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Adaptec 1542CF…. big problem

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First post, by AlessandroB

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My last controller is just arrived but i have encountered a problem… please check the pics.

Reply 2 of 54, by ElectroSoldier

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What card is it in reality?

Reply 4 of 54, by weedeewee

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The bios doesn't get installed because there is no device on the scsi bus that requires bios services to be installed.

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Reply 5 of 54, by ElectroSoldier

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Is there a device on the SCSI bus?

I mean I know there isnt because it would come up but is there something attached?

Reply 7 of 54, by AlessandroB

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ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-12-27, 20:30:

Is there a device on the SCSI bus?

I mean I know there isnt because it would come up but is there something attached?

scsi 50pin to 68pin adapter -> scsi cable (i think lvd) -> hard disk 15k -> at the end of the cable there is a terminator.

Reply 8 of 54, by weedeewee

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AlessandroB wrote on 2023-12-27, 20:33:
weedeewee wrote on 2023-12-27, 19:14:

no drive attached ?

tries without, whit a hard disk drive 68pin and with a cd-rom scsi 50pin

Sorry, I was looking at the 'bios not installed' message and overlooked the line above it.
and sorry again, but no clue other than, wrong bios ? weird.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
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Reply 9 of 54, by AlessandroB

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weedeewee wrote on 2023-12-27, 20:28:

The bios doesn't get installed because there is no device on the scsi bus that requires bios services to be installed.

possible incompatibility with cable-adapter-terminator? But the message say something like “your card have installed a wrong bios”

Reply 10 of 54, by weedeewee

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AlessandroB wrote on 2023-12-27, 20:37:
weedeewee wrote on 2023-12-27, 20:28:

The bios doesn't get installed because there is no device on the scsi bus that requires bios services to be installed.

possible incompatibility with cable-adapter-terminator? But the message say something like “your card have installed a wrong bios”

try changing the dipswitch 5 to en/disable the floppy controller ?

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 11 of 54, by AlessandroB

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weedeewee wrote on 2023-12-27, 20:41:
AlessandroB wrote on 2023-12-27, 20:37:
weedeewee wrote on 2023-12-27, 20:28:

The bios doesn't get installed because there is no device on the scsi bus that requires bios services to be installed.

possible incompatibility with cable-adapter-terminator? But the message say something like “your card have installed a wrong bios”

try changing the dipswitch 5 to en/disable the floppy controller ?

no is disable, i will try tomorrow. can be a resource conflict that make the problem? is set switch default.

Reply 13 of 54, by ElectroSoldier

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I would say looking at the message that somebody has installed the wrong BIOS to the card.
However having just checked the BIOS for the AHA-1540C and the AHA-1540CF and AHA-1542CF and AHA-1542C is the same BIOS...

Im not sure...
Maybe make sure your system BIOS is setup correctly ie it is allowing interrupts to the card etc...
If that is all ok then maybe flash the card to the latest BIOS. But before you do make triple sure the system BIOS is set up properly. Its amazing the amount of times it isnt and your system will run anyway.

Reply 14 of 54, by rasz_pl

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possibly wrong firmware, tells you straight "1542C and 1542CF arent interchangeable". example problems with 1542B Re: Showing some love for Adaptec's ugly ducklings: Adding big drive support to EISA and VL controllers

Last edited by rasz_pl on 2023-12-27, 21:11. Edited 1 time in total.

https://github.com/raszpl/sigrok-disk FM/MFM/RLL decoder
https://github.com/raszpl/FIC-486-GAC-2-Cache-Module (AT&T Globalyst)
https://github.com/raszpl/386RC-16 ram board
https://github.com/raszpl/440BX Reference Design adapted to Kicad

Reply 16 of 54, by rasz_pl

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I edited my message. When firmware straight up says "1542CF not intended for 1542C" I would believe it.

https://github.com/raszpl/sigrok-disk FM/MFM/RLL decoder
https://github.com/raszpl/FIC-486-GAC-2-Cache-Module (AT&T Globalyst)
https://github.com/raszpl/386RC-16 ram board
https://github.com/raszpl/440BX Reference Design adapted to Kicad

Reply 17 of 54, by ElectroSoldier

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rasz_pl wrote on 2023-12-27, 21:12:

I edited my message. When firmware straight up says "1542CF not intended for 1542C" I would believe it.

Oh I agree with you. I have come across this problem before, but the card is a 1542CF, but the firmware message stats that its a 1542C...
Thats why my first question is what card it actually is.

Dont forget this chap is trying to run an large hard disk on it...

I would try removing the hard disk from the SCSI chain. Just stick a CDROM drive on it and see what happens. because it might not be the wrong BIOS at all. And updating the BIOS to the BIOS Adaptec say it should be running shouldnt cause any problems.

Reply 18 of 54, by weedeewee

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FYI Re: Adaptec 1542CF…. big problem

edit, maybe the little eeprom is slightly corrupted, making the bios think the card is a 1542C.

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