BlueSCSI DB25 compatibility issues?

[Yoda]

I have a DB25 v1 - I don't know the exact product because it's no longer on the site to look it up, but it predates the v2.

Anyway, it works perfectly with my Performa 630CD, including allowing me to install Mac OS 7.1 on a card in it that was created by Disk Jockey. The 630 has even been booted from the BlueSCSI when I was swapping out hard drives, and I'd used it to back up the old drive ready to restore on the new one.

All of which is to say it works. However, it won't work on anything else. I've tried using it on three or four PowerBook 100 and 500 series machines, (externally powered of course) and it is totally ignored. The power LED is on, but there is no activity light.

It can be plugged into the back of my Beige G3, but again, power LED but no activity light, and nothing mounts - even with the microSD card in it that the 630 reads perfectly.

I have a SCSI2SD external (v5.5 I think), and frustratingly that works on the PowerBooks (externally powered), but not the 630. It won't actually fit on the G3 SCSI port due to the casing, so I don't know if it would work on that.

Any ideas? It is quite frustrating!

 

[eric]

I have a DB25 v1 - I don't know the exact product because it's no longer on the site to look it up, but it predates the v2.

Nothing's been removed from github or the site - it should say on the silk screen as well.

Start by removing variables - the top of the trouble shooting guide has a good guide to do that: https://github.com/erichelgeson/BlueSCSI/wiki/Troubleshooting#tldr

FWIW I use a db25 on both 100 and 500 series powerbooks without issue.

 

[Yoda]

Nothing's been removed from github or the site - it should say on the silk screen as well.

Start by removing variables - the top of the trouble shooting guide has a good guide to do that: https://github.com/erichelgeson/BlueSCSI/wiki/Troubleshooting#tldr

FWIW I use a db25 on both 100 and 500 series powerbooks without issue.

Ah, sorry I was not more precise - I meant the Tech by Androda site where I bought it. I'm not sure it was a standard model, but having taken the green 3D printed cover off, it seems to be an 'F4Lite.TbA.DB25M....' I couldn't read the last characters.

I'll check out the GitHub link and read through that. And yes, I was expecting it to work with the PowerBooks as much as anything else.

Oddly, having taken the cover off it to watch the activity light, when plugged into my 170, it behaves perfectly and mounted with no issues. It shows up in the chain as a 2000 Mb SCSI device 1, which is correct, per the naming convention.

Still doesn't mount on the G3 though. Power LED is on, and the blue activity light flickers once every couple of seconds or so. There's no software on the G3 to check the SCSI chain unfortunately to see if it's there.

 

[retr01]

@Yoda, have you discussed this with @Androda?

 

[Yoda]

@Yoda, have you discussed this with @Androda?

No, I haven't as yet. It worked with the system I needed it for specifically (the 630CD) so wasn't overly concerned. I presume from the troubleshooting guide that it can't see the card or the card isn't readable - though why the same card works in one system and not another is odd if that were the case. SCSI madness, I suspect!

 

[Kai Robinson]

No, I haven't as yet. It worked with the system I needed it for specifically (the 630CD) so wasn't overly concerned. I presume from the troubleshooting guide that it can't see the card or the card isn't readable - though why the same card works in one system and not another is odd if that were the case. SCSI madness, I suspect!

I have legitimately had issues before where a Sandisk MicroSD worked in everything, but my Quadra 700 just would NOT play nice with it at all. Swapped to a Kingston and it worked fine.

 

[Androda]

All of which is to say it works. However, it won't work on anything else. I've tried using it on three or four PowerBook 100 and 500 series machines, (externally powered of course) and it is totally ignored. The power LED is on, but there is no activity light.

It can be plugged into the back of my Beige G3, but again, power LED but no activity light, and nothing mounts - even with the microSD card in it that the 630 reads perfectly.

This is quite odd what you mention about the beige g3. That's my test system, and every assembled BlueSCSI I sell is checked on that machine.

On the 630, does the DB25 unit work with and without the internal drive installed? Is there an internal drive installed in the beige g3?

