H o t- S w a p Te r m i n a t o r

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Phillip Harper
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1 SCSIView TM H o t- S w a p Te r m i n a t o r safely Remove or Install SCSI Devices With Power O N OWNERS MANUAL

2 Table of Contents 1) How The Hot-Swap Terminator Works 1-2 2) Connecting The Hot-Swap Terminator 3 3) What The LEDs Mean 4 4) Table of LED Status Indicators 5 5) Setting The Switches 6 6) Diagnosing SCSI Problems (Cables) 7-9 7) Diagnosing SCSI Problems (Drives) ) The Power Supply 12 9) The Remote LED Pak 13 10) Glossary ) Warranty & Service 16 Granite Digital 3101 Whipple Rd. Union City, Ca Tel Fax

How The Hot-Swap Terminator Works The Granite Digital Hot-Swap Terminator allows you to insert it into your SCSI chain and be able to safely remove any devices that reside after it.

3 How The Hot-Swap Terminator Works The Granite Digital Hot-Swap Terminator allows you to insert it into your SCSI chain and be able to safely remove any devices that reside after it. By simply turning on the termination switch you now remove the devices that are attached to the outgoing connector. When you want to add devices, you attach them, power them up, and turn the termination off again. Now the SCSI bus will include all the devices after the Hot-Swap. Power Supply Remote LED Pak Hot-Swap 50 Centronics Terminator

4 How The Hot-Swap Terminator Works In the top diagram the Hot-Swap is inserted in a SCSI Bus. Any of the devices to the right of it can be removed safely when the termination switch is turned on. These devices will no longer be available to the bus until the Hot-Swap termination is turned off and the last drive in the chain re-assumes the job of terminating the bus. SCSI Host Hot-Swap The Hot-Swap can be placed anywhere in the chain. In the bottom diagram the Hot-Swap is being used as a supplemental power source. Since most Laptops and many Digital Cameras, etc. do not supply termination power the Hot-Swap can remedy this. Aux. Power Supply plugs in here. LapTop w/scsi Hot-Swap External SCSI Device, Digital Camera, etc. The Hot-Swap when used as an supplemental power source.

5 Connecting The Hot-Swap Terminator The first thing is to turn off the power to your computer and the SCSI Devices attached to the SCSI Bus. Now you may safely disconnect the cables and insert the Hot-Swap Terminator. It s Optional Power Supply plugs into the round opening on the top side of the terminators case. Keep the Termination power to the bus switch turned of while plugging in the power supply, after the connector has been inserted you can turn on the switch. The termination circuit switch should be in the off position. You turn this switch to on when you are ready to remove devices. At that point the Hot-Swap becomes the end of the bus allowing you to remove any devices that are beyond it. Optional: REMOTE LED Pak Plugs In Here Optional: Power Supply Granite D I G I T A L Term Power To Bus Select Acknowledge Request

6 What the LEDs Mean Termination Power (TRM) The Termination Power Indicator should always be on. This indicator shows that Termination Power is being supplied to pin 38 on the SCSI cable. The SCSI Bus will not operate properly if this light is not on. The SCSI specification does not require all targets to supply power to this line and should the host (initiator) lose the ability to supply power to the bus, data-transfers will no longer be possible. Some older hosts (initiators) did not supply termination power and relied on the targets to do this. This produced another problem when no one supplied termination power. Today most hosts and targets supply this power and the problem has been remedied. Select Line (SEL) The Select Line indicates when a device has been selected and is either receiving or sending information to the host. This LED is on whenever there is activity on the SCSI Bus. The Select Line is on in conjunction with the ACK and REQ lines and should be blinking as the state of the SCSI Bus changes. Request Line (REQ) The Request Line is considered a clock line and it operates at very high speeds. It is critical to the operation of the SCSI bus and when operating seems to be dim because of the speed in which this line is turning on and off. The line represents the target requesting a response from the host (initiator). Acknowledge Line (ACK) The Acknowledge Line is also considered a clock line. It indicates that the host (initiator) is responding to the targets request. The LED is also dim in normal use due to the high speed of this clock line. Proper operation is indicated by a dim LED when there are data-transfers or when the SCSI Bus is active.

