Odd BlueSCSI v2 Issues

[Macobyte]

Hey everyone! I'm having a very difficult time with a BlueSCSI v2 (with Pico-W) I got from Joe's Computer Museum a few months ago which I'm only now having time to set up.

I've installed it into my SE/30 in place of a SCSI2SD v5.2 which was in there previously. This is my first BlueSCSI product and, while a little convoluted, the setup instructions seemed pretty straightforward but I'm having limited success.

The issue I'm having persists across at least five different microSD cards, all different brands, all 8GB Class 4, all formatted as exFAT in a Master Boot Record single partition scheme. My BlueSCSI v2 is currently bus-powered, although I do have the analog board's hard disk Berg connector available if one of the experts here believes it will make any difference in the issues I'll describe below. The BlueSCSI v2 is running firmware version "2023.10.12-release Oct 13 2023 02:55:19." Although not critical, I do (ideally) want the latest firmware and have tried to drop the latest, "BlueSCSI_Pico_2023-11-17_bb06470b" .bin file in the root of the microSD card, but the BlueSCSI v2 seems to completely ignore it rather than detect it, install it, and then delete it as I would expect. I believe my existing firmware supports the new WiFi features (my entire point of moving away from my SCSI2SD) so this is a more secondary issue to solve.

I have been trying to create a blank image with Disk Jockey which I could mount along with system recovery tools to install a fresh copy of 7.5(.3 or .5). I cannot get this to work; it only shows the flashing disk icon. I then tried to download some premade, bootable images from the MEGA link on the official BlueSCSI v2 documentation page. First, the "HD10-OpenRetroSCSI-7.5.3.hda" image, which boots, shows the "Welcome to Macintosh" splash screen, and then immediately hangs — the activity light stops on the BlueSCSI v2 and it sits on this screen forever.

On a whim, I also downloaded the "HD10_512 Macintosh HD Sys 81.hda" image which includes System 7.5.3 and Mac OS 8.1 on one volume. This image actually boots and works! However, if I try to then create and add a separate image, the System either fails to recognize it completely, or recognizes it and then fails to initialize it. If I add the aforementioned HD10-OpenRetroSCSI-7.5.3.hda" image as a secondary drive in my SCSI ID order, it is recognized when booting from the "HD10_512 Macintosh HD Sys 81.hda" image but then repeats the same hang-on-boot behavior when selected with System Picker.

Viewing the log.txt file after trying each microSD card shows that the BlueSCSI v2 reports that every writable volume I've tried to use is fragmented. Following the guidance in the official BlueSCSI v2 documentation, I have formatted each microSD card and recopied the images I've tried to use multiple times, but I still get the fragmentation notifications. It gives me a fragmentation notice for the "HD10_512 Macintosh HD Sys 81.hda" image as well, although that one at least seems to work fine, so maybe these aren't anything to be very concerned about.

I find this all very frustrating. The "HD10_512 Macintosh HD Sys 81.hda" image is very robust and includes a ton of software but I wanted to start my own volume from scratch, set it up to my specifications, then copy over my files and documents from my old SCSI2SD volume. Nothing I've tried outside of that one premade image has worked.

Please, if anyone here can shed any light on this, I'd be very grateful. What am I doing wrong? Why does that one specific image work and how do I replicate whatever it is about that image the BlueSCSI v2 and SE/30 like across other images? Thanks in advance!

For further reference, my SE/30 has a BMOW ROM-inator II, MicroMac DiiMO 50MHz PDS card, and 128MB of RAM installed.

 

[eric]

while a little convoluted

Feedback is a gift as @Ron's Computer Videos always says- if you have any specifics about what is convoluted about it please do share - the image based, no config needed is usually what people like most about it!

The BlueSCSI v2 is running firmware version "2023.10.12-release Oct 13 2023 02:55:19." Although not critical, I do (ideally) want the latest firmware and have tried to drop the latest, "BlueSCSI_Pico_2023-11-17_bb06470b" .bin file in the root of the microSD card, but the BlueSCSI v2 seems to completely ignore it rather than detect it, install it, and then delete it as I would expect.

Please use the USB .uf2 update method - there is a known issue after the wifi release with the SD file based update which we should have addressed soon.

although that one at least seems to work fine, so maybe these aren't anything to be very concerned about.

Since the SE/30's bus isn't that fast you likely wont notice a speed difference if the file is fragmented or not. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to make the OS you're using copy the file in a non-fragmented way. The docs describes _a_ way that works most of the time, but again it's something out of our control.

Please, if anyone here can shed any light on this, I'd be very grateful.

For further reference, my SE/30 has a BMOW ROM-inator II, MicroMac DiiMO 50MHz PDS card, and 128MB of RAM installed.

