Internal Hard Disk - replacement types

[Escobar]

If there are any greater demand for these cards (TwinMOS X140 1GB) I might buy some from the swedish komplett store and sell them further? Let me know if there are any interest.

/Escobar

[dvdborn]

Has anyone else installed the SCSI-IDE solution in their EIII?

I did, but I'm not able to format a 1GB card with it. Thanks to Escobar I got a TwinMOS 140x card. It's the same model that works in his setup. But it doesn't in mine.

So, I'd like to know if anyone else has trouble formatting a 1GB card? At the moment I'm only able to format a 64MB card.

My Acard AEC-7720U has firmware version 3.88. I'm guessing that this is the culprit. But I need to know for sure before I try downgrading the firmware.

My EIII has OS 2.42 and firmware v2.00.

David

[chris raw]

Hey Escobar

count me in for one of those 1GB Cards too.. I have a CF Card Adapter on the way

It is still the SCSI to IDE Adapter that I'd need..therefore should I be aware of the installed firmware on it?



Greets

[karlscott]

I have Acard on the way also as well as two 1gb cards, keep us posted DVDborn!!!!

I will post my firmware version when it comes!!!!

Also another thing, I plugged my floppy drive back in the EIII to copy a few software disks as i had heard you can't boot from the zip drive, and if anything went wrong i'd be F.....d!!!!

I've added pic to see if anyone can tell me if i'm going wrong somewhere....

pulled powerlead off of scsi zip drive and there was a floppy drive attachment lying loose inside EIII so attached that also but my EIII does not pick up floppy...

I know the drive works because i tried it on my emax 1 rack and it was working perfectly any thoughts anyone??

also what is the name of the powerleads i have to get in "Escobar's" picture i know the one inside the plastic is powerlead splitter which i'm getting but can't find name of other one that is not in the plastic...

The place were i'm getting the splitter from has some thing similar but it's not the same, he also said i will have to check if it's "straight or twisted" whatever that means....

 Thanks in Advance, Karl...

ps: the drive in question i think is the original drive (Mitsubihi MF353BA-12U) I got it with the EIII but have never put it in as it came installed with zip drive.

I also went to master module and tried to the mount drives option but still no joy.

Sorry for slightly hijacking this post but thought i'd ask questions in here as i was referencing one of Escobar's pics, thanks again, Karl....

[dvdborn]

I'll keep you posted about the Acard firmware.

The other component that could be the reason for not being able to format a 1GB card is the IDE card reader. But since the card reader is a simple component I'm guessing that this won't be the issue.

I got word back from the Acard support departement and they told me that it's possible to downgrade an Acard to the previous firmware version without a problem.

Now I need to know for sure which firmware version works with the TwinMOS card.

BTW, the Acard comes with a power cable splitter. It splits into a smaller power connector and a large power connector. I only had to find a converter from a large to a small connector.

So if anyone else has tried the SCSI-IDE solution let me know if you were able to format a 1GB card.

David

[dvdborn]

Karl,

You can also boot an EIII from an external hard disk that has the OS on it.

Hope this helps.

David

[karlscott]

Thanks DVD

So i can use one of my external scsi zip drives (that i use with my MPC 3000) attached to the back of the EIII and copy software onto one of my zip disks and then it will boot from there??

If so thanks for the solution, means once i've got my CF card in there (when it comes that is) i won't have to open up the EIII again!!!!

[dvdborn]

Karl,

I don't know if a ZIP drive will work. Best if you try it first. But I'm guessing that it won't be a problem.
I do know that I can boot from an external hard disk.

It is important that a hard disk or SCSI-IDE converter is connected on the internal SCSI cable. Otherwise the EIII won't boot (if my memory still serves me correct).

David

[karlscott]

how do i get EIII to try and boot from zip disk without it starting its normal booting procedure from internal HD?

[dvdborn]

I'm guessing that the EIII takes the first SCSI ID that's available.
This would mean that the ZIP has SCSI ID = 5 and the internal HD SCSI ID=6

David

[karlscott]

Bloody hell, i dont wanna change my scsi id on my internal to scsi id 6 (it's on 1 now) and then put my external zip drive to scsi id 5, if it does not work and i can't get zip to boot up EIII, then how am gonna get to change the internal drive back to scsi id 1 if it won't boot back up?

Don't wanna risk it, i'll wait till it dies on me lol!!!!!!

[dvdborn]

I'd just test the Zip boot when you've installed the SCSI-IDE card on the internal SCSI cable.
The only way for the EIII to boot in that situation is from the OS on the ZIP drive.
I'm guessing that that will work.

David

[Escobar]

Hello everyone,

When I installed my CF-card the first time, EIII couldn't find it at all and/or I got an error message.
The problem is related to the SCSI-IDE adapter, you need to do these three configurations on the SCSI-IDE adapter:

1) Terminator power On/Off  (jumper J4)

2) Terminator Enable/disable  (jumper J2)

3) SCSI ID number setup for the CF-card  (jumper J1 and J3)


You have to locate the different jumper connections on the adapter board. They should be marked out with white text on the adapter board like this: J1/J3 or similar.
To enable a setting put a black plastic knob on that jumper connection (two vertical oriented pins need to be 'closed' using the plastic knob).
To disable a setting you remove the black plastic knob from the pins.

So, enable the terminator power by putting the knob on jumper J4.

Make the terminator enabled by putting a knob on jumper J2 (J2 and J4 should be oriented close to each other on the adapter board).

Now, you need to set the SCSI ID number for your CF-card.
You will find a ROW with four (4) pair of pin connections on the board. The connection at most right will be ignored (have no function as far as I know). From left to right you have connection: 1, 2, 3.
NOTE: all connections are oriented (left to right) as the white text on the adapter board.

Now, depending on which SCSI ID number you want/need for your CF-card, you have to choose one of these settings on the adapter board:

SCSI ID 0 = No knobs on any connections.
SCSI ID 1 = Pin connection 3
SCSI ID 2 = Pin connection 2
SCSI ID 3 = Pin connections 2+3
SCSI ID 4 = Pin connection 1
SCSI ID 5 = Pin connections 1+3
SCSI ID 6 = Pin connections 1+2

IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU CAN VERIFY YOUR JUMPER SETTINGS, THIS WILL BE THE MOST PROPABLY CAUSE OF FALIURE SINCE IT'S EASY TO MAKE MISSTAKE ABOUT IT.

So double check your settings!

A graphic description over the pin configurations are shown in the 'manual'  included with the card.

If it still doesn't find the card, turn off the power and remove all (black) jumper knobs, turn the power on, wait until you're sure the EIII has turned on, turn off the power again, and install the knobs as described above, turn the power on again and if you're lucky your EIII should find the card.

If you have a flat (grey) 50 pin ribbon data cable with three (3) connections you can install both the old SCSI hard-drive and the CF-card simultanously and transfer (after formating the CF-card) the OS and sound files easier and no need for external zip-drive (when installing the CF-card).

My SCSI-IDE adapter has BIOS revison number 3.86, and I'm using firmware 2.42 on EIII, OS 2.00
As a last resort, you may need to download an older version of the acard BIOS as David suggested me.

/Escobar

[Escobar]

Hello again,

The IDE adapter card (the one you put your CF-card in) also has a jumper:

1-2 Master/Slave
2-3 Slave/Master.

three pins in vertical orientation:

        1
        |
        2
        |
        3

I have mine in position Slave/Master (2-3).


Ok Chris I will count you in.

/Escobar

[karlscott]

Bloody hell one you lot have goto take some pics of all these jumpers settings!!!!!