Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 18:54:52 +0200 (MET DST) From: Stefan Esser <se@zpr.uni-koeln.de> To: Robert Eckardt <roberte@beta.mep.ruhr-uni-bochum.de> Cc: hardware@freebsd.org Subject: Re: 2.1.5 install on ASUS+Pent.+SC200+hp3725S Message-ID: <199607311654.SAA01750@x14.mi.uni-koeln.de> In-Reply-To: <199607302145.XAA06297@beta.mep.ruhr-uni-bochum.de> References: <199607302145.XAA06297@beta.mep.ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
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Robert Eckardt writes: > Hi, > > a few days ago I asked about the same problem already on -questions. > Maybe -hardware is more appropriate for this. Well, I guess it is, and if only for the reason that I can't afford to subscribe to the -questions list but may know the answer ... > Meanwhile, I did some experimenting, but with no luck. > > ? The install program does not recognize the hp hard disk, > ? although it is probed initially correct. > ? (Under DOS one can (of course :-) boot from the HD without problems.) Those HP drives caused some trouble in the past. They have been reported to fail under a number of different operating systems, if tagged commands are used. > To install 2.1.5, I'm using an > ASUS-P55TP4XEG board > with 2 SC200 controllers and > an S3-PCI-VGA-card (VC-962) > 7 TEAC CD-56S, > 2 SMC8016 combos (IRQs 10 and 11), > 1 hp 35480A DAT, and > 1 hp C3725S (50 MB DOS partition). > > In the BIOS the IDEs are disabled and the IRQs > for the PCI slots were initially set: > Slot 1 (Right) IRQ 15 <-- ncr1 > Slot 2 14 <-- ncr0 > Slot 3 Auto <-- vga0 > Slot 4 (Left) Auto > > I also changed the IRQs for #1 and #2 to 15, 14 and to 'Auto'. > Moreover, I tried swapping the SCSI cables. > > On probing the devices, the kernel emits > pci0:10 IRQ 15 for vga0 > pci0:11 IRQ 9 for ncr0 (hp C3725S = 0, TEAC CD = 2 & 3, hp 35480A = 6) > pci0:12 IRQ 12 for ncr1 (TEAC CD = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) This indicates that everything has been setup correctly. > When the install menu appears the debug screen VTY2 shows: > > sd0(ncr0:0:0): ABORTED COMMAND asc:4e,0 Overlapped commands attempted, retries: 4 Well, and that is just the message that has been reported to be caused by tagged commands on this particular drive. And for that reason, I suggested a "FAILSAFE" option to be defined in the install kernels. If FAILSAFE is defined, than the NCR driver does not use tagged command queues, and it should be able to deal with those HP drives. > I reduced the configuration step by step by removing > o the second SC200 interface (ncr1 with 5 CDs) > o the two CDs on the first SCSI interface > o the streamer > > But the messages shown above remained even in the minimal configuration > with only the hp 3725S connected to one SC200. > I even tried the 2.1R install disk without success. > (No errors with streamer and without HD -- but how to partition a tape ? :-) > > Let me note that I'm using at home a hp3725S on an AHA1542B without problems. Well, and that might be the way you get your system installed: 1) Install FreeBSD-2.1.5R using the HP drive 2) Build a kernel with FAILSAFE defined 3) Move the HP drive over to the NCR and boot the kernel built in step 2) I did not check that the 2.1.5R boot floopy has actually been built with FAILSAFE defined. I'll check that the NCR driver in 2.1.5 and the kernel config file agree on the use of FAILSAFE. Please let me know, if you try the 1542 install and can't get a kernel compiled with FAILSAFE to work with the NCR+HP combination. > I read in the archives that this error message has something to do with > tagged commands, but what can I do ? > I also followed the -questions and found that others also have trouble > with hp disks connected to NCR controllers. Yes. This had been reported a few months ago for the first time. The drives seem to work reliably if tags are disabled. But since all other drives work just fine with tags, I did not want to have tags OFF by default. That's why FAILSAFE was added: It selects more safe defaults for the install kernel and should have prevented the problem you see ... > I hope you can help me by providing some steps to make the disk run > or state (with some reasoning) that I should drop this disk and make > the dealer change it. (to what type ?) If you want to return it, then get an IBM DORS-2160 in exchange. This appears to be a good drive of the same performance class at a reasonable price. But you will be able to use your HP 3725, though only with tags disabled ... Please let me know whether you get your system going. I can provide you with more detailed instructions, if required (if necessary by phone :). Regards, STefan
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