7 Table of LED Status Indicators SEL LED is on. TRM LED is on. REQ LED is on. ACK LED is on. SEL, TRM, REQ, ACK LEDs are on. SEL, TRM, REQ LEDs are on. SEL, TRM ACK LEDs are on. SEL, TRM LEDs are on and all other LEDs are off. All LEDs are off. Termination TRM LED is on and all other LEDs are off, but the system is locked. Activity is on the SCSI Bus. Termination Power is supplied on the SCSI Bus. This is the proper status of the SCSI Bus during a bus free state. The target is requesting a response from the initiator. The initiator is acknowledging the targets request. The target device is hanging the SCSI Bus. The initiator is hanging the SCSI Bus. The initiator is hanging the SCSI Bus. The target is waiting for the next command from the initiator, or the target is reconnecting and hanging the SCSI Bus. No activity on the SCSI Bus and there is no Power... power is off. The target is waiting for the next command from the initiator.

8 Setting the Switches The two switches on the Hot-Swap allow it to operate in different modes. The Termination Circuit Switch is turned on when you are ready to remove a device that comes after it. This should be done when the bus is in a free state. In other words when no data transfers are happening. Turn power off on the device you want to remove and then simply switch on the termination circuit. Now you can safely remove the device and reinsert it at a later time. The second switch is the Termination Power to the Bus Switch that is used when you have the auxiliary power supply connected to the Hot-Swap. By turning on the auxiliary power the Hot-Swap will supply termination power to a bus that has no termination power or to a bus that has weak termination power. Termination Circuit: When in the ON position the terminator is in operation. You can safely remove any device that is beyond the Hot-Swap. Remember to turn the device off before removing it from the bus. With the switch in the OFF position the Hot-Swap is not seen on the SCSI bus. Granite D I G I T A L Termination Power To Bus: With the auxiliary power supply attached to the terminator, this switch will supply termination power to the bus when it is in the ON position. Do not turn the switch on until the power supply has been inserted into the connector.

9 Diagnosing SCSI Problems (Cables) Diagnosing SCSI problems is best done in a logical fashion. It is next to impossible to figure out exactly what is causing a problem if you have everything connected... so the best way to diagnose a problem is to simplify your test setup. This is done by disconnecting everything and starting with only one device connected. Working with one device at a time is much easier than trying to figure out what is going on when you have multiple devices connected with multiple cables and terminators. What we will do first is to take the host computer and connect a cable and a known working drive. The SCSIVue Active Diagnostic Terminator should be connected to the drive. (See Diagram 5) Working Cable Hot-Swap Terminator Host Computer Drive Sub-System Diagram 5

10 Diagnosing SCSI Problems (Cables) Test All Cables Cables are the easiest part of the system to test. After you have a system running, with a minimum configuration, remove the working cable and replace it with another cable you want to test. Use the SCSIVue Terminator to help test the cables. Turn the computer on briefly and verify that the TRM (Termination Power) LED illuminates. Turn the computer off then turn on the drive sub-system. Again, check the TRM (Termination Power) LED and make sure it illuminates. Boot up the system and copy some files to the sub-system, a small application is good to copy since you can start it up and see if the copy works like the original. Verify when you start to copy to the drive sub-system that the SEL (Select Line) LED illuminates. Also the REQ (Request Line) and the ACK (Acknowledge Line) LED should illuminate dimly. They should be flashing so fast that they look dim. If the copy worked correctly and the LED indicators worked correctly then this cable is good. Continue with the next cable. After testing all the cables, visually inspect them to make sure the contacts are all straight and clean. Make sure there is no obstruction keeping any of the contacts from making a good connection. Check around the strain relief area for any cracks or breaks, (See Diagram 6.) If you find any kind of oxidation on the cable contacts use a pencil eraser to clean them, but do not rub too hard or you will remove some of the gold plating on the contacts. Check all the connectors on any target devices. Again, if you find the connectors oxidized

Check for cracks and breaks around the strain relief. To promote longer life try not to bend the cable too much. The strain relief can only do so much to protect your cable.

