Information needed: external Super Baby HD drive

[Leografix]

Some months ago I "found" an external hard disk from an ex-Amiga user which is very unusual as I´ve never seen such a device before. Googleing for that box didn´t show any usefull information so I´m hoping someone might know a bit about that one:

SuperBaby HD

It utilizes a standard SCSI port for older Macs and can be daisy chained. It owns a SCSI switch (that little blue/white one) and an external power supply port but no specifications about voltage, also any possibilty of termination is missing. Inside is a Apple branded (!) 80 MB SCSI PowerBook drive.

Any further information is very welcome!

J

 

[Charlieman]

A photo of the internals, preferrably high resolution around the power connector, would be helpful.

 

[register]

I have some of those in two different makes. Your device might be accompagnied by a Y-cable to tap 5 V supply voltage from the ADB or a 5 volt wall plug, if connected to a not sufficiently powered SCSI bus. You may connect the drive directly to a PowerBook HDI30 (using an adaptor plug) without the tap cable. A terminator usually is not required if the drive is connected to the Mac using no or a very short cable.

This is the fastest and easiest lightweight way to transfer huge amounts of data from one Mac to another distant Mac. Congratulations to this nice conquest!

 

[Scott Baret]

This reminds me somewhat of the LaCie "Baxter" drive, which used to attach to the back of the Mac Plus/SE/Classic series, except even smaller. My guess is that it's from the Duo era when everyone was trying to miniaturize components to fit inside laptop cases (these would have been great backup drives to take along with you--and still would if you've got a SCSI-capable PowerBook).

 

[shred]

These were quite common around 1994-1996. There were quite a number of companies selling the cases and it was up to the buyer to source a suitable 2.5" SCSI drive. Often people would put an old PowerBook drive to good use after upgrading the PowerBook to a larger drive.

As register said, power was usually taken from ADB, but on some laptops, the ADB ports couldn't source enough current and an external regulated 5v power supply was needed (or a desktop Mac with an ADB port nearby if you were stuck!).

They were fantastic for quick on site fixes. You could boot any Mac from the drive, use a disk utility to check & fix the disk catalog and / or re-install the System very efficiently with one of those and the right software.

Unfortunately, out in user land they tended to live fairly short lives. Drop one and the drive mechanism is history.

 

[Leografix]

Indeed it´s a very nice device for my old Macs. It´s funny to see how a TechStep is able to test the drive inside

I will open it up somewhat later for providing photographs in high resolution - but the ADB hint is a good advice, will try that one with a appropiate cable.

J