SCSI questions...

[Ichinisan]

My friend is troubleshooting a computer for his neighbor and I'm trying to help him over the phone. I vaguely remember that SCSI requires termination for the last device in the chain and that each device requires a SCSI ID setting that does not conflict; including the SCSI controller itself.

I have no actual experience using or configuring or using SCSI. I only vaguely remember what I had to study 10 years ago in a certification class. Still, I'm probably the only guy that my friend can call. Does anyone have some advice that might help in this situation?

My friend's neighbor just moved into her new home and her computer is "not communicating with the scanner". I'm not sure if this message is coming from an application, or a diagnostic utility. The SCSI BIOS is accessible by pressing Ctrl+A during bootup just after POST.

I advised him to examine the scanner for a dial that selects the SCSI ID and look for any switches on the scanner regarding termination. He will call me back soon, and I hope to have some useful information for him then.

I'm sure that some of you guys are intimately familiar with configuring SCSI devices at home or work. Is there anything I need to know?

I guess I'll start by asking what SCSI ID the controller should be set to. Before we disconnected, he read that the controller is currently SCSI ID # 7.

[edit]
Google-ing tells me that ID7 is the highest priority and the controller card should use ID 7 as it already is. I guess the scanner should be ID6 as I believe it is the only SCSI device. What should I ask him to look for to know if the scanner is properly terminated?

 

[bob4432]

i currently run scsi but only hdds, and u160/u320, but i have run scsi scanners in the past, ~10yrs ago....

like you said the card is 7, and then the scanner could be 6, no issue. the scanner should have a terminator on it and that should be set because i am assuming it is the end of the line. remember, scsi needs to be terminated on both the inside and outside if the setup is like that, when i ran a scsi scanner, it was terminated, and then when i had scsi cd-rw/roms the last one inside needed to be terminated.

this may sound stupid, but is he sure they unlocked the scanner after the move? how old is the scanner? cables tight? i always had an issue with cables then - there were little "claws" that would grab onto the scsi port, but sometimes they would come off.

i replaced my $500 scsi scanner w/ a $50 refurbed usb scanner and never looked back - the quality was easily the same and it weighs 5#s instead of 30, haha

good luck

 

[V00D00]

Tell them to buy a new scanner. The time you and them spent troubleshooting this old school scanner is more valuable than buying a cheap (probably better quality) scanner.

If she moved... why would the SCSI ID's be suddenly changing? It doesn't sound like this issue is relating to the SCSI ID's because they should not have changed.