[comp.sys.mac.hardware] PLI drives and the SCSI bus stop

Jenkins_RWA@acad.cut.oz (03/01/90)

Here's a tip for owners of PLI Turbo drives (you know - the Syquest 44Mb
removable type) It may well be applicable to other devices, although I never
tried.

The ONLY thing that bothered me with the PLI drive was the fact that it is
internally terminated, and must be powered up to allow other devices on the
SCSI bus to get a look in. ie:My SE/30 will not recognize its internal hard
disk if the PLI is plugged in but not turned on; powering up the PLI fixes 
this.

I paid a fair bit of attention to the discussion on hacking about inside these
Syquest based units to remove the termination, but am not keen to run amok in
the thing if I can avoid it:- and I can!

By plugging a standard Apple terminator into the unused SCSI port, I can power
up my mac without the PLI being on, and the Mac works as its makers intended.

This, combined with the hardware mod to our scanner to make it behave on the 
SCSI bus, makes me a happy man.

All credit to Guy Hickey, our local Apple System Engineer, for showing me the
light in this instance.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Richard Jenkins      Tel: (09) 351 7864                      AppleLink:AUST0176
PC Support Group     Fax: (09) 351 2673            ACSnet:cjenkinsr@mail.cut.oz
Curtin University    Perth, Western Australia    psi%050529452300030::cjenkinsr