From: orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net (Orville R. Weyrich)
Subject: Trouble getting Sankyo CP-150SE to work with Adaptec AHA-1542B
Reply-To: uunet.uu.net!weyrich!orville
Organization: Weyrich Computer Consulting
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 03:17:14 GMT

Thanks to the net for help getting my AHA-1542B to work with my 1.5 Gig
Maxtor P1-17S. I have made an incremental enhancement to my system and
have a new problem. I wish to add a tape backup unit, so I got what
Hard Drives International said would work with my system -- a Sankyo
CP-150SE unit with a DL 6250 cartridge. I can't get the "gtak" gnu tar
"tape" utility to recognize the tape drive [TAPE RET fails with error 31].

Nor, it would seem, does the Adaptec controller:

If I boot DOS and do DEBUG g=dc00:6 to run the ROM-based diagnostics,
it correctly reports the following:

Target	LUN	Vendor	Product
------	---	------	------------------
  0	 0	MAXTOR	P1-17S
  1	 0	NEC	CD-ROM DRIVE:84

But if I REMOVE the CD-ROM and insert the tape drive in its place,
[I only have a 2-plug scsi cable right now], the diagnostics do not
report the presence of anything except the hard disk.

However, with the tape cartridge inserted in the drive, I get expected
BOT seeking from the drive upon power-up, so the drive isn't completely
dead.

I also get BOT seeking about the time that the Adaptec controller is looking
for SCSI targets.

Obviously, the tape drive is powered on.

I have tried several target id's [but not in all combinations with 
T, M, and PAR -- the Adaptec should report SOME id to me].

I have checked that there is not a terminator in the hard drive and that there
is a terminator on the tape drive.

The cable is known good, since the CD-ROM works.

I have tried all possible combinations of jumpers on the tape drive --
I have no documentation, but the jumpers are marked "T", "M", and "PAR" --
I assume "PAR" refers to parity, but have no clue as to what "T" and "M"
mean. I have tried turning off parity on the Adaptec.

I have checked the Adaptec, and synchronous negotiation is turned OFF.

I have used the onboard DMA check of the Adaptec --> OK.

But I can't get the tape drive to respond.

SO -- does anyone have a Sankyo CP-150SE working with an Adaptec AHA-1542?

Can anyone recommend a relatively inexpensive tape drive that DOES work
with an AHA-1542 and gtak gnu tar under OS/2? [Note that my current problems
do not seem to be OS/2 related -- I can't get the Adaptec to recognize
the take drive -- so it isn't a software compatibility problem.]

I was considering a WangDAT drive if I can't get this drive working, but
heard on the net somewhere that DAT's could only be recycled a few times
before they become unusable due to the tape stretching. Is this true?

All help and advice appreciated.

orville

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Orville R. Weyrich, Jr.                           Weyrich Computer Consulting
Certified Data Processor                         POB 5782, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
Certified Systems Professional                        Voice: (602) 391-0821
Internet: orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net                Fax:   (602) 661-0660
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