Tascam MX2424 front panel expansion bay

dustybowldays

New member
with a hard drive mounted in the front panel expansion bay, i have run a low disk format and then a drive initializing. The SCSI I D # was 0 . I recieved
a "non- existent device" message when i used SCSI I D # 1. Am i correct in thinking that SCSI I D # 0 includes both the internal drive and the hard drive i inserted in the expansion bay [ the recorded disk free space was almost 107 hours ].
The procedure for assigning I D #'s to hard drives in the front bay requires opening up the MX2424 and messing with connectors etc. [ Seagate hard drives came from the person i bought the MX2424 from]. Over my head stuff at present.
Any suggestions for an external drive so i can use the back panel but not get involved with a computer as of yet ?
i was able to record a couple of test tracks, play back, etc which was lost formatting and initializing of course.

thank you alan for responding [ Fremantle,Australia ] ....... appreciated !!
I am a rookie at all this !! although i downloaded manuals , updates, etc i find myself dazed and confused. At the moment
the front bay, internal hard drive, external hard drives, backing up , and SCSI I D #'s causes me to scratch my head and ponder.
 
Hi,

I am not sure what is going on, but just to clarify.

The internal drive is usually ID 0, if you want to check take out the drive in the bay and see what drive ID the MX wants to record too. With the bay drive removed the MX will only see the one drive and identify it.

If the internal drive is 0, the bay drive will need a different ID, this is usually 1 but can be anything really up to ID 6.

Usually the ID setup for the bay is on the caddy, so you should not have to remove anything on the MX, if you slot out the caddy has it got an ID selector on the rear? This only works if you plugged in the ID selector leads when you put the drive in the caddy. If you did not you could give the drive an ID by taking it out of the caddy and bridging the ID pins on the drive with a jumper, some of mine are done this way, I have attached a typical ID pin out for a seagate, most models and brands are the same but just check for your drive.

Regarding the 107 hours, what size drive are you looking at, from memory you roughly get 50 to 60 mins of 24 tracks at 24bit 44.1hz for 9gig (the original standard drive) which is about 20 to 24 hours. 107 hours would relate to about a 36 gig drive (if my maths are right) the is a little drive space used for register files.

Let me know if this is any help.

Alan.

cheetah-15k-5-scsi-pm.jpg
 
upon further investigation ......... first some info ........ the caddy is a Data Express - DE100 ATA 33 drive enclosure ....... it has selector leads
[ ID Select Cable ] in-between the I/O cable and the Power cable. Facing the back of the hard drive the 6 sets of connecting pins are as follows:
from left to right - no connection on pin #6 then pins #5 -#1 are connected and colored coded. I didn't see this configuration on your pin out
or the ones i downloaded.
But !! ....... i don't believe the front bay drive is getting power ! On the drive enclosure above the lock key on the right side is a small square
display which doesn't light up and i don't hear any loading noise from the drive enclosure ?
If i try a [ 711 ] disk low format the Mx2424 will say " non existent device ...... Id # 1 up through #6
[ 790 ] SCSI ID's mounted will say " none "
as for the [ 703 ] Rec Disk Free will say approx 107 hours which i assume is the internal drive. The front bay was empty for this.
Basically when i "mount" the drives only the internal hard drive gets mounted [ it seems to me ]
I was given 4 hard drives in Data Express enclosures which the prior owner was using etc. Is there any MX2424 command chain that might shut
the power off to the front bay ? Could it be a "master/slave" or "terminator" thing ? [ terms i have read, but not at all familiar with how they
translate into practical use ] ......
Thanks Alan for your help ........
 
Starting with the ID pins / cables, the cables won't look the same as the jumpers on the diagram because some of the pins on the drive are commonly connected, meaning that if 1 is bridged, also 2, 3 or 4 are selectable with 1 wire connected due to the pins in 1 row being common (I can't remember if it's the top or bottom row). It looks different with jumper connections as shown only because you need to if the jumper in somewhere.
The drive bay only gets power when the key is turned on, if the key is on and there is no power check the cable that goes to the key switch is connected.

You may need to lift the lid of the MX and check that the power cable to the bay is connected.

If you want a little advice, I would take the front bay out of the MX and put it in a separate powered housing, then connect the housing with a scsi cable, there is a ton of secondhand scsi gear cheap. The reason is that you get less heat inside the MX and the MX power supply is not loaded up with powering 2 drives. I have all my drives in external enclosures.

Let me know how it goes.

Alan
 
Not Good. I open up the unit and noticed that the power supply chord [ 4 pins ] for the front bay enclosure was not plugged in. [ this is directly behind and next to the power connection for the internal drive. I proceeded to plug in the front bay to the board, closed up the unit, and then
inserted the front bay hard drive caddy and key locked. I turned on the MX2424 and the front bay display lit up and read 8. . The digital display
on the MX2424 read " no new volumes mounted " . Then is smelled and eventually saw smoke coming out of the fan !! i turned off and unplugged
the MX2424.
Eventually i reopened the unit , unplugged the power to the front bay enclosure , and removed the front bay hard drive caddy.
I turned the MX2424 again, and it immediately started to smoke !! obviously i did something nasty !!?
Note: the internal hard drive is mounted above the front bay enclosure ....... and by the hours available etc it is larger then the standard internal
drive the comes with the Mx2424. I wonder why the front bay was not powered and i was given 4 other hard drives in caddy for the front bay ?
Lost and hoping i didn't damage the machine. ug !
 
Damage done ..... top cover removed .... both four pin power supply cables from the board to the internal drive and the front bay are not connected. I can see burn damage to the four pin power supply connector on the board which goes to the internal drive , and major damage to the small square tan button to the right of the connector [ it is melted and not recognizable ]. The four pin power supply to the front bay has a little discoloring but, the tan square button looks fine. [this connector is right behind the internal connector ].
If i turn on the MX2424 it seems that the analog ribbon from the internal drive to the board starts to smoke.
Basically i have the top cover removed , and both power cables to the internal and front bay drive enclosure removed.
Visually i see no other damage to the board. When i turned the unit on it seemed the analog ribbon [ internal drive ] started to smoke.

as for your question ? the MX fan on the side of the unit was venting smoke when the top cover was in place.
yikes !! i've dug a hole for myself for sure !?
thanks alan for hanging in with me.
 
If you disconnect all drives, power and scsi, and turn on the MX does it smoke anywhere.

With luck it may only be the connectors over heating for some reason. If the connectors are stuffed you may be able to solder the cables direct to the power supply, some people have done this mod in the past due to unreliable connectors. It would however be good to know why the power supply is being loaded up with a high load? Could there be a bent pin in the scsi connectors? Or maybe there is a power to ground issue somewhere.

Hopefully there is no damage to the MX power supply they are impossible to get hold of.

Alan.
 
alan ...... is there a e mail i can send you some pictures?
would you know if the tan square objects on each side of the board internal drive and external scsi front bay 4 pin power connectors are capacitors ?
and
having a hard time finding schematics anywhere.
what do you mean by the MX power supply ?
 
alan ...... is there a e mail i can send you some pictures?
would you know if the tan square objects on each side of the board internal drive and external scsi front bay 4 pin power connectors are capacitors ?
and
having a hard time finding schematics anywhere.
what do you mean by the MX power supply ?
Send me a personal messsge with your email and I’ll email back tomorrow as it’s a holiday here today. I have all the mx schematics by the way.

Cheers
 
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