Adaptec AHA-2920 Installation Guide - Page 9

Need Assistance? Troubleshooting Checklist Most problems that occur with your host adapter result from errors in preparing and connecting devices on the SCSI bus. If you have problems when using your host adapter, check these items first. s Are all SCSI devices powered? s Are all SCSI bus cables and power cables properly connected? s Is the host adapter firmly seated and secured in a PCI expansion slot? s Is pin-1 orientation maintained throughout the SCSI bus? (See Step 6 on page 4.) s Do the host adapter and all devices on the SCSI bus have unique SCSI IDs? (See Step 4 on page 3, and Step 10 on page 5.) s Are all devices on the SCSI bus terminated properly? (See Step 4 on page 3, and Step 10 on page 5.) s Does your system CMOS setup require you to enable PCI bus parameters? If so, see your computer's documentation. Check that IRQ channel assignment, board, and BIOS settings have been made. If you still have problems after checking the above items, continue with the following section. Common Problems and Solutions I installed the host adapter and my SCSI disk drive, but my computer will not boot from the SCSI disk drive. If both SCSI and non-SCSI (e.g., IDE) disk drives are installed, then the non-SCSI disk drive is always the boot device. If your system has only SCSI disk drives: s Make sure the Hard Disk (or Drives) setting in your computer's setup program is set to None or No Drives Installed, as is required for SCSI hard disk drives. s Make sure the SCSI boot drive is set to SCSI ID 6. s If you have an ISA-based SCSI host adapter installed with a connected SCSI hard drive, this SCSI hard drive will be your boot device, since ISA host adapters have higher priority in the system than PCI host adapters. I receive the No SCSI devices found. Check cables and power error message. An unexpected time-out occurred. s Check that the terminator is securely attached to the SCSI connector on the hard drive. Check that the SCSI cable is securely connected to the SCSI connectors on both host adapter and the SCSI device. Then reboot the computer. s If the above step does not work, turn OFF the computer, disconnect the SCSI cable from the host adapter and then restart the computer. If the computer successfully restarts, the SCSI cable, terminator, or hard drive may be defective. When the Adaptec BIOS header message appears, it hangs my system. Make sure the SCSI hard drives are properly terminated. One of the SCSI devices on my computer does not allow me to disable termination. How can I install it on the SCSI bus? If it is an external SCSI device, install the device as the last device of the external daisy chain. If it is an internal SCSI device, install the device at the end of the internal SCSI cable. The system works erratically. It hangs or the host adapter sometimes cannot find the drives. Check cable length and integrity. If one or more Fast SCSI devices are installed, the total length of all cables (internal and external) connected to the host adapter should not exceed 3 meters (9.8 ft.). If no Fast SCSI devices are connected, the total length of all cables should not exceed 6 meters (19.7 ft.). 8