Announcing BlueSCSI Toolbox – Web Edition

[eric]

Been a while without an update - life has been pretty busy! But my Alpha testers gave some great feedback and I have two items left on my list to release a public Alpha. One thing that will change is the pin-out - allowing for some stacking like @Stinkerton18 did here

 

[JDW]

...allowing for some stacking...

Two Pico units stacked atop each other for what purpose?

 

[eric]

Two Pico units stacked atop each other for what purpose?

For the topic of this thread - one running the web toolbox - the other scsi.

 

[wottle]

Been a while without an update - life has been pretty busy! But my Alpha testers gave some great feedback and I have two items left on my list to release a public Alpha. One thing that will change is the pin-out - allowing for some stacking like @Stinkerton18 did here

So the are all the pins connected on the outside of the Pico? Does that mean my mis-ordered batch that don't have the JST connector will be fine without it?

 

[eric]

It just will be an option - the i2c pins are lined up, the ground pins are lined up - so if you want to do a little soldering you could do this. I dont think it'll be _the_ default but it's _an_ option.

 

[Stinkerton18]

So the are all the pins connected on the outside of the Pico? Does that mean my mis-ordered batch that don't have the JST connector will be fine without it?

This is part of the reason why I did it the way I did. I didn't have a JST connector to plug into the BlueSCSI PCB (still don't) but wanted to test out the WebUI. Stacked like this does make pressing the button to flash/update the firmware on the "BlueSCSI" Pico a little tricky, but it works quite well.

 

[wottle]

This is part of the reason why I did it the way I did. I didn't have a JST connector to plug into the BlueSCSI PCB (still don't) but wanted to test out the WebUI. Stacked like this does make pressing the button to flash/update the firmware on the "BlueSCSI" Pico a little tricky, but it works quite well.

Makes sense. Hopefully not flashing the firmware too often.

And for context, I just have done something incorrect when trying to use my own parts for the JST connectors on JLCPCB because when the boards helped up, everything was populated (including the LEDs that I swapped in because they were also out of stock) except that JST connector. I didn’t mind the idea of soldering them in for the subset of the v2s I was planning on adding WiFi control to, but I really like the piggyback method here. Keeps everything tidy and solves my lack of connector problem! Thanks for testing this and working to make it a reality.

 

[eric]

Hey sorry for the lack of updates, but we've pivoted and will be working with @polpo on their PicoIDE project front panel - which will have a small esp32 for hosting a control website. Since our requirements are 99% the same might as well join forces. Procrastination proves fruitful once again!

Sneak peek at Ian's progress on the web interface:

 

[JDW]

will be working with @polpo on their PicoIDE project

"IDE"?
Sorry for my ignorance, but does this mean there will be a BlueIDE or similar drive that will, at long last, allow me to get a working SSD solution in my G4 Cubes? (They are IDE, not SCSI.)

 

[Jockelill]

"IDE"?
Sorry for my ignorance, but does this mean there will be a BlueIDE or similar drive that will, at long last, allow me to get a working SSD solution in my G4 Cubes? (They are IDE, not SCSI.)

For my Cube I used an IDE to SSD interface (from StarTech) and then a regular drive. Have the same in my PowerMac G4, this works great. Like this :

https://www.dustin.se/product/5011176108/40-pin-ide-pata-to-sata-adapter-converter

I highly doubt a "BlueIDE" would be able to meet the same performance levels as those adapter get with a regular SSD-drive (and price). But I happily stand corrected

 

[JDW]

For my Cube I used an IDE to SSD interface (from StarTech) and then a regular drive.

In Dec. 2021, I started a 120GB G4 Cube SSD thread, and that continued through 2023, ending in a total and utter dead-end for me. You can read what I bought and did starting from this post:

https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads/120gb-ssds-in-g4-cube.601/page-3#post-22653

 

[Jockelill]

Interesting, I was probably just lucky, but I have never had any issues installing any SSD drives in my G4 or Cubes. My drives are 2.5" sata SSD from aDATA of 120gb size. The only issue with ssd I have is that my PowerMac G4 does not like flashed PCI SSD-cards (same cards works fine in G3 and 7500/8500) . So instead of native Sata it uses the same type of adapter as the Cube. For the cube I have installed these adapters now in 5 machines without issues.

 

[JDW]

My drives are 2.5" sata SSD from aDATA of 120gb size.

I found that SSD here in Japan:

https://www.biccamera.com/bc/item/6173597/

Is this the Adapter?

https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-com-40%E3%83%94%E3%83%B3IDE-SATA-%E5%85%89%E5%AD%A6%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%96%E5%A4%89%E6%8F%9B%E3%82%A2%E3%83%80%E3%83%97%E3%82%BF-IDE2SAT2/dp/B00EOJNGC2/

 

[Jockelill]

I found that SSD here in Japan:

https://www.biccamera.com/bc/item/6173597/

Is this the Adapter?

https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-com-40%E3%83%94%E3%83%B3IDE-SATA-%E5%85%89%E5%AD%A6%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%96%E5%A4%89%E6%8F%9B%E3%82%A2%E3%83%80%E3%83%97%E3%82%BF-IDE2SAT2/dp/B00EOJNGC2/

Yeah, that is what I'm using, but other SSD should also work.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

"IDE"?
Sorry for my ignorance, but does this mean there will be a BlueIDE or similar drive that will, at long last, allow me to get a working SSD solution in my G4 Cubes? (They are IDE, not SCSI.)

There is a ZuluIDE. Not a full substitute yet, but very promising, and may work as a storage medium for basic use cases. https://www.zuluide.com/

 

[eric]

PicoIDE - I have a prototype and it's working great. I believe Ian hopes to have it out by the end of the year. It'll differentiate itself by being 100% opensource hardware and software, no license checks or encrypted binary blobs so the community can continue to add new features. Probably not the speeds yet you'd want to host the OS HDD on a Cube but possibly in the future.

It's main focus at first will be and ODE (Optical Drive Emulator) for PC's and as well as a storage device.

Not BlueIDE in name, but in spirit. Open, low cost, and able build it yourself. And happy to be included in an Ian project, if even just a small part.

 

[JDW]

The G4 Cube appears to use Ultra ATA/66 (ATA-5), with a theoretical maximum transfer rate: 66.7 MB/s.

The ZuluIDE link shows it to be ATA/33 (ZuluIDE V2) at up to 28 MB/s.