Re: What do you think, will connecting a ST-225 work (part 2)


"Jaimie Vandenbergh" <jaimie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:kgbgf55vvt2934vt6i7hqfua9vhv8tv8cl@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 9 Nov 2009 14:01:22 -0000, "Rich" <notty@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I don't report everything I do here. Gosh.

It makes troubleshooting a truckload easier if you give more clues,
though!

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in
your mouth. Particularly if the thing is cats."
- Lemony Snicket, "The Wide Window"


Okay, the card seems to be configurable for DMA3 and PIO.

First thing to do is to low-level format the drive with the
controller card. Now, there are no system BIOS settings needed to
enable this, the card itself simply accesses the HDD and formats it on:
DEBUG -G=C800:5. But, that is not getting the operating system
to communicate with the card/HDD. I format "Standard HD" that is a
615 cyl; 4 hds HDD. Interleave 3. That should be perfectly satisfactory
for my ST-225. I set the drive-type switches on the card to #3 which,
according to the cards drive-type table for SUPER BIOS is:cyl 615;hds 4;
WP 450;RWC 450. I think this is okay. In this scenario there is no
selecting of CHS or drive-type in system BIOS. Any BIOS settings is
done by jumpers on the disk controller card.

(One thing I do not understand. Per the handbook ST-225 figures are:
cyl 615;hds 4;WP 300; SPT 17. Choosing #3 on card is installing a drive
with slightly different values viz: cyl 615;hds 4;WP 450 ;RWC 450.
Probably makes no difference).

Anyway, I'm not dynamically formatting the drive as per the following
chart. I'm just letting the contoller do it using the default settings
in SUPER BIOS for a standard 10/20 Mb HDD. Maybe I should be dynamically
formatting - I don't know. I can change the interleave with the default
format or dynamic formatting. I suppose I could have a problem with
my formatting and not know it.

DYNAMIC FORMATTING CHART

ccc h rrr ppp ee o -where:

ccc = total number of cylinders (1-4 digits)

h = number of heads (1-2 digits)

rrr = starting reduced write current cylinder (1-4 digits)

ppp = write precomp cylinder (1-4 digits)

ee = max correctable error burst length (1-2 digits) range
= 5 to 11 bits, default = 11 bits

o = CBB option byte, step rate select (1 hex digit) range
= 0 to 7, default = 5 refer to controller and drive
specification for step rates.


DMA MODE

The card worked in an 8 bit ISA card. Under XT, data tranfers were made
via DMA3. Used IRQ5.

I have a 16 bit ISA card because I have an AT motherboard. DMA chip 1 is
DMA0-DMA3. DMA chip 2 is DMA4-DMA7. DMA1-DMA3 are for 8 bit transfers,
DMA5-DMA7 for 16 bit. I believe I must set DMA3 in my BIOS to ISA/EISA,
and IRQ5 to ISA/EISA for the card occupying the 8 bit section of the ISA
slot.

On the card itself I should select "XT mode enabled" which allows (one
thinks) the card to use DMA3.

I must disable IDE in BIOS, otherwise I think there will be a conflict
(Disable *certainly* I think in MAIN. See below.)

It could be wise to disable in BIOS any device using IRQ5 at this stage.

Now, I should run FDISK to lay standard MBR to the drive, then hi-level
format so that the OS can deal with the HDD. But FDISK reports: "Error
reading fixed drive", right after the LED on the HDD blinks.

Now in this situation, telling the PC about CHS or drive-type, is a
matter of setting jumpers on the card. There is no going into system
BIOS and choosing a HD type. Indeed IDE0-IDE3 are set "Not Installed". I
think this clears the relevant spots in the CMOS. Indeed, also Onboard
IDE I've disabled in BIOS PERIPHERAL SETUP.

BIOS BTW is AMI BIOS 1998.