As for powerbooks, that's strange. The powerbook internal hard drive uses a much weaker terminator than an external SCSI device would. I've heard that people have to disable termination on the external bus sometimes to get it working with BlueSCSI, but you can't do that with the older DB25 model.

Near the end of my BlueSCSI V1 stock I was starting to notice the STM32 modules were having quality issues. They wouldn't perform properly when connected to the SCSI bus, or didn't want to be programmed. It's possible your unit was functional at the time but may overall be a marginal STM32 and not capable of proper SCSI signaling with higher current situations. This is part of the reason I did the XCVR series, and V2 - no more termination current issues.

 

[Yoda]

On the 630, does the DB25 unit work with and without the internal drive installed? Is there an internal drive installed in the beige g3?

Yes, it worked perfectly on the 630 both with and without an internal drive - at least with and without the HD. The CD ROM was connected all the time.

The G3 has an internal IDE, Zip and CD, I have not looked to see which of these are SCSI!

As for powerbooks, that's strange. The powerbook internal hard drive uses a much weaker terminator than an external SCSI device would. I've heard that people have to disable termination on the external bus sometimes to get it working with BlueSCSI, but you can't do that with the older DB25 model.

I wasn't much concerned about the PowerBook related issue since this BlueSCSI wasn't intended for that use. But it does seem odd. I thought perhaps that it might be related to the SCSI adapter I use, or the cable I'm powering it with.

Near the end of my BlueSCSI V1 stock I was starting to notice the STM32 modules were having quality issues. They wouldn't perform properly when connected to the SCSI bus, or didn't want to be programmed. It's possible your unit was functional at the time but may overall be a marginal STM32 and not capable of proper SCSI signaling with higher current situations. This is part of the reason I did the XCVR series, and V2 - no more termination current issues.

This would probably have been near the end of your stock of the old model, and it does seem a bit variable - except on the 630 where it has been rock solid!

 

[Androda]

Yes, it worked perfectly on the 630 both with and without an internal drive - at least with and without the HD. The CD ROM was connected all the time.

The G3 has an internal IDE, Zip and CD, I have not looked to see which of these are SCSI!

I believe the G3's standard internal hard drive and Zip drives are IDE, but the CDROM is SCSI.

This would probably have been near the end of your stock of the old model, and it does seem a bit variable - except on the 630 where it has been rock solid!

Yeah, this seems pretty odd in general. Given that it works on the 630 with and without an internal drive, I wonder if that internal CDROM on the g3 is SCSI but somehow termination is incorrect.

 

[Yoda]

I have legitimately had issues before where a Sandisk MicroSD worked in everything, but my Quadra 700 just would NOT play nice with it at all. Swapped to a Kingston and it worked fine.

Yeah, this makes sense. There are a lot of tales 'to there' of good and bad cards. I would generally think (not necessarily correctly) that if a card works in the BlueSCSI in one system, it ought to in another - in other words, that it's the BlueSCSI that is good or bad with a card, not the host system.

That said, the troubleshooting page does suggest that the flashing LeD I see on the BlueSCI when it's plugged into a system it isn't working with means that either it doesn't see the card at all, or sees it and can't read it.

 

[Yoda]

I believe the G3's standard internal hard drive and Zip drives are IDE, but the CDROM is SCSI.



Yeah, this seems pretty odd in general. Given that it works on the 630 with and without an internal drive, I wonder if that internal CDROM on the g3 is SCSI but somehow termination is incorrect.

The G3 has had much work done inside it - or did many years ago - so anything is possible, and I'm not sure the CD ROM is original. That said though it hasn't been used for years, probably 2007, so it may simply be a problem with failing components.

Now I have a working Zip drive elsewhere, I can at least get a few things onto the G3, and as needed get it on my network, which will help deal with everything else. Or most things!

Meanwhile, I'll get a couple of other brand microSD cards, because you can never have too many, and it might help!

 

[acarteas]

I came here because I had a similar issue with a v2 between an SE/30 (works) and a performa 637 and 6300 (didn't work). It turns out that one of my image numbers conflicted with the performa's CD-ROM. Switching to a different number (from 3 to 4) solved my issue and now it works on all machines.