I want to perform an OS update to an Alpha 3000/300LX that didn't have
its own CD-ROM drive attached. I borrowed an external DEC CD drive
(RRD43) that had been happily serving another system of roughly the
same vintage, an Alpha 3000/700. However, on the 3000/300LX, the drive
appears not to be recognized properly. The command 'init', followed by
'show device' at the console prompt gives the following (extracted)
results, which are notable for the fact that nothing is listed in the
BOOTDEV, DEVTYPE, DEVNAM, etc. columns, except 'ADDR'. The drive is
indeed SCSI 4, as shown by the ADDR figures, on controller A (the only
one on the system), and is properly terminated with a terminator plug
on the back panel.
BOOTDEV ADDR DEVTYPE NUMBYTES RM/FX WP DEVNAM REV
A/4/0
A/4/1
A/4/2
A/4/3
A/4/4
A/4/5
A/4/6
A/4/7
The activity light on the CD drive flashes during the command, indicating
that the drive is being polled.
An attempt to boot from the drive, DKA400, with a bootable disk inserted,
gives the console error message:
? T_ERR_SCSI - CHECK_MEDIA/DEVICE
The above results are repeated exactly with a separate external SONY CD
drive, tending to rule out a problem with the drive itself.
Can anyone tell me what might the problem be? Is there some console
variable that requires setting? Some mantra to be chanted, some
sacrificial offering to be made first?
Thanks.
Received on Mon Sep 14 1998 - 18:47:50 NZST