SCSI2SD: Is it worth a try?

[Alexander Schreiber]

On Wed, Mar 20, 2019 at 11:37:49AM -0400, Douglas Taylor via cctalk wrote:
> I've used the SCSI2SD with great success with vintage DEC computers.
> On QBUS machines, both vax and pdp-11, it has worked with Emulex UC07, TD
> systems Viking, Andromeda SCDC and the DEC RQZX1 controllers.
> I have used it on native SCSI controllers in VAX 3100, VLC 4000 and 64 bit
> ALPHA machines.
> 
> The only other point I would make is that you need a linux system with a
> SCSI controller to move data in/out of the SCSI2SD.  I am using a 64 bit
> Debian system and I found that the 32 bit SCSI2SD utility wouldn't run on
> the 64 bit machine and needed to be recompiled.  However, I still use a
> Windows 7 computer to setup the SCSI2Sd via USB.

That is most likely due to missing libraries. On a 64 bit Linux system,
by default only 64 bit libraries are installed (duh), but usually you
can install 32 bit libraries to support 32 bit binaries. Exactly how
to go about it of course depends on your distribution.

Kind regards,
           Alex.

> On 3/18/2019 10:15 PM, Charles Dickman via cctalk wrote:
> > 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.
> > 
> > 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.
> > 
> > It looks like the V6 is not open because someone used the design without
> > following the GPL.
> > 
> > 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.
> > 
> > Chuck
> 

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