11 Check for cracks and breaks around the strain relief. To promote longer life try not to bend the cable too much. The strain relief can only do so much to protect your cable. Diagnosing SCSI Problems (Cables & Drives) Diagram 6 clean them gently with a small pencil eraser making sure to remove any residue left from the eraser. Test All Target Devices Now that the cables have been tested you can next test all the SCSI Target Devices. The first thing to do before testing the hardware is to make sure that your operating system is not creating problems. Quite often the problems associated with SCSI are software conflicts. Since we are only testing hardware right now we must make it as simple as possible. So it's now time to remove all INITs (Macintosh), rename CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT (DOS), and start with a fresh kernal (UNIX). The goal here is to test with only the basics. After you have removed, changed, recopied, all the unnecessary items in your operating system, boot the system a couple of times without any external SCSI devices connected. Make sure that you have removed all device drivers and items that might cause conflicts. Now load in only the necessary device drivers that will allow you to test the target device that you will be connecting. You will again be testing one device at a time. Use one of the known good cables that

12 Diagnosing SCSI Problems (Drives) you previously tested, and connect the suspect target device. (See Diagram 7.) Connect the SCSIVue Diagnostic Terminator and power up the computer only. Check the LED on the terminator and make sure that Working Cable Hot-Swap Terminator Host Computer Diagram 7 suspect target device to be tested the TRM (Termination Power) LED lights up. If it does not, the computer is not supplying termination power. Check with the manufacturer of the computer or host adapter for service advice. (Some host adapters have removable fuses that can be replaced by the end user. Take a look at the card to see if there is a removable fuse. Replace it and repeat the previous procedure.) Now with the computer turned off, turn on the suspect target device. The TRM (Termination Power) LED should come on. If it does not, the drive fuse has also probably gone out. Call the manufacturer for details on how to fix the problem. If the LED goes on we can now proceed to the next step. With both the host and target supplying termination power we can now turn them both on and try to operate the suspect device. Data

13 Diagnosing SCSI Problems (Drives) transfers are the best way to tell if a device is working or not. If the device is a hard drive, tape drive, removable drive, floptical drive, or any other device that stores information, the simplest thing to do is copy over a few megabytes of information. It is best to test data-transfers with a freshly formatted device that has been tested for bad blocks and is free of viruses. It is also useful to test a target device for a prolonged amount of time, thus testing for thermal problems that will only arise after hours of testing. If the device does not have any problems after such testing you can feel reasonably assured that the drive is operating properly. So, if possible, reformatting the device is a good safeguard against viruses and bad blocks. Both can create problems. Using the SCSIVue terminator to help check how things are working can be done very easily. During the data-transfer state, you should be able to monitor the ACK (Acknowledge Line) LED, the REQ (Request Line) LED and the SEL (Select Line) LED. Both the ACK and REQ should be glowing dimly (actually flashing on and off very fast), and the SEL line should be on brightly. If this is not the case, then you have a problem with the host or target. Refer to our section on page 6 for more details. Continue until all the SCSI targets have been individually tested. At this point you have tested all the SCSI components on your system. Now connect one device at a time and test the system as you add each device. If the system still fails as you add the last device then SCSI Cable quality should be suspect.

14 The Power Supply The wall mount power supply (included with all external repeaters) offers 1Amp of power at 9vdc. Replacement units can be anywhere from 7-12 volts with a 1 Amp output. The supply does not need to be regulated, the on-board circuitry will regulate the voltage and reduce the noise. Power Supply 110vac Input 7-12 vdc Output International Customers can purchase a volt power supply from any local source. The output is the only critical point. Make sure it offers 7-12 volt dc unregulated output with a current rating of at least 1 Amp.

