Mac Plus not booting from Blue SCSI

[Phipli]

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



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.

If I had to guess, I'd say your issue wasn't the size of the disk. There is no practical difference between a 40MB and a 2GB partition from the computer / systems perspective. 2GB is the delineation for size related differences.

 

[CircuitBored]

If I had to guess, I'd say your issue wasn't the size of the disk. There is no practical difference between a 40MB and a 2GB partition from the computer / systems perspective. 2GB is the delineation for size related differences.

This is BlueSCSI V1 we're talking about. It's an inconsistent and temperamental device, to put it as politely as I can. I've had 1GB and 2GB images work fine in a Classic on some SD cards but faced erratic behaviour or complete non-functionality with others. I've had SD cards that worked fine with smaller disk images but would not work with 1GB+ images for love nor money. The Mac side of things isn't especially relevant to my point, beyond the fact that the Mac is aligned properly with the SCSI standard specification and the BlueSCSI V1 is not. My original comment in regard to the Plus and large disks is confusingly worded, yes. Sorry about that.

 

[Phipli]

This is BlueSCSI V1 we're talking about. It's an inconsistent and temperamental device, to put it as politely as I can. I've had 1GB and 2GB images work fine in a Classic on some SD cards but faced erratic behaviour or complete non-functionality with others. I've had SD cards that worked fine with smaller disk images but would not work with 1GB+ images for love nor money. The Mac side of things isn't especially relevant to my point, beyond the fact that the Mac is aligned properly with the SCSI standard specification and the BlueSCSI V1 is not. My original comment in regard to the Plus and large disks is confusingly worded, yes. Sorry about that.

Ah fair enough, I don't use a bluescsi for the reasons you mention, I assumed you meant specifically the Plus.

I'm a very spinning rust house, entirety because of cost. I've always being able to find SCSI hard disks at less than a 20% what a ZuluSCSI/SCSI2SD/BlueSCSI2 costs.

 

[CircuitBored]

Ah fair enough, I don't use a bluescsi for the reasons you mention, I assumed you meant specifically the Plus.

I'm a very spinning rust house, entirety because of cost. I've always being able to find SCSI hard disks at less than a 20% what a ZuluSCSI/SCSI2SD/BlueSCSI2 costs.

I tend to do the same for IDE stuff because quiet and new-ish disks are easy to come by but when it comes to SCSI it is really rather difficult to find disks that I can tolerate being in a room with. For me, modern solid state SCSI solutions are well worth the price for the versatility and silence it provides.

All things said and done, let's not derail this thread any further...

 

[WakelessFoil]

I am connecting the device to my Mac using an IDC 50 to DB25 adapter.

This could be the issue. I have had troubles before trying to get these adapters to work properly. Try sticking it in another Mac if you have one. Mine worked in my SE/30 before it worked in my plus.

 

[CharlieFrown]

Tobbas: Did you find the solution? I just added diode to my Plus's mobo, put dual OS (System 6/System 7.0.1) on microSD card that I inserted in my BlueSCSI v.1, naming it HD10_512.hda and voila! It booted System 6 right off the bat. You just need a proper image.

 

[TobbasMcJobbas]

No, not yet. I’m planning on doing the diode mod myself soon so I’ll see if that helps

 

[chrisdaun]

@TobbasMcJobbas,

I booted a similar setup last night with my newly repaired Mac Plus and thought I would share what worked for me.
I have not done the diode mod on this system yet so I'm powering the BlueSCSI v1 off a power bank via USB
Attaching my BlueSCSI LOG.txt for reference

My setup:
64GB Sandisk micro SD card formatted ExFAT with MBR
I used this image and renamed it to HD00-512.hda
My Plus 1MB has 4MB of RAM installed, not sure if the above image will work on less but worth a try

With this setup my Plus boots right up after 20-30 seconds (RAM test)
Hope this helps!

 

[Phipli]

With this setup my Plus boots right up after 20-30 seconds (RAM test)

Hum. Not sure the Plus' RAM test should take that long.

