SCSI2SD vs. ZuluSCSI

[Garrett]

Today I flipped on my 1991 Macintosh Classic just to discover its original 40MB Quantum ProDrive finally bit the dust.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1649160262698651648

It's been a couple years since I've been really into vintage Macs and following along with developments. I knew about SCSI2SD (I purchased an external one for my SuperSE), but don't recall ever hearing about ZuluSCSI. The ZuluSCSI boards are much cheaper than the SCSI2SD boards offered for sale here in the US by Rabbit Hole Computing.

Are there any issues with using the ZuluSCSI in compact Macs with internal SCSI, like my Classic? Any major differences between the ZuluSCSI RP2040 based on a Raspberry Pi and the ZuluSCSI V1.1? With the mounting bracket, is it a drop-in replacement for the original drive?

 

[Juror22]

The ZuluSCSI boards are much cheaper than the SCSI2SD boards offered for sale here in the US by Rabbit Hole Computing.

I'm pretty sure that the SCSI2SD boards all show as Out of Stock on their site if you click through to the underlying page, so they are pretty much a non-issue as parts shortages and new developments have changed the SCSI emulator landscape (for the better, IMO).

I have largely focused on using ZuluSCSI, since they first came out and although I have also purchased a couple of the newer, RP2040-based ones (the kit one, for the cost savings and fun of soldering it up myself) and yes, they all use the same mounting, per the Rabbit Hole Computing website - "ZuluSCSI RP2040 board dimensions are identical to that of SCSI2SD V5.1/V5.2/V6. All mounting solutions that were designed for SCSI2SD V5.1/V5.2/V6 will work just as well with ZuluSCSI."

There is also a ZuluSCSI compact RP2040 that has what appears to be a different form factor and yes, I'll probably get a couple of these sometime soon as well. As for their differences, compared to the SCSI2SD, the ZuluSCSI are much easier to configure and use, but they are still newish and there have been a few issues, which have mostly been overcome either with newer firmware or specialized settings.

Frankly, I had an issue getting one of my SCSI2SD's working with my Mac Classic, but the original ZuluSCSI I tried worked fine in mine.

Also, don't forget that they are not the only game in town, there are also the new RP2040-base BlueSCSI, MacSD and likely more than a few others out there, as well.

 

[Garrett]

The BlueSCSI came out around the time I took a hiatus from vintage computing. Still uncertain of all the differences and advantages/disadvantages to the BlueSCSI, ZuluSCSI and other solid state replacements. I mainly use my FloppyEmu for transferring files, so I'm just looking for an internal/fixed storage solution.

 

[rabbitholecomputing]

@Garrett, You might want to check out the new ZuluSCSI Compact Homebrew kit, which may be of interest to you. We just released it yesterday! I've posted an announcement thread about it here: https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?thr...ore-capable-rp2040-based-scsi-emulator.44164/

https://store.rabbitholecomputing.com/ZuluSCSI-Compact-Homebrew-p/zuluscsi-compact-homebrew-kit.htm