General Information for Vertex, Apex, Tahoe, and Sierra

Installation/Configuration/Drivers

Where are the Windows 95 or Windows NT drivers for my drive and how do I install them?

Under Windows 95 and NT, your magneto-optical drive uses the same driver as the SCSI host adapter. For example, if you are using the Adaptec AHA-1540 controller, Windows 95 uses the driver AHA154X.MPD which can be found on the Windows 95 CD in the CAB file WIN95_04.CAB or at \DRIVERS\STORAGE\ADAPTEC. It will show up in your device Manager under the section SCSI Controllers as "Adaptec AHA-154X/AHA-164X SCSI Host Adapter".

Microsoft Windows NT uses the driver AHA154X.SYS from the i386 directory on the Windows NT CD. To install it go to the Main group then double-click "Windows NT Setup". Under the Options menu, choose "Add/Remove SCSI adapters". Click on the Add button and select "Adaptec 154x/164x". You may be prompted for the Windows NT CD.

How do I format and prepare the media for use with DOS/Windows 3.1, or Windows 95?

Pinnacle Micro recommends you low-level format and partition each cartridge before using it. For DOS/Windows/Windows 95 users, it is best to boot to DOS as the Adaptec utilities run under DOS. Make sure the appropriate DOS driver(s) are loaded so the drive can be used under DOS. If you are using an Adaptec SCSI controller, run SETUP.EXE from the included EZ-SCSI 4.0L diskette while in Windows 3.1 to install the appropriate drivers (ASPI4DOS.SYS and ASPIDISK.SYS for the users of the AHA-1540), and that the proper utilities are installed (at C:\SCSI by default). Once a drive letter has been created, from the C:\SCSI directory, run SCSIFMT.EXE. This will low-level format your media and should take about 20 mins per side. Once complete, run AFDISK.EXE to create the partition(s) you wish to have for each side. Your media is now ready to use.

Windows 95 users should then remove the DOS drivers and rely on the Windows 95 drivers to control their drive. See the above section for more information on Windows 95 drivers.

How do I format and prepare the media for use with Windows NT?

For Windows NT users, all formatting and partitioning is done through the "Disk Administrator" in the "Administrative Tools" program group. To partition media, open Disk Administrator and click once on the drive in which to partition. (NOTE: Each time you select an item from the File menu, you must select the drive first.) From the File menu, select "Create", then click OK. Click on "Mark Active", then OK. Click "Commit Changes Now", then OK.

There are two ways to format media using Disk Administrator in Windows NT, FAT and NTFS.

FAT (File Allocation Table) is the preferred all-around way to format the media. This format gives the most versatility of the two types of formats. FAT will allow removability as well as compatibility to DOS. There are a few things to remember about the compatibility to DOS. DOS can read from a disk formatted under the FAT format and the FAT format can read from the DOS platform as well. Copying data from DOS to FAT, CANNOT be accomplished. Copying data from FAT to DOS, CAN be accomplished.

NTFS (New Technology File System) is preferred for the most versatility within NT. This format does NOT allow removability because it was not designed to do so. It is much more powerful in NT than FAT.

To format media under NT, open Disk Administrator and click once on the drive in which to format. (NOTE: Each time you select an item from the File menu, you must select the drive first.) From the Tools menu select "Format". Select "FAT" or "NTFS". Click once in the Volume Name Box and put in a Volume Name. You may either do a "Fast Format" (which wipes out the FAT tables) or not. If you prefer to do so, just click on the "Fast Format" box. Click OK to begin formatting. Once you have completed the formatting and partitioning, the disk is now ready to use.

I just used AFDISK to partition my removable media with more than one partition, but it still only shows as one drive letter in DOS/Windows 3.1. What did I do? What if I’m running Windows 95?

1. You need to add the "/r" parameter to the end of your ASPIDISK statement. The /r option addresses a problem unique to removable media. Suppose that when you boot your computer, a removable disk with one partition is in the drive. Later, you remove it and insert media with two partitions. You cannot access the second partition because only one partition has been defined to DOS.
2. This option sets the number of DOS logical drive letters for removable media. One logical drive is reserved by default and you do not need to specify a number. Valid reserve count values are from 1 to 24. Here’s an example if you partitioned your media to have 4 partitions:
3. device=c:\scsi\aspidisk.sys /r4
4. Windows 95 users need to do nothing, The Windows 95 ASPI manager will detect the partitions and give each a unique drive letter, even skipping an existing CD-ROM drive letter if necessary. For example, if your MO drive is D:, your CD-ROM is F:, and you insert a disk with 4 partitions, you will see Removable Drive letters D: E: G: and H:, while your CD-ROM remains drive F:. Of course drive letters assignments can be tailored to your needs by using Device Manager.
5. Of course, if you replace the multi-partitioned media with one that has only one partition, you will get an "Unable to read Drive" error when you try to access the other partitions which don’t exist on that particular piece of media.

