As you expect two things: These hard drive for PS/2 is utterly unreliable and that interface breaks the compatibility. Best way is clone the interface and make an adapter to hook up to IDE or CF.

SCSI controller and SCSI hard drive works well but small capacity is the another two issues due to cost too and scarcity.

Cheers,

SteveC wrote on 2021-07-01, 23:26:

Hi all, […]
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Hi all,

This just happened to a model 50 I've been trying to get working 🙁 These appear to have rather proprietary drive interfaces! Any ideas apart from eBay where I might get a replacement drive?

I guess I could put a SCSI MCA card in there and wire up a drive for that, but that's expensive. Can you get ESDI MCA cards to replace whatever it is in it at the moment?

Cheers,
Steve

IMHO, the best long-term solution is probably an MCA SCSI controller.

If you prefer actual retro spinning drives, it is probably easier to get SCSI drives than ESDI ones . Additionally, the day that such drives become unobtainable in working condition, a SCSI2SD will likely still be an available option if you already have a SCSI controller (those controllers will not get cheaper over time).

If you don't care for actual retro spinning drives, getting an MCA SCSI controller and SCSI2SD now is, IMHO, the most reliable and probable cheapest (in the long term) solution .

EDIT : If that proprietary interface can be converted to IDE/CF, as mentioned by Pentiumspeed, and if the process to do so is straightforward, that would likely be even better .

The best solution I can think of for any 50pin scsi systems these days, is to abandon the spinning drives fully, and go with SD cards.
You will need a MCA 50pin scsi card, but that will allow you to use a SCSI2SD adapter.
I have a SCSI2SD v6 adapter, which is fantastic.
It allows you to break up a large SD card so it shows up to the old computer as multiple drives of any size you need.
My HP Vectra XU dual P120's onboard scsi maxes out at 8032mb per drive, so I put in a 64gig SD card, split it up into 7x 8gig drives, and away I go.

The SCSI2SD cards arent cheap, but they work really well, and if your stuck on 50pin scsi, are a hell of a solution.
Avoid the ones before version 6 if you can, they are a lot slower.

Thanks for the replies - about what I expected 😀

However someone on the 'IBM PS/2 PC Server and Microchannel based systems enthusiasts' Facebook group posted an intriguing image the other day... He's making this:

I want to start physically fighting all the "replace everything with solid state" crowd

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-07-05, 14:01:

I want to start physically fighting all the "replace everything with solid state" crowd

I think I understand where you are coming from.

That being said, I believe that if everyone :

a) states their preference
b) understands that there are advantages and disadvantages to each possible choice
c) accepts that there is a strong subjective component to preference and that perceived importance advantages/disadvantage will vary as a result
d) accepts that other people will have differing opinions and deserve respect
e) is able convey and explain their opinion respectfully and make suggestions/recommendations constructively when others ask questions
f) does not attempt to convince others that their way is the only valid/right/best way at all costs
g) when all has been said and done, respectfully agrees to disagree

We would all be better off and you would likely not feel the way you do .

Unfortunately, reality is quite different from what I have just described .

EDIT: Corrected typo .

Oh you can't beat the sound of a spinning disk. I'm surprised no one has made a SCSI2SD or whatever with a little speaker onboard 😀

Iirc that interface most closely resembles st-506, so you may be able to do a hookup that way. Or just go with an addon card. SCSI is probably going to be the easiest.