Installing Hard Drive, mx2424

D

DeeCeeMonterey

New member
I found a great deal on a working Seagate 36gb 15k rpm SCSI .. proper specs, same as the drive in my "A" unit mx2424

After being installed, the Tascam powers-up, but the LCD stays on "MOUNTING VOLUMES" ...No control panel buttons are responding, including "SETUP" ..So I can't get into the format and initialize modes. I have rebooted three times, and have double checked original drive in the Tascam, which is normal, just as it was.

Any help? Thanks, Dan Marina, CA
 
DeeCeeMonterey said:
I found a great deal on a working Seagate 36gb 15k rpm SCSI .. proper specs, same as the drive in my "A" unit mx2424

After being installed, the Tascam powers-up, but the LCD stays on "MOUNTING VOLUMES" ...No control panel buttons are responding, including "SETUP" ..So I can't get into the format and initialize modes. I have rebooted three times, and have double checked original drive in the Tascam, which is normal, just as it was.

Any help? Thanks, Dan Marina, CA
Click to expand...

Not a user, but if it involves a hard drive, it is a computer. MX-2424

I think you are going to have connect the new hard drive to your computer (ISA Cable), format it with the Tascam OS (it requires formatting, probably FAT and a boot sector like all computers) and that will talk to the BIOS, interface with everything and will work like new.


The link I provided should help you, I am not sure what OS it uses, I would think some form of an old Linux, maybe even DOS, but it uses an OS and I am sure Tascan didn't write it.
 
This is the way to a new drive in a MX2424.

Part on of my answer:
If this is a second drive and the drive mounting cannot be completed, it is usually a scsi ID conflict, for example both drives have the same ID number. If you look up the model of the drive on the net there will be a scsi ID pinout diagram showing how to set ID numbers.

If you want to check out if the drive is OK unplug the other drive and only have the new (second) drive connected, does it mount now?

Part 2 of answer new drive not formatted correctly:
Plug in the drive and turn on the MX (I would only have this drive plugged in to prevent mistakes)
You will get a no drive mounted message
Go to setup > menu 711 > select drive ID number (use trim up/down keys) > yes

Make a cup of coffee and wait patiently

When if is finished you have to initialize the drive

menu 710, nowadays must people use fat32, selected with the trim up/down keys > yes

Let me know how this went, there can be problems depending on how the drive was previously used but start here.

Alan.
 
Hi and thanks to both replies.. I just sat down, good timing, Alan.
Yeah, it's just one drive, the primary, which would be replacing the primary.
My hope was to yank the one 72gb 10k rpm, (working fine) and install this 36gb, 15k rpm, because the size and rpm's
match my "A" machine. (I know, smaller drive seems like back-peddling, but I don't need all that much space, and I am soon to employ external back-up)
Tascam "B" does not even get to the "no drive" msg, which was what I expected it woud do.. and the front panel buttons don't respond in any way. it just sits there with the "mounting volumes" msg, and the steady-lit yellow
"disk" led, just left of the green LCD readout.

I wonder if maybe this particular SCSI drive just isn't recognised by the mx.

It IS one number off in the model number, and says it's a diff firmware than the other, but they're both Seagate scsi 68 pin ultra320 36gb/15krpm.

The other gentlman may have a point too, but i've no desktop, and don't feel great about tampering w/ my laptop.. That reasoning does seem real tho.
 
Hi Alan, I'm thinking about what u mentioned regarding the prior use of the hard drive. I'll bet that's on the right track.. maybe somehow I'd need to at least get the thing to FAT32, then format on the mx. Well, I didn't over-pay, so I'm not too stressed, just was hoping to get things uniform..
 
DeeCeeMonterey said:
Hi Alan, I'm thinking about what u mentioned regarding the prior use of the hard drive. I'll bet that's on the right track.. maybe somehow I'd need to at least get the thing to FAT32, then format on the mx. Well, I didn't over-pay, so I'm not too stressed, just was hoping to get things uniform..
Click to expand...

I have bought a lot off secondhand drives and some of them have been a problem to get formatted. I have an old PC with a scsi card that I hook up to the problem drive, and in most cases I can find the problem. It is usually that the drive has been formatted with a partition and the partition has prevented the MX from mounted it as the MX does not know what the partition is. Some drives just refuse to work, even though I am sure that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with them. I am going to have a look at them using a hard drive forting/cloning software (name escapes me at the moment) that I think will let me reformat them to FAT32.

