Booting from a SCSI drive?
Pieter
at the drive.
I have a QDI Titanium IIB mainboard (bios version 2.3, pcb v2.0) with
a BIOS option for 'boot sequence' which includes SCSI as an option-
value (e.g. "SCSI, A, C"). The mainboard manual also mentions about a
'built-in NCR810 SCSI bios'. So I would expect the mainboard to be
able to boot from a SCSI drive.
I have a Quantum Viking II SCSI drive which I partitioned with two
FAT16 filesystems. I copied a windows 95 'dos' system with the SYS
command to the first partition.
I have a Symbios 53C800 SCSI controller.
Why doesn't it bootup?
Is there a special thing needed when booting from a SCSI drive? Do I
have to set some jumper-options on the drive?
TIA, Peter
Jörg Schwenke
you habe to enable the BIOS of the controller in setup of the controller.
This is necesary at my AHA 2940 UW.
Are you sure, that your controller is bootable at all?
Jörg
Folkert Rienstra
"Pieter" <a@b.c> wrote in message news:eo6jnvsoraud19i2h...@4ax.com...
> I am trying to boot from a SCSI drive but the mainboard doesn't look
> at the drive.
>
> I have a QDI Titanium IIB mainboard (bios version 2.3, pcb v2.0) with
> a BIOS option for 'boot sequence' which includes SCSI as an option-
> value (e.g. "SCSI, A, C"). The mainboard manual also mentions about a
> 'built-in NCR810 SCSI bios'.
But did you enable it?
> So I would expect the mainboard to be able to boot from a SCSI drive.
> I have a Quantum Viking II SCSI drive which I partitioned with two
> FAT16 filesystems. I copied a windows 95 'dos' system with the SYS
> command to the first partition.
> I have a Symbios 53C800 SCSI controller.
>
> Why doesn't it bootup?
Only active partitions are booted.
Pieter
>
>But did you enable it?
>
There is no options on the mainboard to 'enable' something for SCSI.
Only the choice for boot-sequence includes a SCSI option.
I don't know about an option to enable my SCSI controller, like "Jörg
Schwenke" wrote.
>
>Only active partitions are booted.
>
Partition is active!
"Jörg Schwenke" <j.schwenke_...@online.de> wrote:
Dont know! Its the Symbios 53C800 SCSI controller.
Alan Beagley
can't find that model # on their Web site.
Try Pressing Ctrl-C or Ctrl-E as the machine boots (just as you see the
SCSI adapter "announce" itself). That should/might get you into the
sdapter's BIOS or setup options. There you should be able to see whether
you have the option to make a specific drive bootable; some Symbios
Logic adapters permitted booting, others did not.
-=-
Alan
On 10/01/03 05:54 pm Pieter put fingers to keyboard and launched the
following message into cyberspace:
Jan Kannemacher
>Why doesn't it bootup?
>Is there a special thing needed when booting from a SCSI drive? Do I
>have to set some jumper-options on the drive?
Do you have IDE drives in the machine? I had a similar problem recently
when an Asus P2B-DS suddenly refused to boot off the SCSI drive where
the OS resided. Reason was that I hooked up an unformatted IDE drive as
master to the primary IDE channel, the board took the mere presence of
this drive to try and boot from it, ignoring the SCSI stuff.
JK'03
Pieter
<abea...@optonline.net> wrote:
>Symbios Logic is now called LSILogic (http://www.lsilogic.com), but I
>can't find that model # on their Web site.
I never had a manual about my SCSI card. I checked the controller
card. The controller card does not specify any text indicating the
brand and type. The invoice of the purchase of the controller says:
NCR 810. The driver software supplied tels about an Symbios Logic
53C8xx driver. On the www.NCR.com site I found a NCR810 diagnostics
program which indicated a 53C810A controller in my system.
>
>Try Pressing Ctrl-C or Ctrl-E as the machine boots (just as you see the
>SCSI adapter "announce" itself). That should/might get you into the
>sdapter's BIOS or setup options. There you should be able to see whether
>you have the option to make a specific drive bootable; some Symbios
>Logic adapters permitted booting, others did not.
