BlueSCSIv2 on Power Macintosh 8100/80

[V.Yakob]

Hi!
Faced with a strange problem with BlueSCSIv2 with Pico W (2023.10a) on the Power Macintosh 8100/80.
Occasionally, the machine completely freezes when performing file operations: copying, archiving, archiving, etc. Messages are recorded in the log:

WARNING: Host used command 0x1A which is affected by drive geometry. Current settings are 63 sectors x 255 heads = 16065 but image size of 1048672 sectors is not divisible. This can cause error messages in diagnostics tools.
WARNING: Host used command 0x1A which is affected by drive geometry. Current settings are 63 sectors x 255 heads = 16065 but image size of 293631 sectors is not divisible. This can cause error messages in diagnostics tools.
WARNING: Host used command 0x1A which is affected by drive geometry. Current settings are 63 sectors x 255 heads = 16065 but image size of 1048672 sectors is not divisible. This can cause error messages in diagnostics tools.
WARNING: Host used command 0x1A which is affected by drive geometry. Current settings are 63 sectors x 255 heads = 16065 but image size of 204928 sectors is not divisible. This can cause error messages in diagnostics tools.
SDIO card reports write CRC error, status 0x58000000
SdioCard::writeSectors(0x00471623,...,19) failed: 7
SD card write failed: 0x00
SDIO card reports write CRC error, status 0x58000000
SdioCard::writeSectors(0x004A51D3,...,21) failed: 7
SD card write failed: 0x00

When debug is enabled:

[455698ms] SDIO card reports write CRC error, status 0x58000000
[455698ms] SdioCard::writeSectors(0x004A6F23,...,16) failed: 7
[455699ms] SD card write failed: 0x00
[455700ms] DBG ---- Total IN: 0 OUT: 8192 CHECKSUM: 50534
[455700ms] DBG ---- STATUS: 2 CHECK_CONDITION, sense 0x00000C02
[455708ms] DBG ---- MESSAGE_IN
[455708ms] DBG ------ IN: 0x00
[455709ms] DBG -- BUS_FREE
[455709ms] DBG ---- SELECTION: 1
[455710ms] DBG ---- MESSAGE_OUT
[455710ms] DBG ------ OUT: 0xC0
[455711ms] DBG ---- COMMAND: RequestSense
[455711ms] DBG ------ OUT: 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x10 0x00
[455711ms] DBG ---- DATA_IN
[455711ms] DBG ---- Total IN: 16 OUT: 0 CHECKSUM: 20122
[455711ms] DBG ---- STATUS: 0 GOOD
[455716ms] DBG ---- MESSAGE_IN
[455716ms] DBG ------ IN: 0x00
[455717ms] DBG -- BUS_FREE
[455717ms] DBG ---- SELECTION: 6
[460719ms] scsi_accel_rp2040_finishRead timeout
[460719ms] SCSI DMA state: READ
[460719ms] Current buffer: 0x00000006/0x00000006, next 0x00000000 bytes
[460719ms] SyncOffset: 0 SyncPeriod 0
[460719ms] PIO Parity SM: tx_fifo 0, rx_fifo 0, pc 1, instr 0x000060C8
[460719ms] PIO Data SM: tx_fifo 4, rx_fifo 0, pc 12, instr 0x0000201A
[460719ms] PIO Sync SM: tx_fifo 0, rx_fifo 0, pc 0, instr 0x00000000
[460719ms] DMA CH A: ctrl: 0x0102B021 count: 0x00000006
[460719ms] DMA CH B: ctrl: 0x001FC007 count: 0x00000000
[460719ms] DMA CH C: ctrl: 0x01034009 count: 0x00000001
[460719ms] DMA CH D: ctrl: 0x01014809 count: 0x00000001
[460719ms] GPIO states: 0x16F3F9FF
[460719ms] DBG ---- COMMAND: RequestSense
[460719ms] DBG ------ OUT: 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x10 0x00
[460727ms] DBG -- BUS_FREE

I tried to erase the firmware and reflash, format SD cards, change SD cards, recreate virtual HDD files in DiskJokey, reinstall SSW 7.1.2, SSW 7.5.3

diskutil partitionDisk disk6 MBR exFAT BlueSCSISD R
cp -Rv ~/Temp/BlueSCSI/8100/* /Volumes/BlueSCSISD

But nothing helps, the same thing every time, the machine freezes completely, the mouse cursor does not move.
If I use SCSI HDD, there is no such problem, That is, most likely the computer is working.

