DMT 8VL Hard Disk Replacement Problem

[robchalmers]

I replaced my 540Mb Fostex Hard Drive with a Samsung WA32163A (2.1Gb) that had previously been formatted in Windows. The DMT-8VL screen says "No Disk" and so will not let me format the new drive, does this mean the Samsung WA series is incompatible with the Fostex?

I know the HD is working properly as I checked it in my PC and I've also tried low-level formatting it on the PC with the Samsung HDDClear utility before installing it into the 8VL.

If it is incompatible why is this? If different makes and models of HD all work on PCs, why do some of them not work with the 8VL?

Any help much appreciated,
Rob

[Osbick Bird]

Have you made sure that any master/slave jumpers are properly set (same as the old 540MB drive)?

Other than that, I'm at a loss for suggestions, assuming the cables are all oriented and seated correctly. That drive doesn't appear on the compatibility list at

http://www.fostex.co.jp/int/hdlist/dmt8vl.html

but I would think this list would be more to see if the drive was up to the demands placed on it rather than whether or not the Fozzie would see it.

[robchalmers]

The drive jumpers are set to "Master" as described in the DMT-8VL FAQ at http://66.12.44.170/km/custom/index.jsp and the cables do seem to be connected correctly. The drive makes that disctinctive noise as if being read when the unit is booting up.

Do I need to format the HD in any special way before the 8VL will see it? Or should the machine see the HD whatever file system is already on the drive?

[MiXit-G]

I'm only guessing here but insted of formatting it with a fat/nstc file system that windows supports try just deleting any logical drives/partitions in fdisk so that its just blank with no file system.

But im only having a stab.

[robchalmers]

I've not yet tried FDisk but I did use the Samsung utility ClearHDD to perform a low-level format. I don't know exactly how this works I don't think it does a zero fill or anything like that but I presume it has removed all partitions as Windows does not recognise the drive any more. I shall try FDisk, though.

Does anyone know what sort of file system the DMT-8VL uses? and are there any utilities out there to enable a HD to be formatted in the Fostex format from a PC?

[Osbick Bird]

Originally posted by robchalmers
I've not yet tried FDisk but I did use the Samsung utility ClearHDD to perform a low-level format. I don't know exactly how this works I don't think it does a zero fill or anything like that but I presume it has removed all partitions as Windows does not recognise the drive any more. I shall try FDisk, though.

Does anyone know what sort of file system the DMT-8VL uses? and are there any utilities out there to enable a HD to be formatted in the Fostex format from a PC?

By all means fdisk it and try it without any kind of file system or partitions on it. For some reason I was under the impression that the Samsung utility did this, but it may well do too much as far formatting goes and leave the DMT-8VL unable to do anything.

I don't think the the DMT-8VL uses any sort of file system that a PC is going to understand. You could probably verify this by recording something on your old 540 drive and putting it in your PC to have a look.

[p2prec.ent.]

I obtained a dmt8-vl in january 1999 and i have often looked for info on them i was lucky because the unit i obtained was new with 2.0 version soft ware i spoke with tech support and they informed me that the model was a proto type of what has now become thier 4 , 8 , 16 track home studio models ( i think they gave em some nice dsp goodies etc. but overall they made it less ...not as solid and scaled down ) more affordable. Anyway I was told they can accept quantum fireball hard disk lct 08 3.5 series and equivalent of and that the dmt8-vl will format up to 10 gig (but i bettcha bigger ) 8.4 is the biggest i have installed . I hope that can help you robchalmers.