SCSI2SD Issues

[LaPorta]

You can do that with I believe 7 and later...but under 6 (which most systems that have my SCSI2SDs run) you cannot. I am sure if I was ambitious, those icons are just resources I could swap out with ResEdit.

 

[dcr]

You can do that with I believe 7 and later...but under 6 (which most systems that have my SCSI2SDs run) you cannot. I am sure if I was ambitious, those icons are just resources I could swap out with ResEdit.

They are.  I was just looking at it with ResEdit.  Not sure if you'd be limited to swapping out what's in there now or if it would be possible to add additional icons to choose from.

 

[pcamen]

Man, I am having the hardest time with a SCSI2SD in an SE/30.  I originally tried a 5.0a version, and struggled to get it to work, and then the system folder wouldn't bless.

So then I took a brand new 5.0 version with a 32GB card and set it up on my Lombard.  First a 2GB boot partition, then a bunch of 4GB partitions for data.  I am running 7.5.5 on the SE/30.

I managed to get the system drive copied over to the boot partition fine.  But the SE/30 won't recognize the other partitions.

At first I was getting an error that there was a problem when the system booted.



Then I switched over the SE/30 to boot from the SCSI2SD and I got a message for each drive that the it needed to be formatted, and it gave me the option to format.  But each time the format failed.

When I bring up HD SC Disk Utility, it won't let me do anything to any of the existing partitions as they are all locked. 

Lido doesn't seem to run on an SE/30 under 7.5.5.  Is it supposed to?

I've set up at least 6 SCSI2SD units and I've never had any issues like this before.  What gives?

 

[just.in.time]

I generally just stick to 1.99gb partitions (except for my pm6100 that I let utilize the whole sd card), just to be safe.

 

[pcamen]

Hmm.  Could it be because I don't have Mode32 installed and running?  What are the implications of that?  The strange thing is that I have other previously configured SCSI2SD devices with a bunch of 2GB and 4GB drives and the SE/30 sees them all. 

 

[just.in.time]

If you have others working just fine, I’d try taking one of their SD cards, put it in the problematic unit, and see if that rules out the issue. If yes, formatting issue. If issue persists, firmware configuration issue on the SCSI2SD itself. If that’s the case, I’d download the firmware from the web, reflash it, then make sure config matches a known good unit.

 

[Iamanamma]

Providing power through the USB connection seems to be a common fix. 

This is exactly what I had to do to get these to get to a point where I could install the OS onto the SD cards I bought for my IIsi's.  I needed a bootable System 6.08 disk, LIDO, and the case on the IIsi open with the USB cable attached to the SCSI2SD board and the IIsi powered by its conventional power source (i.e. plugged into the wall).  LIDO was necessary for setting up the virtual hard drives, but it could not see them unless the SCSI2SD board was powered by the USB cable.  I also had a peculiar issue where I could not install OS 7.1 unless I had 6.08 on the hard drive first.  I did that by dragging the disk image from the bootable floppy to the virtual drive at SCSI ID 0, then booting the IIsi up from that, and installing System 7.1 over the top using a set of install disks.  For some reason, If I tried to just install 7.1 onto a bare drive, it wouldn't boot.  Weird, but that's how it went.  I also found that in my IIsi's, I absolutely MUST use the molex to floppy style connector to power the SCSI2SD board once all of the software issues are straightened out.  Neither of the IIsi's would boot if I tried to use only the SCSI cable for power.  I am not having that problem with the g3 I am currently working on.  The SCSI cable supplies enough power in it.

 

[pcamen]

@maceffects what version SCSI2SD devices do you have?  I have had major issues (as evidenced above) but made some progress recently. 

I have two 5.0a versions and those are a major problem.  One of them had somewhat old firmware on it, but even with updating, I've had nothing but issues with that model; they don't show up AT ALL anymore on the SE/30.

I switched to two 5.1 versions (trying to copy from one to the other) and those are better.  But I still had an issue (termination conflict) with both of them terminated via the SW utility setup and one on the external SCSI bus powered.  When I removed the power from the external one, then they both worked fine. 

 

[aperezbios]

@maceffects what version SCSI2SD devices do you have?  I have had major issues (as evidenced above) but made some progress recently. 

I have two 5.0a versions and those are a major problem.  One of them had somewhat old firmware on it, but even with updating, I've had nothing but issues with that model; they don't show up AT ALL anymore on the SE/30.

I switched to two 5.1 versions (trying to copy from one to the other) and those are better.  But I still had an issue (termination conflict) with both of them terminated via the SW utility setup and one on the external SCSI bus powered.  When I removed the power from the external one, then they both worked fine.  

Blaming SCSI2SD for "issues" when _you_ have configured termination on your SCSI bus incorrectly is absurd. You have to have termination configured properly, regardless of the type/manufacturer of SCSI devices you choose to use.  SCSI termination is _simple_ You must have termination at the END(s) of your SCSI chains, period. Not in the middle, not double-terminated. If you do anything but that, you can and SHOULD expect problems, as it's electrically incorrect, per the SCSI specification.

