Symptoms

Adding a Scanner to a Pre-Installed Dell SCSI Adapter Card If you have a Dell factory-installed AHA-2940U or AHA-2940UW SCSI controller card with a SCSI CD-ROM drive and SCSI hard drive connected, you will need to change some internal cabling in order to use the external SCSI connector on that card. You may also need to purchase a longer SCSI cable or cable adapters to accommodate the external connector for the scanner. These cards have three connectors or channels. These cards will support any two of the three channels at once. They ship from the factory with the hard drive connected to the faster channel on the card and the CD-ROM drive connected to the slower channel. Both the hard drive and the CD-ROM drive are connected to internal connectors. That leaves the third, external connector without any devices connected to it, but in order to use this connector, you will have to move the SCSI CD-ROM connector onto the faster channel with the hard drive (this will not slow down the hard drive). This will leave on of the internal connectors open and will then make the external channel available to which you can attach your scanner cable. To configure your computer this way, you will need a longer SCSI cable than the one Dell-installed and two SCSI interface adapters. You will need a 68-pin data cable with three connectors and one or two 50-to-68 pin adapters. To free up the external connector, perform the following steps: Caution: Before you perform any of the following steps, read the Precautionary Measures warning for your personal safety and to prevent damage to the computer system from electrostatic discharge. Attach one 50-to-68 pin adapter internally to the back of the CD-ROM drive.Using the 68-pin data cable with three connectors, chain together the CD-ROM drive (using the 50-to-68 pin adapter), the hard drive, and the SCSI controller card.If you are connecting an older scanner, connect it to another 50-to-68 pin adapter and then connect the adapter to the external SCSI card port. Note: Alternatively, you can connect a single cable, with the right connections on each end,between the scanner and the external SCSI connection.

Cause

ISA SCSI controllers and Dell Computer Systems Many scanner manufacturers supply a SCSI controller card in the box with their scanners. In most cases, especially for older scanners, the included card will be the less expensive ISA interface type. However, most Dell computers no longer have an ISA slot available. All the available slots will be PCI slots. If you want to install the SCSI scanner in a new computer, it is likely that you will need to replace the ISA card with a new PCI card and also your older SCSI cable with a newer one and an adapter. Your scanner's manufacturer may have specific recommendations for models of all these items, and may also have them for sale.

Resolution

Adding a PCI SCSI Controller Card and Drivers PCI v2.1-compliant SCSI cards do not have many resource issues, since they are able to share resources with other devices. Installation in an available PCI slot is generally straightforward. If you do have problems with installing a PCI SCSI card and it seems to be due to a resource conflict, you may wish to install the card in a different PCI slot. Resources are assigned to PCI devices partially based upon the slot used by the device. Therefore, moving the card to a different slot will assign different resources to the card. PCI Devices can share resources because the resources are allocated to the PCI bus itself rather than to the individual devices. After the SCSI card is physically installed, you will need to install the software drivers for the card. The procedure for installing those drivers would depend upon the specific card that is installed. Consult the documentation provided with the SCSI controller for instructions on installing the drivers. Configuring and Terminating the Scanner on the SCSI Bus The scanner will need a unique SCSI ID assignment. It may also need to have a terminator installed if it is placed at an end of the SCSI bus. If the scanner is the only device attached to a controller provided by the scanner manufacturer, you do not need to worry about the SCSI ID or termination. This should already be configured for you. However, if you are using a pre-existing SCSI controller to run multiple devices, and you are adding the SCSI scanner, you may need to manually configure the SCSI ID parameters. A list of assigned SCSI IDs is normally available through a SCSI BIOS utility or a SCSI configuration utility provided with the controller card. Consult the documentation provided with your controller card to determine how to check the currently assigned SCSI IDs. If you have a Dell factory-installed AHA-2940 family SCSI controller you can check the SCSI IDs in the SCSI BIOS.To do so, perform the following steps: Reboot the computer.Press the and keys at the same time when you see an Adaptec banner. The SCSI Select utility appears.Select the option for SCSI Disk Utility. This will bring up a list of SCSI IDs. Any SCSI ID not associated with a specific device is available for use by your scanner. The procedure for assigning a SCSI ID to the scanner will vary depending upon the specific scanner. Refer to the documentation provided with your scanner to determine how to set the SCSI ID for that device. If you have several SCSI devices attached to your SCSI controller, the devices on each end of the SCSI bus should be terminated. For example, if you have a SCSI Zip drive attached to the external connector of the SCSI controller and the scanner is attached to the Zip drive, the scanner would need to be terminated. If the SCSI scanner is attached to the external connector on the controller card and the Zip drive is attached to the scanner, the Zip drive would be terminated. The procedure for terminating a scanner will vary depending upon the specific model of scanner. Refer to the documentation provided with your scanner.

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