Just a long shot, but I have had this happen, is there a bent pin on the scsi cable? Also is the terminator connected correctly? Also check that the hard drive has not been pined out with a strange option if it was used on a network of some kind?

I also have used many different models and makes, and most are recognised by the MX. What is the model number?

Alan.
 
Hey Alan, good ideas, all around, thank you.. Y'know there was two tiny.. little tiny, jumpers on the opposite side from the scsi and 4 pin power input side.. I removed them, which matched the up-and-running drive that I was replacing, and had the same result, no recognition from the Tascam.. I don't know what those tiny jumpers are, like I say, they're on the OPPOSITE end of the HD from the 68 pin females are. Anyway, removing and replacing them, made no diff. All cables are good, and operate the orig hd properly, no defects in the new drive, OH..I CAN hear it powering-up, it IS spinning and responding to power.

Your partition theory sounds valid, that's a good thought.

Seagate Model# ST336753LW is the one that works, and always has (since I've had the Tascams, only a few weeks)

The model # I am wanting to install : Seagate ST336754LW

thnks, dc
 
Last edited:
Here is a link to the pinout diagram for the drive http://www.shikatronics.com.mx/Descargas/hdds/ST3146854LW.pdf Just check there are pins where there should be pins. here is a seagate page with the default settings How To Install and Troubleshoot Seagate SCSI Hard Drives

Funny that the drive is a U320 drive, I seem to have more trouble with U320 drives than the older U160 drives, but I don't think thats the problem here.

Do you have an old computer that you can fit a scsi card too? SCSI gear is real cheap and building a plug in scsi to PC set up cheap to make, I even made a scsi test bench out of an old external scsi case that you just connect the drive to the PC through, has scsi cable and power supply. All my MX drives are in rack out bays.

I am around for another 2 hours, then away tell monday, it's Friday PM here right now.

Alan
 
DeeCeeMonterey said:
Hi David, and thanks again, that seems to be all logical. I don't see the link that you mention you provided..(?) Dan, CA
Click to expand...

If you look at the title of the link in the post "MX-2424" the title is the link. It looks like it has all of the tools to format, SCSI info (I didn't realize it was SCSI).

You actually may have another option and just add your new drive to the back as you can daisy chain SCSI drives (the jumpers will tell you what its ID is), so you should be able to use both drives. (I am not 100% sure on this, but the unit has a SCSI out and SCSI can be chained, so technically it should work).

I think they did this so you could save projects on a hard drive and store them away. This looks like old school pro equipment. (90's to early 2000).
 
DM60 said:
You actually may have another option and just add your new drive to the back as you can daisy chain SCSI drives (the jumpers will tell you what its ID is), so you should be able to use both drives. (I am not 100% sure on this, but the unit has a SCSI out and SCSI can be chained, so technically it should work).

I think they did this so you could save projects on a hard drive and store them away. This looks like old school pro equipment. (90's to early 2000).
Click to expand...

I have up too 4 drives on my MX, I have run 5 but it's not advised, I use an external scsi tower with rack out caddies. You have to have an active terminator on the end of the scsi chain if you are using the external connection. The advantage of having external drives is that the MX power supply is not trying to run extra load (extra drive) and the drive heat is not building up in the MX case. Heat and load was a problem with the MX power supplies. I have no drives actually inside my MX.

They are a little old school, but they work well, scsi is a bit of a pain but there is tons of second hand scsi gear on the evil bay, drives, towers, caddies, cables, and you should not pay much for it. Scsi was once state of the art, and is still a fast file transfer and drive system, the reason scsi was used when the mx came out was that nothing else at the time was fast or reliable enough. Both my MX machines are fitted with the 24 channel AD/DA cards and they sound great. I also have ADAT cards fitted and you can use both at the same time to record or transfer 24 channels of analog to adat / adat to analog.

If you are interested, there is a way to use SATA drives with the MX, I have not bothered at this stage as I have loads of scsi drives.

Alan.
 
Hi Alan, had a busy weekend, thought u may be around, following up..

Maybe I'll pick up one of these, and throw it in a desktop, install the SCSI drive, and see if it lets me get it to FAT32

Here's the link to a pci card that is on ebay, that I may pick, for this purpose: LSI - LSIU320 PCI-X Ultra 320 SCSI Host Bus Adapter

If I throw this and my SCSI hd into a pc, shouldn't DOS direct me to FAT32 choice somewhere along the line?

