[lug] AHA3940UW RH & tape drive

[David A Merritt]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but for Adaptec SCSI
controllers, the bios is not loaded unless there is a bootable
device on the chain, but it (the bios code) isn't needed in order to
use tape drives on the chain, so that isn't the problem here.

Sorry I can't speculate what the problem is, but I have a similar
setup (with 2940) and a DAT but no bootable devices (thus bios code
not loaded) and it works fine.  Didn't do anything special either.

-dam

On Fri, 16 Feb 2001, D. Stimits wrote:

> Anders Knudsen wrote:
> >
> > Having trouble with RH7 seeing this tape drive.
> > I installed an adaptec 3940 controller (it was lying around) and attached an
> > exabyte scsi 8mm tape drive to it. Want to use this for back up. This is the
> > only thing connected to the adapter card. When I boot, the adapter says that
> > the tape drive is on channel B at scsi id 0. Then it says scsi bios not loaded.
> > When the RH7 kernel boots, it says scsi: 0 devices found.
> > I cannot access /dev/st0.
> > Am I missing something?
> > I checked the various HowTos, nothing helped. I even restarted with a tape in
> > the drive. Still nothing.
> > BTW, this drive works fine with Windoze.
> > TIA for any info...
> > -Anders.
>
> I would have to question whether the "scsi bios not loaded" implies the
> bios in the scsi controller is bad or wiped out. Does any other scsi
> device work on the controller as a whole? Does any other scsi device
> work on channel B? The scsi bios is to the controller the similar to the
> kernel to the o/s as a whole. Maybe it is something like a cable problem
> that causes the scsi bios to not load (if you are lucky).
>
> D. Stimits, stimits at idcomm.com
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-- 

Dave Merritt, David.A.Merritt at noaa.gov
Science and Technology Corporation, R/ET-4
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