Re: Sider D4 contoller card by Xebec - repair help/info- any Sider Wizards out there?

[Patrick Schaefer <pa.schaefer@fz-juelich.de>]

Vernon Bartlett wrote:

> Patrick, what happened is I got a set of cable connectors confused
> from an Apple SCSI card and the Sider D4 controller card. I accidently
> plugged the sider controller card cable into the Zip drive. I only
> realized my mistake when I tried to boot. The sider was not hooked up
> to anything else when the event occurred.

Provided that you have suitable software, you should be able to operate
the Zip with your Sider interface. It would behave like a 100MB hard
disk.

Looking into my schematic diagram, the only thing I see that could be
damaged by short-circuiting the bus (connecting the cable 180° reversed)
is the LS240 bus driver on position U3. All other pins are either inputs
or open collector outputs.

>         3) At amazingly slow speed (slower than normal)  the sider
>              tries to load data. Ofter the drive light won't even come
>              on.
> 
>             The action is at best sporadic.

This may also be a termination or cabling problem. Try another
(shorter?) cable. 
You didn't connect the drive to anything, so it couldn't be erased, did
you?


> Is this a custom chip or  should I be able it purchase another if
> needed?

These resistor networks are standard components. You can pull them from
old SCSI drives (e.g. ST225N). But it is very unlikely to damage this
thing!


You can find the schematic diagram on
apple.cabi.net\pub\appleII\incoming. The file name is SIDER.GIF.


Patrick