Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2002 03:07:09 -0700 From: "Philip J. Koenig" <pjklist@ekahuna.com> To: questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: [OT] SCSI 80 to 68 pin converters, do they work? Message-ID: <20021011100455018.AAA1181@empty1.ekahuna.com@dyn205.ekahuna.com> In-Reply-To: <bulk.87291.20021011014340@hub.freebsd.org>
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> Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 17:22:28 -0500 > From: Dan Nelson <dnelson@allantgroup.com> > > In the last episode (Oct 10), Bill Moran said: > > This is frustrating. We can't tell from either the packaging, or > > from the product description, or anywhere else; whether these are > > supposed to work with LVD or not. I'm guessing that they're not, or > > they'd advertise it. > > > > > You will probably need a converter that is meant for LVD devices > > > rather in order to get the drive to kick into LVD mode. > > > > Finding these is like buying electronics from the Amish. The product > > descriptions don't really tell you, and the service people don't seem > > to know. Do you know specifically of any products that we can get > > that *will* work? > > I'm using SCA 80-68 converters from CS Electronics in a couple > machines with no problems. Part #ADP-9018 is an LVD adapter, no > termination, $35. > > http://www.scsi-cables.com/sca-adapt.htm I'm an old hand at this, once upon a time I gave up on SCA converters due to signal integrity and other problems. However this is no longer necessary. (I'm typing this on my main wkstn that uses such a converter) 1) As someone else mentioned, you need to ensure that the converter in question is designed for LVD. One way to get a hint is that the LVD bus is designed to be terminated on the cable, so there will be no terminators or termination settings either on the drive or the SCA adapter. Some adapters will say on them whether they're LVD compatible. 2) Some adapters have electrical/QA issues, but there are good ones. See below. 3) Another big problem with adapters is that they can impede airflow over the drive, which is important for modern high-rpm drives. Make sure you get an SCA adapter that is *low-profile* to avoid this. Lots of companies really overcharge for special SCSI stuff like this, but there are some decent deals if you know where to look. The last SCA adapters I bought are not only excellent, and fit the above criteria, but cheaply priced. ($10 ea) Here is where I got them (US site): http://www.dcdrives.com/ Make sure you get the LVD-compatible model. Looks like the model # is "SCATOU2". It's under the Terminators/Drive Adaptors section. Hope it helps. -- Philip J. Koenig pjklist@ekahuna.com Electric Kahuna Systems -- Computers & Communications for the New Millenium To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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