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MiniScribe 3425 & WD1002A-WX1 Super BIOS Controller - Unable To LLF

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reodraca

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May 4, 2022
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I have a Western Digital WD1002A-WX1 controller with a Super BIOS hooked up to a MiniScribe 3425 in my Compaq Deskpro 8086, and I am unable to get it to work. I don't know if it's the controller, the drive, or my own lack of experience, but no matter how I set the jumpers, I cannot get anything to work. It recognizes the drive, then displays a Code 20 controller failure when I dynamically enter the parameters and hit 'y' to format.

The jumpers are currently set to:
W3 CLOSED (BIOS Enabled)
W4 2 & 3 CLOSED (I/O Port Address 320h, as setting to 324h causes a 1701 error)
W5 permanently jumped to 32/64k due to the Super BIOS apparently being that big
W6 2 & 3 CLOSED for a maximum(?) of 8 heads
W7 permanently jumped to IRQ2 before I purchased the controller
W8 2 & 3 CLOSED because this is the only MFM controller in my computer
S1/Jumpers 5 & 6 unset due to being factory use only
S1/Jumper 7 CLOSED for setting to IRQ 2 to match W7 (not doing so caused a system hang upon floppy boot)
S1/Jumper 8 OPEN for XT-class computer
S1/ Jumpers 1, 2, 3 & 4 OPEN, because it's the only listed setting that matches the 615 Cylinders and 4 Heads of the MiniScribe 3425

The BIOS on the controller is 62-000094-002, which I can confirm is a "Super BIOS," since the debug command G=C800:5 opens the "Super BIOS formatter."

Am I missing something? I don't understand why a "Super BIOS" that can dynamically format a hard drive also has jumper settings to set the cylinders and heads, and not have any apparent way to set the jumpers to ONLY use the BIOS's dynamic parameter settings. Are the set jumpers conflicting with the dynamic parameters I enter? Is there some secret jumper setting to force acceptance of the parameters I enter instead of physically jumping parameters on the controller?

Also, the S1/1,2,3,4 jumpers as set list a Write Precomp and Reduced Write Current of 450 each, which are definitely incorrect. As stated, though, it's the only listed setting that almost matches my drive.

SpeedStor also doesn't help, although that's probably a given: It lists the same Code 20 as the formatter built into the drive, which SpeedStor probably uses. Furthermore, for some bizarre reason, setting the jumpers as I set them causes the drive to display 4096 cylinders. However, I can use SpeedStor to test and park the heads, so clearly the controller is communicating instructions to the drive on some level.

Is it just that this controller is not compatible with the MiniScribe 3425, and I need to find an MFM controller that specifically states that it can control the 3425?

Thank you in advance for anyone who can help.
 
You have raised a few things/questions. I will answer in stages.

reodraca said:
I don't understand why a "Super BIOS" that can dynamically format a hard drive also has jumper settings to set the cylinders and heads, and not have any apparent way to set the jumpers to ONLY use the BIOS's dynamic parameter settings.
Click to expand...
You go down one of two routes:

Manual

Set the drive cylinder/head (geometry) jumpers on the card appropriately for the drive. When you run the Super BIOS low-level format code, answer N to the question that asks if you want to dynamically configure the drive. The Super BIOS then determines the drive's geometry via the geometry jumpers and proceeds to low-level format based on that.

Computer power-on time: The Super BIOS takes a quick look at a particular cylinder on the drive, sees that it did not dynamically configure the drive, and therefore looks at the geometry jumpers on the card to determine the drive's geometry.

Dynamic

The settings of the geometry jumpers on the card are irrelevant. When you run the Super BIOS low-level format code, answer Y to the question that asks if you want to dynamically configure the drive. The Super BIOS then prompts you to input the drive's geometry. The Super BIOS reserves a cylinder on the drive for itself, writing the geometry information (and probably a special marker as well) to that cylinder. ....

