I use a P2B-DS -- similar board, but with dual CPUs.

  I believe there's an option in the SCSI controller setup to power up the
drives in turn, rather than all at once.  A ten-second interval, tives the
fifteen devices that a wide SCSI bus could have, give 2.5 minutes....

  If, as you surmise, the controller is toast, then your only option may be
to try to disable the on-board controller.

  Hmmm.  You say "as soon as the SCSI BIOS started"....  IIRC, the SCSI BIOS
doesn't get loaded unless a bootable device is found on the SCSI bus.  But
that determination can't be made until after the devices are enumerated, so
I think you must be talking about some other step in the process.

David Gillett


On 14 Jul 2003, at 10:42, Mark Rode wrote:

> I am working on a ASUS PB2-LS. Everything works fine except for the onboard
> Adaptec 7890 SCSI controller.
>
> When the SCSI BIOS scan begins, it does not see any drive. It makes three
> attempts  to find a drive, which takes it  2.5 to 3 minutes before it
> fails, and then continues with the boot. It does this even if there is no
> drive or cable plugged in. With no drive or cable plugged into the
> controller, the result is the same, ... a two and a half minute scan. With
> no cable plugged in, the SCSI BIOS device scan should take no more then 5
> seconds. And when I use CTRL-A to enter the SCSI BIOS it takes around 45
> seconds for it execute.
>
> I have tried it with a SCSI drive plugged in. The scan tries to find a
> drive for 3 attempts which goes on for 2 and half minutes, and there is no
> way to stop it. After the scan failed with the drive, I removed the SCSI
> drive and  cable. Then I disabled the onboard SCSI and plugged my AHA
> 2940AU into the Asus,...then plugged the cable into the 2940AU and powered
> on. There it is .. the drive is seen and works normally. It is not the
> drive, it's not the cable.
>
> The first thing I did  to troubleshoot this, was to clear the BIOS, and
> flash it to the latest ASUS posted version. This ASUS flash updated both
> the BIOS and the SCSI BIOS. But I have the  same problem.
>
> Next I pulled everything out of the board, and pulled the board from the
> case. I then pulled and shorted the battery. and then I let it sit
> overnight, before hooking it back up on the bench with basic components,
> ....CPU, RAM, Video, Floppy. As soon as I powered on I entered the BIOS
> loading defaults..exited out and as soon as the SCSI BIOS started I entered
> it and loaded defaults.
>
> Then I powered off. When I powered back on I had the same problem. There
> was no SCSI drive connected and yet the SCSI device SCAN took 2 min 37 sec.
> It took 47sec just to enter the SCSI BIOS. I then powered off and plugged a
> known to be working TEAC SCSI  CDROM and cable. Powered on, made BIOS
> adjustments and rebooted. Same problems.
>
> The Adaptec Controller is probably toast, but Is anybody familiar with this
> Adaptec onboard controller, and has anybody seen this sort of behavior
> before. Anybody know of a solution?
>
> Thank You
>
> Rode
> The NOSPIN Group
> http://freepctech.com
>
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