>
Pressing Ctrl-C or E during bootup doesnt do anything. The diagnostics
program (see above) indicated 'No Bios'. On internet I further found
that the NCR810 is a non-bios version, but nowhere it tells it's
impossible to boot from SCSI with this card.
My QDI TIIB mainboard documentation tells about a built-in NCR810 SCSI
bios, and since this mainboard can select SCSI in the boot-sequence I
would expect that the NCR810 or 53C810 controller (without a bios
onboard) should be able to boot.
Studying the controller card I found 4 pins probably to use with
jumpers> The text J3 was on the left side of these pins. Above these
pins it says + - - +. What could I do with it, using e.g. jumpers?
Why o why doesnt it work for me?
Folkert Rienstra
"Pieter" <a@b.c> wrote in message news:4dconv8982179muf1...@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 12:00:37 +0000, Alan Beagley <abea...@optonline.net> wrote:
>
> >Symbios Logic is now called LSILogic (http://www.lsilogic.com), but I
> >can't find that model # on their Web site.
>
> I never had a manual about my SCSI card. I checked the controller
> card. The controller card does not specify any text indicating the
> brand and type. The invoice of the purchase of the controller says:
> NCR 810. The driver software supplied tels about an Symbios Logic
> 53C8xx driver. On the www.NCR.com site I found a NCR810 diagnostics
> program which indicated a 53C810A controller in my system.
>
> >
> >Try Pressing Ctrl-C or Ctrl-E as the machine boots (just as you see the
> >SCSI adapter "announce" itself). That should/might get you into the
> >sdapter's BIOS or setup options. There you should be able to see whether
> >you have the option to make a specific drive bootable; some Symbios
> >Logic adapters permitted booting, others did not.
> >
>
> Pressing Ctrl-C or E during bootup doesnt do anything. The diagnostics
> program (see above) indicated 'No Bios'. On internet I further found
> that the NCR810 is a non-bios version, but nowhere it tells it's
> impossible to boot from SCSI with this card.
That is what that 'No Bios' basically means.
The 810 doesn't have the I/O pins for a bios (e)eprom. However, a bios
doesn't necessarily have to reside on an eeprom connected to the Chip as
many onboard SCSI proves where the BIOS is on the MoBo bios eeprom.
> My QDI TIIB mainboard documentation tells about a built-in NCR810 SCSI
> bios, and since this mainboard can select SCSI in the boot-sequence I
> would expect that the NCR810 or 53C810 controller (without a bios
> onboard) should be able to boot.
Yup.
>
> Studying the controller card I found 4 pins probably to use with
> jumpers> The text J3 was on the left side of these pins. Above these
> pins it says + - - +. What could I do with it, using e.g. jumpers?
That is the LED output.
Pieter
<atc...@pmail.ntu.edu.sg> wrote:
>Make sure you set its ID to 0 or 7 and ensure it is terminated.
>Try the above. Make sure you don't install any IDE hard disk.
It did not work!
I tried: ID 0 and 7
I added a jumper on the disc to the pins that say 'TE' (I assume this
is termination) however without this jumper I can normally read/write
from/to the scsi disc when booted to windows via IDE disc.
I disconnected IDE disc, and even disabled onboard IDE controller.
By the way, I have also attached two SCSI cd-rom/writer to the SCSI
controller. ID numbers 2 and 3. Both attached internally. The disc
attached via the external connector. The controller is a 50pin narrow
scsi and the disc is a 68pin wide scsi connected through a 50 to 68
pin cable. I assume this all shouldn't be a problem for booting from
SCSI !?
>
>I will try to get to recall from a book if the suggestion given does not work.
>
>Joseph
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Pieter [mailto:a@b.c]
>Posted At: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 11:46 PM
>Posted To: misc
>Conversation: Booting from a SCSI drive?
>Subject: Booting from a SCSI drive?
>
>
>I am trying to boot from a SCSI drive but the mainboard doesn't look
>at the drive.
>
>I have a QDI Titanium IIB mainboard (bios version 2.3, pcb v2.0) with
>a BIOS option for 'boot sequence' which includes SCSI as an option-
>value (e.g. "SCSI, A, C"). The mainboard manual also mentions about a
>'built-in NCR810 SCSI bios'. So I would expect the mainboard to be
>able to boot from a SCSI drive.
>I have a Quantum Viking II SCSI drive which I partitioned with two
>FAT16 filesystems. I copied a windows 95 'dos' system with the SYS
>command to the first partition.
>I have a Symbios 53C800 SCSI controller.
>
>Why doesn't it bootup?
>Is there a special thing needed when booting from a SCSI drive? Do I
>have to set some jumper-options on the drive?
>
>TIA, Peter
Folkert Rienstra
"Pieter" <a@b.c> wrote in message news:9i7rnvg927uang327...@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 09:12:32 +0800, "Chia Ah Tee, Joseph" <atc...@pmail.ntu.edu.sg> wrote:
>
> >Make sure you set its ID to 0 or 7 and ensure it is terminated.
> >Try the above. Make sure you don't install any IDE hard disk.
>
> It did not work!
>
> I tried: ID 0 and 7
> I added a jumper on the disc to the pins that say 'TE' (I assume this
> is termination) however without this jumper I can normally read/write
> from/to the scsi disc when booted to windows via IDE disc.
> I disconnected IDE disc, and even disabled onboard IDE controller.
>
> By the way, I have also attached two SCSI cd-rom/writer to the SCSI
> controller. ID numbers 2 and 3. Both attached internally. The disc
> attached via the external connector. The controller is a 50pin narrow
> scsi and the disc is a 68pin wide scsi connected through a 50 to 68
> pin cable.
> I assume this all shouldn't be a problem for booting from SCSI !?
Then you assume wrong.
Pieter
<see_re...@myweb.nl> wrote:
>> By the way, I have also attached two SCSI cd-rom/writer to the SCSI
>> controller. ID numbers 2 and 3. Both attached internally. The disc
>> attached via the external connector. The controller is a 50pin narrow
>> scsi and the disc is a 68pin wide scsi connected through a 50 to 68
>> pin cable.
>
>> I assume this all shouldn't be a problem for booting from SCSI !?
>
>Then you assume wrong.
I tried another SCSI adapter AHA-2940 (68pin-to-68pin wide connector)
with the SCSI disk and without connecting other SCSI devices and other
IDE disks.. I still can't bootup.
The AHA- 2940 would have a BIOS setup which can be entered at boot
time, but I don't find any moment during my bootsequence to see that a
AHA-2940 is installed. The mainboard BIOS does however mention a 'mass
storage device' available (I know this is from the presence of the
SCSI controller).
What's know wrong with the AHA-2940?
Folkert Rienstra
"Pieter" <a@b.c> wrote in message news:tmt4ovgpstm00p86k...@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 21:11:14 +0200, "Folkert Rienstra" <see_re...@myweb.nl> wrote:
>
> >> By the way, I have also attached two SCSI cd-rom/writer to the SCSI
> >> controller. ID numbers 2 and 3. Both attached internally. The disc
> >> attached via the external connector. The controller is a 50pin narrow
> >> scsi and the disc is a 68pin wide scsi connected through a 50 to 68
> >> pin cable.
> >
> >> I assume this all shouldn't be a problem for booting from SCSI !?
> >
> >Then you assume wrong.
You are now supposed to ask why.
>
> I tried another SCSI adapter AHA-2940
> (68pin-to-68pin wide connector)
Then that is not an AHA-2940. So, what is it, a -W or an -UW?
> with the SCSI disk and without connecting other SCSI devices and other
> IDE disks.. I still can't bootup.
> The AHA- 2940 would have a BIOS setup which can be entered at boot
> time, but I don't find any moment during my bootsequence to see that a
> AHA-2940 is installed. The mainboard BIOS does however mention a
> 'mass storage device' available (I know this is from the presence of the
> SCSI controller).
>
> What's now wrong with the AHA-2940?