Computer power-on time: The Super BIOS takes a quick look at a particular cylinder on the drive (the one I referred to above), sees from what's there, that it had earlier dynamically configured the drive, and therefore determines the drive's geometry by reading the geometry information stored on that cylinder.

reodraca said:
Is it just that this controller is not compatible with the MiniScribe 3425, and I need to find an MFM controller that specifically states that it can control the 3425?
Click to expand...
The dynamic mode of the Super BIOS is definitely compatible with the 3425.
 
Last edited:
reodraca said:
Also, the S1/1,2,3,4 jumpers as set list a Write Precomp and Reduced Write Current of 450 each, which are definitely incorrect.
Click to expand...
If incorrect, they will not stop the ability to low-level format the drive.

reodraca said:
SpeedStor also doesn't help, although that's probably a given: It lists the same Code 20 as the formatter built into the drive, which SpeedStor probably uses. Furthermore, for some bizarre reason, setting the jumpers as I set them causes the drive to display 4096 cylinders.
Click to expand...
And probably 64 heads as well. You can read about that at [here]. I suggest that for now, do not use SpeedStor. If the card's in-built low-level formatting code can't format the drive, SpeedStor is certainly not going to be able to do that. And I doubt that SpeedStor is not going to know how to dynamically low-level format the drive according to what the Super BIOS expects.
 
reodraca said:
... displays a Code 20 controller failure ...
Click to expand...
Per the list at [here].

I have learned that one must not take the explanation of the code literally. And sometimes, odd things are observed, such as: On a WDXT-GEN controller, asking the WDXT-GEN to reset itself will return an error if a working hard drive is not connected to the WDXT-GEN.

When you go through the process of 'dynamically configuration', what is the string of numbers that you are entering? E.g. For a Control Data 94155-36, I would enter: 697 5 697 697 11 5
 
modem7 said:
How did you use SpeedStor to "test" the heads ?
Click to expand...
"Diagnostics" for a seek test. Passed with flying colors. I'll neglect SpeedStor, though, since as you say, the built-in formatter is all I need and if it fails, so would SpeedStor.
modem7 said:
Per the list at [here].

I have learned that one must not take the explanation of the code literally. And sometimes, odd things are observed, such as: On a WDXT-GEN controller, asking the WDXT-GEN to reset itself will return an error if a working hard drive is not connected to the WDXT-GEN.

When you go through the process of 'dynamically configuration', what is the string of numbers that you are entering? E.g. For a Control Data 94155-36, I would enter: 697 5 697 697 11 5
Click to expand...
615 4 616 128 11 3. I also tried it with 11 5 and 11 7, and without the 2 ending numbers. The first 4 are definitely correct, though, although if there are any other ways to enter the 3425, I am willing to try.

I appreciate your reply, and your help.
 
Last edited:
modem7 said:
As an example of that, in the manual of another Western Digital hard drive controller is:

View attachment 1251574
Click to expand...
I checked the cables and they're the correct way. Red stripes on both cables are toward pin 1, and the tab prevents me from incorrectly installing the drive-end of the cables into the drive.

That unfortunately leaves either bad cables or a bad drive. I need to get more cables to test those, and possibly another MFM hard drive. I really hope it's not the drive.

Also, out of curiosity: The 8-setting DIP switch on the MiniScribe drive is set as drive 0 (SW8 on, SW5,6,7 off), and test switches 2 thru 4 are set to ON to disable factory test mode. Is SW1 supposed to be set to ON or OFF in order for the drive to work? No amount of searching or reading through any manuals or forums tells me anything about it. The drive arrived to me with SW1 set to OFF, but I don't know if that's how it shipped from MiniScribe or if it was toggled by the drive's last owner.
 
reodraca said:
"Diagnostics" for a seek test. Passed with flying colors.
Click to expand...
Clearly, the control cable is correctly connected, and the drive-select jumper on the drive set appropriately. And the drive must be reporting as 'ready'.

