[pups] Sigma RDQ11-EC, ESDI disk wisdom needed

I am trying to get a Sigma RQD11-EC ESDI disk controller and Fujitsu M2261E disk to work in a MicroVAX III, and am stumped. I am quite sure the current problem would show up in a Qbus PDP-11 as well, so I thought I'd ask here. Those who don't recognize the devices will probably find it boring to read on, but for the sake of politeness, the RQD11-EC is a four-drive Qbus ESDI disk controller that speaks MSCP to the host computer, and the M2261E is a 320MB full-height 5.25-inch ESDI disk drive. I picked them both up (actually two of each) just short of someone's dumpster a couple of years ago, but this is the first time I have tried to use them. It was believed that they were working when last powered up, which was several years before they came to me. They didn't come with documentation. I hope to get a copy of the controller manual from a geographically-distant friend, who has already e-mailed me a list of switch settings and some other key facts. www.pc-disk.de has a spec-and-jumpers sheet for the disk. In a sentence, the trouble is that the controller cannot see the disk. In more detail: The RQD11 is configured at address 0160354 (I am testing in a system that also has an RQDX3 at the standard address which I don't want to disturb); bootstrap disabled; CPU type LSI-11 (the only other choice is `none'); interrupts at BR4. Except the address, these are the same settings the board had when it was last in use. There are many disk jumpers. Among the settings are: drive select 1; daisy-chain style signal gating; 590 bytes per sector, hard-sectored; ATTN not set to READY at power-up. Again these are believed to be the settings when the drive was last used. The A (wide) cable runs from the A connector on the disk to J5 (the only 34-pin connector) on the controller. The drive has a terminator DIP in place. The B (narrow) cable runs from the B connector on the disk to J1 on the controller. The cables I am using happen to be missing the keys normally found at the drive end; I have tried all four possible cable orientations to no avail. When fed power, the disk spins up and calibrates (the rattling head-dance I'm familiar with from other Fuji disks of similar vintage). At no point have I seen any fault LEDs lit. The READY LED on the front of the disk comes on after calibration, and stays on. The RQD11's CSR responds as it should on the Qbus, and the sequence that is supposed to open communications with WOMBAT (the firmware command interpreter) works fine: RQD11-EC WOMBAT Version: 2.38 Drive number: According to my friend with the manual, before the drive number prompt the firmware should list all the drives it sees, but I have yet to see it list anything. If I give it a drive number between 0 and 7, it reports `no drv'; any other number yields `Illegal drive number'. I have tried various experiments, including - using J3 instead of J1 for the B cable - different drive-select lines - changing CHN7 15-16 to `set ATTN at power-up' each with all four possible cable orientations. As I say, I'm stumped. Anybody got any suggestions? Is there anything I can do to get better diagnostic information out of either the disk or the controller? Thanks much for any advice, Norman Wilson