Either the bios is not seen by the MoBo or the SCSI bios
is dead or was set silent. You did try Ctrl-A, of course?
>
>
Pieter
<see_re...@myweb.nl> wrote:
>> >Then you assume wrong.
>
>You are now supposed to ask why.
Now then; Why is that?
>> I tried another SCSI adapter AHA-2940
>
>> (68pin-to-68pin wide connector)
>
>Then that is not an AHA-2940. So, what is it, a -W or an -UW?
On this card it says: "adaptec AHA - 2940W/2940UW" on the opisite side
"FCC ID:FGT2940UW".
It has 1 internal and 1 external 68piin connector and 1 internal 50pin
connector.
On the biggest chip theres a label with the text: "AHA - 2940UW/Compaq
1744800 A 9820"
>> with the SCSI disk and without connecting other SCSI devices and other
>> IDE disks.. I still can't bootup.
>> The AHA- 2940 would have a BIOS setup which can be entered at boot
>> time, but I don't find any moment during my bootsequence to see that a
>> AHA-2940 is installed. The mainboard BIOS does however mention a
>> 'mass storage device' available (I know this is from the presence of the
>> SCSI controller).
>>
>> What's now wrong with the AHA-2940?
>
>Either the bios is not seen by the MoBo or the SCSI bios
>is dead or was set silent. You did try Ctrl-A, of course?
>
I did try Ctrl-A as long as the boot sequence lasted.
What does it mean "bios set silent"? How can I set it back to 'not
silent'?
If the bios is 'dead', can I 'revive' it by flashing the bios?
If I boot (from IDE) to windows and install device drivers for the
AHA2940 it does work. So the bios is either not dead or the device
drivers completely replace the bios. I am not sure how exatly this
works.
Folkert Rienstra
> On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 01:01:09 +0200, "Folkert Rienstra" <see_re...@myweb.nl> wrote:
>
> > > > Then you assume wrong.
> >
> > You are now supposed to ask why.
>
> Now then; Why is that?
Because lots of drives do not initialize themselfs when the
upperbyte of the SCSI bus is down. That is where the 68->50
pin convertor with upperbyte terminator comes into play. Or
use the drive at the end of the chain and use a wide terminator.
>
> > > I tried another SCSI adapter AHA-2940
> >
> > > (68pin-to-68pin wide connector)
> >
> > Then that is not an AHA-2940. So, what is it, a -W or an -UW?
>
> On this card it says: "adaptec AHA - 2940W/2940UW" on the opisite side
> "FCC ID:FGT2940UW".
> It has 1 internal and 1 external 68piin connector and 1 internal 50pin
> connector.
> On the biggest chip theres a label with the text: "AHA - 2940UW/Compaq
> 1744800 A 9820"
I think I get it. It's an -UW, right?
That one has a Flashbios, which the AHA-2940W has not.
That opens the possibility of a bad bios. It could still be a
bad contact though, between cardedge and PCI connector.
>
> > > with the SCSI disk and without connecting other SCSI devices and other
> > > IDE disks.. I still can't bootup.
> > > The AHA- 2940 would have a BIOS setup which can be entered at boot
> > > time, but I don't find any moment during my bootsequence to see that a
> > > AHA-2940 is installed. The mainboard BIOS does however mention a
> > > 'mass storage device' available (I know this is from the presence of the
> > > SCSI controller).
> > >
> > > What's now wrong with the AHA-2940?
> >
> > Either the bios is not seen by the MoBo or the SCSI bios
> > is dead or was set silent. You did try Ctrl-A, of course?
> >
> I did try Ctrl-A as long as the boot sequence lasted.
> What does it mean "bios set silent"?
It's a feature in the newest bioses to not show text output.
> How can I set it back to 'not silent'?
It still has to respond to Ctrl-A so if it doesn't do that, you can't.
> If the bios is 'dead', can I 'revive' it by flashing the bios?
