SillyTinySCSI - Smallest SCSI emulator! (ZuluSCSI OSHW)

[zigzagjoe]

The TinySCSI has a brother now: The SlimSCSI

https://imgur.com/a/3SOYDlJ

Where the Tiny SCSI prioritized flush fitting, ideally for compact macs, SlimSCSI is the more compatible relative that should easily fit on anything as it is the thickness of the DB25 connector only. Push-push type microSD slot and microUSB facing away from the DB25. Functionally 100% identical to the Tiny.

These are fairly straightforward to assemble, so I may offer them in kit form as my PCB assembly capacity is 100% booked with accelerators for the moment. Assembly is solder the pico, solder the DB25, and solder jumper wire from the pico to the board for USB. Any interest?

 

[Huxley]

Hi @zigzagjoe and/or any other knowledgeable folks: I've been playing with my SillyTinySCSI on my Macintosh Portable this week, and after a few early hiccups (took some kind people to point out that I needed to adjust the ZuluSCSI.ini file to use the Mac Plus setting), it's working great and my Portable is booting quickly and reliably.

However, I've been totally stuck while trying to get WiFi working. Specifically, despite quadruple-checking that I've got the correct SSID and password in the INI file, my error log shows this every time:

[4775ms] === Network Initialization === [4845ms] Wi-Fi MAC: 0x00:0x80:0x19:0x04:0x03:0x60 [4845ms] Connecting to Wi-Fi SSID "Subspace II" with WPA/WPA2 PSK [4845ms] Wi-Fi connection failed: -4 [4862ms] Clock set to: 133000000Hz [4862ms] Initialization complete!

Any idea what's wrong here? My eero network is definitely set to allow both 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices to join, and the Mac is just a few feet away from my eero router so distance / signal strength shouldn't be an issue. I've also installed what I believe is the latest firmware (24.12.03-release) onto the SillyTinySCSI. Presumably because the device itself isn't actually joining my WiFi network, any attempt to get MacTCP working either errors out or hard-crashes the SillyTinySCSI (it then requires a power-cycle to resume working).

Thanks in advance for any tips!

Update: two quick edits to the above:

• I've used SCSIProbe to verify that the system "sees" a DaynaPORT device on SCSI ID 5 (the ID I've configured, which is otherwise free)
• I also attempted to use the "BlueSCSI Wi-Fi Desk Accessory" - it sees no networks when it scans, and entering my SSID and password accomplishes nothing with this tool too. Very odd!

 

[zigzagjoe]

Hi @zigzagjoe and/or any other knowledgeable folks: I've been playing with my SillyTinySCSI on my Macintosh Portable this week, and after a few early hiccups (took some kind people to point out that I needed to adjust the ZuluSCSI.ini file to use the Mac Plus setting), it's working great and my Portable is booting quickly and reliably.

However, I've been totally stuck while trying to get WiFi working. Specifically, despite quadruple-checking that I've got the correct SSID and password in the INI file, my error log shows this every time:

[4775ms] === Network Initialization === [4845ms] Wi-Fi MAC: 0x00:0x80:0x19:0x04:0x03:0x60 [4845ms] Connecting to Wi-Fi SSID "Subspace II" with WPA/WPA2 PSK [4845ms] Wi-Fi connection failed: -4 [4862ms] Clock set to: 133000000Hz [4862ms] Initialization complete!

Any idea what's wrong here? My eero network is definitely set to allow both 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices to join, and the Mac is just a few feet away from my eero router so distance / signal strength shouldn't be an issue. I've also installed what I believe is the latest firmware (24.12.03-release) onto the SillyTinySCSI. Presumably because the device itself isn't actually joining my WiFi network, any attempt to get MacTCP working either errors out or hard-crashes the SillyTinySCSI (it then requires a power-cycle to resume working).

Thanks in advance for any tips!

That looks like an immediate failure when trying to connect to wifi. It might be a firmware regression - can you try a slightly older version to see if that makes a difference?

 

[Huxley]

That looks like an immediate failure when trying to connect to wifi. It might be a firmware regression - can you try a slightly older version to see if that makes a difference?

Sure, I'll try that now!

 

[Huxley]

Okay, that fixed it! I had some initial issues - trying to configure using the WiFi Desk Accessory crashed the system a couple times - but just re-enabling WiFi in the INI file works fine now. Looks like something maybe broke in the latest firmware update?

 

[zigzagjoe]

Okay, that fixed it! I had some initial issues - trying to configure using the WiFi Desk Accessory crashed the system a couple times - but just re-enabling WiFi in the INI file works fine now. Looks like something maybe broke in the latest firmware update?

Yeah, that definitely looks like a regression. Which was the most recent version you found which worked?

In my experience I've found the Wifi DA to be flaky, it seems to fail to connect often and then stop working at all. I'd put your SSID/password in the config file if you're mostly going to use it at home.

 

[Huxley]

Yeah, that definitely looks like a regression. Which was the most recent version you found which worked?

In my experience I've found the Wifi DA to be flaky, it seems to fail to connect often and then stop working at all. I'd put your SSID/password in the config file if you're mostly going to use it at home.

Good info, thanks

As of now, firmware v2024.12.03 does not work with WiFi (and may in fact crash the device when WiFi is initiated), and firmware v2024-.11.01 does work without any issues I've found yet. Hope this helps someone else!

 

[zigzagjoe]

Good info, thanks

As of now, firmware v2024.12.03 does not work with WiFi (and may in fact crash the device when WiFi is initiated), and firmware v2024-.11.01 does work without any issues I've found yet. Hope this helps someone else!

Confirmed the same here, and @rabbitholecomputing was able to replicate it too. So hopefully a fix soon.

 

[Huxley]

Confirmed the same here, and @rabbitholecomputing was able to replicate it too. So hopefully a fix soon.

Honestly, I'm just relieved to know that it's an actual bug and I wasn't doing something incredibly stupid / basic to break this

Thanks again for talking me through it!

 

[zigzagjoe]

Honestly, I'm just relieved to know that it's an actual bug and I wasn't doing something incredibly stupid / basic to break this

Thanks again for talking me through it!

Happy to help

Also, to wrap up that post from earlier in the thread - the SlimSCSI has become the ZuluSCSI Slim!