• Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.

Portable & SCSI2SD Questions

khannonnd

Well-known member
I know some (several?) people on this forum have SCSI2SDs in their Macintosh Portables.  I have a SCSI2SD, but have never gone ahead and tried to throw it in the Portable.  Bear with my lack of technical skill, but I was hoping someone could help me figure out how to get this done.

Specifically, I had 3 questions about this process:

(1) I believe I saw a thread awhile back about needing a 34 pin to 50 pin SCSI cable in order to plug the SCSI2SD to the Portable -- Does anyone have any of these made that they would be willing to sell?

(2) Is the SCSI2SD just plug and play?  Do you have to do anything special to format the SD card before putting the OS/Files on it?

(3) Related to 2 -- What is the best way to get Mac OS 6 or 7 onto an SD?  I don't have hard copies of either and the only computers I have that can access the internet are relatively recent OS X machines (though I do have a Wallstreet Powerbook) with both a floppy and CD drive that can be a sort of bridge, if need be.

Thanks for the hand holding/input!

 

khannonnd

Well-known member
It just struck me: The Portable has SCSI -- Could I simply hook the SCSI2SD to the SCSI port and then copy over the contents of the hard drive (which still functions)?

If so, that would solve question #3, leaving only 1 + 2!

 

BadGoldEagle

Well-known member
Yes, you can use an external drive case: I have a HD40SC, I just swap the ribbon between the actual hard disk and the scsi2SD all the time. Works great.

Be careful though: you'll still have to configure the SD card first. With the SD card inserted, connect the Floppy EMU to your computer. Run the SCSI2SD-util (available from the SCSI2SD website). From there you'll have to 'partition' the SD card. Remember that Mac OS can only handle 2GB volumes. If you have a 4GB SD card, you can either create 2  2GB volumes, or leave 2GB free and create only one volume. From there you'll also have to select the SCSI ID. Just don't use 7 or 0 and you're good to go.

About the 34 pin adapter, I know good old Uniserver sells them. Check him out.

 
Last edited by a moderator:

BadGoldEagle

Well-known member
Edit: Don't use 7 or 0 when connected to the powerbook using an external drive case. There will be ID conflicts with the powerbook's own HD.

You can set it back to 0 once you're done transferring data from the PB: 0 is for internal drives only.

 

godfatherq8

Member
but if you have the SDSCSI adapter V5.1 it is 50 pin do i need the 34 pin to 50 adapter ? or it can install directly to the macintosh portable?scsi2sd-5.1-6.0-small.jpg

 

godfatherq8

Member
thanks a lot is this SCSI2SC V5.1 compatible with the macintosh portable ?

scsi2sd-5.1-6.0-small.jpg

Edit: Don't use 7 or 0 when connected to the powerbook using an external drive case. There will be ID conflicts with the powerbook's own HD.

You can set it back to 0 once you're done transferring data from the PB: 0 is for internal drives only.

 

LaPorta

Well-known member
5.1 is compatible. That is what I have in my Portable. Turns the thing into a System 6 rocket.

 

ScutBoy

Well-known member
Yes - I have the 5.1 SCSI2SD in my Portable, and it works great. There's a bracket that works for the SCSI2SD for the Portable on Thingiverse if you have 3D printer access.

I started with the McMaster adapter, but there was too much cable floating around in the drive compartment (and I didn't have the stuff to make shorter, custom cables, nor the desire). I bought the adapter from Alaska360 and like that much more.

If you are interested in the McMaster adapter with cables, let me know

 
Last edited by a moderator:

stickyc

Member
Sorry for resurrecting the old thread, but I'm in the same boat of trying to install a SCSI2SD adapter in my old Macintosh Portable and had some Q's maybe you guys could help out with.

I got the SCSI2SD version 5.1 board and Alaska360's adapter board. Managed to get access to plug things in, BUT.... I can't tell which orientation the 50 pin cable needs to be. There's no Pin 1 indicator on either the SCSI2SD or 34<->50 adapter board. I'm sure plugging things in backwards will let out the magic smoke, that's not a bet I want to take.

Also, the boards both have power connectors on them, but there's no obvious way to get power off the Macintosh Portable's motherboard. Since it's an SD card, does it even need system power, or are the ribbon cables enough?

Thanks in advance!

 

LaPorta

Well-known member
The board should have a notch on the connector housing, does it not? Also, yes, the SCSI bus provides power: no external needed.

 

ScutBoy

Well-known member
I have the exact same setup - SCSI2SD with the Alaska360 board.

I'd have to open it up to be sure, but the pin 1 indicator should be there on the circuit board. It's likely obscured somewhat by the connector on top of it, but it should be a square on the silkscreen in the corner for pin 1.

 

stickyc

Member
Actually, I mis-spoke: The SCSI2SD board does have a notch, but the 50 pin plug on the 34<->50 adapter board does not have any tab on it, so I was not sure which way to orient it. The cable is the 34pin cable that goes between the motherboard and the adapter board and that connection is fine (has registration tabs so you can only plug things in one way). I've reached out to the guy who made it (Alaska360) and he sent a picture that cleared it up, so I think I'm good. Now the Portable doesn't power up though (where it did before I ordered all this stuff last month). Not sure if my battery hack failed or what - but that's for another thread :)

My board (note the lack of tab):

stickyc.jpg

Alaska360's reference photo:

alaska360.png

Thanks for the help! I'm assuming that once I get this working, since the SD card is pre-formatted from the vendor, it should show up as an empty hard drive and I can install System 7 on it from floppies (if the set I have is still readable)? I've not worked with System 7 since it was 'live' (and I've lost most of those brain cells to alcohol and solder fumes) so I'm sure there'll be a learning curve on getting it set up.

 

ScutBoy

Well-known member
Make sure the battery is fully charged. If I let mine site for a while, I have to charge it for an hour or more before it will start on its own again.

 
Top