Yes. Unfortunately not with Adaptec's current Flash utilities.
ftp://ftp.adaptec.com/tmp0001/adaptec/unleashed/2940uw_bios_3100.exe
www.rienstra01.myweb.nl has an older Flash utility
>
> If I boot (from IDE) to windows and install
> device drivers for the AHA2940 it does work.
> So the bios is either not dead or the device
> drivers completely replace the bios.
The latter.
Pieter
<see_re...@myweb.nl> wrote:
>> If the bios is 'dead', can I 'revive' it by flashing the bios?
>
>Yes. Unfortunately not with Adaptec's current Flash utilities.
>
>ftp://ftp.adaptec.com/tmp0001/adaptec/unleashed/2940uw_bios_3100.exe
>www.rienstra01.myweb.nl has an older Flash utility
>
I could flash with success (according to the flash process), but the
controller still not shows up during bootup, even with pressing
ctrl-A.
Pieter
>I am trying to boot from a SCSI drive but the mainboard doesn't look
>at the drive.
>
>I have a QDI Titanium IIB mainboard (bios version 2.3, pcb v2.0) with a
>'built-in NCR810 SCSI bios'.
>I have a Quantum Viking II SCSI drive
>I have a Symbios 53C800 SCSI controller.
>
>Why doesn't it bootup?
>Is there a special thing needed when booting from a SCSI drive? Do I
>have to set some jumper-options on the drive?
>
>TIA, Peter
I FOUND THE SOLLUTION:
I had to DOWNGRADE (yes downgrade) my QDI Titanium IIB mainboard bios
version 2.3 (the latest/last available) to a previous version 2.1
which perfecly behaves with a BUILD IN NCR810 SCSI bios.
QDI Titanium IIB mainboard bios version 2.3 HAS A BUG which DOES NOT
HAVE A WORKING BUILD IN NCR810 SCSI bios, which it should have
according to the features list.
...DAMMED, SPENDING 1.5 WEEKS ON SOLVING A PROBLEM WHICH IS NOT AN
ISSUE OF IGNORANCE ON MY SIDE, BUT THE CARELESSNESS OF A COMMERCIAL
COMPANY.
I want to thank anyone who responded to my requests to help solve this
issue.
On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 11:11:44 +0200, Jan Kannemacher <var...@gmx.de>
wrote:
>Do you have IDE drives in the machine? I had a similar problem recently
>when an Asus P2B-DS suddenly refused to boot off the SCSI drive where
>the OS resided. Reason was that I hooked up an unformatted IDE drive as
>master to the primary IDE channel, the board took the mere presence of
>this drive to try and boot from it, ignoring the SCSI stuff.
After downgrading of the mainboard bios version to v2.1 I can either
boot from SCSI disc with IDE discs attached or boot from IDE discs
with SCSI disc attached (depending on 'boot sequence' order in bios
setup).
On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 21:11:14 +0200, "Folkert Rienstra"
<see_re...@myweb.nl> wrote:
>> By the way, I have also attached two SCSI cd-rom/writer to the SCSI
>> controller. ID numbers 2 and 3. Both attached internally. The disc
>> attached via the external connector. The controller is a 50pin narrow
>> scsi and the disc is a 68pin wide scsi connected through a 50 to 68
>> pin cable.
>> I assume this all shouldn't be a problem for booting from SCSI !?
>
>Then you assume wrong.
Well, after downgrading of the mainboard bios version to v2.1 it does
work to boot from a SCSI drive when SCSI cdroms are attached and with
a 50pin narrow scsi (controller) to a 68pin wide scsi (disc)
connection.
Folkert Rienstra
"Pieter" <a@b.c> wrote in message news:u7pgovga47jdv9nqi...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 15:33:01 GMT, Pieter <a@b.c> wrote:
>
> >I am trying to boot from a SCSI drive but the mainboard doesn't look
> >at the drive.
> >
> >I have a QDI Titanium IIB mainboard (bios version 2.3, pcb v2.0) with a
> >'built-in NCR810 SCSI bios'.
> >I have a Quantum Viking II SCSI drive
> >I have a Symbios 53C800 SCSI controller.
> >
> >Why doesn't it bootup?
