Mac Plus not booting from Blue SCSI

[TobbasMcJobbas]

Hey folks, I've been trying to boot my Mac Plus from a Blue SCSI (V1) for the last couple days with no luck. I can see others have posted here with similar issues, though their fixes have not worked for me.

Things I've tried include:
1. Ensuring termination jumper is set correctly on the board and powering from USB
2. Using pre-made MacOS images linked to on Blue SCSI guide - I've tried using versions 6.0.8, 7.0.1 and 7.5.3
3. Using different SD cards, reformatting each using the recommended SD card formatter and using exFAT
4. Updating the Blue SCSI firmware to the latest version: 1.1-20230708-USB
5. Using the bluescsi.ini file with configurations for Mac Plus. I was later told this is only relevant for Blue SCSI V2 (mine is V1) so I have since removed this file from the SD card
6. Using a blank image made by Disk Jockey
7. Using an image with 7.5.5 I created myself using Basilisk II

My log file shows the following:
BlueSCSI https://github.com/erichelgeson/BlueSCSI VER: 1.1-20230708-USB DEBUG:0 SDCard Info: Format:exFAT SPI speed: 50Mhz Max Filename Length:64 MID:41 OID:42 Name:ASTC Date:7/2019 Serial:486 - HD20_512.hda HDD / 1073741824bytes / 1048576KiB / 1024MiB ID:LUN0: 0:----: 1:----: 2: 512: 3:----: 4:----: 5:----: 6:----: Finished configuration - Starting BlueSCSI
I am connecting the device to my Mac using an IDC 50 to DB25 adapter.
The Mac was booting off a SCSI2SD a couple days ago with no issues, so I'm not sure what's up with the Blue SCSI.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Phipli]

How are you powering the bluescsi?

The Plus can't power SCSI devices straight from the SCSI cable, you have to use an external power source (or do the diode mod).

 

[TobbasMcJobbas]

I’m powering it by USB from a USB hub (using one of its powered ports)

 

[desertrout]

I can't speak with direct experience, but I've heard some folks having luck with this by formatting the image with Lido

EDIT: Apparently not

 

[Phipli]

I’m powering it by USB from a USB hub (using one of its powered ports)

Have you reached out to the seller?

 

[Phipli]

I can't speak with direct experience, but I've heard some folks having luck with this by formatting the image with Lido

@TobbasMcJobbas

Based on this, I don't think you should use Lido. It apparently doesn't work with the Plus.

Help with BlueSCSI and Mac Plus

Hey there! I was trying to get my trusty bluescsi to work on my Mac Plus. I followed the instructions in the attached video. Good news--BlueSCSI gets power now that I added the diode. Bad news--with the SD card in the Mac Plus makes a horrific noise and the screen goes black. No floppy with...

68kmla.org

 

[desertrout]

@TobbasMcJobbas

Based on this, I don't think you should use Lido. It apparently doesn't work with the Plus.

Help with BlueSCSI and Mac Plus

Hey there! I was trying to get my trusty bluescsi to work on my Mac Plus. I followed the instructions in the attached video. Good news--BlueSCSI gets power now that I added the diode. Bad news--with the SD card in the Mac Plus makes a horrific noise and the screen goes black. No floppy with...

68kmla.org

OK then!

 

[TobbasMcJobbas]

I’ve spoken to a couple of people on the Blue SCSI discord. They got me to update my firmware and doublecheck that I had formatted the SD card properly but neither made much of a difference. I’m still getting the floppy disk with a question mark when I power on the Mac

 

[Phipli]

I’ve spoken to a couple of people on the Blue SCSI discord. They got me to update my firmware and doublecheck that I had formatted the SD card properly but neither made much of a difference. I’m still getting the floppy disk with a question mark when I power on the Mac

Have you used a disk image from a tutorial and followed it to the letter, known to work on a Plus?

 

[Phipli]

I’ve spoken to a couple of people on the Blue SCSI discord.

If you purchased it from Eric, or AmigaKit, contact them.

 

[TobbasMcJobbas]

Have you used a disk image from a tutorial and followed it to the letter, known to work on a Plus?

