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Setting up IBM PC XT hard drives

C

CollinB1

Experienced Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2017
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64
Location
USA
Hello,
I've got a PC XT with 2 Seagate 225 20MB hard drives.
A WD1002A-WX1 controller is installed in the slot second closest
to the CPU. Whenever I start up the computer, one drive's read light turns on
while the others doesn't.

IMG_0754.jpg

Are these data cables plugged in right?
Does it matter which connector they are plugged into.
I don't want to format the drives because I want to see what's on them.

In PC DOS 3.30, FDISK only says " there are no hard disks attached.
These hard drives have always been in the computer, but the cables came unplugged.

Also is the wider cable plugged in correctly?
Any help appreciated!
 
The two narrow cables look right (pin one is towards the back of the card, and indicated on the cable by the different colored edge), not sure about the wider cable as it is hard to see in the picture.

On the other end, the wider cable should daisy chain the two drives, you'll notice there is a twist on the cable towards the end, this is how the drive ID is set. J2 (top small connector) should go to drive 0, which if I recall correctly is the drive in the middle (before the twist) of the wider cable. J3 (the lower short connector) should go to drive 1, which should be on the end of the wider cable (after the twist). I could have the larger cable backwards, so try both ways.

Determining pin 1 on the wider cable is easy, if you look at the end of the cable, the twist is farther away from pin one that it is from pin 34. So if the twist is on the right side then pin 1 is on the left. Pin 1 on the card is towards the back of the card. So find pin one at the end of the cable and follow it back to the card and make sure its on the side of the connector that is towards the back of the card.

As for the DOS version, I'd try something a bit newer, maybe DOS 5. That way you can rule out the OS as a possible cause for not being able to read the drives. DOS 3.3 has some limits on partitions, file system types etc.
 
Yes I have now confirmed that the cabling is correct,
But I tried them separately and the one which would turn
on the read light does not spin up.

The other one does not turn on the read light.

Are either of these problems fixable?
 
The one that does not spin up, try turning the PSU up, then quickly apply and remove power from the drive. This worked on a few drives I had that had a stuck motor, the sudden application of power enabled them to dislodge the stuck motor. Probably not the best thing to do to a drive, but could work.
 
Are you sure the data cables (20 pin) are connected to the drives as they were originally? If they got switched after becoming unplugged neither drive would work. Try switching the data cables and see if that makes any difference.
 
Stone said:
Are you sure the data cables (20 pin) are connected to the drives as they were originally? If they got switched after becoming unplugged neither drive would work. Try switching the data cables and see if that makes any difference.
Click to expand...
Assuming the control cable is twisted (and an HD cable, not a floppy version) it shouldn't matter, should it?

But it sounds like there are other issues here.
 
MikeS said:
Assuming the control cable is twisted (and an HD cable, not a floppy version) it shouldn't matter, should it?
Click to expand...
Of course it matters...

The center connector on the control cable IS C: and the end connector IS D:. If you mismatch the data cables without reversing the control cable drive connections...
 
The diagram at [here] is for the WDXT-GEN, but also applies to the WD1002A-WX1
If your control cable is twisted instead of straight-through (flat), then note the boxed comment in the diagram.

Another relevant diagram is at [here].
 
I started getting a 1701 error on boot up.

I took both hard drives out and I still get the error.

Apparently it has to do with a hard disk error.
It must be the controller.
There is no visible damage,
but is there a specific slot for it or can it go in any one?
I know the one closest to the cpu is reserved, but would it need to go there?
 
CollinB1 said:
I started getting a 1701 error on boot up.
I took both hard drives out and I still get the error.
Apparently it has to do with a hard disk error.
Click to expand...
1701 is generated by code in the hard drive controller's BIOS ROM chip, and typically indicates a problem in the hard drive system. See [here].
So, lots of possible causes.
It usually takes a while to appear after power on.
 
Is it possible, that even though the two drives have always been in the computer, that you are unaware of other things?
E.g. When the computer was in the possession of the previous owner, the hard drive controller failed, and that owner unsuccessfully tried a different make/model of controller (the WD1002A-WX1) without being knowledgeable enough to make that happen.
Have you personally seen the subject combination of hardware working?

If not, you should assume that you bought the components separately, and thus need to go through configuration (jumpers, etc.), low-level format, partitioning (FDISK), high-level formatting (FORMAT), etc.
 
Yes it did take a while, but I had no idea about the previous owner because I found it.
I hooked them up when I first found it, and I never got the error,
But I could never get them working either.
I took it out once to look at the name, but I put it back in same slot.
Maybe bad connection in the slot?
I doubt anyone tried to repair it. It doesn't look like anyone
cared much about it :(
I'll try another slot.

All I know is that I didn't get the error at one point in time.

EDIT:
I moved it over a slot and cleaned connector and now I get no 1701 error.
But the one disk that turns on the read light does not spin up.
The disk that spins up does not turn on the read light.
Is there a way to fix this?
 
Last edited:
The drive that isn't spinning up would cause a 1701 error all by itself. Another thing that will cause a 1701 is not having any drive connected. What kind of environment was the unit in when you found it? If it was in a damp location or other "less than ideal" space it will benefit from having all the connectors exercised to refresh the contacts. Using a pencil eraser on the card edge contacts has brought may non funtioning cards back to life. Having the card out and back in the slot, and working with the drive cable connectors is probably why you see an error where there was none before.

I think I would try getting the spinning drive working first. Leave the non-spinning drive for later because a non spinning drive is going to cause errors and make it harder to identify other issues.

After all these many years, it is pretty commom for drives like the ST225 to need a low level format to restore functionallity, but this ruins any chance of seeing what is currently on the drive.
 
Last edited:
CollinB1 said:
All I know is that I didn't get the error at one point in time.
Click to expand...
A 1701 is generated by the ROM in the XT-class controller card. Therefore, possible causes of no 1701 (when one is expected) are, intermittent controller, and controller has poor connection to ISA slot.

Also to note is that the 1701 is triggered by different failure scenarios. So, a 'drive not ready' triggered 1701 might appear after one minute, but a 'drive ready, recalibrates, but a read of first sector fails' triggered 1701 might appear after two minutes.
 
fatwizard said:
I think I would try getting the spinning drive working first. Leave the non-spinning drive for later because a non spinning drive is going to cause errors and make it harder to identify other issues.
Click to expand...
Yes. No point in trying to get a dual-drive scenario working if a single-drive scenario cannot be made to work.
 
Some 'MFM' drives, when they receive power' do a self test, and at some time during the self test, the drive's activity LED comes on.

I have only one functional ST-225 left. I have just now powered it on, with no control nor data cable, and I observed that the ST-225's LED never turned on. That to me suggests that the ST-225 either has no self-test, or that nothing in the self-test activates the LED.
That infers that the ST-225's LED only comes on during controller initiated operations.

CollinB1 said:
But the one disk that turns on the read light does not spin up.
The disk that spins up does not turn on the read light.
Click to expand...
If that was observed in a dual-drive configuration, then the lack of the LED coming on may be because the subject ST-225 is configured as the second drive, and during machine power up, the BIOS ROM in the controller only attempts operations on the first drive.
 
I switched out the heads because I noticed the drive that spun had a cracked ribbon connector
between the head and the board.
Once I finished switching the 2, the second drive spun up!
I just thought that it was worth a shot switching the heads because
one wouldn't light up in single configuration
and the one that would had the bad cracked ribbon.

Switching the heads probably messed it up, right?
The head still move back and forth normally.

I guess it was just my last shot.

Also how do you perform a low level format?
 
If you were very careful, and lucky, the drive might still function. I have found that old drives like the ST225 can be surprisingly tolerant of being opened to the room air for a short while. Hardly ideal, but sometimes it's the only thing between an old drive and the recycle bin.

The info on your card can be found here.

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-di...L-CORPORATION-Two-MFM-ST506-412-driv-221.html

Confirm that the drive selection jumpers on the card are correct. They are different for each of the three revision of the ROM BIOS. If the label on the ROM is missing or can't be read, see if the jumpers correspond to one of the possible settings for the ST225 (which are Cylinders 615, heads 4, write precomp 300 or none). Don't be surprised if you can only select for 612 cylinders instead of 615.

Boot the system with a DOS diskette that has some DOS utilities on it including fdisk.com, format.com, and debug.com. At the DOS prompt type debug and hit return. At the - prompt type g=c800:5 and hit return. Follow the prompts after that. I believe your controller doesn't have the free format option, so the prompts will just be for which drive and (C or D or maybe 0 or 1) and the interleave (keep the default here for now).

Type Y and hit return (I don't have your specific controller card, but the prompts should be very similar). The drive light should come on and you might hear a steady ticking sound as the stepper moves the heads across the disks. It will take several minutes to finish, after which you fdisk a partition into place and then high level format.
 
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