There's a lot going on here - the best way forward is to remove variables to narrow down the issue. As you're familiar with the docs the Troubleshooting page is really the best place to start - follow it to a T. Update, one image file at a time, one device on the scsi chain at a time, verifying termination, etc. Once we get to a working state we can add variables back in one a time to see what the issue is. Once you get through the docs please attach the debug log if you are still having an issue.

 

[bakkus]

And since you mention the BMOW ROM on an SE/30: Did you patch your OS as needed? https://www.bigmessowires.com/mac-se30-with-upgraded-rom/

 

[Macobyte]

@eric, thank you for your reply! I'm working on this some more today.

I have upgraded my firmware to the latest 11/17/23 version using the USB method. After the update, the BlueSCSI v2 failed to recognize any image at all (no matter what I did, I'd get five blinks on the status LED), so I nuked it and reapplied the firmware update. Following that, it recognized the premade "HD10-OpenRetroSCSI-7.5.3.hda" image* again, but continues to hang on boot about a second after the "Welcome to Macintosh Screen" appears.

For the sake of trying different things, I have tried deleting the "NE6.hda" file so it doesn't have anything on the bus in ID 6, I've tried two different microSD cards, two different microSD to SD card adapters, and I've even tried it without having my DiiMO installed; all have the same result. I'm attaching my log file for your reference with the debug detail included. Not sure what my next step is to try on my end but I'll keep attempting different things in the meantime.

I very much appreciate your time and attention!

*I've been changing the name of the premade 7.5.3 image on the MEGA folder from "HD0" to "HD1" or "HD10" because this is one aspect of the documentation which I find confusing. According to the documentation, the device IDs can start at 0 and go to 7, but only have seven max, and default to 1. So is 0 or 1 the first device ID allowed? And if it's 0, why does the numbering go to 7, when 0-7 is eight different devices, one more than is allowed?

 

[eric]

*I've been changing the name of the premade 7.5.3 image on the MEGA folder from "HD0" to "HD1" or "HD10" because this is one aspect of the documentation which I find confusing. According to the documentation, the device IDs can start at 0 and go to 7, but only have seven max, and default to 1. So is 0 or 1 the first device ID allowed? And if it's 0, why does the numbering go to 7, when 0-7 is eight different devices, one more than is allowed?

SCSI ID's are zero based index - so the first ID is 0. On a Mac normally the internal HDD is set to 0. BlueSCSI allows you to set as much or as little information in the file name as required. eg `HD` is valid - it would default to SCSI ID 1 (to avoid conflicting with an existing HDD). Hopefully that makes sense. Default is not to indicate first, but a sane default for most situations.

The good (and bad) news is the log looks fine. No errors, no timeouts, etc. So the problem lies elsewhere. In the troubleshooting guide it directs you to check termination - this is the only device on the chain and the PWR_ON and TERM jumpers are on correct? Reseat all SCSI cables too (funny how many times it feels tight then a reseat fixes it!)

Was this a kit or assembled? Either way do a visual inspection of the solder work on the surface mount and pico connections.

The voltage appears fine at 3.2v - but for fun you could try powering it via USB to see if that makes any difference.

Lastly as you havent mentioned it - please use the SD Card Formatter util to do a full overwrite format. This can take care of "odd" issues many times.

 

[Macobyte]

@eric I think this is solved! I think it was a combination of two issues… Something was amiss on the firmware I had and whatever it was was corrected when I nuked it and reflashed it, and then I was forgetting that the ROM-inator II requires a patched System. Thanks to @bakkus for mentioning it and providing the link… I realized when it continued to hang at the "Welcome to Macintosh" screen that the issue had to do with the System, and suddenly bakkus's comment made sense.

I migrated the premade 7.5.3 image to my BasiliskII environment and patched it there, and then it happily booted on the real hardware finally. Interestingly, after the firmware update, the BlueSCSI v2 no longer likes my SD card extension cable, even when powered off the analog board, but I can certainly live with that.

My next steps will be to create a new image, mount it in BasiliskII, install 7.5.5 and all the apps I want, and then migrate it over to the BlueSCSI v2.

Thanks to you both for your help! Eric, if it's alright, I may reach out to you privately in the days ahead with some collected thoughts about what I found a little difficult to understand in the setup process, since you mentioned it earlier. I want to be constructive so listing those here doesn't seem the right way to do that. And even with the nits it's certainly a very quality product which I look forward to using for a long time. Thanks again!

 

[eric]

my SD card extension cable

Those cables can be hit or miss - another variable to remove when debugging

Glad you got it working and it was a straight forward fix.