Here are selected BIOS settings:

MAIN

Primary IDE Master: Not Installed
Primary IDE Slave: Not Installed
Secondary IDE Master: Not Installed
Secondary IDE Slave: Not Installed

(Of course Floppy installed)

ADVANCED CMOS SETUP

Display Mode At Add On ROM Init: Force BIOS
SMART For Hard Drives: Disabled
Event Logger: Enabled
Try Other Boot Devices: Yes

PCI PLUG & PLAY SETUP

Allocate IRQ To PCI VGA: No
DMA Channel 3: ISA/EISA
IRQ5: ISA/EISA

PERIPHERAL SETUP

Onboard FDC: Auto
Onboard Serial Port A: Disabled
Serial Port A: IRQ4 (Greyed)
Onboard Serial PortB: Disabled
Serial PortB: IRQ3 (Greyed)
IR i/o Pin Locatioin Select: IRRX/IRTX
Serial PortB Mode: IrDA
IR Duplex Mode@ N/A (Greyed)
IrDA Protocol: N/A (Greyed)
Onboard Parallel Port: Disabled
Parallel Port Mode: N/A (Greyed)
EPP Version: N/A (Greyed)
Parallel Port IRQ: N/A (Greyed)
Parallel Port DMA Channel: N/A (Greyed) NB: Usually Channel 3 on my PC.
Onboard IDE: Disabled
Hard Disk Delay Time: Disabled

So, that's it for DMA mode.

PIO MODE

In theory the card works in AT Mode. That means setting the jumper to AT
Mode Enabled, so tranfers are by Programmed Input / Output. Here the CPU
does the work of transfer rather than the DMA controllers. You do this
because with an AT machine, data tranfers will be quicker than DMA.

But, if you chose AT mode Enable, does that mean you have to set CHS or
drive-type in system BIOS? When a drive-type is selected in IDE Device
Confuration you see the following options:

LBA Mode: On or Off
Block Transfers: On or Off
Fast Programme i/o Mode: Auto or 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
32 Bit Transfer Mode: On or Off.

I note that:

User: MODEM 7

"I have a WD1002A-WX1 (dated 1987) with Super BIOS chip.

I placed the WD1002A-WX1 and an ST-225 in an XT clone (running at 4.77
MHz). Ensured that WD1002A-WX1 jumpered for XT mode. As expected, I had to
low-level format the ST-225 (because it had the format of a different
controller on it), which I did using the standard 'G=C800:5' method (and
then choosing Y at the dynamic configure question). Followed that with
FDISK/FORMAT to find that the ST-225 booted nicely.

I then grabbed one of my AT clones, a 486DX-66 machine (dated 1993). I
removed the existing HDD controller. I entered the CMOS SETUP of the machine
and configured 'no drives installed'. I then jumpered the WD1002A-WX1 for AT
mode then inserted it and the ST-225 into the machine. Machine successfully
booted from the ST-225.

I could try the same operation with one of my early Pentium machines.
The only difference would be that because the HDD controller is built into
the motherboard, I'd have to enter CMOS SETUP and disable the 'onboard IDE'
functionality there. I have no doubt that that would work."

User: DRUID6900

"It does. I took up where you left off with a WX1 card and 225 in a P1 233MX
MoBo. With the on-board HD channels disabled and no entries in the CMOS
drive table, the drive fdisked, partitioned, formatted, took DOS 5 and
booted."

Here with DRUID6900, AT Mode Enabled is selected, but there is no setting
of CHS or drive-type in BIOS - I don't think.

Although sometimes I think I've seen folks mention select Type 2 for the
drive in BIOS. I don't know if this spurious or not. I'm confused about
what to do with system BIOS when AT Mode (PIO Mode)is selected.

What gets me is, does disabling both IDE in BIOS PERIPHERAL SETTINGS make
HD settings in MAIN (say: Primary IDE Master: Type 2)irrelevant or not.
I'm not entirely sure. I think BIOS never-the-less tries to install Type
2 HDD when there is a HDD type there.

Anyway, I guess if AT Mode is selected, one must reset DMA3 to PnP. I
guess, to prevent a possible conflict with PIO mode of tranfer. But,
keep IRQ5set to ISA/EISA, not PnP (Pnp: I think effectively PCI).

I should cut to the chase and try to get a HD diagnose program,
so what that says about the HD. Probably will access the HDD if the
drive is basically OK.

Thanks for everyone that made input. I think I've gone as far as I can with
this 8 bit card short of running a HD diagnose test.

Of course, there could be errors I'm making, particularly in my settings
selections, but I've tried several.

http://artofhacking.com/th99/h/txt/4017.txt
http://www.dcllabs.net/docs/1002awx1.txt
http://artofhacking.com/th99/c/U-Z/20217.htm
http://wiki.osdev.org/DMA
http://www.alasir.com/books/hards/080-082.html
http://artofhacking.com/th99/m/M-O/35986.htm

.

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