ATTO EPCI Single Channel - DAE error -36

[B-Bo]

I've got an ATTO EPCI Single channel card and an external Barracuda 9GB. I keep getting DAE error -36. I've been searching through many threads here, and have a couple of questions.

1. How can I tell what version of firmware my card has on it? I run the EPCI updater, but it always says "no cards updated".

2. When I run Express Pro Tools, I can't set my PCI Burst rate. It's greyed out.

My SCSI chain runs like this:
card---68 pin male to male cable---SCSI Barracuda---68 pin to 50 pin cable---Yamaha 4416 CD Burner---50 pin active terminator.

[slinky]

you probably need to use a 68 pin to 50 pin active terminator after your hard drive....then into the 50 pin part of your chain.

[B-Bo]

I just found an old thread between Dog BBQ and Steve Rosenthal that might be my answer. With the Burst Rate greyed out, I might be dealing with an OEM Apple ATTO card out of a beige G3. Dog was able to update the firmware by putting the card in a pc and flashing the firmware in DOS. I'm still not convinced that this is the answer to my error -36 problem after reading slinky's post about terminating the 68pin part of the chain. I was told by a tech at Granite Digital that the ATTO card would handle the termination of the extra pins for me, but I'm not sure that I clearly communicated that the 68 pin to 50 pin cable would not be attached to the ATTO card directly. I sure would hate to think that that expensive Granite digital cable was a waste, and that I'll have to get a 50 pin male to male to replace it in addition to a 68 pin to 50 pin active terminating adapter!

[B-Bo]

OK, I just got home and checked my card against Dog BBQ's posts.

HBA Vendor: ATTO Technology
HBA Version: 0000
Family: Express PCI
Type: Express PCISC
SIM Vendor: ATTO Technology
SIM Version: 0139
XPT Version: 0000

My sync and burst rate are still greyed out when I double click on the card. I can change the sync rate for my drive though. I now don't think I have the same problem Dog BBQ had with an OEM card, but I still can't flash the new firmware using the EPCI Updater. It always says "No cards updated". I might still have a termination problem, but I also want to be able to flash the new firmware to rule that out.

[B-Bo]

I just called ATTO tech support to ask why I couldn't flash my card with the new firmware. Thet told me it wouldn't work because firmware version 1.50 is only for their "PRO" cards. I didn't even know there was a "PRO" card. Nothing on their website or anything else I've seen distinguishes the card I have from the brand new ones. The tech support guy I talked with said that my version 0139 is the highest that my card can be upgraded to. Does this seem right to anyone?

[B-Bo]

I'm still looking for some input on my situation, which remains unresolved.

[B-Bo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Steve Rosenthal:
B-Bo,

Just an acknowledgment of your posts. I'm very busy right now, but I'll look into this.

Just to clarify: Is this actually an OEM ATTO card from a Beige G3?

I don't think so. It lists ATTO as the vendor, has at least as new a firmware revision (0139) as the one Dog BBQ upgraded to, and doesn't list the firmware revision as "F" like Dog BBQ's did. I did get it used though, hoping to follow in Dog's footsteps and find an inexpensive alternative.

FYI, the -36 error is a Mac OS read/write error. Can you give me more details about how and when this error occurs? On which drives? What disk initialization utility are you using?

Wow, Mac OS huh! Answerbase pretty much describes the problem as I see it. Specifically, when I play SoundCheck, it plays for about 9 seconds and then throws the DAE error -36. If I do it more than twice, it freezes my machine. The drive is my external barracuda. It's the only drive I have that meets digi specs. I initialized the disk with ATTO's Express Pro Tools 2.3.2.

Also, Slinky raises an important point: When you transition from wide (68 pin) to narrow (50 pin), you need an adapter or cable that actively terminates the unused signal lines of the wide bus. This could be the source of your problem.

It's money I'm willing to spend if it solves the problem. I'm just addressing problems one at a time, from cheapest to most expensive. The firmware dilemma seed like a good place to start.

Meanwhile, do you have access to a different SCSI card? Even for a short time? Swapping it out would tell us a lot.

Nope, but I'm thinking. Thanks VERY MUCH for your help. You Da Man! I've been waiting patiently for your input, and I sympathize with your busy schedule!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Steve Rosenthal]

B-Bo,

Just an acknowledgment of your posts. I'm very busy right now, but I'll look into this.

Just to clarify: Is this actually an OEM ATTO card from a Beige G3?

FYI, the -36 error is a Mac OS read/write error. Can you give me more details about how and when this error occurs? On which drives? What disk initialization utility are you using?

Also, Slinky raises an important point: When you transition from wide (68 pin) to narrow (50 pin), you need an adapter or cable that actively terminates the unused signal lines of the wide bus. This could be the source of your problem.

Meanwhile, do you have access to a different SCSI card? Even for a short time? Swapping it out would tell us a lot.



------------------
--Steve Rosenthal, Digidesign ETS

[Willmac]

BBo,
Could it be that the 50 pin CD-R is slowing the SCSI down to "narrow" speed? I can't use my UltraSCSI controller for anything more than two tracks. Just a thought.

[B-Bo]

Here's my latest update:

I tried flashing the latest firmware from a pc. The latest updater doesn't recognize my card because it's looking for Express PRO cards (same as in the mac).

The ATTO website had an archived old updater which I ran on a pc first. At that point the card wasn't recognized in my mac. Then I ran the archived old updater for macs, from my mac. At that point I got the card back to revision 0138 (older than where I started) but the pci burst rate is still greyed out (set at 8 bytes) as well as the fallback sync rate ( set at 20(10) ).

I also bought an active SCSI terminator for my 68 pin chain and disconnected the 50 pin stuff in order to put the termination issue to bed.

After all this I still am facing the same dillema. I get the DAE error -36 after 9 sec of playback of LE SoundCheck.