IBM SCSI2SD

From a tortured soul locked in a laboratory in darkest New York comes a Frankenstein creation.

Behold! The IBM SCSI2SD!

Find a sheet of poly or something non-conductive and heat glue it on the reverse of the SCSI2SD.

Those cans are pretty big. Lorenzo has confirmed with the SCSI2SD creator that they are over-spec and can be reduced. I await the IBM SCSI2SD based on the v6 SCSI2SD.

I DIMMly remember SCSI2SD below v6? as being 5MHz. If you strap that on the short SCSI/A then it will be right at home, SCSI bus transfer-wise. (Ed. The SCSI2SD v6 is 10MHz, I do believe.)

SCSI/A or SCSI w/cache, 5MHz SCSI bus, maximum of 5MB/s. Due to issues with SC.EXE, it may be the fastest IBM SCSI on 8570 and 8580. Dunno if the updated SC.EXE from the XGAOPT allows the Corvette.

Corvette or Corvette Turbo use the same card edge connector at the same relative position. It is SIMMply amazing that IBM kept the 50 pin card edge at the same relative position for all IBM SCSI controllers (non-RAID)... So the same physical configuration of the card edge connector, ribbon, and IDC header will work no matter if it is a SCSI2SD v5 on a Tribble, or a SCSI2SD v6 on a Corvette. These controllers will do Fast/Narrow at 10MHz.

Remember, changing the SD card on an IBM SCSI controller prompts system programs every time.

I think the Future Domain (FD) is usable with the SCSI cable flopped over the top. Get some smaller cans, and it might fit in the lower slot for a P70.

I was rooting about a few days ago and I saw some old stock 16? bit MCA sockets on Mouser?

The common truth murmured in the dark is that the DBA-ESDI connector is a stripped down MCA bus. If you are interested, think of a ribbon cable coming out of the P70 DBA-ESDI headers, over to a MCA socket, with a FD or Patriot in it. Add the SCSI2SD (Ed. that would require more address lines than the 16 available on the DBA-ESDI interface).

The FD will do about 3MB/s, which beats the DBA-ESDI drive.

A small bracket could be made with a 3D printer to cradle the FD on it's side.

For those of us in the know, a SCSI2SD with the SD socket detached and brought out of the case, placed in a small enclosure like a smart card reader, would rock. Unfortunately, hanging this external reader off an IBM controller might trigger a problem if you change it with a different sized SD card.

For such a bleeding edge ideal, I would drag out a Buslogic / SDC Fast/Narrow SCSI controller with a SCSI2SD v6 card. The SCSI2SD can handle narrow/fast.

Content created and/or collected by:
Louis F. Ohland, Peter H. Wendt, David L. Beem, William R. Walsh, Tatsuo Sunagawa, Tomáš Slavotínek, Jim Shorney, Tim N. Clarke, Kevin Bowling, and many others.

Ardent Tool of Capitalism is maintained by Tomáš Slavotínek.
Last update: 24 Mar 2024 - Changelog | About | Legal & Contact