#PC-Mac Syquest comp.
7 messages in this thread
Does anyone have any experience using a PLI (Syquest) drive between a PC and a
MAC. Using the Adaptec EZ-SCSI software I can format the drive on the PC, and
read to it, write to it, etc. and everything works great. But the Mac is unable
to mount it. If I format it for PC on the Mac, I can write to it etc. just fine
but the PC can't read it. I remember Ana mentioning a shareware package that
worked great for a PC reading a Mac disk but I can't remember if it would work
for removable media, plus I have no idea of the name of it. Can anyone help out
on this? I need to get a 15Mb Quicktime movie to the Mac by Monday at the
latest. I'm already late. 🙁
Thanks
DM
I use Transfer Pro to read/write Mac disks. However, Macs using system 7.5
should be able to read PC syquests. I've been able to do this with DOS 5
formatted disk but the Mac re fused to read a disk from 6.xx
Ian.
Thanks Ian. I've been using the Adaptec SCSIFMT program to format the
syquest. Should I be using DOS format instead/also?
I use the Adaptec AFDISK.
It seems to make a difference what version of DOS your'e using.
Ian.
Thanks Ian. I got MacSEE which is working fine with DOS 6.22. Will a DOS 5.0
format work?
DM
I think it should. though I've found Mac's ability to read/write DOS Syquests
to be somewhat flacky. It works with some machines but not with others.
But then I've had problems using some Mac syquests on other Macs!
Ian.
That will depend on what drivers you use on both your PCs and Macs. And to be
more exactly, what formatting utilities and drivers do you use in your PC and
what drivers are you installing on your Mac Syquests. First the PC side.
Yes you are right, sometimes you won't get a Syquest formatted on a PC to read
on a Mac and even another PC with a different SCSI card/driver combination.
Why? Because there are hardware manufacturers that in one way or another
include their own stuff on their drivers and formatting utilities. Low-level
stuff, but enough to make a Syquest or any other removable (take the example of
MOs) unreadable in other machines, no matter if it is a PC, a Mac or an SGI
workstation. The solution: Keep with mainstream software and hardware. If you
go away with some special stuff that are not 100% with the standard, chances
are that you are going to get into trouble.
In the Mac to Mac side it is more easy. Your problem is most probably caused by
the an old driver installed on your Syquest. As you probably know, disk drivers
are installed on a partition on each Mac disks (hard drives, Syquest, MOs…).
If you have a driver in a cartridge that doesn't comply with current Apple SCSI
Manager 4.3 specifications you could have a problem (only old drivers will
cause you problems, specially with PowerMacs -updates are widely available and
most probably for free). The same if you recieve a Syquest formatted with the
latest drivers and you have an old copy of the system software. In both ways,
the problem could easily being track down and solved. SyQuest clones
manufacturers could be a source of problem too since some of them tend to add
stuff of their own. Again, stay with the standard 🙂
ana /krazy images