while the Wide (68 pin) and SCA (80 pin) versions are LVD models. Viking II Wide drives are available in both SE and LVD models. The part number for an SE drive will contain “W”, and the LVD will contain a “L” (e.g. PX09L011 would be LVD). All Viking II SCA drives are LVD models. All fifty pin Quantum SCSI drives are all SCSI Single-Ended.
2. LVD cables and SCSI bus terminators can be purchased from TMC (The Mate Co.) or a local retailer.
3. Use due diligence when installing or adding SCSI devices. Unlike most electronic devices, SCSI may operate if improperly terminated, but performance and reliability will be seriously at risk.

Hard Disk Repair

Can I boot from my SCSI hard drive with an IDE/EIDE drive installed?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM15 years ago12 years ago01 mins

The system with a bootable hard drive on an IDE/ATA controller in most computer systems. Most new BIOS’ have a SCSI Boot Sequence (option) setting. Some combo SCSI/IDE cards will allow the reverse or some add-in secondary IDE cards will allow the SCSI to boot first.

You can see the motherboard’s reference manual or manufacturer’s website for options in the boot sequence.

Hard Disk Repair

What is termination? How to set it on Maxtor SCSI drive?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM15 years ago12 years ago01 mins

Termination is how the signal in the SCSI cable is controlled. Devices at the physical ends of the cable need to have termination installed. All devices between the ends of the cable need to have termination removed. To install or remove termination on the drive, locate the installation sheet or guide that came with the drive.

Search for your drive and select the SCSI family and locate the Installation guide for more information on termination configurations.

Hard Disk Repair

Can’t partition a SCSI hard drive with FDISK or Disk Utility?

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM15 years ago4 years ago01 mins

If you are experiencing difficulty creating a partition on a SCSI disk drive, try these basic troubleshooting steps.

Check all cable connections. Test data cable by trying a different cable or try the cable on a known working drive.
Check the jumper settings.
Check termination.
Check the SCSI controller. Test it by trying a known good controller or a known working drive.
Check SCSI controller default settings. Set the controller to asynchronous negotiation and the transfer rate to 10Mbs (or the slowest setting).
Make this offending drive the only SCSI device in the system and re-test.
Run a SCSI ‘low level’ format routine in the SCSI BIOS Setup Utility.
Note: This will erase all the data on the drive.
Try the drive in a different system.