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1994-04-03
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BTN HARDWARE NOTES
This document contains information for users of particular hardware:
o Commodore 2090A SCSI adapter
o Supra SCSI adapters
o GVP SCSI adapters
o ICD SCSI adapters
o 3M MCD-40 direct access tape drives
If you don't own any of these items, you may safely ignore this document.
** DISCLAIMER **
Statements about alleged problems with a manufacturer's product may not be
accurate, and in any case should NOT be construed as a recommendation
against purchasing products from that manufacturer.
=============================================================================
CBM 2090A SCSI ADAPTER
2090A compatibility is iffy. It works for some people, but doesn't
for others. Read on if you want to risk it anyway.
Apparently there is a software bug in the
CBM 2090A SCSI-direct code that causes problems with tape
writes. Bob Mitchell figured out that the problem can be
circumvented by asserting data address bit 24 for writes.
This handler can optionally invoke that circumvention.
To do so, specify "C9-1" in the Startup string.
The circumvention is NOT necessary for other adapters.
A worse problem- the 2090A cannot seem to handle both the disk
and the tape drive on the same SCSI bus. Simple reads or writes
to the tape work fine, but intermixed tape reads and disk writes
(such as during a restore) will cause the 2090A to get confused.
This does not happen if the hard drive is on the ST506 bus.
It also does not happen if you restore the files to RAM or floppy.
Make sure the tape is out of the drive when you boot
AmigaDOS; otherwise, DOS never comes up.
Some people report the 2090A works better when the tape buffers
are in chip RAM (BT-2 in Startup parms).
When you mount TAPE:, make sure there is no cartridge in the
tape drive. For some reason I do not understand, the 2090A
causes a reset to the tape drive when OpenDevice is called.
If a cartridge is in the drive at that time, the system
eventually enters an unusable state. I recommend using
"Mount = 1" in your MountList entry for TAPE: so when TAPE:
is mounted, it will put up a requester because the drive is
empty; click on cancel, then everything will be happy.
FINAL NOTE: I understand that there is now a third-party ROM available
which can replace the 2090A's ROM (sorry, I don't know much about it).
I don't know how this ROM would work with BTN, but I think
anything would be an improvement. If someone gets a 2090A with
this ROM to work with BTN, please send me a note.
=============================================================================
SUPRA SCSI ADAPTERS
If your hard drive SCSI adapter is made by Supra Corporation, you
need to determine which version of the driver software or ROM you
are using. The possibilities are:
Series III version 3.0 or higher (the latest and greatest)
Series II version 1.xx or lower (will NOT work with BTN)
REALLY old version, like 5.1, 3.1, etc. (don't even think about it)
If the driver name is "suprascsi.device", you have Series III or above.
Any others will not work with BTNtape.
==============================================================================
GVP SCSI ADAPTERS
GVP provides a utility program called GVPSCSICTRL. If your tape drive
does not co-exist on the SCSI bus well with other devices (usually
indicated by SCSI phase errors), you may be able to use the utility
to disable the disconnect/reconnect bus sequence for your drive.
If disconnect/reconnect is causing your problem, this may help.
The command is "GVPSCSICTRL n DCOFF", where n is the SCSI device ID.
Consult your GVP documention for further information.
==============================================================================
ICD SCSI ADAPTERS
I've been informed that there may be problems using ICD SCSI adapters
on *accelerated* Amigas when writing to *slow* tape drives. The result
is intermittent SCSI-PHASE ERRORs during writes (reads are ok).
The ICD driver (2.01?) has a special flag to compensate for the problem,
but unfortunately it is not accessible through the standard SCSI-direct
interface. IF you experience this problem, I suggest you contact ICD
and ask for a driver upgrade which provides access to this flag
through the standard OpenDevice() device flags. Then you can enable
the flag in the BTN mountlist DF parameter.
[This was from Oct 91... it's probably no longer true, assuming
ICD has upgraded their software. As always, make sure you have
the latest, no matter who manufactures your adapter.]
==============================================================================
3M MCD-40 (403,405) DIRECT ACCESS TAPE DRIVES
The following applies only to the 3M MCD-40 direct access drive,
and derivatives thereof.
The value of BS must be either 8192 or 8320. No other choices.
You should set BS according to the setting of switch 6 (see below).
The 3M drive does not use filemarks. When you reference the
tape as "TAPE:num", num is the SCSI block number, not the file number.
