Re: Need help with HS scsi card in a IIGS

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

<8bitz@my-deja.com> wrote:

> Can someone point me to a FAQ that explains setting up an apple high
> speed scsi card on a IIGS.

1. Turn everything off!

2. Locate a slot for which you do not need the internal function.  7 is
a common choice, but not necessarily the best one.  Slot 6 may be an
option if you hardly ever use 5.25" drives, and don't need to use them
at the same time as the hard drive.  If you are using AppleTalk in a ROM
1, then put the SCSI card in slot 1 or 2 (whichever slot corresponds to
the port used for AppleTalk).  For a ROM 3, slot 4 is also an option if
you don't need to use the mouse in 8-bit software.

You can't use slot 1 or 2 unless you want to lose the corresponding
serial port (except in the case mentioned above for AppleTalk on a ROM
1).  You can't use slot 3.  You can't use slot 5 unless you don't have
3.5" drives and don't need RAM5. 

For a ROM 1, you can't use slot 4 unless you don't have a mouse, or if
you use an Apple IIe mouse card and mouse, with the card installed in
another slot, and you can't use slot 7 if you want AppleTalk.

For a ROM 3, you can't use slot 4 if you want to run GS/OS, or if you
need the mouse in ProDOS-8 software.

If you want to be able to easily boot from floppy disks, it would be a
good idea to have the SCSI card in slot 4 or lower.  With the startup
slot set to Scan (or 6 or 5), the computer will attempt to boot from a
floppy, and if there is no disk in the drive, it will boot from the hard
drive.

If slot 7 or 6 is your only option, then it would be a good idea if the
program selector installed on your hard drive has an easy way to boot
from a floppy.  If you are going to install GS/OS, the easiest solution
is to press the '8' key just after booting (a little practice is
required to get the timing right) so that you drop into ProDOS-8 and
BASIC.SYSTEM, then use the PR#5 or PR#6 command to boot from a floppy.

Going into the Control Panel and changing the startup slot is another
option, but it is rather fiddly.

3. Check the DIP switches on the card are set correctly.  All four
should be DOWN (closed) for setting the card to ID 7 and DMA enabled.

Should you need to disable DMA (only required with some memory expansion
cards), set switch 1 UP (open).

4. Check the SCSI ID of the hard drive.  It should be set to any ID
other than 7: preferably 6 for fastest boot time; use a lower number f
you want to turn the drier and computer on at the same time and it takes
a while to start up.

5. Make sure the hard drive either has internal termination, or you are
using a plug-in terminator (_not_ both).  Ideally, the hard drive should
be able to supply termination power.  (I'm only familiar with older
Quantum models, and all of them up to the Trailblazer seemed to do
this.)  If not, you may need to modify the SCSI card by adding a diode
so that the Apple II supplies termination power.

6. Install the card and screw the connector into the back panel.

7. Connect the drive to the SCSI card.

8. Turn on the computer, go into the Control Panel, and set the
appropriate slot to Your Card.  Make sure the startup slot is set to
your appropriate floppy drive for the moment (5 or 6).

What happens next depends on what operating system you are running.

Before going any further, you need to think about how you want to
organise the files on your hard drive.  I won't go into that here, apart
from essential details.


ProDOS-8
========

If you are only using ProDOS-8, you don't need to install any special
software to access the drive, but you might need to partition it.  The
HDSCPARTITION software supplied with the SCSI card can create as many as
four 32 MB partitions.  Chinook SCSI Utilities can create up to nine
partitions.  You can only boot from the first partition.

You will almost certainly need a program selector of some kind, which
should be set up as the first SYS file in the root directory with a name
ending with .SYSTEM.  This ensures it will be the startup application,
and you can choose other programs from there.

Assuming the hard drive is empty, you can boot from floppy and use a
standard utility program such as Apple II System Utilities to initialize
the hard drive (which will write boot blocks and an empty directory),
then copy the PRODOS file from your boot disk onto the hard drive.  I'd
recommend running ProDOS-8 2.0.1 or later, since it will give you access
to more than two partitions.  It can also act as a rudimentary program
selector, since it has a menu-driven QUIT facility instead of old "enter
prefix" and "enter pathname" prompt.

Also copy the program selector and any other files you want to use.


GS/OS (and ProDOS-8)
=====

If you are using GS/OS, and the hard drive is empty, then you should
boot from the System 6.0.1 Install disk, quit from the Installer, and
run Advanced Disk Utility to partition the drive as desired.  (ADU is on
either the Install or SystemTools1 disk - I forget which.)

The first partition must be ProDOS, but beyond that you can use a
mixture of ProDOS and HFS partitions according to your requirements.  If
you run any ProDOS-8 software, it will only be able to access the first
few ProDOS partitions (probably at least six).  The maximum size for a
ProDOS partition is 32 MB.  An HFS partition can be much larger, but a
large HFS partition doesn't use space efficiently, so don't go
overboard.  Creating more than 8 partitions with ADU can be tricky.

If your drive is smaller than 32 MB, you don't need to partition it, but
you do need to initialize it (so that the boot blocks and directory are
set up).  I think you can do this from within the Installer.

Once you have partitioned the drive, go back into the Installer.  You
can use Easy Install to set up a typical system, or go into the
Customize section, and install "*System 6:Hard disk or FDHD" (or
whatever it is called).  The system must be installed on the first
partition.  You may like to install additional applications and options
while in the Customize section.

Once you have installed the system, you can quit the Installer, and shut
down from the program selector.


Final steps
===========

Go into the Control Panel and set the startup slot to the slot
containing the SCSI card, or an appropriate higher numbered slot if you
want to be able to boot from floppy (Scan may be the easiest choice).

Remove all floppy disks from the drives.

Reboot, and you should be booting from the hard drive.