Date   : Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:53:29 +0000
From   : robert@... (Rob)
Subject: Technomatic Disaster

On 30/12/2007, Ian Wolstenholme <bbcmailinglist@...> wrote:
>
> I have taken it to pieces and tested it as much as I can.  The disc itself
spins
> up OK and the Adaptec controller board appears to be working - the LED blinks
> in concert with the drive light during initialisation.  The Akhter host adapter
> board reports normal seeming voltages when tested with a multimeter.  I've
> tried a different Winchester disc with no success and also a different ribbon
> cable to the 1MHz bus of the Beeb as the original cable did have a bit of
> damage which I was hoping was the problem.

If ADFS isn't even seeing that there is a hard disc there (and mounts
floppy as drive 0)  then it implies that it's something earlier in the
chain than the disc itself.  I'd suggest swapping out the adaptec &
host adapter boards with a known working system...  if you can find
somebody with one!  (I've got an Amcom system somewhere at the bottom
of the cupboard, but not having powered it up in about ten years, I
don't know it's current state!)

There ought to be a way of interrogating the adaptec card to see if
it's working, but not sure of the exact method; there ought to be some
diag programs about though, I would imagine.

Rob