 

[chrisdaun]

@TobbasMcJobbas,

I had some time today so I did the diode mod and tested with an internal BlueSCSI v1.1 using a IDC 50 to DB25 adapter.
I used the same SD card from my previous post and didn't have any issues.

Picture attached
Boot up video here: Macintosh Plus Booting BlueSCSI

@Phipli, video shows my Plus taking ~30 seconds to boot to Happy Mac icon.
I'm thinking because its been upgraded to 4MB RAM and no PRAM battery
A reboot only takes a few seconds to hit the Happy Mac icon

 

[Iesca]

Unrelated to the SCSI issues people are facing, but if you hold down the mouse button before you flip the power switch, then let go after the boot chime, it will skip the RAM test. I do this almost every time I use my Plus. (Just make sure to let go after the boot chime so it doesn't then try to eject any floppies you may have inserted.)

 

[chrisdaun]

Unrelated to the SCSI issues people are facing, but if you hold down the mouse button before you flip the power switch, then let go after the boot chime, it will skip the RAM test. I do this almost every time I use my Plus. (Just make sure to let go after the boot chime so it doesn't then try to eject any floppies you may have inserted.)

great tip, thanks!

 

[Phipli]

@Phipli, video shows my Plus taking ~30 seconds to boot to Happy Mac icon.
I'm thinking because its been upgraded to 4MB RAM and no PRAM battery
A reboot only takes a few seconds to hit the Happy Mac icon

This is because of the lack of battery, not the RAM test. With no battery there is no System Folder reference stored, so the Mac is manually seeking a startup disk.

Put a battery in it and it will boot faster.

 

[chrisdaun]

This is because of the lack of battery, not the RAM test. With no battery there is no System Folder reference stored, so the Mac is manually seeking a startup disk.

Put a battery in it and it will boot faster.

Have a battery recommendation?
One that wont leak if forgotten in the Plus

 

[Phipli]

Have a battery recommendation?
One that wont leak if forgotten in the Plus

No sorry, I haven't replaced a Plus battery. Someone will have.

 

[chrisdaun]

Unrelated to the SCSI issues people are facing, but if you hold down the mouse button before you flip the power switch, then let go after the boot chime, it will skip the RAM test. I do this almost every time I use my Plus. (Just make sure to let go after the boot chime so it doesn't then try to eject any floppies you may have inserted.)

Great tip, Plus gets to Happy Mac in les then 1 second using this

This is because of the lack of battery, not the RAM test. With no battery there is no System Folder reference stored, so the Mac is manually seeking a startup disk.

Put a battery in it and it will boot faster.

Even with a PRAM battery (verified working as date/time is being saved now) system still takes ~30 seconds to get to Happy Mac

 

[Phipli]

Even with a PRAM battery (verified working as date/time is being saved now) system still takes ~30 seconds to get to Happy Mac

Make sure you have the hard disk selected as the boot device in the Control Panel. The Plus is slow to get going, but it should be faster than 30 seconds to the happy mac.

 

[Iesca]

Make sure you have the hard disk selected as the boot device in the Control Panel. The Plus is slow to get going, but it should be faster than 30 seconds to the happy mac.

To the best of my knowlege, Mac Plus cannot use the Startup Disk control panel (I wish it could). It really is the memory test; if you have the full 4 MBs installed, it takes forever.

 

[Phipli]

To the best of my knowlege, Mac Plus cannot use the Startup Disk control panel (I wish it could). It really is the memory test; if you have the full 4 MBs installed, it takes forever.

Ah shame, I thought mine booted faster than that. Especially from a floppy disk.

 

[Sinjinhawke]

Unrelated to the SCSI issues people are facing, but if you hold down the mouse button before you flip the power switch, then let go after the boot chime, it will skip the RAM test. I do this almost every time I use my Plus. (Just make sure to let go after the boot chime so it doesn't then try to eject any floppies you may have inserted.)

I have had (still have) a Mac Plus since the 80's and I did not know this. /facepalm.
In my defence it wasn't until maybe 4 years ago that I upgraded the RAM to 4mb so it was never an issue but still an amazing tip.

I currently boot from a HD image using a FloppyEmu but I do have BlueSCSI 1 and 2 and my Plus boots fine from both.