From: jak@fff.chem.utah.edu (Mr. Stress)
Subject: Hosed HD?
Organization: University of Utah Computer Center
Lines: 25



Hey All-

We have an old (1990) external HD attached to the Plus in our lab.  It had  
given us flawless service until last week.  The problem: Someone in our lab  
has an old 512 that was upgraded a couple years ago to a Plus with an  
aftermarket SIMM/SCSI setup (Digigraphics "SIMMer").  the DB25 SCSI plug runs  
through the back of the machine and attaches to the board with a 26-pin  
rectangular connector.  Well, this guy had removed the back from the machine,  
to put more memory in, and had disconnected the the SCSI plug.  Since the  
26-pin connector is symmetrical (not keyed) he may have reinstalled it upside  
down, essentially reversing the pins on the DB25.  He came in and asked if he  
could try out our HD on his SCSI port (it had never been used).  Naive fools  
that we are, we said o.k..  His computer failed to recognize the drive.  Now,  
none of the computers in our lab will recognize it.  We tried Disk Doctor, and  
it doesn't recognize anything on the SCSI chain.  Could installing the SCSI  
upside down have wrecked the HD's driver board?  The drive seems to spin up  
all right and unpark itself upon powerup.  The events are too coincidental to  
attribute the problem to stiction.

Any help greatly appreciated-

James
jak@fff.chem.utah.edu  (NeXT Mail)