Given that the drive has yet to be low-level formatted, I predict that if you disconnect the data cable, that the seek test will still work.
That would prove that, for the WD1002A-WX1, the seek test does not involve the controller reading sectors from the drive.
( In some cases, the seek test does involve reading sectors from the drive. See the 'Possibly Useful Information' section at the bottom of [here]. )

I have a WD1002A-WX1 controller somewhere. I will locate it and see if I can replicate the symptom that you see. For now, verify that you have the data cable hooked up correctly.
 
reodraca said:
615 4 616 128 11 3. I also tried it with 11 5 and 11 7, and without the 2 ending numbers. The first 4 are definitely correct, though, although if there are any other ways to enter the 3425, I am willing to try.
Click to expand...
For experimentation purposes, you can also pretend that the connected drive has fewer cylinders and/or fewer heads, e.g. 100 cylinders and 2 heads.
 
modem7 said:
Clearly, the control cable is correctly connected, and the drive-select jumper on the drive set appropriately. And the drive must be reporting as 'ready'.

Given that the drive has yet to be low-level formatted, I predict that if you disconnect the data cable, that the seek test will still work.
That would prove that, for the WD1002A-WX1, the seek test does not involve the controller reading sectors from the drive.
( In some cases, the seek test does involve reading sectors from the drive. See the 'Possibly Useful Information' section at the bottom of [here]. )

I have a WD1002A-WX1 controller somewhere. I will locate it and see if I can replicate the symptom that you see. For now, verify that you have the data cable hooked up correctly.
Click to expand...
Admittedly, the diagnostics that involved reading and writing failed with a Code 20, so while the control cable works, it's the data that's messing up. I did not consider the possibility that one cable could pass while the other failed, although now it seems rather obvious. Perhaps the data cable is bad, if the drive isn't.
modem7 said:
For experimentation purposes, you can also pretend that the connected drive has fewer cylinders and/or fewer heads, e.g. 100 cylinders and 2 heads.
Click to expand...
I wonder if I type 2 heads instead of 4, it'll simply ignore half the drive (only seeing one 10 MB platter). If the problem resides in bad heads, maybe halving it might help. I'll try that, as well as some other experiments. Thank you for the suggestion. I just hope that it picks the half that doesn't have bad heads if that's an issue.
 
No luck trying different cylinders and heads. Tried a whole range from 1 to 4 and 100 to 615. I might end up getting another drive and data cable and see if I can get that to work. MiniScribe will sadly be put on hold.
 
modem7 said:
I have a WD1002A-WX1 controller somewhere. I will locate it and see if I can replicate the symptom that you see.
Click to expand...
I located my WD1002A-WX1. Like yours, mine has the 62-000094-002 BIOS ROM. The low-level formatting code in that BIOS ROM is the "Super Bios Formatter Rev. 2.4"

I put my WD1002A-WX1 into my IBM 5160.

--------------------------------------------
Experiment #1

No control cable, no data cable.

At power up time, I saw the 62-000094-002 BIOS display a 1701 error. (And it was a long timeout before the 1701 appeared.)

Going through the 62-000094-002 BIOS' low-level format process, I answered the various questions, and then after I saw "Formatting . . .", the following error appeared immediately.

Error---completion code 80

--------------------------------------------
Experiment #2

Control cable connected to drive, but not the data cable.

(It was a drive that had not been earlier formatted using the WD1002A-WX1)

At power up time, no 1701 error appeared. I guess that the 62-000094-002 BIOS was 'happy' just to see a drive reporting as 'ready'. I did see the drive's LED flash momentarily.

Going through the 62-000094-002 BIOS's low-level format process, I answered the various questions, and then I saw "Formatting . . ."

The drive's LED turned on solid, and I could hear, and see via the stepper, the heads moving.

However, the head stepping was not 'normal'. Before moving to the next cylinder, the heads would be returned to cylinder 0 first. Presumably, after trying to format a cylinder, the low-level formatting code was attempting to read back the sectors, was unsuccessful (obviously due to a lack of data cable), and trying a 'recalibrate' operation.

