Re: Help with SCSI-2

[pubpc1@library.ucla.edu]

<sysop@lost-gonzo.com> wrote:
>JO>Anyway, my SCSI troubles were solved when I got an active terminator
>JO>on the end of my SCSI chain.  I would definitely recommend one of
>JO>these things.
>what is...the diff between a active terminator and a i assume what would
>be called a passive terminator...
>
>i too am starting to get odd cdc or western digital scsi drives to me to
>try on my gs bbs system with my ramfast...maybe there is a better way to
>work thru the process with one of these active terminators....(as you
>can tell.my experence with scsi has been up to this point by the box
>plug it in the ramfast and forget....enlighten me please....beginner
>level)
>
>brad
>sysop@lost-gonzo.com


A passive terminator is just a bunch of resistors which dampen
the signal coming through the SCSI bus to prevent it from bouncing
back, which can lead to anything from data corruption to ghost
partitions.  An active terminator is an electronic damper which
can adjust dynamically to match the signal and is thus much more
effective than the passive one (especially on long SCSI chains).

The symptoms described by the two people with SCSI2 problems sounds
exactly like termination problems.  Notice that they both have
more than one device on their SCSI chain.  Some drives are also more
sensitive than others.  An active terminator would most likely
solve their problems (usually, if an SCSI2 implementation is not
supported by the RAM Fast or Apple SCSI cards, they won't work at
all).

Symptoms like these on Macs are also solved by active term.

-Scott G.