I have a few SCSI CD burners and HDDs that I would like to test (and format) before selling. Is there any way to make them usable on a 'modern' system, talking XP onwards besides buying a PCI SCSI card? I know there are IDE/SATA to USB adapters but what about SCSI?
Just for formatting / testing you don´t need high speed or RAID - so a cheap SCSI PCI-adapter will probably be by far the cheapest solution compared to some SCSI <-> USB or the like adapter (if they exist).
There are usb to scsi adapters from Adaptec and other brands, they will be more expensive than PCI cards.
Beware. SCSI is a real bus, not just an HDD/CDD interface. Flat bed scanners used SCSI, too, for example.
Adaptec USBXChange is an USB-SCSI converter dongle, I believe.
But keep in mind that USB 1.x is slower than 8-Bit SCSI.
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Hmm, so if I understand correctly, there is no easy way to connect a SCSI device to a more modern rig except for the USBXchange USB1.1? I wonder if it has any quality penalty except for lower speed?
martin778 wrote on 2023-06-06, 17:54:Hmm, so if I understand correctly, there is no easy way to connect a SCSI device to a more modern rig except for the USBXchange USB1.1? I wonder if it has any quality penalty except for lower speed?
More or less, I guess. These old USB-SCSI dongles were primarily made to allow Macintosh users to keep their precious SCSI equipment.
Because historically, Macintosh platform had been a strong supporter for SCSI.
That's also why these dongles are USB 1.x; the original iMacs and Power Macs G3/G4 were equipped with USB 1.x ports, as a replacement to the legacy ports (ADB, modem, printer, SCSI etc).
Mac OS Classic (all versions up to 9.2.2) aren't supporting USB 2.x controllers, also.
It's possible to get them working as USB 1.1 controllers, though.
Edit: If only HDD support is important, SCSI to IDE converters can be used, maybe.
Perhaps it's possible to attach an USB-IDE dongle to such a converter.
If the USB-IDE dongle stays true to AT command set, it should work same as s real IDE port.
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
//My video channel//
Easiest option is probably a recent Linux system with a PCI SCSI card, since most SCSI support is baked in and you won't (usually) need additional drivers to access the devices on the SCSI bus.
Testing on windows will be a headache unless you can track down period device drivers for a period version of whatever Windows was available at the time of the device you are wanting to test was sold.
My collection database and technical wiki:
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If you have a PCI card like Adaptec 19160 or Symbios/LSI 875 there should not be too many obstacles to run them in Windows 10 x64.
HDDs and ODDs (optical disk drives) will use built-in drivers of Windows.
martin778 wrote on 2023-06-06, 17:54:Hmm, so if I understand correctly, there is no easy way to connect a SCSI device to a more modern rig except for the USBXchange USB1.1? I wonder if it has any quality penalty except for lower speed?
There are PCIe SCSI cards too though they're probably not cheap and you'll probably need a VHDCI-to-something-else adapter cable unless you're attaching quite "modern" drive enclosures, etc.
martin778 wrote on 2023-06-06, 17:54:Hmm, so if I understand correctly, there is no easy way to connect a SCSI device to a more modern rig except for the USBXchange USB1.1? I wonder if it has any quality penalty except for lower speed?
There are usb 2.0 adapters too, look for them on yahoo auctions instead of ebay, prices are cheaper, but any pci card will be simpler to use and you won't need various adapters for the connectors between your hdd/cdrom drives and the usb adapter.
You can also use pcmcia or cardbus cards and a pci cardbus adapter, but it won't be more convenient in any case, unless you have a laptop with an appropriate slot already.
Few years ago I tried PCI to PCIe adapter with one adaptec PCI SCSI controller (don't know which one exactly) and 8 GB SCSI HDD. Surprisingly it worked fine. Even mounting in WinUAE as A590 HDD to prepare for real A590.
Actually one controller worked OK and the other didn't. One was rather big card with multiple different connectors, while the other was simple with two internal and one external. Simple one worked without issues, big one didn't see HDD. I guess it was more complex to set up that simple one. So in this case I guess it's better to stay with simple 😅.
Downside is that this contraption was higher than regular PCI(e) card so you can't close the case with it plugged in. But for temporary usage it was fine.