After the last cylinder was done, I was asked if I wanted to format bad tracks, to which I answered in the negative.

Then "Nothing Done Exit" appeared.

--------------------------------------------
 
modem7 said:
I located my WD1002A-WX1. Like yours, mine has the 62-000094-002 BIOS ROM. The low-level formatting code in that BIOS ROM is the "Super Bios Formatter Rev. 2.4"

I put my WD1002A-WX1 into my IBM 5160.

--------------------------------------------
Experiment #1

No control cable, no data cable.

At power up time, I saw the 62-000094-002 BIOS display a 1701 error. (And it was a long timeout before the 1701 appeared.)

Going through the 62-000094-002 BIOS' low-level format process, I answered the various questions, and then after I saw "Formatting . . .", the following error appeared immediately.

Error---completion code 80

--------------------------------------------
Experiment #2

Control cable connected to drive, but not the data cable.

(It was a drive that had not been earlier formatted using the WD1002A-WX1)

At power up time, no 1701 error appeared. I guess that the 62-000094-002 BIOS was 'happy' just to see a drive reporting as 'ready'. I did see the drive's LED flash momentarily.

Going through the 62-000094-002 BIOS's low-level format process, I answered the various questions, and then I saw "Formatting . . ."

The drive's LED turned on solid, and I could hear, and see via the stepper, the heads moving.

However, the head stepping was not 'normal'. Before moving to the next cylinder, the heads would be returned to cylinder 0 first. Presumably, after trying to format a cylinder, the low-level formatting code was attempting to read back the sectors, was unsuccessful (obviously due to a lack of data cable), and trying a 'recalibrate' operation.

After the last cylinder was done, I was asked if I wanted to format bad tracks, to which I answered in the negative.

Then "Nothing Done Exit" appeared.

--------------------------------------------
Click to expand...
That leads me to suspect that the data and control cables are working in my system. I'll still get more cables, but I think my priority is to get another drive and controller card to see if intermixing any of them works or doesn't work. Thank you for listing the results of your experiments.
 
modem7 said:
I located my WD1002A-WX1. Like yours, mine has the 62-000094-002 BIOS ROM. The low-level formatting code in that BIOS ROM is the "Super Bios Formatter Rev. 2.4"

I put my WD1002A-WX1 into my IBM 5160.

--------------------------------------------
Experiment #1

No control cable, no data cable.

At power up time, I saw the 62-000094-002 BIOS display a 1701 error. (And it was a long timeout before the 1701 appeared.)

Going through the 62-000094-002 BIOS' low-level format process, I answered the various questions, and then after I saw "Formatting . . .", the following error appeared immediately.

Error---completion code 80

--------------------------------------------
Experiment #2

Control cable connected to drive, but not the data cable.

(It was a drive that had not been earlier formatted using the WD1002A-WX1)

At power up time, no 1701 error appeared. I guess that the 62-000094-002 BIOS was 'happy' just to see a drive reporting as 'ready'. I did see the drive's LED flash momentarily.

Going through the 62-000094-002 BIOS's low-level format process, I answered the various questions, and then I saw "Formatting . . ."

The drive's LED turned on solid, and I could hear, and see via the stepper, the heads moving.

However, the head stepping was not 'normal'. Before moving to the next cylinder, the heads would be returned to cylinder 0 first. Presumably, after trying to format a cylinder, the low-level formatting code was attempting to read back the sectors, was unsuccessful (obviously due to a lack of data cable), and trying a 'recalibrate' operation.

After the last cylinder was done, I was asked if I wanted to format bad tracks, to which I answered in the negative.

Then "Nothing Done Exit" appeared.

--------------------------------------------
Click to expand...
Got a Seagate ST-225. I did all the same steps as with the MiniScribe, and the Seagate started LLF-ing immediately. Unfortunately, the MiniScribe is a dud. Either the disk or the controller is bad. Thanks again for all of your advice!
 
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