Yeah, I've got an Adaptec AHA-2940UW on the way now for really cheap, and I already seemed to have the appropriate cable and terminator in a server tower I don't want to test yet (which has SCSI integrated into its motherboard).

Fingers crossed for this.

By the way, by this point it bears saying that I'm a she not a he lmao.
And yeah, I don't care what mode it's working in as long as it works with the least fuss. Hence being happy to buy a new card (for cheap) even if it won't get the best speed out of the drive or whatever.

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2023-11-07, 18:15:

Yeah, I've got an Adaptec AHA-2940UW on the way now for really cheap, and I already seemed to have the appropriate cable and ter […]
Show full quote

Yeah, I've got an Adaptec AHA-2940UW on the way now for really cheap, and I already seemed to have the appropriate cable and terminator in a server tower I don't want to test yet (which has SCSI integrated into its motherboard).

Fingers crossed for this.

By the way, by this point it bears saying that I'm a she not a he lmao.
And yeah, I don't care what mode it's working in as long as it works with the least fuss. Hence being happy to buy a new card (for cheap) even if it won't get the best speed out of the drive or whatever.

Can you use the server for backing up the drives? ie is that server functional/use-able?
What scsi chipset does it have? Considering the cable it's likely a UW or higher.

Though I guess a server would be sluggish to boot and change disks in, each time shutting down and booting up.

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2023-11-07, 18:15:

Yeah, I've got an Adaptec AHA-2940UW on the way now for really cheap, and I already seemed to have the appropriate cable and ter […]
Show full quote

Yeah, I've got an Adaptec AHA-2940UW on the way now for really cheap, and I already seemed to have the appropriate cable and terminator in a server tower I don't want to test yet (which has SCSI integrated into its motherboard).

Fingers crossed for this.

By the way, by this point it bears saying that I'm a she not a he lmao.
And yeah, I don't care what mode it's working in as long as it works with the least fuss. Hence being happy to buy a new card (for cheap) even if it won't get the best speed out of the drive or whatever.

Yes that should probably work for what you want.
I did realise early on that you dont care about the bus speed in Mb, its more about just getting it to work at all and get the data off/on it.

The cable needs to be of the 68pin variety to work. By the looks of it and going by what you have tried the drive will not transfer in 8bit mode, only 16bit. I think, maybe... It can transfer in LVD (native) or you can force SE mode, but that didnt seem to work.

A 2940UW is a nice controller to have... Especially if it comes with the cable and terminator you need.

I've not tried powering on that server yet. And even if I had, it's really huge and likely really noisy; it has two PSUs inside one big power chassis, and it wouldn't be straightforward to replace them pre-emptively in case they had any issues (although I've checked inside and the capacitors seem visually okay). I certainly wouldn't want to keep it powered on for potentially hours on end fussing around with installing an OS and backing up the SCSI drives on there. One or two of the drives may have an installation for it on them already, so I'd also like to back that up or at least check it out without it being booted from. It's nothing important to me, but just in the interest of witnessing how things had been left, and seeing what curious things might be on there, or perhaps if I can poke around with it all in operation even.
I'd much rather get the SCSI drives looked at at a more leisurely pace on a more manageable PC that I already have setup with an OS and such.

And yes ElectroSoldier, the cable I have is a 68-pin cable to connect to the 16-bit connector on a 16-bit-capable SCSI controller, with a 68-pin terminator. That's why I'm buying this cheap controller card instead of the adapter you recommended, since it seems to be the only other piece I need.

true that, servers tend to be noisy, screaming loud, power hungry, heavy blocks of hardware.
There is one thing the UW controller doesn't do though, and that is LVD. Here's to hoping that isn't something the drive has a requirement.

Out of curiosity, what SCSI hardware do you have available to play around with ?

edit: though falling asleep next to such a roaring beast is an experience in itself.

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:21:

I've not tried powering on that server yet. And even if I had, it's really huge and likely really noisy; it has two PSUs inside one big power chassis, and it wouldn't be straightforward to replace them pre-emptively in case they had any issues (although I've checked inside and the capacitors seem visually okay). I certainly wouldn't want to keep it powered on for potentially hours on end fussing around with installing an OS and backing up the SCSI drives on there. One or two of the drives may have an installation for it on them already, so I'd also like to back that up or at least check it out without it being booted from. It's nothing important to me, but just in the interest of witnessing how things had been left, and seeing what curious things might be on there, or perhaps if I can poke around with it all in operation even.
I'd much rather get the SCSI drives looked at at a more leisurely pace on a more manageable PC that I already have setup with an OS and such.

