CompuServe Messages

Tim, Re: <what to expect trying to hook the Syquest EZ135 (SCSI 2) to the external connector on an A2091 controller. Any secret to the setup that you can remember?> The install was pretty easy. As I understand it, the 2091 is very similar to the 3000's SCSI so physically you shouldn't have a problem. My EZ135 came with a 25 to 50 pin cable which looks pretty substantial. However, I already had a similar cable between my 3000 and my CD-ROM so I just inserted the EZ135 in the middle and used a 50 to 50 pin cable to go from the EZ135 to the CD-ROM. I left the termination switch turned-on in the CD-ROM since it is the last physical drive on my external path. The only way to terminate the EZ135 is with a block which plugs into one of the 50 pin sockets. So, as long as both 50 pin sockets on the Syquest EZ135 are full, then you can be sure that at least the EZ135 is seeing a proper load. I got a little concerned when reading the "manuals" for PC and Mac installation. They speak of software commands which must be executed prior to ejecting a cartridge. However, the <STOP> button on the front works just fine for me and my Amiga (we don' need no steenkin sofware jes' to stop a Syquest <g> ). There is supposed to be quite a bit of documentation on the platter which I would like to have offloaded, but I have been running low on disk storage recently, and I didn't wait to get the EZ135 formatted for Amiga file compatability. HDToolBox took care of that pretty quickly. The Amiga Hard Drive User's Guide is thorough in covering how to do it, so I won't go into detail here. If you don't have a copy, you still shouldn't have too much of a problem since HDToolBox is fairly self-explanatory. Under <Change Drive Type> is a selection <Define New…> which has a button to <Read Configuration>. Once you <OK> out of that, it's just a matter of partitioning the newly recognized EZ135 with your favorite File System in your choice of block sizes. If you find a way to get 135 megs, though, let me know. I was only able to get 127 megs. <Did you have to use SCSImounter to get it to recognize disk changes? > Yes, works OK on the ONE EZ135 Removable Hard Disk Cartridge I've been able to find locally (I saw a posting on the PC forum that Syquest has a toll-free number (800) 394-6374 for ordering the cartridges for $19.95 each – I paid $21.95 at Software Etc – I don't know about shipping and handling charges when buying direct from Syquest). All in all, I'm glad I got the EZ135. I find it to be fast and versatile. In fact, I've already started installing Linux on my 'spare' cartridge, and Linux accepted the EZ135 as a SCSI drive and I was able to install ext2 and minix filesystems to the Syquest partitions. I hope this information helps you and any other Amiga owners who decide to add an EZ135 (or two or three or more – but the Jaz drive is coming soon for those big storage needs) to their system. -John "…there is no such thing as a bad tube amp"