Re: Synquest

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

In article <3mqur0$fvl@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>,
Richard T. McCusker <cn914@cleveland.Freenet.Edu> wrote:
> 
> I can pick up a Synquest with nine 44 meg cartridges for $200.
> I would like to hook it up to my GS, but I'm not sure just what
> I would need to do this.
> Can it be done?

Definitely - I have been using a SyQuest SQ44 drive on my IIgs for
five years, with an Apple High-Speed SCSI card.

You will need a SCSI card that can support removable drives.  If the
SyQuest is just a bare mechanism (e.g. it was used in a PC), you will
also need a case/power supply for it.  SCSI drive cases should be
pretty easy to locate.  They should include a power supply, mounting
brackets, SCSI ID selector, internal cables, and SCSI connectors.  You
will also need external cables (a "SCSI system cable" if this is the
only drive), and at least one external SCSI terminator.

> What problems will I have?

I see you have an Apple Rev C SCSI card.  This will introduce some
problems, because it doesn't know about removable drives.  If you use
the SyQuest under ProDOS-8, the SCSI card will not know to re-read the
partitioning information if you switch a cartridge (unless you
reboot).  Any subsequent read might access the wrong part of the disk,
and a write could destroy the contents of the disk.  It is safest to
reboot after switching cartridges (and make sure the SCSI card is
reinitialized, i.e. boot from it, not from a floppy).

There should be no problem under GS/OS (System 5 or later), because the
GS/OS drivers know about removable SCSI hard drives.

You might have problems with SCSI termination.  The SyQuest tends to
be a little fussy about termination.  It works best if you have
another drive that can supply termination power.

> And do I need special software, and if so, where can I get it?

No special software is needed - use the partitioning software supplied
with GS/OS (Advanced Disk Utility) and the drivers supplied with
GS/OS, assuming you are using an Apple SCSI card.

If you were using a RAMFast, its drivers also work fine with the SyQuest.

> Also I have a rev C Apple SCSI card.  I got it without a manual
> and would someone please tell me what the layout for the pins
> that get connected by a shorting block is.

They are used to set the SCSI ID of the card.  Exactly one pair must be
connected.  The pair closest to the edge of the card corresponds to
SCSI ID 0 (lowest priority), the pair at the other end corresponds to
SCSI ID 7 (highest priority).  Unless you have a very good reason to
use a different ID, the card should always be set to SCSI ID 7.

Each device on the SCSI bus must be set to a unique ID.  The Apple
SCSI cards determine the boot device by finding the hard drive or
CD-ROM drive with the highest ID, and attempting to boot from the
first ProDOS partition on that drive.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand