ST506 adapters
12 messages in this thread
I'm looking to attach an ST506 20 meg drive to a SCSI controller, and I
can't recall the name of the adapters available for the task. Can someone
refresh my memory? What do the cost (round numbers) and who from?
Andrew,
Adaptec 4000 (or for an RLL drive, the 4070)…..round numbers cost
is about $80…obtainable from most full line computer dealers.
Don
Don,
So I could attach the Adaptac 4000 between the SCSI controller and the
ST506 drive, and it'll work, right? Just the same as attaching an ST506 to
, say, an A2090A?
The fog is clearing, I think,
Andrew,
Yes…the Adaptec does just that…interfaces an ST506 drive to a
SCSI bus.
Don
Wait a minuite! Don't assume that the Adaptec boards will work with your
SCSI! I can speak from experience (and it's been verified by another
person) that the A2091 will NOT work with the Adaptec 4070, and I would
assume that the 4000 would have the same results. It turns out that the
whole 4xxx line from Adaptec is getting pretty old, and doesn't quite
follow the SCSI standard (but then who does…). I had a 33MB RLL drive
with a 4070, and the A2091 recognized it and let me use it, but I always
got READ/WRITE ERROR's after a couple of minutes. I was told (but never
confirmed, since I sold the drive) that the OMTI boards are much faster and
much more likely to work with a true SCSI controller. I was also told that
it sometimes appears that the Adaptec SCSI/ST-506 adapters only work with
Adaptec SCSI controller's… Imagine that…
Steve Anderson
Steve,
If you'll look at the A2091…if it's anything at all like the
A2090…you'll see that it does use the Adaptec SCSI chip set.
What were you doing when you got the read/write errors? Again, if
the A2091 is anything like the A2090…you can get false read/write errors
during periods of heavy overscan or other DMA usage.
I've yet to look at an A2091…so it may be completely different
from an A2090…but my understanding is that it's not that different.
Don
Don,
One way it's different is that it properly handles heavy overscan. They
handshake the data, where the 2090 didn't.
-larry
Steve,
I successfully used the Adaptec 4000 with the CLtd controllers,
both the original and the Kronos. If the controller supports the
interface, then there should be no problems. I currently use an OMTI 3527
with a Kronos. The OMTI is preferred because it is faster and, as you put
it, newer and supports a more complete SCSI than the Adaptec, which only
supported a subset of the full SCSI control language. Unless the
controller uses the full SCSI language, then it probably will work with an
Adaptec 4000 or 4070.
Steve
Andrew, The ICD Advantage 2000 SCSI Host Adapter presently supports Adaptec
4000/4070/5500 series controllers and Omti 352x series controllers. It is
$200 (in round numbers). 815-968-2228 Or see it at AmiExpo this week in
Washington DC. Booths 513 and 515
– TOM –
Tom,
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I can't be in Washington this week.
I would LOVE to get to the show, though.
Andrew
Hi, I have an OMTI 3520 SCSI to MFM (ST506) converter that I would se to
you for $75. It is the faster one (Adaptec is OK, but OMTI is better) Leave
me a note if you are interested.
Laszlo Gulyas
Laszlo,
Hey…sounds good. What was your setup using the OMTI? I ask because I
used my ST506 drive on an A2090A, until the ST506 half of the controller
died. The dealer wants BUCKS to fix it, more than $75, for sure. If I
plug the OMTI into the SCSI port on the A2090A, and into the ST506 drive,
then I could format the drive just as though it's a SCSI type, right? Let
me know how you set up your drive to give me an idea.
Andrew