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Conference smurf::dec_mls_plus

Title:	dec_mls_plus

Moderator:	SMURF::BAT

Created:	Mon Nov 29 1993
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	534
Total number of notes:	2544

486.0. "rx23 are NOT CONNECTED" by RHETT::AMAN () Wed Apr 23 1997 18:33

    My customer has 2 3000/300's running V3.1A.  They both have RX23 floppy
    drives.  Both of the drives say "NOT CONNECTED" during boot.  When
    trying to access the drive through their application it fails.
    
    I'm now having her try the following -
    # scu -f /dev/rrz5c                                                        
    scu> format density HD                                                      
    scu> quit                                                                   
    # newfs -LS syslo /dev/rrx5c rx23                                           
    # mount /dev/rz5c /mnt                                                      
    # cp (files) /mnt                                                           
    
    I told her if this works, the drive must be ok.  But if it fails any of
    these, it must indicate a hw issue.
    
    The "file" command comes back correctly indentifying it as an RX23. 
    She has tried rebuilding the kernel from genvmunix - no difference.
    We've remade the device files.
    
    I looked in (Digital UNIX) sources, and it appears "NOT CONNECTED" is a
    hw state passed back as the result of a query.  One place I read that
    most floppies are dumb and may not be able to answer all queries. 
    
    Does this sound like a hw issue?  It does seem strange that both
    systems would have the same hw problem....   Bus termination or cable
    issue??  Any input or other tests you can think of?
    
    Thanks,
    janet
    csc/cs

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
486.1	I have no proof either way	SMURF::BAT	Segui la tua beatitudine	`Fri Apr 25 1997 00:24`	26
	Hi Janet, Sorry I didn't get back to you faster. Your suggestions seem fine. I just checked the OSF V3.2B SPD and it lists support for the RX23 and RX26. My great white HW hope didn't know either. So I found a 3000-300 running MLS+ V4.0A that has an RX26 floppy drive on it. Excerpt from uerf -R is: rz5 at scsi0 target 5 lun 0 (LID=4) _(DEC RX26 (C) DEC 0070) File on the "c" partition revealed: # file rrz5c rrz5c: character special (8/5122) SCSI #0 RX26 disk #40 (SCSI ID #5) (SCSI LUN #0) write-locked 3.5" 1.44MB HD But I don't have a blank floppy to try it out on. Plus I don't have a system with a floppy running V3.1A of MLS+, so I have no proof that we have no problem with floppies in V3.1A, just circumstantial evidence. Tommorrow I'll try and find a blank floppy, and a system with V3.1A on it.
486.2	This may work.	NNTPD::"may@kamlia.zk3.dec.com"	Mark May	`Fri Apr 25 1997 15:28`	16
	Janet, Give these a shot. The following steps allow you to use a floppy drive in non-DOS mode, like a regular disk. They only work if the following files exist in the /dev directory fd0a and fd0c Note: You should be able to substitute RX23 with RX26 for 2.88Meg capacity drives Mark M 1) disklabel -wr fd0 RX23 2) newfs -LS U /dev/fd0c 3) mount /dev/fd0c /mnt [Posted by WWW Notes gateway]
486.3	answer - swap the drive!	RHETT::AMAN		`Wed Apr 30 1997 19:57`	10
	Well, the customer had decided to swap out the drives for 2 reasons - 1. From the console prompt, 'sh dev' never shows the device. 2. Once it was booted, uerf and 'file' saw it as an RX23, when it was really an RX26. And it always said 'NOT CONNECTED'. This was happening on 2 systems.... Thanks for everyone's input! janet
486.4	they work here, but who knows what we have	SMURF::BAT	Segui la tua beatitudine	`Wed Apr 30 1997 22:06`	4
	Well, that's fine with me, but... do you happen to know if these were DEC drives, or some third party? And do/did they ever work on some other system (a different Alpha box)? If yes, then I would have called Field Service.