 

[aperezbios]

So I bought 5 SCSI2SD boards and have had major issues getting them to work.  I am trying on 3 different SE/30 machines.  I followed the instructions on how to flash it to work with Macs, but when installed in an SE/30 it doesn't show up (using Apple Drive software and Lido).  They do sometimes produce a steady but slow flash of the activity LED light.  Am I missing something? 

There are zero details in this post. How was your SCSI2SD configured? Volume size? Was it the only device on the bus? Was it installed internally? Was termination enabled? Which utility did you attempt to use to partition your SCSI2SD? Which version of System?

The fact that, by your own admission, they didn't work on three different machines, points to a likely mis-configuration of your SCSI2SD, so please cite the instructions you reference above, so we can verify they're correct.

If you open scsi2sd-util, read the config from the board, save it as an XML file, and upload it here, I can help.

 

[maceffects]

@aperezbios 1.99gb, and the SCSI termination was proper for the SE/30 machines.  No other devices on the SCSI bus.  Attached is a photo showing exactly what I put in.  Sorry the text is white, I have no idea why that is.  Its easier to read in person.

 

[aperezbios]

@aperezbios 1.99gb, and the SCSI termination was proper for the SE/30 machines.  No other devices on the SCSI bus.  Attached is a photo showing exactly what I put in.  Sorry the text is white, I have no idea why that is.  Its easier to read in person. 

I asked a number of specific questions above, but you've not answered several of them. This is not helpful. Specifically, Which utility did you attempt to use to partition your SCSI2SD? Which version of System? The config you posted the above screenshot of won't work, nor is expected to work, with the original, un-patched Apple disk formatting utility. Third party utilities such as Lido and FWB Hard Disk toolkit should be able to partition SCSI drives which aren't configured with the necessary Apple-approved vendor strings.

I now have one more question for you, regarding SCSI2SD-util...in the screenshot posted above, at the bottom of the window, it says 'save failed', so are you certain that this config is what's actually written to your SCSI2SD board? Do you know which version(s) of firmware are on your SCSI2SD?

The attached scsi2sd-util configuration file can be opened in SCSI2SD-util, then saved to your board. It configures your SCSI2SD as per the instructions in this thread:





View attachment SCSI2SD-MacClassic-1.99GB-ST225N.xml

 

[maceffects]

I asked a number of specific questions above, but you've not answered several of them. This is not helpful. Specifically, Which utility did you attempt to use to partition your SCSI2SD? Which version of System? The config you posted the above screenshot of won't work, nor is expected to work, with the Apple disk formatting utility. Third party utilities such as Lido and FWB Hard Disk toolkit should be able to partition SCSI drives which aren't configured with the necessary Apple-approved vendor strings.

I now have one more question for you, regarding SCSI2SD-util...in the screenshot posted above, at the bottom of the window, it says 'save failed', so are you certain that this config is what's actually written to your SCSI2SD board? Do you know which version(s) of firmware are on your SCSI2SD?

The attached scsi2sd-util configuration file can be opened in SCSI2SD-util, then saved to your board. It configures your SCSI2SD as per the instructions in this thread:





View attachment 31206

The current situation:

1) Using SCSI2SD V5.1 with the above attached configuration

2) Tried using LIDO, FWB, and Apple Utility (each gives an error similar to attached) or doesn't show it.  I, of course, realize I must format using a utility outside of the SCSI2SD Utility

3) Machines tried 3 different SE/30 machines

4) That was a different image, I went and tried again just now with the the same spec as listed in the above photo.  Save was successful

5) Firmware 4.8.3 which I've not changed since last attempting in November

 

[maceffects]

Save successful but same results

 

[maceffects]

I've also tried several SD cards and tried formatting them in advance and leaving them as new, same result. 

 

[aperezbios]

Are you using the same, or different, ribbon cables, when you try between your macs? That's another area where people sometimes get bit.

Formatting SD cards beforehand has _zero_ effect on anything at all, and is generally a waste of your time. People do it all the time, but it's generally completely unnecessary. The SCSI2SD firmware doesn't give any shits what's on the SD card before you partition it, and knows nothing about filesystems; It simply performs block-for-block pass-through.

Also, it looks like you're using MacOS with Dark Mode enabled, so if you'd like to test this native MacOS version of scsi2sd-util, be my guest. It should solve that cosmetic problem.

 

[maceffects]

I've tried 2 different ribbons, one that was standard and one that was longer (made for plug in and out easier).  You are right, I changed the settings to normal rather than Dark Mode and it resolved the textual display issue. 

 

[aperezbios]

If you wouldn't mind trying firmware 4.8.4, the one thing it fixes over 4.8.3 is the following: " Fix to prevent sending floppy geometry mode page when not configured as a floppy". You can download it from here: http://www.codesrc.com/files/scsi2sd/v4.8.4/firmware/

 

[jessenator]

Long shot, but this is my config. In full transparency, I got this going on my IIsi originally, but it all still works in my SE/30

 

 

[aperezbios]

I've tried 2 different ribbons, one that was standard and one that was longer (made for plug in and out easier).  You are right, I changed the settings to normal rather than Dark Mode and it resolved the textual display issue.  

Okay, good. And, to confirm, both of these ribbon cables are _known working_? They are known to work with normal hard drives?