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HP4020i bundled Advansys 510 Controller - no termination!!!

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Brian Semotiuk

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Oct 28, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/28/96
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The Advansys 510 controller, that comes bundled witht the HP4020i
CD-R, has no termination resistors. It has the location on the board
for them but they're empty - three 8-pin connectors.

A friend of mine that used this controller to connect an external ZIP
drive to had to solder on resistors in order for it to work properly.
He was getting all sorts of errors from the ZIP drive until he did
this. The ZIP drive is the only device he connected to this
controller.

Why should the HP4020i work reliably then on this controller when it
is missing these terminator resistors if the ZIP drive doesn't? My
friend noticed that the newer Advansys controller that HP uses (I
think it's a 5100 - 4 dip switches) does actually have the termination
resistors soldered on the board. Is HP hiding something? Could this be
a reason why so many people who bought the drive earlier on are having
so many problems with it? I've heard many stories about people sending
their 4020i drive away and it coming back working. Could this be
because HP sends back a new controller, with proper termination, along
with the new drive and people use it not realizing it is
different?????

Brian
br...@netbistro.com

Brian Semotiuk

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Oct 28, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/28/96
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On Mon, 28 Oct 1996 17:13:18 GMT, br...@netbistro.com (Brian Semotiuk)
wrote:

>My
>friend noticed that the newer Advansys controller that HP uses (I
>think it's a 5100 - 4 dip switches) does actually have the termination

Correction - it's a 5140.

I just phoned tech support at HP on this - duh!!! They said it
shouldn't matter because the 4020i itself is terminated - Ha! Ha!

John Mitchell

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Oct 28, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/28/96
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In Article<3278e750...@alt.net>, <br...@netbistro.com> writes:
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> From: br...@netbistro.com (Brian Semotiuk)
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.cd-rom,comp.periphs.scsi
> Subject: HP4020i bundled Advansys 510 Controller - no termination!!!
> Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 17:13:18 GMT
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>
> The Advansys 510 controller, that comes bundled witht the HP4020i
> CD-R, has no termination resistors. It has the location on the board
> for them but they're empty - three 8-pin connectors.
>
> A friend of mine that used this controller to connect an external ZIP
> drive to had to solder on resistors in order for it to work properly.
> He was getting all sorts of errors from the ZIP drive until he did
> this. The ZIP drive is the only device he connected to this
> controller.
>
> Why should the HP4020i work reliably then on this controller when it

> is missing these terminator resistors if the ZIP drive doesn't? My


> friend noticed that the newer Advansys controller that HP uses (I
> think it's a 5100 - 4 dip switches) does actually have the termination

> resistors soldered on the board. Is HP hiding something? Could this be
> a reason why so many people who bought the drive earlier on are having
> so many problems with it? I've heard many stories about people sending
> their 4020i drive away and it coming back working. Could this be
> because HP sends back a new controller, with proper termination, along
> with the new drive and people use it not realizing it is
> different?????
>
> Brian
> br...@netbistro.com
>
>

I don't know but I just purchased a new HP and connected the card to my
scanner as well as the CDROM burner - all work.
John Mitchell


Brian Semotiuk

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Oct 31, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/31/96
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On Mon, 28 Oct 96 22:15:31, John Mitchell <sp...@mail.netshop.net>
wrote:

>
>> Why should the HP4020i work reliably then on this controller when it
>> is missing these terminator resistors if the ZIP drive doesn't? My
>> friend noticed that the newer Advansys controller that HP uses (I
>> think it's a 5100 - 4 dip switches) does actually have the termination
>> resistors soldered on the board. Is HP hiding something? Could this be
>> a reason why so many people who bought the drive earlier on are having
>> so many problems with it? I've heard many stories about people sending
>> their 4020i drive away and it coming back working. Could this be
>> because HP sends back a new controller, with proper termination, along
>> with the new drive and people use it not realizing it is
>> different?????
>>
>> Brian
>> br...@netbistro.com
>>
>>
>I don't know but I just purchased a new HP and connected the card to my
>scanner as well as the CDROM burner - all work.
>John Mitchell
>

Yes, but you probably have an Advansys 5140 if you just bought the HP.
Easiest way to check is look at the number of dip switches on the back
- if you have 2 then it's a 510, 4 if it's a 5140. If it's a 5140 then
it should be properly terminated and you'll have not problems. I have
no idea if this affects the HP4020i because I get the impression that
some devices don't care if they're terminated or not, especially maybe
if it's the only SCSI device connected. Maybe HP presumes because it's
the only device it didn't put terminators on it. I have a hard time
believing this though.

Brian

How did you connect the scanner? Did you route the internal connector
outside your case? In what order are the devices connected on the SCSI
chain?

John Mitchell

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Nov 6, 1996, 3:00:00 AM11/6/96
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In Article<3278fc33...@alt.net>, <br...@netbistro.com> writes:
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> From: br...@netbistro.com (Brian Semotiuk)
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.cd-rom,comp.periphs.scsi

> Subject: Re: HP4020i bundled Advansys 510 Controller - no termination!!!
> Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 01:30:17 GMT


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I had a connector I bought with my old Zeos computer. It is a scussi cable
with three connectors on it. It also has a connector that the cable plugs into
and it protrudes through the back of the computer -- a minature scussi
connector. So one end of the cable goes on the internal card - the middle
connector goes to the outside plug and lastly the end of the cable goes to the
CDR. I removed the teminator on the scanner but left the one on the CDR.
All work. I usually dont turn the scanner on unless I want to use it and I
have it off if I want to burn a CDrom.
Hope this helps.
John Mitchell


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