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IBM Powerstation 220

Thatsmanjear said:
So I think I have two separate issues:

1) Why is it that if I attached ANY SCSI device to the internal bus I get the POST error? (again, tried all sorts of termination combinations on the drive and on the external connector)
Click to expand...
SOLVED. My SCSI cable was "keyed" backwards. I saw in a different thread on a different topic that the person flipped the cable around (after filing off the little tab to prevent plugging it in backwards) and their SCSI issue was solved. I tried it, bingo, now the RS/6000 recognizes the hard drive when connected to the internal SCSI bus connector.

Doesn't fix my other issue of not being able to boot from the CD-ROM drive though...but baby steps!
 
Hi, just wondering what version of AIX you're trying? - Very early versions don't support non-IBM drives or the 220
 
Radix said:
Hi, just wondering what version of AIX you're trying? - Very early versions don't support non-IBM drives or the 220
Click to expand...
Once I get the CD-ROM boot figured out I'm going to use AIX 3.2.5. The 220 requires 3.2.1 minimum. I also have 4.1.5 as another option. I had an internship when I was in college back in the early 90's where I did programming for an X Windows traffic monitoring system on RS/6000s. I'm recreating that happy time of my life :)
 
@drg, what model Plextor CD-ROM did you use when you got it to successfully boot? I have now tested with a Sony CD-ROM and it still won't boot. The ROM diag can "see" the CD-ROM and it reports the SCSI ID properly (ID 6), but it just won't boot from the dang thing...frustrating.
 
Thatsmanjear said:
@drg, what model Plextor CD-ROM did you use when you got it to successfully boot? I have now tested with a Sony CD-ROM and it still won't boot. The ROM diag can "see" the CD-ROM and it reports the SCSI ID properly (ID 6), but it just won't boot from the dang thing...frustrating.
Click to expand...
Have you got it in "Service" mode to try booting from CD-ROM?
 
Radix said:
Have you got it in "Service" mode to try booting from CD-ROM?
Click to expand...
Yes, in Service mode. Found one document from IBM that says boot in Secure mode, then when LED reads 200 switch key to Service mode and press Reset within 5 seconds, then select Boot from menu. Did that, didn't work. Found another document that says Secure->200->Service->Double tap Reset, did that, didn't work. Tried just starting from power on in Service, nope. Tried Normal, nope.

When it tries to boot it briefly hits the floppy, then I see the hard drive light blink briefly, then the CD-ROM light blink briefly, then it tries BOOTP over ethernet. And ROM diag can see the CD-ROM, so I'm now leaning towards possibly my recordable CD not being a proper. @drg got it working using the same image from the fsck website, so I think I'm using a valid image. I use my same ImgBurn Windows app that I've used for years to burn CDs without problems (VMS, Irix, HP-UX, SunOS/Solaris, etc).

I rarely get this stumped :(
 
I don't recall the pressing reset within 5 seconds part at all - starting in "secure" just gives you time to make the boot devices ready, so if they are loaded and good to go, you should be able to turn it on in service and wait... They take a LONG time to boot and the display gives good progress info... What number or code does it eventually stop on (after a few minutes)??
 
Yeah, the Secure->200->Service->Reset is in the AIX 3.2.5 installation guide. One revision of the installation guide says "Reset within 5 secs", another revision says "double tap Reset", regardless, it doesn't change the behavior.

When I power up in Service mode:

...
253 (Service mode IPL from SCSI)
256 (Service mode reset from Ethernet)
260 (Information is displayed on the device console)...which is where it stops until I choose an option

The LED codes correspond to what I'm seeing/hearing from the machine as well. Before the 253 it blips the floppy drive, then during the 256 I see the hard drive blip, then the CD-ROM blip, then when it displays 256 it is attempting to get something from the BOOTP server over ethernet, then stops at 260 when the ROM menu appears:

MAIN MENU

1. Select BOOT (Startup) Device
2. Select Language for these Menus
3. Send Test Transmission (PING)
4. Show Hardware Configuration
5. Perform Built-In Diagnostics
6. Exit Main Menu and Start System (BOOT)

For what it's worth, if I choose 4. Show Hardware Configuration, I get the following:

CURRENT HARDWARE CONFIGURATION

VITAL PRODUCT DATA for Planar (Main Circuit Board)
Planar Part Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 051G8326
EC(Engineering change) Level . . . . . . . . . . . 00D18234
Processor Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00008691
ROS Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VER1.1 LVL0.06
Ethernet Hardware Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08005A4D21F8

STANDARD FEATURES
Security Locks for SCSI Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . OFF
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 MB
I/O Ports: Keyboard/Speaker, Mouse, Tablet, Serial (2)
Parallel, SCSI, Ethernet, Diskette Controller

PAGE 1 of 4

CURRENT HARDWARE CONFIGURATION

MEMORY
Total memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 MB
Memory Locations:
SIMM Slot A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 MB
SIMM Slot B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 MB
SIMM Slot C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 MB
SIMM Slot D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 MB
SIMM Slot E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 MB
SIMM Slot F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 MB
SIMM Slot G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 MB
SIMM Slot H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 MB

PAGE 2 of 4

CURRENT HARDWARE CONFIGURATION

VIDEO ADAPTER . . . . . . . . . . Gt1

MICROCHANNEL SLOT #1 CONTENTS:
Adapter Type . . . . . . . . . . UNKNOWN
Adapter Information . . . . . . . FFE1

MICROCHANNEL SLOT #2 CONTENTS:
Adapter Type . . . . . . . . . . NONE
Adapter Information . . . . . . . FFFF

PAGE 3 of 4

CURRENT HARDWARE CONFIGURATION

OPTIONAL FEATURES
SCSI DEVICES DETECTED
LOCATION TYPE OF DEVICE
00-00-00-00 Unknown SCSI disk
00-00-00-60 Unknown SCSI CD-ROM






PAGE 4 of 4
 
Hi, What is the board in MCA Slot 1 showing as "Unknown"? - Does it have a little sticker on the back plate?

What options do you get on the "Select Boot device" menu?
 
Radix said:
Hi, What is the board in MCA Slot 1 showing as "Unknown"? - Does it have a little sticker on the back plate?
Click to expand...
The slot 1 board is a 128 Port Async Adapter Type 3-7 (43G0924). If I remove the board it doesn't change the boot behavior.

Radix said:
What options do you get on the "Select Boot device" menu?
Click to expand...

SELECT BOOT (STARTUP) DEVICE

Select the device to BOOT (Startup) this machine.


WARNING: If you are using Token-Ring, selection of an
incorrect data rate can result in total disruption of the
Token-Ring network.

"==>" Shows the selected BOOT (startup) device

==> 1. Use Default Boot (Startup) Device
2. Ethernet: thick cable
3. Ethernet: thin cable (with transceiver)
4. Ethernet: twisted pair cable (with transceiver)
99. Return to Main Menu





Type the number for your selection, then press "ENTER"
(Use the "Backspace" key to correct errors)
 
Solved. Tried yet another CD-ROM drive and it was able to boot.

So to recap:

DEC RRD43, which I believe is a rebranded Toshiba XM-4101B - NO BOOT
SONY CDU76S - NO BOOT
Plextor PLEXwriter 8/20 - BOOT!!!!

Currently installing...
 
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