From owner-freebsd-scsi Thu Nov 30 17:19:25 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org Received: from hokkshideh.jetcafe.org (hokkshideh.jetcafe.org [205.147.43.4]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ECDCD37B401 for ; Thu, 30 Nov 2000 17:19:21 -0800 (PST) Received: from hokkshideh.jetcafe.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by hokkshideh.jetcafe.org (8.8.8/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA18534; Thu, 30 Nov 2000 17:18:55 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <200012010118.RAA18534@hokkshideh.jetcafe.org> X-Mailer: exmh version 2.2 06/23/2000 with version: MH 6.8.4 #1[UCI] To: "Justin T. Gibbs" Cc: freebsd-scsi@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Adaptec 29160 and 4.1/4.1.1 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 17:18:50 -0800 From: Dave Hayes Sender: owner-freebsd-scsi@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Justin T Gibbs wrote a while back: > It really sounds like there is some kind of BIOS incompatibility with > that card, your motherboard, and FreeBSD. As soon as I get back > to work, I'll forward your problem to Adaptec's functional test > lab and see if we can find out what is going wrong. It's been a while, and I have more data, but no solution to my original problem (included below my .signature). So, I went on this presumption. I've tested three motherboards, with different BIOS, from different manufacturers. Asus P3V4X (Via Apollo chipset) FIC FB11 (BX440 chipset) Spacewalker AV61 (Via Apollo chipset) All three show the same problems with an Adaptec 29160, namely hanging right at bootmgr. I installed each time from a 4.1 CDROM, using just the minimal installation. It appeared to install cleanly each time. Each time I reinstalled, it was interesting to note that the "set bootable" flag in the partition editor was never actually set, but all the rest of the partition information was found just fine. I am using Adaptec BIOS version 2.57.2. There is no upgrade to that BIOS listed on the adaptec website. The card was taken from a running system and put back into a running system, so the card works. These motherboards booted cleanly with an adaptec 2940UW, so the motherboards are not the issue. At the moment, there are resources in place that could be of assistance in debugging this problem. Unfortunately I have no clue how to begin, since I know very little of low-level details and drivers. Is it possible you have found a fix yet, or know of a fix, or understand what is going on better than I do so that you can suggest a fix? Since adaptec is discontinuing 2940s, I feel it imperative to get this working or at least find out why it does not work. I am even quite willing to entertain that this may be user error, even though I have been installing FreeBSD since the 2.0 days, am fairly familiar with the install process, and can easily claim over 100 boxes out there which have been installed by my hand. Thanks in advance for any assistance. ------ Dave Hayes - Consultant - Altadena CA, USA - dave@jetcafe.org >>> The opinions expressed above are entirely my own <<< A wise man listens to the words unsaid. ---Original plea for help follows--- I have spent a fair amount of time trying to use this card. I am still experiencing problems and I thought I would relay my experiences in the possible hope of getting someone more knowledgable than me to tell me how to proceed with this card. The motherboard I used was a ASUS P3V4X (using the VIA APOLLO 133 4X chipset I believe). On the adaptec 29160 was a 9GB 10K IBM LVD drive. I tried to initially boot using 4.1.1 floppies. Everything appeared to install ok, but when I tried to boot off the freshly installed disk it came back with: F1 FreeBSD Default: F1 and then proceeded to beep everytime I hit (or if it times out to boot anyway). I rebooted using floppy and checked the FDISK screen. The slice was tagged as bootable even though I had tagged it this way earlier upon initial install. I retagged it as bootable and attempted to reboot. Same result as above. Next, I tried the install process from the 4.1 CD. Same result as above. I popped in a trusty old adaptec 2940UW, and retried the install. This time it worked flawlessly. So, armed with a bootable SCSI disk, I then placed the drive on a 29160 and tried to boot it. This did not work, same symptoms as before. I scanned the archives for some time reading up on what others had experienced. I tried: -Every sensical combination of configuration options on the card -Turning off the BIOS of the 29160 -Using the slower SCSI bus -Slowing down the disk transfer rate. None of these worked. Does anyone here recognize any of these symptoms and know of a fix or something else to try? I really hate being told "29160s are the best you can get and they don't make 2940s anymore" and then not being able to get it to work with my favorite OS. Thanks in advance for any assistance. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-scsi" in the body of the message