SCSI PC Card Drive

FAQ

The SCSI PC Card Reader family of drives resides on the SCSI chain of a PC.
It can use the following types of PC Cards: DOS formatted SRAM or ATA Flash cards or read only with DOS formatted Linear Flash cards.

If you are having problems getting the SCSI PC Card Reader to operate properly, please try the following:

For Most Operating Systems
1. Check to see if the correct device driver for the adaptor card has been loaded.

2. Check to see that the correct options have been chosen.

3. If everything checks out then go into the SCSI BIOS settings. Make sure that the port ID has been enabled. Also check to see if the Multiple LUN Support is turned on, try turning off the Initiate Synchronous Negotiation, and Disable the Support Removable Disks Under BIOS as Fixed Disk.

4. Check for correct termination and ID conflicts.

5. If you get an error message when accessing the card, the problem maybe what's on the card. If the data stored on the PC card is in a binary format, the O/S will not be able to read the contents of the card. At this point you should direct the software program that will be used to read the data off the PC card be invoked and pointed to the specific drive letter.

6. Check the cables and power connections for proper fit. Some PCMCIA cards may not be compatible with the SCSI drive.

For Macintosh Operating Systems
1. Are currently running Formatter 5 or the Mac software?
Yes, continue on.
No, contact MagicRAM sales for software.

2. Is the drive flashing once every three to five seconds?
Yes, continue on.
No, reinstall the software, or power cycle the MagicRAM drive along with CPU.

3. Is there an ID conflict with other devices?
Yes, change to a number that's not used. Be careful of proper termination.
No, continue on.

4. Is termination set properly.
Yes, continue on.
No, Make sure that the last device on the SCSI chain is terminated and all devices in between are not.

5. Is the LED(s) flashing in a pattern?
Yes, contact Technical support. Be sure to get the exact LED pattern.
No, continue on.

6. Is the LED solid red or black?
Black: The drive doesn't have power.
Red: The software hasn't been install properly or has been damaged and needs to be reinstalled.

7. Who is the manufacturer of the PC card at this point there should be nothing wrong with the system or the SCSI PC Card Reader?
Some PCMCIA cards may not be compatible with the SCSI drive.

For UNIX Based Operating Systems
1. Follow the standard drive mounting and unmounting procedures.

2. Make sure of proper termination and no ID conflicts.

3. The following was submitted by a customer who works at Sun using Solaris 2.7...
To mount the an ATA PC Card with a DOS format using Solaris:
A. mkdir /pcmcia
B. add the following line to your /etc/vfstab: /dev/dsk/c0t4d0s0:c - /pcmcia pcfs - no -
C. as root, type "mount /pcmcia" or the card can be mounted manually by typing: mount -f pcfs /dev/dsk/c0t4d0s0:c /mnt /mnt and /pcmcia are directories where the device is mounted, they could be anything. Note the :c at the end of the device name. This refers to the logical DOS partition on the card, it may vary for different cameras. The 4 refers to the SCSI target ID configured on the back of the SCSI PC Card Reader. You should unmount the card before extracting it from the reader.

To unmount the card:
A. make sure you are not changed into a directory on the card.
B. as root, type "umount /pcmcia" (or /mnt depending where you mounted it)
C. if you receive the error message "umount: /pcmcia busy", you are changed into a directory on the card or some program is currently using a file on the card, quit all programs which are using the card and cd back to your home directory before trying to unmount it again.