Problems installing SNASM2 PCI card

Problems installing SNASM2 ISA card [Solved]

Hi, I'm trying to install a Cross Products SNASM2 ISA card into a PC I've just built for the job (an Asus P2B board, Pentium II 350mhz, 160mb RAM and Windows 95). I've set the dip switches to match the default configuration in the manual, and the red LED lights up when I power on the PC, but when running the SCSILINK tool the red and green LEDs alternate quickly and I get the error "Card configuration - test failed. There was a problem with the card so the drivers have not been installed." Does the MegaCD need to be connected for the driver installation to succeed (I don't yet have the SCSI cable)? Does anyone have experience with these cards and could lend me a hand? (Apologies for lack of paragraphs, the Enter key seems to try submitting my post in this browser!).

[Solved]
Disabling L1 and L2 cache in the BIOS allowed the card to initialise. Pentium class boards seem to be a headache, get a 486 DX machine!

 

No, there's no terminator, question not so stupid then I guess It's not any SCSI type connector I've seen, looks more like a parallel port to me. I'll get some pictures tomorrow.

 

Ah, looks like it's either the DB25 or DB37 from these images: http://www.ramelectronics.net/scsi_connectors.aspx. I'll try and get hold of a terminator or cable, I'll need them later on anyway.

 

Here we go:





A few questions:

- What variations of this card are known to exist and what are the differences between them?
- Does it matter than I only have one button battery installed?
- Do I just count the pins to determine if it's a DB25 or DB37 type, or is it more complex than that?
- Does it need a terminator for the SCSILINK software to recognise that the card is okay?

Cheers!

 

Yes, it is SCSI. That should have been obvious from the SCSILINK. The default setting should be ID6 and address $390. And yes, you count the pins. DB37 is uncommon, it's not that.

The card doesn't use DMA or IRQs. If the board is EISA you may have to change some settings in config.

I would set the ID and address back to default, and go from there. Don't forget that SCSILINK is looking for the device on a particular ID and address! The card configuration error is telling you there's an error with your card settings, or a conflict with another device.

 

Oh that looks like the SNASM2 ISA card I got with my Sega Mega CD dev kit.
Looks like your card is around 12 weeks older than mine going off the date code below the top battery.
My DIP switches are all on except number 6. Only one battery is installed on my unit too. My serial is PC3/0305 just for reference too.

I'll be hooking up the whole system tomorrow to give it a spin. Do let us know how you go, I'd be happy to help in anyway I can!

Edit: Manual for the SNASM2 card is here.

 

It sounds like your one might be a newer one than the one I was expecting, RetroJunkie, and so Headcrab's may be, too. It seems from the manual at least that it may indeed support IRQs and DMAs.

Determine which card you have, and use the appropriate manual to set. As you can see there, it says not to use ID 5 or 7.

 

The address is at $390, I've followed the default DIP settings in the SNASM2 manual that came with my card.

@RetroJunkie - what happens if you don't plug anything into the SCSI port and try loading the drivers? Does it complain? As far as I can tell, that's the only thing which isn't right about my setup - no cable or teminator (I've just bought some from eBay, should be here next week).

 

I haven't had a chance to pop it all together yet. My Sophia is still blocking entire bench.
I will try it before the weekend is out though I promise!
Actually, I'll make a video for sure!

 

Yes that driver musst connected over SCSI cable with a running MCD cross kit. I used a 486 with DOS6.22 and i have no problems at all. Its really plug&play at all .

I know the SNAMS1 pcb, do not really work well for me. The SNASM2 can be used for more than only MCD, also x32. Makes it to a really nice interface.
No thats the basic with one battery, anything is fine.
Im not really sure how to test the pcb. Best test is to use the devgear...

 

Ahh a Sophia! I'd love some news on THAT working too! I have one here, it'll be my next project after this MCD unit it working. I've had a few tries at getting it working but didn't have the manuals at the time. I've got them now so I'll have another go soon

@JackHead: Cheers, my cable arrived today so I'll give it another go when I get home form work

 

You have one!?!? With CPUs / ICE thingo?

 

It has 2 SH2s and some sort of probe unit (could be an ICE, I'm not entirely sure). I don't have the rest of the parts for the probe so I've been trying to get it running in 2-CPU mode. It turns on and shows up on the SCSI bus, but I can't get it to do much else (yet).

I started a thread asking for help with it here.

I've had several of these units in varying conditions, I kept the most complete unit and swapped the rest for other things.

 

I've tried with the cable, still no luck, same error message. All of the DIP switches are set to the defaults shown in the manuals, and on the MegaCD side I get the two WRPR lights on for a few seconds followed by ACT, which (according to the manual) indicates that communication with the host PC is possible. I've tried setting the ISA card's address to $310 (and changed the driver install line in autoexec.bat to match), which the manual states is another valid combination, but still no joy. Any more things I could try?

 

I also have the first model of SNASM card too, if the software for this is available I could give it a try and see if I can rule out the MegaCD being the problem. Does anyone have the disk?

 

Good question, I have no idea - someone around here must though... Anyone? :smile-new:

 

No install disk for the original SNASM software exists in the public domain, and nobody here that I know of has it either. That said, I have a feeling the SNASM2 software is supposed to be backwards compatible. I think the scsilink program from the SNASM2 disk should work for the original SNASM card.

If you have additional hardware in the PC, you might want to strip it back to the bare essentials. You could have a resource conflict with another device on the bus. The install manual for the original SNASM card states that it's known to conflict with Soundblaster cards, but there could be other conflicts too. The ISA bus can be a bit fiddly.

 

Oh, by the way, about the "Button battery", that's not a battery, it contains data. It's a form of licensing, kind of like a hardware dongle. Look at the snbutton utility in the documentation. Do NOT put a CR2032 button cell battery into one of these slots, you'll probably fry the card.