Ok first of all my system: PM7300/200 256 MB RAM OS 9.1 2 Gig internal SCSI hard drive 12X CD-Rom NEC Multisync A500 attached to a VGA adapter attached to the built-in video port (I believe I have 2MB of vram).
Next, the problem: In the past month I have purchased 2 different ATA PCI cards that I wanted to use in my 7300 in order to alleviate my growing storage problems. The first card was the ACard 6280M. I already have this card installed in my Rev.A B&W G3 with 2- 40 gig drives attached to them so I knew they work on the Mac. I installed the new card into the 7300 and attached a measly 5 gig drive that was jumpered as a master. Now drive setup detected the drive but as the manual said it wouldn't mount drives on the first run, you need to initialize them. So I ran drive set to initialize it and this was where my problem starts. I keep getting the "Initialization failure" message. I tried all combinations of partitions, types of formats, Low Level and Zero data settings. Nothing worked. I then tried using FWB Toolkit. It almost initialized it but at the very end it gives me an "Unknown HDT error has occurred" message. I then sacrificed my 40 gig drive from my B&W and it too failed to initialize. I decided to do a firmware update and there was one on the web site. I updated the firmware successfully so I know the computer can sense the card (as well Apple System Profiler sees the card and shows the drive attached to it). I then tried the card in my B&W and the bugger worked! It initialized BOTH drives that failed in the 7300. Needless to say I returned the card. Then I went and bought the Sonnet Tempo ATA-100 card. Many PCI-Powermac listers have suggested to use this card. I installed it in my 7300 in a different PCI slot. Again System Profiler listed the card was present. I attached a brand new 40GB Western Digital Hard drive (which according to the Sonnet tech is supported 100%). Again, in drive setup I got the same initialization failure message. I tried formatting the drives using the installation OS 9.1 disk as well as FWB Toolkit. Still the drives will not initialize or mount in the 7300. I tried the card with the same drives in the B&W and as with the Acard, it worked flawlessly. What the heck is wrong with my 7300? Both cards say that I should be able to use it in my machine but I keep getting the initialization errors. I spoke for about 1/2 an hour with the Sonnet tech guy and he told me that the SCSI shouldn't be affecting the card at all and he was totally stumped. He never saw this happen before. I don't think it's my PCI slots since I have used them with graphic cards and firewire cards and both worked fine in all three slots. The ATA cards did not work in any of the PCI slots. As well it couldn't be the cable or drives since they worked in the B&W. Anyone have an answer to my dilemma? Thanks in advance. Sorry for being long winded but it's best to include all details. -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
