Zip SCSI weirdness on an LC II

[DamienC]

Hello. I'm mostly into 80s/90s PC compatibles but I've just recently gotten into classic Macs and I fully restored an LC II I got my hands on.

I picked up an external SCSI Zip drive that powers on OK but I can't seem to get the Mac to boot with it connected so I can't get the drivers installed. It only came with the power cable. I had a generic 25-pin male-male cable that I used to connect the drive to the Mac.

With the drive connected, the system will not boot the hard drive, I get the question mark icon. It will boot a floppy. Changing the termination switch and/or the SCSI 5/6 ID switch makes no difference. With the drive removed, the system boots normally.

Is there anything I'm missing with these SCSI Zip drives? Is the original cable that came with it special in some way?

 

[jmacz]

A standard db25 scsi cable or straight through cable should work. Parallel/printer cables will not as it’s usually missing some wiring. Also check to ensure no internal drives are using 5 or 6 for the scsi ID (whichever one you have the Zip drive set to). A conflict usually causes your symptoms. Driver isn’t necessary for it to boot and get to the Finder.