SCSI Device to USB?
Posted by subcubcake05@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 19 comments
What's the best way to connect SCSI devices on modern computers? I have some tapes I want to tranfer to a newer drive, but the reader uses SCSI (68 pin I believe) and my Mac G4 has reached the end of its long life. Does a SCSI adapter to USB exist? Any help is appreciated :)
TerminalCancerMan@reddit
A G4 at EOL? My mirror drawer G4 is still going stronk
Kyanche@reddit
A quicksilver would be even more fixable.. they can be used with atx power supplies if you don't care about the ADC rails. http://atxg4.com/quicksilver.html
You can do the same with the MDD actually, but the MDD power supply is long and flat and not nearly as easy to find a replacement for. I guess sfx atx power supplies perhaps?
TerminalCancerMan@reddit
I never run it. I just rub it with a diaper.
MasterKnight48902@reddit
Exists but very rare and costly to find, due to their niche nature nowadays.
flyguydip@reddit
I just checked on the price of a USB to SCSI adapter on ebay today to get my external plextor drive tested. I was not excited to see that price tag...
Oldstick@reddit
usb > pci-e (used for m2 nvme disk) > pci > pci scsi adapter like aha-2940w but I’m not sure those usb to pcie bridge adapters support other hardware than nvme disks. theoretically it should support
parabellun@reddit
https://egpu.io/forums/which-gear-should-i-buy/can-those-low-bandwith-usb-3-2-20gbps-nvme-ssd-enclosures-work-with-nvme-to-pcie-adapters/
It seems that idea doesn't work :(
KittysDavid@reddit
That pc has scsi ports on it. 2nd card from the bottom. You need a cable like this and a 68 pin lvd scsi terminator
https://www.ebay.com/itm/176513680219?itmmeta=01JABNFRWKXA5NEF8CMNQXMA2S&hash=item291909035b:g:CEcAAOSwBExmtOfu&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4Mxmj%2BiGvOveHXEBClPb29gKeIBH79UMtapFP6Qtfoh2jJkLLOD8LAMQqXagzn41S5hbrZppjzVnWi%2FcNTUcXdqU42XQy0ISTZLa%2FLbaeJ5jmcLkqQC6qOA6L4sgz0dGnX2lAvaJ4At5vrihKNUZFEcZ5Er%2BE5JMK74wH0WjWTOvNDw59xfjBj%2BSovE7h%2F2HtTIMs838T7UhsOFwM0E%2BoH8I9%2BPbPz%2Bx%2FYIpN%2F7zOj9KMUXdCzhfU8DIcZ0VGG6UjiR2f5vvUGxTRqJRf4GZX29V9uQ%2FR%2FZaGPr8A53ONijN%7Ctkp%3ABFBMro6_9dJk
NightmareJoker2@reddit
Your best option is a PCI-Express SCSI controller (not a RAID controller!). They can be had for 30-60 bucks on eBay. Then you just take a standard HD68-pin cable to your device. Under Linux, the chances are very high that it will work out of the box. Even SCSI scanners can be made available over the network with SANE and CUPS on modern hardware this way.
LaundryMan2008@reddit
Take out the tape drive and you might find it’s plain old IDE or something easier to work with.
Just my 2 cents
michaelpaoli@reddit
I'd typically do PCIe or the like, rather than USB. With USB a whole lot will be lots in translation, so may not work all that well in all circumstances. You can get and use PCI(e) SCSI controllers.
TheLimeyCanuck@reddit
They were widely available back in the day, as were parallel to scsi adapters, but now they are only available on eBay and the like for top dollar even if well used.
big_ass_grey_car@reddit
Anything we can help with? It would be a decent bridge machine if you want to get it working again.
raindropl@reddit
I’m thinking the same. The matching in the background looks salvageable.
Is it the PCU? Bad caps ?
sidusnare@reddit
It does exist, it's very rare, and very expensive. I just use a Linux machine with a SCSI card. You can also use a BlueSCSI in initiator mode, I've heard, but not tried.
parabellun@reddit
Blue scsi intiator mode is only useful for dumping scsi hard drives. Not really a connectivity option.
parabellun@reddit
Adaptec USB2Xchange is what you're looking for. Thay are very expensive, compatiblity is quite spotty.
I do recommend lsi 20320IE or adapetc pci scsi card with pcie to pci adapter instead. 20320 has windows 10 driver support, most popular adaptec pci scsi cards have unofficial hacky way of making them work under windows 10.
computix@reddit
Like others have said, it's too expensive and has many pitfalls, like SCSI always has.
The easiest way to acomplish this is what the downvoted person wrote, or a variation on the same theme, get an old system but new enough system with parallel SCSI and hook it up to that machine.
Also, you probably can't read this stuff on any random machine with any random software, tape backups have proprietary on-tape formats, the drives are probably formatted with a mac specific file system like HFS+.
Very likely by far the easiest way to do this is getting a large USB drive formatted with HFS+ and getting that mac back up and running, or replacing it with a second hand G4 machine, transplanting what's needed and getting your old system back up and running, then copying everything to the large HDD. Alternatively you can build an SMB/CIFS 1.0 server and use that instead of the large USB drive.
Component3093@reddit
heh why not just install linux on the g4 mac, and share those out on the network