engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Adam C. Engst) (06/30/88)
Ephraim, I'd like a copy of your SCSI formatter, but mail doesn't seem to
want to go through. Thanks a lot for the information...
Adam
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In article <5203@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> you write:
>Hi,
Hi there.
>I need to know what sort of cable to buy to
>interface the Mac with the Adaptec board.
You need a Mac SCSI cable (25-pin to SCSI standard 50-pin) and a short
cable to convert the 50-pin header (the connector on the controller
board) to a SCSI standard 50-pin ("Centronics style") connector.
>Then, what sort of software
>would I need to install this hard disk?
Mine. Drop me a reminder and I'll mail you a copy. If it works, you
owe me $10 or you should donate a pint of blood.
>Will Apple's Installer program
>work, even though this isn't a Apple hard disk?
No.
> Thanks a lot!
> Adam
You're welcome.
--
Ephraim Vishniac ephraim@think.com
Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214
On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put
into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?"
In article <5203@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> you write:
>
> Hi,
> I have a Seagate 238 (30 meg, RLL) hard disk which I currently have
> hooked to my Atari ST via an Adaptec 4070 (I think that's the number)
> controller (which I think is a SCSI controller) and another board which
> translates the SCSI signals into something the Atari can understand.
> Anyway, I need to use a Macintosh SE for a senior thesis/project I'm
> working on and I don't think I can deal with a floppy-only system with a
> Mac any more. Macs beg for hard disks and I think the Mac can beg louder
> than the Atari for this year. So what I want to do is buy a two-drive SE
> and new cabling for the Adaptec controller so that I can use it with the SE
> instead of the Atari for now.
> I need to know if this can be done, which I think it can, but I'm not a
> great hardware person. If so, I need to know what sort of cable to buy to
> interface the Mac with the Adaptec board. Then, what sort of software
> would I need to install this hard disk? Will Apple's Installer program
> work, even though this isn't a Apple hard disk? Is there anything else I
> have to be careful of when setting up a hard disk system like this? Any
> advice or other information is welcome and if I recieve enough responses I
> will summarize them to the net.
Yes, it can be done... and as you say you already have the hardware lying
around, it shouldn't be very expensive.
The cable you'll need will have a 25-pin male connector (DB-25M) on one end,
and [probably] a standard 50-pin SCSI connector on the other. The pin
assignments for the 25-pin (Mac) end can be found in Volume 4 of Inside
Macintosh... they're distinctly nonstandard. Pin assignments on the
other end are probably the industry-standard SCSI variety... check your
controller's tech manual.
It's possible, but not likely that Apple's HD SCSI Installer will work
with the drive... Apple hasn't released any 30-meg drives under their
own label, and thus it's not likely that Apple's installer would
speak to that particular controller/drive combination. It's worth a
try, though.
Your best bet is probably to try out Ephraim Vishniac's "SCSI Formatter and
Installer" application. It's a shareware utility that provides a
user-configurable formatting/setup utility (you'll need ResEdit, the drive
and controller tech manuals, and some skull sweat to set it up). It comes
with two SCSI device drivers, derived from Apple's sample driver (source
code available from APDA... heavily commented but nonfunctional... Ephraim
made it functional). Ephraim doesn't promise that SF&I will work for you,
but it has apparently worked for quite a few people, and the price is right
(shareware fee = a pint of blood. Literally. If it works for you, he asks
that you donate same at your local Red Cross office.)
I have SF&I on-line here; if you can't find a copy locally, drop me a note
[I'll be out of town until the 27th] and I'll email you a BinHex'ed
StuffIt archive (it's about 50k in that form).
Best of luck!
--
Dave Platt VOICE: (415) 493-8805
USNAIL: Coherent Thought Inc. 3350 West Bayshore #205 Palo Alto CA 94303
UUCP: ...!{ames,sun,uunet}!coherent!dplatt DOMAIN: dplatt@coherent.com
INTERNET: coherent!dplatt@ames.arpa, ...@sun.com, ...@uunet.uu.net
If your controller is 'standard SCSI', you only need a SCSI system cable
(50 pin SCSI to 25 pin Mac SCSI), and a driver + formatter.
You may want to try SF&I (shareware), it contains a reasonably generic
driver (works even on a atari disk adapted to mac).
SF&I can be customized to your disk by changing some resources.
Success
--maarten
In real life: Maarten Carels
Computer Science Department
University of Amsterdam
email: maarten@uva
{philabs, decvax, seismo}!mcvax!uva!maarten
--
Adam C. Engst engst@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu
pv9y@cornella.bitnet
"If it's not interactive, it's not fun."