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Conference noted::ibmpc-95

Title:	IBM PCs, clones, DOS, etc.
Notice:	Intro in 1-11, Windows stuff in NOTED::MSWINDOWS please
Moderator:	TARKIN::LINND

Created:	Mon Jan 02 1995
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	3023
Total number of notes:	28404

2988.0. "Trashed my SCSI drive?" by IRNBRU::LITTLE () Tue Apr 15 1997 08:10

I was installing a game at the weekend and during the setup routine I 
was asked if I wanted the game to autodetect the sound card or manually 
enter the parameters. I chose autodetect and was given the warning
that using the autodetect facility might not work if there were SCSI
devices present. I ran the autodetect and the game hung with a blank 
screen. On rebooting, I could no longer see my SCSI drive - even the
SCSI controller couldn't detect the drive.
What has happened? Has the disk BIOS been trashed? Is it recoverable?


System config:

486DX4 100
Primary disk IDE
secondary disk SCSI
Sound Blaster 16

Stuart

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2988.1		BHAJEE::JAERVINEN	Ora, the Old Rural Amateur	`Tue Apr 15 1997 10:17`	1
	What operating system?
2988.2	Sounds like a similar thread elswhere in here...	NETCAD::BATTERSBY		`Tue Apr 15 1997 11:26`	7
	Sounds like the same type of problem discussed in another thread in the last day or so. The other thread I believe is the autodetect of a sound card by Win95 and how Win95 doesn't do well at autodetecting previously detected hardware, the second time around. Bob
2988.3	Wish it was that simple.	IRNBRU::LITTLE		`Tue Apr 15 1997 11:35`	9
	The problem is that when the PC boots the SCSI controller is detected (by the system BIOS) but it fails to see the SCSI drive. Therefore the operating system is irrelevant. I have tried booting DOS and attempting to use FDISK but as I said, the SCSI controller can't see the drive. I've also booted WIN95 but it also sees the controller but not the drive. The controller isn't goosed as I have an old 20Meg SCSI drive and if I plug it in it is OK. Stuart
2988.4		BHAJEE::JAERVINEN	Ora, the Old Rural Amateur	`Tue Apr 15 1997 11:43`	14
	re .3: �The problem is that when the PC boots the SCSI controller is detected �(by the system BIOS) but it fails to see the SCSI drive. What SCSI controller do you have then? I don't think you can trash the SCSI BIOS as such, but if it is software configurable, it might be possible that the game's setup has change some parameters in the SCSI BIOS (though unlikely, as your old disk works). Does the disk spin up?
2988.5		TARKIN::LIN	Bill Lin	`Tue Apr 15 1997 11:47`	13
	re: .3 by IRNBRU::LITTLE >> The problem is that when the PC boots the SCSI controller is >> detected (by the system BIOS) but it fails to see the SCSI drive. Not sure what SCSI host adapter you have, but unless you have SCSI BIOS support for DISKS, you won't see the disks until the operating system kicks in and loads a driver. >> The controller isn't goosed as I have an old 20Meg SCSI drive and if >> I plug it in it is OK. That would suggest there's something wrong with your disk.
2988.6		IRNBRU::LITTLE		`Tue Apr 15 1997 13:11`	8
	The contoller is an NCR something or other (it's built into the motherboard). Normally the drive is detected by the bios (and displayed on the monitor) as a conner xxxx on boot up - this doesn't happen with the trashed drive. The drive does spin up and it comes ready but the controller just does not see it. Stuart
2988.7	just fishing	TARKIN::LIN	Bill Lin	`Tue Apr 15 1997 13:48`	8
	re: .6 by IRNBRU::LITTLE Hi Stuart, Have you made sure the other SCSI-type details have been taken care of? e.g. ID, termination, term power Does your NCR handle drives other than SCSI ID 0,1?
2988.8		BHAJEE::JAERVINEN	Ora, the Old Rural Amateur	`Tue Apr 15 1997 15:36`	10
	>The contoller is an NCR something or other (it's built into the >motherboard). Presumably an NCR (or rather SYMBIOS) 53C810. The BIOS should handle two disks, and it should report all SCSI devices it sees. (It's the SCSI controller BIOS that does it, not the system BIOS). Seems like something wrong with the drive. Could you try the drive on another system?
2988.9		IRNBRU::LITTLE		`Wed Apr 16 1997 07:57`	8
	NCR 810 - that's it! I am fairly sure it is the drive that is trashed since my other SCSI drive works. What i was hoping for is that someone might have an idea of what went wrong and if there is any way to recover the contents of the drive intact. I don't have another machine with a SCSI controller so I'm stuffed to try drive in another machine
2988.10	And the drive is...,?	PCBUOA::MCQUADE	st*rs = 1x4x9	`Wed Apr 16 1997 11:43`	6
	What drive is it specifically and are you positive it spins up and is ready in time for the 810 to see it? Kevin
2988.11		IRNBRU::LITTLE		`Wed Apr 16 1997 12:29`	10
	Kevin I can't remember off hand exactly what type the drive is (conner 1.2 Gig) but it's been in my system for about 2 years and worked perfectly ok until I let some poxy game autodetect the soundcard! The drive definately spins up, appears to perform its self checks and appears to come ready - the led goes out after a couple of seconds of head activity. All of this happens long before (well a few seconds) the SCSI card tries to detect the drive. The drive is set as ID 0 and it is terminated.