None that I’ve found are specific to the Mac Plus. I originally followed the guide provided by Blue SCSI, then followed this: https://www.savagetaylor.com/downloads/downloads-macintosh/.

 

[TobbasMcJobbas]

If you purchased it from Eric, or AmigaKit, contact them.

Will do. I’ll report back once I hear back

 

[zigzagjoe]

You could boot off a floppy and use SCSIProbe to see if it can see the bluescsi. Here's a disk tools 7.5 image with both the patched HD setup & scsiprobe (also Wave Maker for testing sound, but that's not needed here...)

 

[CharlieFrown]

zigzagjoe: the image you just offered to OP is 1.2 MB, so it wont work with the Plus.

Tobbas: you could try someone else's image confirmed working on Plus.

It is recommended to format the SD card using the patched Apple HD Utility, but how? When I try to do it within Basilisk I cant select my BlueSCSI, which is visible in emulator, but hidden to Apple HD Utility when it scans the SCSI bus.

 

[Phipli]

It is recommended to format the SD card using the patched Apple HD Utility, but how? When I try to do it within Basilisk I cant select my BlueSCSI,

You start from a pre made empty image, that includes the formatting.

Such as the attached.

 

[zigzagjoe]

zigzagjoe: the image you just offered to OP is 1.2 MB, so it wont work with the Plus.

Tobbas: you could try someone else's image confirmed working on Plus.

It is recommended to format the SD card using the patched Apple HD Utility, but how? When I try to do it within Basilisk I cant select my BlueSCSI, which is visible in emulator, but hidden to Apple HD Utility when it scans the SCSI bus.

Whoops... Good point.

Regarding formatting the image, the only reliable way I know to initialize from scratch a full hd image on windows is using Qemu.

Or, you can use a tool like disk jockey that in theory initializes a hd image enough that a newer version of basilisk will realize it's a disk image, not a hfs partition image, and allow you to format it without hd utility. The image files it outputs should have the driver, so you don't technically even need to do anything with basilisk unless you want to preinstall an OS. I haven't tested that, though.

 

[TobbasMcJobbas]

Thanks all - I spoke with one of the Blue SCSI creators and they asked me to try it with another machine to identify whether my Mac is the issue. I sent them pictures of the hardware as well and they said it looked fine, so I guess I’ll just have to test it with my friend’s Quadra as I don’t have another SCSI compatible device.

 

[CircuitBored]

I guess I’ll just have to test it with my friend’s Quadra

That may not be very helpful in this case. The BlueSCSI V1 performs very poorly on faster SCSI devices. My Quadra 650 hates the V1, as does every Power Macintosh I have ever tried it with. Honestly, the V1 is a mediocre product at best and I have had very limited success with it. If your Mac Plus was working with a SCSI2SD recently then there is no good reason to think that is has suddenly developed a fault.

If you haven't already, try the disk images provided by Phipli further up in this thread. They are pre-formatted (i.e. no need for patched disk tools) and ready to be used straight away. Just copy the file onto the SD card and rename it. I also noticed that you're using a 1GB disk image, which is optimistic for a Plus. Try a smaller image first.

Failing that, BlueSCSI V1s also react badly to certain SD cards, particularly high speed ones. I recommend trying out a few different SD cards, which has solved similar issues for me in the past.

 

[Phipli]

Just copy the file onto the SD card and rename it.

They're empty, so they might want to install an OS using an emulator first. I'd recommend System 6.0.8.

I also noticed that you're using a 1GB disk image, which is optimistic for a Plus. Try a smaller image first.

No reason not to use 1GB on a Plus. There aren't any issues at all until you get to 2GB. All my old disks are formatted in 2GB chunks.

 

[CircuitBored]

They're empty, so they might want to install an OS using an emulator first. I'd recommend System 6.0.8.

Yup, I sort of assumed that was a given... worth mentioning though!

No reason not to use 1GB on a Plus. There aren't any issues at all until you get to 2GB

I was basing that advice on my experience with a BlueSCSI V1 in a Classic, which really hated 1GB+ disks on certain SD cards. Again, yours is useful info worth adding.