And yes ElectroSoldier, the cable I have is a 68-pin cable to connect to the 16-bit connector on a 16-bit-capable SCSI controller, with a 68-pin terminator. That's why I'm buying this cheap controller card instead of the adapter you recommended, since it seems to be the only other piece I need.

You can indeed do it like you propose. However you will need to put a jumper on the Force SE pins of the hard disk as the 2940UW isnt LVD (the option I suggested is LVD... It is similar in all the things that you need and you wouldnt need a jumper on Force SE). The 29160 will also negotiate to any transfer speed upto Ultra160. It is a slightly better option than the one you have chosen, however that is not to say the option you have chosen will not work, because it will.
Personally in the market place I have access to I find the newer controllers like the 29160 to be cheaper than the older hardware like the 2940UW.
To me £25 for a 29160 an a 4 drop 68 pin LVD cable with terminator built in is a good price. (Cheapest 2940UW card I can find is £22.50 without cable) But I dont know your local market place prices.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:42:

You can indeed do it like you propose. However you will need to put a jumper on the Force SE pins of the hard disk as the 2940UW isnt LVD (the option I suggested is LVD... It is similar in all the things that you need and you wouldnt need a jumper on Force SE). The 29160 will also negotiate to any transfer speed upto Ultra160. It is a slightly better option than the one you have chosen, however that is not to say the option you have chosen will not work, because it will.
Personally in the market place I have access to I find the newer controllers like the 29160 to be cheaper than the older hardware like the 2940UW.
To me £25 for a 29160 an a 4 drop 68 pin LVD cable with terminator built in is a good price. (Cheapest 2940UW card I can find is £22.50 without cable) But I dont know your local market place prices.

Do you have any proof that the Force SE jumper is required for connecting to a UW controller ?
I'm fairly certain the drive can detect and adapt itself automatically to that situation.

weedeewee wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:59:

I'm fairly certain the drive can detect and adapt itself automatically to that situation.

That's what the DIFFSENS signal is good for.

Disruptor wrote on 2023-11-07, 20:08:

weedeewee wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:59:

I'm fairly certain the drive can detect and adapt itself automatically to that situation.

That's what the DIFFSENS signal is good for.

exactly 😀

weedeewee wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:59:

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:42:

You can indeed do it like you propose. However you will need to put a jumper on the Force SE pins of the hard disk as the 2940UW isnt LVD (the option I suggested is LVD... It is similar in all the things that you need and you wouldnt need a jumper on Force SE). The 29160 will also negotiate to any transfer speed upto Ultra160. It is a slightly better option than the one you have chosen, however that is not to say the option you have chosen will not work, because it will.
Personally in the market place I have access to I find the newer controllers like the 29160 to be cheaper than the older hardware like the 2940UW.
To me £25 for a 29160 an a 4 drop 68 pin LVD cable with terminator built in is a good price. (Cheapest 2940UW card I can find is £22.50 without cable) But I dont know your local market place prices.

Do you have any proof that the Force SE jumper is required for connecting to a UW controller ?
I'm fairly certain the drive can detect and adapt itself automatically to that situation.

Do you have any proof that it isnt?

the 2940UW controller and the cable she has wont be LVD. Correct?
So they will be SE. Correct?
And the drive is Ultra160, and is LVD, and has a jumper to force SE.

It might be able to sense SE and work, or it might not... If you force SE it will work, it you dont it should work.

It would be technically the correct way to do that wouldnt it. Which is what you like.
Your not very good at it but it is what you strive for.

What the heck man ?

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-11-07, 21:07:

weedeewee wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:59:

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:42:

You can indeed do it like you propose. However you will need to put a jumper on the Force SE pins of the hard disk as the 2940UW isnt LVD (the option I suggested is LVD... It is similar in all the things that you need and you wouldnt need a jumper on Force SE). The 29160 will also negotiate to any transfer speed upto Ultra160. It is a slightly better option than the one you have chosen, however that is not to say the option you have chosen will not work, because it will.
Personally in the market place I have access to I find the newer controllers like the 29160 to be cheaper than the older hardware like the 2940UW.
To me £25 for a 29160 an a 4 drop 68 pin LVD cable with terminator built in is a good price. (Cheapest 2940UW card I can find is £22.50 without cable) But I dont know your local market place prices.

Do you have any proof that the Force SE jumper is required for connecting to a UW controller ?
I'm fairly certain the drive can detect and adapt itself automatically to that situation.

Do you have any proof that it isnt?

