SCSI hard drive problems in 1988 laptop \ VOGONS

SCSI hard drive problems in 1988 laptop

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First post, by Bernkastel7734

Posted on 2022-12-12, 14:55

Bernkastel7734 Offline

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Hello,
I've got 1988 laptop STM5500.
There seems to be no info or manuals online.
It comes with 40MB SCSI drive that in my case is Miniscribe 8051s HDD. When I first powered it on it had no problems detecting the drive and booting out of it.
I have changed capacitors on it's gas plasma display logic board and changed BIOS backup battery.
And it stopped detecting the drive.
Have tested the HDD with the same cable on my other PC with Adaptec SCSI controller and they worked flawlessly.
The laptop uses NCR 5380.
Now it just hangs on the HDD detecti0n screen.
I have discovered that there is a SCSI BIOS setup, but I can access it only without the HDD connected.
Have no idea what's going on...
Any ideas?

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Reply 1 of 8, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2022-12-12, 15:37

Doornkaat Offline

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Can you set it up manually without the disk connected, save settings, reboot, turn off the computer and connect the disk again?

Reply 2 of 8, by Bernkastel7734

Posted on 2022-12-12, 15:40

Bernkastel7734 Offline

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I have tried that but it says ' SCSI read error' and doesn't remember any parameters.

Reply 3 of 8, by weedeewee

Posted on 2022-12-12, 15:57

weedeewee Offline

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likely dead scsi disk.

if it's a 2"5 drive, you might be able to swap it for a scsi2sd powerbook edition. (if you can find one in stock... 😒 )

Oops, read over that one little line that said the drive is working fine.

Last edited by weedeewee on 2022-12-12, 16:24. Edited 1 time in total.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 4 of 8, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2022-12-12, 16:04

Doornkaat Offline

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Bernkastel7734 wrote on 2022-12-12, 15:40:

I have tried that but it says ' SCSI read error' and doesn't remember any parameters.

Are other BIOS settings saved? Maybe something went wrong when changing the BIOS battery.

Reply 5 of 8, by Bernkastel7734

Posted on 2022-12-12, 16:25

Bernkastel7734 Offline

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They are saved. I have tried to reset them and see if anything is gonna change but the laptop kept it's settings for over 10h without a battery and being unplugged from the wall.
I wonder, when I got it in the battery holder that looked like someone added it later was two coincell batteries and I have used one. Maybe that's the case.

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Reply 6 of 8, by Bernkastel7734

Posted on 2022-12-12, 16:27

Bernkastel7734 Offline

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weedeewee wrote on 2022-12-12, 15:57:

Oops, read over that one little line that said the drive is working fine.

It's 3,5 HDD and it is working fine, was able to read data out of it, format it, and it is detected by windows.

Reply 7 of 8, by weedeewee

Posted on 2022-12-12, 16:39

weedeewee Offline

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termination issue ?

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 8 of 8, by Bernkastel7734

Posted on 2022-12-12, 16:45

Bernkastel7734 Offline

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Maybe.
Frankly speaking I have no idea if the HDD is terminated. There is no socket for terminator resistor pack under the drive, or there is no jumper labeled ' termination'. But since it is working with other controller and was working with this one I guess it is.

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