15 The Remote LED Pak The Remote LED Pak Option is a small unit that duplicates the LEDs that are on the Hot-Swap Terminator. It comes with a 4 cord and allows you to mount this in front of your computer so that you can monitor the SCSI Bus at all times. In day to day operation there are some interesting facts that can be obtained from the LED status. First the green termination power indicator must be on at all times. If this is not on you have lost termination power and the bus will not operate properly. The yellow select indicator will often be blinking continuously indicating that a polling routine is going out to removable type drives and checking them. When coping the acknowledge and request indicators will glow dimly when transfers are happening properly showing that data is transfering so fast that the LEDs just cant keep up and go dim because they are flashing so fast. Remote LED Pak

16 Glossary Access Time: The time it takes for a disk drives head to reach a sector after the issuance of a read or write command. Command overhead + seek time + latency = access time. Address (SCSI): The ID number of a target or host on the SCSI Bus. Must be between 0-7, and no two devices can have the same ID number. Average Seek Time: The milliseconds of time that it takes to do all possible seeks on a drive divided by the number of seeks possible. Bit: The binary digit representation of 0 and 1. This is the basic language of computers, states of either ons or offs. Block: Usually 512 bytes of information and a common unit that is transferred at one time to and from a hard drive or to and from ram memory. Byte: A group of eight bits. This is the standard size unit for computer information. CD-ROM: A storage device that is commonly used on computer systems. Holds up to 650 Megabytes of information. You can not write to a CD- ROM, only read from it. CPU: Central Processing Unit: The heart of the computer. Usually one large integrated circuit. Data-Transfer Rate: How fast a drive or other device can transfer bytes of information. Device Driver: A piece of software that controls the operation of any attached SCSI device. Firmware: Software instructions that are stored in ROM directly on the drive or SCSI device. Fragmentation : With use over time, the sectors of a file are written in different areas across the platters surface. This slows access time. Gigabyte: 1024 Megabytes

17 Glossary KB/s : Kilobytes per second, or 1,000 bytes per second. Kb/s: Kilobits per second, or 1,000 bits per second. MB/s: Megabytes per second, or 1,000,000 bytes per second. Mb/s: Megabits per second, or 1,000,000 bits per second Partition: A defined part of a drive that is allocated to a specific user or purpose. Peripheral: A device (target) that is attached to the SCSI bus. It can also be any device attached to a computer system. Platter: The disk that rotates inside of a drive and where the data is stored. SCSI: Small Computer System Interface. A bus structure in which peripherals can be easily and quickly attached to a host computer. Sector: An allocated amount of space on a platter. Usually 512 bytes per sector. Tracks: Invisible magnetic "grooves," in the form of concentric circles that store data on a platter.

18 Warranty & Service Warranty Lifetime Limited Warranty on parts and labor only. For details, contact Granite. Warranty registration card must be mailed or faxed in for warranty to be valid. Service If something goes wrong with The Granite Hot-Swap Terminator, call or fax our service department and give details. We will issue you an RMA (return merchandise authorization). This number must be visible on the outside of the package and also included in the paperwork (copy of the original invoice). To contact Granite: Phone: Fax:

19 H o t- S w a p Te r m i n a t o r The SCSIVue Hot-Swap Terminator is designed to make the removal or addition of SCSI devices quick and simple. You can remove or install any device without having to turn off your computer or reboot. Additionally, the Hot- Swap also offers the best Active Termination on the market, fixing many of the common noise problems related to SCSI bus errors. Its built in diagnostic indicators help pinpoint where the problems lie along with monitoring bus performance. Finally the auxiliary termination option fixes SCSI buses where power is not being supplier by the computer (laptop) or the peripherals. A common problem with laptops and digital cameras. SCSI Host Hot-Swap Models Available 50 Cent. 68 MD 68 LVD Optional: Remote LED Pak, monitor SCSI Bus Optional: Power Supply provides term. power Features : High Precision Termination Active Diagnostic Hot-Swap Remove or install SCSI devices with power on. Supplies auxiliary termination power to bus. Benefits: Share, Remove, Install, devices instantly Fixes SCSI Problems Diagnoses bus Makes SCSI easier to work with 3101 Whipple Road, Union City, Ca

Peerless Drive System User's Manual

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