SCSI2SD: Is it worth a try?

[Dave Wade]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org> On Behalf Of Charles Dickman
> via cctalk
> Sent: 19 March 2019 02:16
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Subject: SCSI2SD: Is it worth a try?
> 
> What is the experience with the SCSI2SD with old computers? It looks to be
> SCSI-1 and SCSI-2 compatible and I see a lot of reports of usage on this list. I
> am curious about how well it works and which version to get.

I a pre-V6 one for my Atari but have never used it in the Atari. 
It is now in my IBM PC Server but its only used for backup.
Its in a single ended SCSI-1 card and its noticeably slower than the fast/wide spinning disks in the RAID array.

> 
> Versions up to 5 seem to be GPLed and reasonably available. V6 does not
> seem to have schematics or boards open sourced and I haven't seen a
> supplier for them. The web page lists some sources, but they don't have the
> V6 available.
> 

V5 is GPL and the guy who built it was more than willing to talk about the code.
I was wondering about adding tape support but he says that’s harder than you think...

> It looks like the V6 is not open because someone used the design without
> following the GPL.
> 

Yes, Chinese vendors...

> V6 claims synchronous transfers, but I don't think most of my hardware
> supports it. That consists of VAXstations and qbus scsi cards. If I was after
> speed I wouldn't be using old hardware, but the speed has to be consistent
> with the era.
> 

I think a lot of hardware supports synchronous transfers. I think for me it was the narrow/wide that slowed it down.

> Chuck

Dave