I connected this BlueSCSI to another computer (G3 B&W + Adaptec 2906). When creating a load on virtual disks: copying, testing MacBench 5, these errors also appear. But the disks themselves look working, now I have run read/write tests, copying, archiving on one of the connected disks several times.

On another BlueSCSI (2022.12a) that I have, I haven't noticed such problems for several months -- there have never been any hangs or any oddities.

What could be the problem? Is this BlueSCSI has a bug?
Maybe need to set some special parameter in bluescsi.ini?

 

[eric]

You have quite a few things in your ini file - on a 8100 (or any mac) you'd want scsi2 on - only real thing it does is slow things down for older buses. The product/vendor/version isnt needed - that is all setup automatically. - I'd just trash this ini and only set the keys you need (which would leave just storing the drives in subfolders)

You say you formatted it - but did you use the SD Card Formatter Utility in the docs with a full overwrite format? that resolves 99% of weird SD issues.

The issue is it's failing to write to the SD card for some reason. I would format that and do a visual inspection around the SD card socket and pins on the pico to rule out any connectivity issues.

 

[V.Yakob]

@eric, Thanks for the advice.
I used the "SD Card Formatter Utility", executed the "Owerwrite format", also almost emptied bluescsi.ini from the parameters, leaving only what is really needed. But it didn't help.
It is noteworthy that the problem begins to reproduce only at ~3,5 minutes (202148 ms = ~202 sec)

[202148ms] SDIO card reports write CRC error, status 0x58000000
[202149ms] SdioCard::writeSectors(0x0046C493,...,16) failed: 7
[202149ms] SD card write failed: 0x00

I.e. after turning on the power, booting the OS, I managed to run the disk test in MacBench 4, which was running for a while, until the machine was freeze.

The next error occurs after ~17 seconds.

[219843ms] SDIO card reports write CRC error, status 0x58000000
[219843ms] SdioCard::writeSectors(0x004765F3,...,13) failed: 7
[219844ms] SD card write failed: 0x00

I don't see any visible problems on this, the soldering seems to be normal, and the contacts in the slot are clean, without foreign objects.
Ok, there is probably some bug in my BlueSCSI, so the work does not look stable under any load on the Mac disk subsystem: copying, archiving, unarchiving, testing in MacBench...

 

[eric]

What brand of SD card are you using? We've noticed some SanDisk just don't follow the SD Spec and can cause issues. If you could try a different brand It'll help narrow it down. This seems just like a SD card issue to me so far till we get more info.

 

[V.Yakob]

@eric, 3 SD-cards

2 pieces -- Transcend, SDXC, 128 GB
1 piece -- Transcend, SDHC, 32 GB

All these cards work fine in another BlueSCSI (2022.12a).

Within a few days, I performed many checks, replacement of SD cards, formatting, connections to different Macs, and the result was always the same. My new BlueSCSI gave read/write errors on all SD cards and on 2 Macs every time.

I have already contacted the seller, he will replace me with BlueSCSI and try to deal with this problem.

 

[V.Yakob]

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that the secret of the addict has been revealed.

I always connected several virtual drives, as a result, the SCSI bus was completely or almost used.

Perhaps this old controller goes crazy and starts working with errors when many devices are connected. And as I understand it, all calculations are done by the CPU, which may also not pull a large number of devices.

All for what?
If I connect 1 virtual CD-ROM and virtual 1 HDD, there seem to be no problems in operation. There are errors in the log, but the car does not freeze.
Soon I will receive an update to the G3 processor from newer tech, and we'll see how the situation changes.