You say that you have to put a jumper on it and I ask for proof or a reference that you have to do that.
The burden of proof isn't on me. It's on you.

the 2940UW controller and the cable she has wont be LVD. Correct?
So they will be SE. Correct?

I don't know. As far as I know she hasn't posted a photo of the cable or any further information thereof. Do you know ?

And the drive is Ultra160, and is LVD, and has a jumper to force SE.

It might be able to sense SE and work, or it might not... If you force SE it will work, it you dont it should work.

It would be technically the correct way to do that wouldnt it. Which is what you like.

It should sense it.

Your not very good at it but it is what you strive for.

What ?

I know the Force SE jumper is there, so I was just going to try things without that and then add it on if that doesn't work. Seems like a pretty simple concept to me xP

And alright alright, here's the cable I have to put that to rest lmao. It is long, but it doesn't seem even close to the three meter maximum of SE SCSI.

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2023-11-07, 22:10:

I know the Force SE jumper is there, so I was just going to try things without that and then add it on if that doesn't work. Seems like a pretty simple concept to me xP

And alright alright, here's the cable I have to put that to rest lmao. It is long, but it doesn't seem even close to the three meter maximum of SE SCSI.

Are there any LEDs on the backside of the terminator?
Are there broken pins on the connectors of the cable?

No LEDs no. But no broken pins.

weedeewee wrote on 2023-11-07, 21:43:

What the heck man ? […]
Show full quote

What the heck man ?

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-11-07, 21:07:

weedeewee wrote on 2023-11-07, 19:59:

Do you have any proof that the Force SE jumper is required for connecting to a UW controller ?
I'm fairly certain the drive can detect and adapt itself automatically to that situation.

Do you have any proof that it isnt?

You say that you have to put a jumper on it and I ask for proof or a reference that you have to do that.
The burden of proof isn't on me. It's on you.

the 2940UW controller and the cable she has wont be LVD. Correct?
So they will be SE. Correct?

I don't know. As far as I know she hasn't posted a photo of the cable or any further information thereof. Do you know ?

And the drive is Ultra160, and is LVD, and has a jumper to force SE.

It might be able to sense SE and work, or it might not... If you force SE it will work, it you dont it should work.

It would be technically the correct way to do that wouldnt it. Which is what you like.

It should sense it.

Your not very good at it but it is what you strive for.

What ?

Why would it matter what the cable looks like?
The drive is native LVD because its Ultra160. The 2940UW simply isnt capable of LVD.

The drive might auto negotiate the bus and switch to SE mode or it might not. If you set the jumper it will run in SE mode.
It really is that simple.

That would be technically the correct thing to do wouldnt it?

By the looks of it she might have an LVD cable, and an LVD drive with an LVD drive caddy, but the controller isnt LVD so do you think it will run in LVD mode?

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2023-11-07, 22:10:

I know the Force SE jumper is there, so I was just going to try things without that and then add it on if that doesn't work. Seems like a pretty simple concept to me xP

And alright alright, here's the cable I have to put that to rest lmao. It is long, but it doesn't seem even close to the three meter maximum of SE SCSI.

Seems like a good thing to try. It should negotiate to SE mode, the Force SE jumper is there to do just that, it forces it so it wont try LVD mode thats all.

All setting that jumper does is the drive wont even waste its time trying LVD mode, it will just use SE...

Disruptor wrote on 2023-11-07, 22:20:

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2023-11-07, 22:10:

I know the Force SE jumper is there, so I was just going to try things without that and then add it on if that doesn't work. Seems like a pretty simple concept to me xP

And alright alright, here's the cable I have to put that to rest lmao. It is long, but it doesn't seem even close to the three meter maximum of SE SCSI.

Are there any LEDs on the backside of the terminator?
Are there broken pins on the connectors of the cable?

Ive never seen an terminator with LEDs on the PCB side.
Where did you get one of them from?

Also beware with LVD and high speeds you always want active termination, not passive.

Passive being just a resistor network and active being transistor logic to keep the signal level.

Card arrived and it's all working straight away with no hassle. Didn't even have to put the "Force SE" jumper on. Cheers everyone.

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2023-11-09, 15:24:

Card arrived and it's all working straight away with no hassle. Didn't even have to put the "Force SE" jumper on. Cheers everyone.

Good luck with the harddrive backup makings!

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-11-07, 04:28:

Ive never seen a Wide CD drive of any kind...

A CDROM with Wide SCSI interface?
It reports as IBM CDRM00203. It is either UltraPlex (32x) or UltraPlex40 inside. Tray version, without play button and the one button a bit different.
Look at the pictures at goole image search.
They even have an adapter from Wide to SCA for some IBM backplanes.