> >Is there a special thing needed when booting from a SCSI drive? Do I
> >have to set some jumper-options on the drive?
> >
> >TIA, Peter
>
> I FOUND THE SOLLUTION:
> I had to DOWNGRADE (yes downgrade) my QDI Titanium IIB mainboard bios
> version 2.3 (the latest/last available) to a previous version 2.1
> which perfecly behaves with a BUILD IN NCR810 SCSI bios.
> QDI Titanium IIB mainboard bios version 2.3 HAS A BUG which DOES NOT
> HAVE A WORKING BUILD IN NCR810 SCSI bios, which it should have
> according to the features list.
Did it solve the Adaptec problem too?
I didn't say that it can't, just that there is a high probablity that it doesn't
when the SCSI bus as seen to the drive isn't terminated/biased on all lines.
Hence 'wrong' assumption.
The drive is likely terminated wide or the particular drive does not care.
>
Folkert Rienstra
"Pieter" <a@b.c> wrote in message news:hargov8uan5tpp8m8...@4ax.com...
If that was with Flash v5 then the original was already OK.
>
>
Pieter
<see_re...@myweb.nl> wrote:
>> I FOUND THE SOLLUTION:
>> I had to DOWNGRADE (yes downgrade) my QDI Titanium IIB mainboard bios
>> version 2.3 (the latest/last available) to a previous version 2.1
>> which perfecly behaves with a BUILD IN NCR810 SCSI bios.
>> QDI Titanium IIB mainboard bios version 2.3 HAS A BUG which DOES NOT
>> HAVE A WORKING BUILD IN NCR810 SCSI bios, which it should have
>> according to the features list.
>
>Did it solve the Adaptec problem too?
No it didnt.
With the NCR810 controller installed, during bootup the mainboard now
shows a line telling that NCR SDMS PCI SCSI Bios is active and it
finds all the SCSI devices attached.
With only the Adaptec AHA-2940UW the mainboard still does not show any
indication of a SCSI controller during bootup (no ctrl-A either), and
booting from SCSI disc doesnt work.
I have read about a difference between Retail and OEM versions of
Adaptec SCSI controllers (I don't know what these terms mean). You can
not just flash the one or the other with the flash versions found on
the adaptec site. Maybe I flashed the Adaptec controller bios
inopperable.
Maybe the QDI T2B mainboard BIOS has some other shortcommings to
enable the Adaptec during bootup. I think I am going to believe that.
(You have to know I have had other problems with the QDI Titanium IIB.
No QDI for me anymore!)
Folkert Rienstra
"Pieter" <a@b.c> wrote in message news:75bnovo35kn8ikqel...@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 22:48:27 +0200, "Folkert Rienstra" <see_re...@myweb.nl> wrote:
>
> >> I FOUND THE SOLLUTION:
> >> I had to DOWNGRADE (yes downgrade) my QDI Titanium IIB mainboard bios
> >> version 2.3 (the latest/last available) to a previous version 2.1
> >> which perfecly behaves with a BUILD IN NCR810 SCSI bios.
> >> QDI Titanium IIB mainboard bios version 2.3 HAS A BUG which DOES NOT
> >> HAVE A WORKING BUILD IN NCR810 SCSI bios, which it should have
> >> according to the features list.
> >
> >Did it solve the Adaptec problem too?
>
> No it didnt.
> With the NCR810 controller installed, during bootup the mainboard now
> shows a line telling that NCR SDMS PCI SCSI Bios is active and it finds
> all the SCSI devices attached.
> With only the Adaptec AHA-2940UW the mainboard still does not show
> any indication of a SCSI controller during bootup (no ctrl-A either), and
> booting from SCSI disc doesnt work.
> I have read about a difference between Retail and OEM versions of
> Adaptec SCSI controllers (I don't know what these terms mean). You
> can not just flash the one or the other with the flash versions found on
> the adaptec site.
In practice you can with Adaptec cards that are also available in retail form,
which will be 99% of them. Exceptions can be cards like the Asus 2940 cards.
> Maybe I flashed the Adaptec controller bios inoperable.