And then, perhaps the Tascam will at least acknowledge it's presence, and let me get in to setup.. (?) Any thoughts...? thanks, dan
 
$20 is good, when I went to the link I was thinking that the price is a bit high?

With the card installed, how are you going to connect the drive? Do you have an external box, terminator and cable? Another way is to sit the drive insider the PC and use the internal connection, you may still need a cable? Has the guy selling the card got any bits and pieces? There is plenty of this stuff on ebay for just a few dollars. As I said before, I made a drive tester from an old drive case with the lid off, a scsi cable and terminator.

With a scsi card in a PC, often windows can detect the drive as a device and you can then format it. Dos is the second choice. If you have problems drive cloning software can often fix it.

Cheers

Alan.
 
Hey Alan, thanks, well, I noticed that this PCI card has that internal 68 pin port, as well as the external, so I was thinking I could just go that route, . There is another one on ebay with internal ribbon cable, but without software. My guess is Windows should have these drivers..but it could be a drag, if I end up wishing I had those CDroms. Well, it's $16 total for the one w/cable and $30 total for the one with cdroms. I asked the one seller if cable is in that box, prob won't hear til 2moro.. ..lol. ebay is funny this way sometimes.
 
DeeCeeMonterey said:
Hey Alan, thanks, well, I noticed that this PCI card has that internal 68 pin port, as well as the external, so I was thinking I could just go that route, . There is another one on ebay with internal ribbon cable, but without software. My guess is Windows should have these drivers..but it could be a drag, if I end up wishing I had those CDroms. Well, it's $16 total for the one w/cable and $30 total for the one with cdroms. I asked the one seller if cable is in that box, prob won't hear til 2moro.. ..lol. ebay is funny this way sometimes.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, an internal 68pin scsi cable is about $10 max on ebay. It's funny when I first got the MX, new when they came out, cables and terminators, drives etc were hugely expensive, I used to get a cable maker to make custom multi plug scsi cables for me as they were cheaper. Now I have boxes of the stuff and cables and connectors for every situation. At last count I own 5 different scsi towers, the 1st one I built myself out of a server case and with the case cables and power supply it would have cost me as much as buying a whole PC now.

Alan.
 
Very true, in fact, I just saw a pretty hefty Dell -a 5 scsi drive server on C.List for 80 bucks.

I may just grab that PCI card w/ the cdroms and pick up an internal cable. I also see a pretty decent Dell, w/ fresh install of XP Pro, locally, on CL for $50, maybe they';ll take 40, and I can try to format this drive. This way I'll have it for next time, and I can also use it (the Dell) in my Living room for the internet. Hey, thanks, unless u have any last min ideas, I'll prob go this route.. Dan
 
Hi. I have read all the above with interest. I have just acquired an MX2424. It has no internal hard drive in it. It does have a DVD drive, I guess this is for back-up. It has a terminator on the end of the ribbon. Of course, I need to install an internal drive before I can record anything! Not very computer savvy though! It is true, there are loads of SCSI drives on EBay, but I'm reluctant to buy one as I don't want to experience the problems outlined above. So, any advice? will a brand new drive from a computer shop be less hassle? Will a brand new, up to date drive, be compatible with the MX2424? Any advice gratefully received!
Dave.
 
tascam baby said:
Hi. I have read all the above with interest. I have just acquired an MX2424. It has no internal hard drive in it. It does have a DVD drive, I guess this is for back-up. It has a terminator on the end of the ribbon. Of course, I need to install an internal drive before I can record anything! Not very computer savvy though! It is true, there are loads of SCSI drives on EBay, but I'm reluctant to buy one as I don't want to experience the problems outlined above. So, any advice? will a brand new drive from a computer shop be less hassle? Will a brand new, up to date drive, be compatible with the MX2424? Any advice gratefully received!
Dave.
Click to expand...

You need a 68 pin scsi, size has to be between 9gig and 73gig, I find that I prefer the 18gig and 36 gig sizes best, but I have some 73 gig that I back up copies of the projects to. Sometimes when buying a secondhand drive they have been formatted with partitions and this causes the mx to have formatting issues (can't find the drive to format it) unfortunately you don't know this until you get the drive.

Here is a link to the scsi spec sheet and the scsi installation from Tascam, most scsi drives selling even secondhand exceed this by a mile.

Cheers
Alan.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top