17 Jan
2002
17 Jan
'02
5:57 p.m.
The writeup I have on the drives in question suggests that there's a jumper
option to disable the differential signalling in favor of single ended
signalling. It also has a jumper to limit the data width to 8-bits.
I'm loath to pay the ridiculous prices some outfits charge for these adapters,
but if you want to see an SCA80<=>68-pin WIDE adapter for $6, visit
www.scsistuff.com.
Right now, I'm looking for a multi-drive backplane, and will bend some
sheetmetal to fit it so I can simply swap drives, since I like that notion.
I'm presently examining the possibility of modifying the type of swappable
trays I presently use on all my PC's for this purpose. Of course it will be
tricky getting the adapter to fit into the tray.
It seems silly, however true it may be, that a new 10GB SCA drive should cost
less than an adapter to the 50/68-pin SCSI cable.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doc" <doc(a)mdrconsult.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2002 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: OT: SCA-2 <=> SE adapter solutions??
On Thu, 17 Jan 2002, Richard Erlacher wrote:
I've recently stumbled onto a source of new
conveniently-sized SCSI drives
with the SCA-2 connector. I'm considering installing them in a couple of
applications in my home setup, including an SDI RAID that presently uses
NARROW drives, and would need an adapter for each drive and that adapter
should fit into its canister. Another application is with a WIDE (68-pin,
single-ended) controller I've been using.
I've never used SCA drives on a narrow bus, so I can't speak to that t
all.
I have used SCA LVD drives on wide LVD chains, and finding an adapter
that honors the LVD is a pain in the butt. 80-pin-to-68-pin LVD
adapters run as high as $45 each. And the $45 ones don't work. The drive
reports as SE.
We finally found some adapters by A-Excite that work, at a price,
IIRC, of $12.95 each. Maybe $19.95.... Haven't found a local dealer,
so we had to order 6. They work reliably, and I can't see much, if any,
difference in performance between an IBM 80Mb-LVD 68-pin drive and an
IBM 80Mb-LVD SCA drive with adapter.
All in all, I'm not buying any more 80-pin drives, unless I'm putting
them on a hot-swap bus. They're a big pain in the butt if you move your
drives around much, which I do. If you're going to install them, test
them, and glue the case shut, the savings may be worth the hassle.
Doc