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Topic |
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Kami
Junior Member
Canada
132 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Oct 2002 : 11:11:47
Does anyone know if this card requires special software to run. It has a SCSI-2 connector on the back and an internal 50 pin connector. Micronet Technology is the manufacturer and they don't have any info on their site. A google search only leads to mentions of it in Tidbits and a few other placesFound it in a huge pile of old PC cards. The nice thing about NUBUS cards is their special connector. Makes them really stand out in a crowd (so to speak). Kami |
cinemafia
Guerrilla Recon Leader
USA
2965 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2002 : 12:03:51
I first heard about this card last week when I was searching for info about the Sony DTL-H700 card (it happened to be on the same Japanese site as the Sony). From my experience, SCSI Nubus cards in general do not require any special drivers, they just work...or don't work. Have you tried putting it in a system and then running SCSI Probe to see if a second SCSI bus shows up under the drop-down menu? This is the way my JackHammer card works...it just shows up.Here's a pic I found online, I'm assuming it looks that same as this? If so, then it appears to be a single-channel, narrow SCSI card. Though, I'm going to guess from the name and the fact that it was more expensive than the regular Nuport SCSI card, it supports SCSI-3 (or Ultra-Narrow SCSI, 20MB/sec top speed). I found this legacy software page under Micronet's site that offers a program called Raven 4.3, which apparently is a single channel (2-drive) software RAID that only works on a 6100, 7100 or 840av with a Nuport III SCSI card. There isn't any other info about the Nuport III card on their site, and since they're the OEM, I'm going to guess that this means that it doesn't need a driver. What all this means is that if you get a hold of a couple of 50-pin SCSI drives that support SCSI-3/Ultra-Narrow SCSI, like the ones made by Western Digital (WDE2170-0003, WDE4360-0003 or WDE9100-0003, which are 2.1, 4.3 and 9.1GB, respectively), you should be able to run a nice, quiet array that will get real-world transfers of 8-9MB/sec or so! I also found this Japanese site that shows a IIci with a Nuport III card. I was excited to find some benchmarks, but after I Babelfished it it turns out that the hard drive was run off the internal SCSI and not the Nuport II card...so why the guy even had it in there I dunno...just for show maybe.  666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
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My Hotline Server: 840av.sytes.net Edited by - cinemafia on 10 Oct 2002 12:17:17 |
bigsadhu
Junior Member
Cayman Island
462 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2002 : 14:50:45
Kami, I've got one of these too... unfortunately I haven't had a heap of success getting it working, but on the other hand I haven't tried real hard.I think I found some driver software a while back which I can email you if you like. Cine, my boards a 7 incher. I think the one you link to might be a Nuport I. The internal connector on mine is marked "Internal SCSI Connector" (so descriptive!) and the external one is marked "SCSI-2" Cheers!
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cinemafia
Guerrilla Recon Leader
USA
2965 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2002 : 15:32:01
You're right, that pic in my post is a Nuport I. But, anyway, if the outside connector is labelled SCSI-2, then perhaps the card itself only supports SCSI-2, or 10MB/sec max. However, it is often the case that external SCSI connectors are not as fast as the internal ones on expansion cards, so the internal might still support SCSI-3. But, that's just an assumption, of course.Either way, even if it only supports SCSI-2, you can still run a software RAID on it using that Raven 4.3 app from MicroNet and get maybe 5 or 6 solid MB/sec from a 7,200rpm SCSI drive. 666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
Total 68K Macs liberated: 7
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My Hotline Server: 840av.sytes.net
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Trash80toG-4
NIGHT STALKER
USA
2899 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2002 : 16:03:43
quote:
You're right, that pic in my post is a Nuport I. But, anyway, if the outside connector is labelled SCSI-2, then perhaps the card itself only supports SCSI-2, or 10MB/sec max. However, it is often the case that external SCSI connectors are not as fast as the internal ones on expansion cards, so the internal might still support SCSI-3. But, that's just an assumption, of course.Either way, even if it only supports SCSI-2, you can still run a software RAID on it using that Raven 4.3 app from MicroNet and get maybe 5 or 6 solid MB/sec from a 7,200rpm SCSI drive.
Having the faster connection on an external SCSI connector for a platform that has had just about SQUAT in terms of total available internal expansion bays cumulatively across the entire product line for most of its history (and during the entire NuBus era) makes a WHOLE lot more sense than doing it on the internal connector, which is of course, the way the dipsticks in a certain orchard decided things should be done! :rolleyes:Actually, it does make sense for Apple to make sure the internal drive was on the fast bus, and not bogged down by a scanner or SyqQuest drive, but heaven forbid they should use TWO SCSI 2 controllers on one machine!  On the 630, they wouldn't even put ONE decent SCSI I controller in the spec!  A card intended for RAID duty had better be set up to handle external drives on the faster bus! Ain' noplace to put'em inside a MAC! jt  ™.
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cinemafia
Guerrilla Recon Leader
USA
2965 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2002 : 16:28:32
You're right JT, and the fact that MicroNet says it will only support a RAID in a Quadra 840av, 6100 and 7100, when only one of those three has out-of-the-box support for two or more internal 3.5" hard drives, leads me to believe that the external connector is identical to the internal in terms of speed and protocol. It's just that often third-party SCSI card OEM's put a cheesy, SCSI-1 or SCSI2-only connector on the outside of a card that might have Ultra-Wide SCSI support on the inside! It doesn't make much sense for anything in the Nubus Era but a Quadra 800/840av/900/950 or PowerMac 8100! 666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
Total 68K Macs liberated: 7
My Site: http://cine.sytes.net
My Hotline Server: 840av.sytes.net Edited by - cinemafia on 10 Oct 2002 16:30:12 |
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Nuport III NUBUS SCSI card
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