When writing multiple files to a tape, you should write down the
block numbers where each file starts and ends. Use the TAPEMON program
to see the block numbers in the "Opened at" and "Closed at" messages.
Also because it does not use filemarks, it is difficult to use the
drive with the CLI "COPY" command. When copying from TAPE:,
COPY will just keep reading bytes until you manually stop it with
a control-C, or it reaches the end of the tape.
The RB parameter in Startup may be used to skip over a number of
blocks at the beginning of the tape, if there is something there
(like volume information) you wish to preserve.
The RT-1 (retension) parameter does not work properly on the 3M drives,
but it is not necessary anyway because the drive does its own retension.
The MCD-40 drives require that you use 3M DC2000 or Sony QD2000
tapes. It can also read (but not write) DC1000s that are formatted
the same as the DC2000. Don't waste your money buying tapes
with longer lengths; they won't work.
Be sure your cartridge is formatted. If you try to use an
unformatted tape, results will get "BLANK CHECK". You can buy
preformatted tapes (QIC-100 format), or you can format your own.
The raw command to format a tape is: 04 80 20 00 00 80
which denotes the format command (04), immediate completion (80),
precondition the tape (20), and retry on errors (80).
Some older drives may not like some of the other bits, in which case
try just: "04" The format operation takes approximately 40 minutes.
A note about the hardware. If you haven't noticed it yet, the
3M drive is EXTREMELY sensitive to electrical noise. It is
*essential* that the drive be properly grounded. The ground through the
power connector is inadequate. You should run a thick wire or braided
strap from the metal side-plate to the DC POWER SUPPLY GROUND (not the
chassis or AC ground). Even the metal frame in which the drive is mounted
may not be good enough. I'm not kidding. You have been warned!
For specific information about the 3M drives, contact the places
listed below. Try Georgens first.
Georgens Industries, Inc. Voice 800-255-5350
3346 Industrial Court or 619-481-8114
San Diego, CA 92121-1003 Fax 619-481-6913
3M OEM Data Cartridge Drive Products
Magnetic Media Division
3M Center 223-5N-1 Voice 612-733-5454
St. Paul, MN 55144
MCD-40 SWITCHES AND JUMPERS (from the manual):
Switch# Position Description
8 - Open YES Diagnostic mode
Closed* NO " (* = factory default setting)
7 - Closed* NO reset on power-up and SCSI reset
Open YES "
6 - Open* Data block size = 8192 bytes
Closed " 8320
5,4 Open* Reserved
3,2,1 SCSI address (3=MSB, 1=LSB) (Open=0, Closed=1)
Jumper Plugs:
+5V ----|>|-----o JP5 o-------+------- Pin 26
|
+---o JP6 o-------+
|
? <-----+---o JP7 o------------ +5V
JP5 is for those systems that require terminator power to be supplied
by the tape drive on SCSI Pin 26 for external terminators. The
internal terminators must be REMOVED from the unit when using this option.
JP6 is for those systems that supply terminator power to the tape drive.
Only the SCSI terminators are powered in this option. The internal
terminators must be INSTALLED if the drive is the last device on
the SCSI cable.
JP7 is preset as a factory default for those systems that use no
terminator power. The internal terminators must be INSTALLED if the
drive is the last device on the SCSI cable.
Sense codes and Extended Sense (other=) codes:
1 - RECOVERED ERROR
2 - NOT READY
04 Drive Not Ready
A7 Logical Load Failure
A8 Cartridge Autoloading
B0 No Cartridge in Drive
3 - MEDIUM ERROR
10 ID CRC
11 Unrecovered Read error of data blocks
15 Seek Positioning error
19 Defect List error
31 Medium Format corrupted
32 No Defect Spare Location Available
4 - HARDWARE ERROR
08 Logical Unit Communication Failure
10 ID CRC
15 Seek Positioning error
42 Power On Diagnostic Failure
5 - ILLEGAL REQUEST
20 Invalid Command Operation Code
21 Illegal Logical Block Address
24 Illegal field in CDB
26 Invalid field in Parameter List
6 - UNIT ATTENTION
28 Medium Changed
29 Power On or Reset or Bus Device Reset occured
2A Mode Select Parameters changed
7 - DATA PROTECT
27 Write Protected
8 - BLANK CHECK (unformatted tape)
9 - VENDOR UNIQUE
B - ABORTED COMMAND
47 Message Parity Error Message
48 Initiator Detected Error