SCSI HDs are all falling apart! IDE Replacement? (not Solid state)

[ClassicMacintosh]

After completing a long-running refurbish of a Mac Classic, and installing a BlueSCSI, I realised that Solid State hard drive replacements can cause an empty feeling inside. The enjoyment of the usage is diminished without the familiar scratching sound of head/platter!

Have about 10 SCSI HDDs, most are the Quantum Prodrive of various types, and all of them bar one in a running machine are kaput:

-4x Spin up, and then quickly spin down after the first 5 seconds
-3x Sound like they are full of rocks
-3x don't boot at all

Got a couple of the IDE-based PCI machines et. al, however, hoping someone will chime in with a mechanical HDD solution for anything with a SCSI bus. Perhaps some sort of IDE HDD -> SCSI interface converter? A mythical modern supplier of old SCSI-compatible mechanical drives?

 

[Daniël]

If any of the ones that spin up, then spin right down are ProDrive ELS models, you could try being adventurous enough to fix them with this:

Quantum ProDrive ELS Repair Insert - Fix your classic Macintosh hard drive! | eBay

This ABS plastic insert corrects the stuck head problem common on Quantum hard drives used in old Macintosh computers from the 80's and 90's. Take care to keep the disk's platter covered. Seat the left side of the insert into place.

www.ebay.com

IDE to SCSI is possible, however adapters for it (and especially SATA to SCSI) are expensive (think $500 to $1000).
There are cheap ACARD 7722s on eBay ($30-ish), but they are meant for just CD-ROM use.

That said, if you have the tools, you can hack them for hard drive use:

Converting Acard AEC-7722 to AEC-7726

I'm moving this discussion to Hacks. The beginning is in Trading Post, here: Beginnging of Hacking Following up on my last post in the previous thread: I wasn't going to mess with it again in what little is left of the weekend, but I tried that last experiment. I connected a Flash-less...

68kmla.org

EDIT: Another option is to go with SCA-80 Ultrawide SCSI drives. They're widely available, as are SCA-80 to 50 pin SCSI adapters, but do note most of them are loud, hot running 10k or 15k RPM drives. Also, Ultra320 drives generally want their upper bits terminated, which the cheapo adapters won't do. This thread has some info on that, but you can also search around the 68kMLA for more threads on SCA-80 drives:

Replacement SPINNING drive for Quadra?

I've got the BlueSCSI for expansion and transferring but I don't want to give up the comfy hum of the spinning internal drive. It's as much a part of the experience as CRT flicker. I will also say that the internal drive is faster than the external BlueSCSI. I'm not brushed up on the interface...

68kmla.org

 

[ClassicMacintosh]

@Daniël of the spindown models, 1 is an ELS, 1 is an LPS, 2 are Prodrive Lightning. Got nothing to lose trying it on the ELS!

Had a look at the threads to convert the ACARD adaptors to HDD use, however it's far beyond my skill level - can solder and swap around components, however only with straightforward guides.

The following would be what my untrained eye would buy - they present as working in the above desired manner:

SCSI to IDE Bridge Adapter based on the Acard SCSI SOC

However from what I'm understanding, there isn't such a solution present for IDE HDD on a SCSI bus?

An SCA-80 drive would certainly be a novelty, but likely beyond the scope of a Mac Classic build! Will have a read of the thread. Thanks again

 

[Daniël]

The following would be what my untrained eye would buy - they present as working in the above desired manner:

SCSI to IDE Bridge Adapter based on the Acard SCSI SOC

That appears to essentially be a recreated ACARD 7722, but with a new PCB, and the firmware for hard drive use already applied.
It'll do exactly what you want, but the price is fairly steep if you ask me.

 

[ClassicMacintosh]

It'll do exactly what you want, but the price is fairly steep if you ask me.

Agreed, far beyond the reach of a "nostalgia" purchase - for some reason I saw $25 when checking the auction. Looks like the ones linked in the original post don't really go below $200. Perhaps at 1/4 of that might be manageable. Back to the drawing board.

 

[Forrest]

Syquest 44 MB removable hard drives are pretty inexpensive and have a long life reputation, as long as the carts are not mishandled or stored at extreme temps.

 

[Forrest]

The ZuluSCSI RP2040 and the ZuluSCSI Compact RP2040 have a spot where you can solder a Piezo for simulated HD sounds

 

[olePigeon]

@ClassicMacintosh I thought I'd mention that there are multiple options to bring back the sound of the HDD for SCSI emulators. I don't have the links, but there's one that uses a simple relay that clicks on drive access (also one for floppy drives ... or I'm mixing up the two. Now I'm not sure. ) There's another that actually plays recorded HDD sounds. And there's a third (my favorite) that connects to the HDD's servo motor and operates the servo in the same way the HDD controller would have done it; but this one is for HD20s only as far as I know.

 

[ClassicMacintosh]

Wow, had no idea that there were emulators! Probably not a direction I'd go in, but guessing this is probably how the sound of SCSI drives will eventually live on... unless someone starts up a cottage < 500 MB SCSI drive industry! (to go with the also non-existent cottage vintage CRT & cottage Iomega repro industries).

@Forrest, never had any Syquest drives - they sound similar, do they?

 

[Forrest]

Someone made a video of a 5 1/4 inch 88 MB Syquest drive with the metal cover of the drive removed

The 5 1/4 inch 44 MB Syquest drive sounds the same.

 

[ClassicMacintosh]

Wow, apart from being really cool, it sounds awesome!

 

[kkritsilas]

Syquest also made the Syjet drive (its a 3.5" form factor) at 1.5GB with a SCSI interface. The drives aren't too expensive, but the cartridges are getting harder to find.