VOGONS


First post, by gryffinwings

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I just got my slot 1 system up and running, meaning it that it POST and gets to BIOS.

System:
Motherboard: Gateway Tabor III (4000532)
CPU: Intel Pentium II 400 MHz
RAM: 128 MB SDRAM PC100
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 2 MX
Sound Card: Sound Blaster ISA card

I was thinking of getting a SCSI Seagate Cheetah 15k RPM hard drive; I know I'll need a SCSI PCI card, but I'm wondering what kind of card I should be looking for and if there are compatibility issues to look out for. Thanks for any recommendations or feedback.

Main Computer: Custom - Intel 12900K, Asus Nvidia 3080 Ti, 64 GB DDR5.
Retro Computer: Packard Bell Legend I - AMD 286, 640KB RAM
Retro Computer: Shuttle XPC - Pentium 4 2.8 GHz FSB 400 MHz, ATi Radeon 9600 Pro, Sound Blaster Live!, 2GB RAM.

Reply 1 of 6, by wierd_w

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why?

That has PCI slots, so why not get a PCI SATA card, disable the onboard IDE, and then use a SATA drive?

Reply 2 of 6, by VivienM

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Back in the day, if you spent huge money on the SCSI option from Dell or Gateway, you got an Adaptec AHA-2940UW... so while I have essentially zero experience with those (other than having a friend who ordered both a Dell and Gateway machine of this vintage with the SCSI option...), those would definitely be the period correct option.

Reply 3 of 6, by Disruptor

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When you use a 15k drive, use a controller that supports LVD, like the Adaptec 2940U2W.
Please note that a 15k drive needs active cooling too.

Reply 4 of 6, by Many Bothans

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As others have mentioned any of the Adaptec 2940 cards should be period correct. Just make sure to match up your connectors, map out IDs and double check terminations.

Back in the day these setups could be wonky: I think I had a 2940UW with an external Acer scanner connected with a special DB50 to HD68 cable, on the internal side of the bus there was SCSI ZIP and JAZ drives using 50-pin and hard drives using the 68-pin connectors. It was in hindsight quite insane.

  • Zenith Z386SX-20, 8MB FPM, Video 7 1024i, Unhoused
  • AOpen AP43, Am5x86-133@160, 1MB L2, 128MB FPM, Stealth III S540 32MB Savage4, SB32
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Reply 5 of 6, by Disruptor

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Many Bothans wrote on 2024-07-12, 13:48:

As others have mentioned any of the Adaptec 2940 cards should be period correct. Just make sure to match up your connectors, map out IDs and double check terminations.

Back in the day these setups could be wonky: I think I had a 2940UW with an external Acer scanner connected with a special DB50 to HD68 cable, on the internal side of the bus there was SCSI ZIP and JAZ drives using 50-pin and hard drives using the 68-pin connectors. It was in hindsight quite insane.

You also may consider Adaptec 19160
Internal 68 LVD connector
Internal 50 SE connector
External 50 SE HD connector

While 2940U2W has
Internal 68 LVD connector
External 68 LVD connector
Internal 68 SE connector
Internal 50 SE connector

Last edited by Disruptor on 2024-07-12, 17:36. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 6 of 6, by gryffinwings

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wierd_w wrote on 2024-07-12, 03:49:

why?

That has PCI slots, so why not get a PCI SATA card, disable the onboard IDE, and then use a SATA drive?

Thanks for pointing this out, I have also recently looked into this, and it seems like a viable option to at least run SATA Western Digital Raptor Drives.

Disruptor wrote on 2024-07-12, 07:00:

When you use a 15k drive, use a controller that supports LVD, like the Adaptec 2940U2W.
Please note that a 15k drive needs active cooling too.

Thanks, I'll look into that controller. Active cooling isn't a problem, got an older Lian Li PC 61 case that has intake fans that blow over the hard drive cage.

Many Bothans wrote on 2024-07-12, 13:48:

As others have mentioned any of the Adaptec 2940 cards should be period correct. Just make sure to match up your connectors, map out IDs and double check terminations.

Back in the day these setups could be wonky: I think I had a 2940UW with an external Acer scanner connected with a special DB50 to HD68 cable, on the internal side of the bus there was SCSI ZIP and JAZ drives using 50-pin and hard drives using the 68-pin connectors. It was in hindsight quite insane.

Thanks for the information, I'll look into this.

Main Computer: Custom - Intel 12900K, Asus Nvidia 3080 Ti, 64 GB DDR5.
Retro Computer: Packard Bell Legend I - AMD 286, 640KB RAM
Retro Computer: Shuttle XPC - Pentium 4 2.8 GHz FSB 400 MHz, ATi Radeon 9600 Pro, Sound Blaster Live!, 2GB RAM.