bobl@pro-graphics.cts.com (System Administrator) (08/27/89)
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Tulin A-Hive Kit Product Review
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Recently I received the Tulin Corp (408) 432-9025 A-Hive hard drive
enclosure kit w/60 meg ST277N drive to use with my Apple IIGS. While
this drive requires some knowledge of hardware, it is minimal and the
price is definitely right ($640 with ship/ no controller card). Here
are my initial impressions and assembly comments.
The enclosure is a nice looking box and better I think than CMS's. The
fan is quieter too, at least compared to my SD60. Assembly was pretty
simple (it is SCSI afterall), and only requires screwdriver skill for
the most part. Things to look out for:
1) Disregard all the Adaptec controller mounting brackets and screws. Read
the hardware parts list first. Use the "flat head" screws to mount
the drive. Notice how the front panel fits when you first take apart
the enclosure, dont lose the plastic on/off toggle switch handle.
2) Remove the black plastic face plate that comes attached to the new
ST277N. This is necessary to align the drive in the enclosure. You
might replace the screws where they came from after you remove the
plate so you dont lose them for future uses.
3) I attached the SCSI device id ribbon cable first, the big SCSI bus
cable second, and _then_ screwed the drive down. Attach the
the power supply cable last, (either one will do, tuck the unused
one away till you get another drive).
4) I had to plug in the device id ribbon cable upside down in order
to make clear the "keying" hump in the connector. Pay attention
to the way the ribbon cable is striped and how it runs into the
dip switch at the back of the enclosure. The parity jumper on the
drive next to the big SCSI connector is not needed for the CMS card.
I removed it and attached the ID cable to all the pins. This means
I bring out all the select pins to the back including parity. It
also means the Tulin docs are useless for determing drive id. They
are incorrect for 6 as it turns out anyway. Use the docs that come
with the Seagate and you will be better off. With my cable
arrangement (upside down) dip switch 8 is P, sw7 is 4, sw6 is 2, and
sw5 is 1. The normal CMS drive id is 6, so I set sw7 and sw6. Again,
refer to the Seagate docs for 5.25" interfaces. Remember the drive
mounts upside down as far as the pictorial diagram goes. This is
the most confusing part of the whole assembly process, and it may
be that my cable is just wired wrong.
5) Forget the drive select LED jumperwires, I couldnt find any place to
attach it on the ST277N. The green power LED was all I could hook up, so
you won't see the drive select light come on. Oh yes, the instructions
are right, dont screw down the front plate until you've tested out the
LED with a power-on. Mine was backwards the first time. When you
power on without the computer connected, the drive will do its normal
self test calibration noises.
6) Ok now power down _everything_ and attach the cable to your controller
card connector. After this, its just following the instructions
that come with your SCSI controller card as far as formatting and init-
tializing the drive. I dont have an Apple SCSI card so I dont know the
particulars for it. For the CMS, take off the JP1 jumper from the
controller card. While CMS recommends it for the SD60, having it on
caused the Tulin to endlessly run the power-on tests on powering up
both computer and drive and same time. If you dont do this, you'll
have to turn the drive on first before the computer. Slot 7 is the
best place for hard drives. If you have a GS make sure your slot is
set to "your card" wherever you put it.
7) I ran the low level CMS format right off, then ran Filer and volume
formatted to put on the high-level Prodos format. Ran the Filer
bad block next and when no errors where encountered for either 30
meg drive, started moving files on over starting with the usual
ProDOS files.
I find the speed identical to that of the SD60. Given controller and
drive that is expected. Using GSOS and the Apple SCSI card you may be
able to get better interleave and speed, plus you should be able to daisy
chain other drives, and use the new partitioning software to have more
than 2 32meg volumes per slot, at least from GSOS. The CMS card will
do for most users in any case.
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Raven Enterprises - 25 Raven Ave. Piscataway, NJ 08854prl3546@tahoma.UUCP (Philip R. Lindberg) (08/30/89)
From article <8908290228.AA02285@trout.nosc.mil>, by bobl@pro-graphics.cts.com (System Administrator): > > Recently I received the Tulin Corp (408) 432-9025 A-Hive hard drive > [...] > are my initial impressions and assembly comments. I also built my "homebrew" 60meg. HDrive using a ST277N and an A-Hive case from Tulin. > 5) Forget the drive select LED jumperwires, I couldn't find any place to > attach it on the ST277N. The green power LED was all I could hook up, so > you won't see the drive select light come on. Up until now your instructions have been fine, but I have another suggestion here. I tried to follow their instructions on the LED wires but found it "hokey". What I ended up doing is soldering two wires to the pads on the other side of the drive card were it's access light is, and connecting them to a new LED I mounted to the front panel. This way I have both power and access lights. (I also replaced the power switch, but that is not as important.) > > _______________________ Pro-Graphics 201/469-0049 __________________________ +---------------------------------------------------------+ | The Apple //'s will live forever!! | | Phil Lindberg snail mail: 13845 S.E. 131 ST | | INET: prl3546@tahoma.UUCP Renton, WA 98056 | | UUCP: ..!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!shuksan!tahoma!prl3546 | | Disclaimer: I don't speak for my employer (and I not | | sure they even know I exist....) | +---------------------------------------------------------+