PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Installing and Configuring a SCSI CD-ROM Drive

Installing and configuring a SCSI drive is somewhat more involved than installing and configuring an ATAPI CD-ROM drive. Rather than attempting to provide step-by-step instructions, which vary according to the specific drive and adapter, we’ve chosen to illustrate a typical installation using a Plextor UltraPlex 40Xmax drive and an Adaptec 2930 SCSI host adapter, noting potential pitfalls along the way:

1. If you have not already done so, the first step is to install the SCSI host adapter. To do so, power down the system, remove the cover, and locate an unused PCI expansion slot that supports bus mastering. Many recent systems support bus mastering on all available slots. Older systems may support bus mastering on only some slots. In that case, the slots capable of bus mastering are normally white or ivory, and those not capable of bus mastering are brown or black. Remove the slot cover for the selected slot, align the bus connector with the slot, and press down firmly to seat the adapter. Use the screw that secured the slot cover to secure the adapter. If you have a spare drive activity indicator LED, you can connect it to J2 on the host adapter (Pins 1 and 2 if the cable has only two positions).

   Both the Plextor drive and the Adaptec host adapter fully support SCAM (SCSI Configured Auto-Magically), a kind of Plug and Play for SCSI. Note the following issues when working with SCAM:

   • SCAM-compliant drives such as the Plextor UltraPlex ...