[NBLUG/talk] Trying to install a SCSI scanner

[Lincoln Peters]

I have acquired a used UMAX Astra 600S scanner.  It uses a SCSI interface, and 
according to the SANE website, it works under Linux.

Currently, my computer has an Adaptec AHA-7850 SCSI controller connected to a 
1GB JAZ drive (busID 1), which in turn is connected to a 100MB ZIP drive 
(busID 5).  The bus does not have an external terminator.  Both seem to work 
fine.

Now, after shutting down the computer, I attached the scanner to the ZIP 
drive, booted into the Adaptec BIOS utility, and tried to run a diagnostic.  
It seemed to hang for about 60 seconds, then it said: "UNEXPECTED TIMEOUT 
ERROR".  I've double-checked that the scanner is set to an unused BusID (I've 
tried it on 2 and 6, with identical results).  I also found that I get the 
same behavior even if the scanner is turned off.  However, the bus becomes 
usable again if I disconnect the scanner.

I'm not an expert on SCSI, but my guess is that the ZIP drive is smart enough 
to automatically terminate the bus if it's the last device, but the scanner 
isn't.  In that case, I need to connect an external terminator to the 
scanner.  But since I don't have a SCSI terminator lying around that can 
connect to the type of port on the scanner, and therefore I would have to buy 
one, I thought I'd check in here and ask: Is there any other reasonable 
explanation that I'm not seeing?


In case anyone is wondering: No, I can't solve the termination problem by 
switching the positions of the ZIP drive and the scanner on the bus.  The 
SCSI controller, the JAZ drive, and the ZIP drive all use different types of 
SCSI ports, so the cabling only works in a very limited set of 
configurations.  And although the scanner has the same kind of port as the 
ZIP drive, the cable that connects the JAZ drive to the ZIP drive is only 
about one foot long.  I don't worry about perching the ZIP drive on top of 
the JAZ drive to accommodate the short cable, but I'd be more than a little 
concerned about perching a flatbed scanner on top of the JAZ drive!


-- 
Lincoln Peters
<sampln at sbcglobal.net>

Computer programs expand so as to fill the core available.

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