Multibus ST-506/QIC-02 (was: Re: SGI IRIS 1400 ...)

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Sat Jul 20 02:16:00 2002

On Thu, 18 Jul 2002, Tothwolf wrote:

> I double checked all the board numbers, and everything but the ST-506
> interface does indeed match the build/maintenance sticker. The tag from
> that board states "Removed from IRIS Suspect U/S - no diagram". The
> 'U/S' might actually be 'U/5', but it is somewhat hard to read. The
> board is a standard Multibus board. It was made by Data Systems Design
> (Qualogy) and has a part number of 805215-08. Does anyone have a
> databook or even prints for this board? I'm going to assume for now that
> there is indeed something wrong with it, since it appears someone
> "borrowed" the original ST-506 interface from this 1400 for another
> system. This particular board might have come from a later IRIS system,
> but it appears the 2000s and later used a 5217 instead of a 5215.

Maybe replying to my own emails is a little "different", but oh well :)

Tonight, armed with the user's manual for the DCD 5215, I managed to run
various diagnostics in order to help troubleshoot the board. Test 1F (8085
Environment Self-Test) seemed to pass, and test 1A (CR1, CR2 Blinking
Wakeup Address) seemed to pass as well. When I ran test 1B (R/WC
Self-Test), I got an error 45 (Read/Write Controller Error). Further
investigation seemed to indicate the hard drive itself wasn't spinning, so
I removed the top panels and powered up the drive. It seems to spin up ok
for about a minute, then shuts down completely. At this point, it
certainly looks like I'm looking at a malfunctioning drive instead of the
DCD 5215. Due to the fan noise, I never even heard the drive spin down
until I pulled the top panels back off, sigh...

This system uses a Vertex V170 (60MB?) ST-506 drive. Is anyone familiar
with them? I'm guessing I may just end up having to replace the drive with
something else. Does anyone have any brands/models they'd suggest trying
in this system?

-Toth
Received on Sat Jul 20 2002 - 02:16:00 BST