Can I boot from my magneto-optical drive?

Yes. First, enable the BIOS on your SCSI controller to allow it to boot from a SCSI device. Second, set the SCSI ID of your MO drive to "0". Third, either format the cartridge to include system files (under DOS, type FORMAT C: /S) or use the SYS command included with DOS to make the media bootable.

Can I replace my non-Adaptec SCSI adapter with one from Adaptec (or vice versa) and read the data from the disk?

SCSI is standard, but how data is translated onto the drive is not. Each manufacturer uses its own translation scheme. The drive will have to be low-level formatted (use SCSIFMT.EXE with Adaptec cards) once it is connected to the new host adapter.

I am running a Pinnacle Micro optical drive with ASPIDISK.SYS driver. When I change the media, I receive an error "Lost Allocation Table".

ASPIDISK v3.03 is the cause of this problem. Upgrade your ASPI drivers to get ASPIDISK v3.32 or later. Download UPGRADE.EXE from Adaptec’s BBS at (408) 945-7727 or their web site at: "http://www.adaptec.com".

Can ASPIDISK.SYS be revised to assign or change logical drive letters?

No, it will automatically give the magneto-optical drive(s) the next available drive letter(s) when it loads. In Windows 95, however, the drive letter can be changed by going into "Device Manager", "Disk Drives", and "Settings".

In Windows NT 3.5x, I was using the AHA-294X. However it recently went out on me. I purchased a new AHA-294X (with the new 1.2xBIOS) and plugged it into my system. Now on boot, I get the blue screen memory dump with the error "In_Accessible_Boot_Device". What do I need to do?

1. If your boot partition is FAT, follow this procedure:
2. Locate your 7800 Family Manager Set v1.20 diskette or download 7800WNT.EXE from Adaptec’s BBS or web site. Boot off of a DOS diskette. Go to your \WINNT35\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS directory. At this point insert your 7800 Family Manager Diskette and type "COPY A:\WINNT\3_5\AIC78XX.SYS". Remove the disk from A:\ and reboot.
3.  
4. If your boot partition is NTFS, follow this procedure:
5. Locate your 7800 Family Manager Set v1.20 diskette or download 7800WNT.EXE from Adaptec’s BBS or web site. Reinstall NT and then it will go through a hardware detection. It will not detect you have a SCSI controller. Select "Other". Insert your 7800 Family Manager Set v1.21 Disk and select the 3.5 driver.

What is the difference between the T-3x8 and the APA-3x8?

The products are the same, just the name has been changed.

What is the difference between the MiniSCSI Plus (T-348) and the MiniSCSI EPP (T-358)?

With the T-358 you can get up to 1 MB/sec burst rate while running on an Enhanced Parallel Port, but the transfer rate of the T-348 on the same port is only up to 260 KB/sec. The T-358 will also run on a Uni-directional or Bi-directional Parallel Port, but at a reduced rate.

What Windows 95 driver does my magneto-optical drive use if I have a Trantor Parallel-to-SCSI T-348 or T-358 cable?

The Trantor driver can be installed by double-clicking "Add New Hardware" from the Control Panel. It is listed in the "SCSI controllers" section under "Trantor". The file names needed to finish the install are T348.MPD or T358.MPD depending the model cable you have. They are installed from the Windows 95 CD and the CAB filename is WIN95_05.CAB.

I get "No Host Adapter Found" with T-338, T-348, or T-358. What should I do?

Make sure the SCSI device provides termination power and the ASPI manager (MA3xx.SYS) loads in CONFIG.SYS. Try another SCSI device.

My T-338, T-348, or T-358 driver fails to load and it says "No host adapter present."

The T-338, T-348, or T-358 requires that the SCSI device provide termination power. The T-338, T-348, or T-358 receives its power from the SCSI device connected. To conduct a quick test to verify termination power, connect a printer to the T-338, T-348, or T-358 pass through port and execute a print screen. If the printer fails to print, the T-338, T-348, or T-358 lacks termination power. Verify that the SCSI device provides termination power.

How can I check termination power when using the T-338, T-348, or T-358?

Try attaching a printer to the printer-pass-through on the T-338, T-348, or T-358. If it prints, then the SCSI device has termination power. Otherwise, contact Pinnacle Micro, or using a volt meter, measure pin 38 (5-volts) and pin 37 (ground).