RamFAST Working, Simple Docs here

[hmag@ozemail.com.au (Terry Allen)]

Finally got my RamFAST SCSI working, so wrote some simple DOCS for others
having trouble.

   Getting my Mac's Zip drive to work with my GS & RamFAST SCSI card
(Revision C w/256k) required taking a lot of time to scour the various
Apple II resources on the net, including newsgroups & the web.
   After posting in comp.sys.apple2 numerous times, finally someone
(supertimer@aol.com) knew how to get into the SCSI utilities in the
firmware on the card ROM. That wasn't enough to get the card to recognise
the Zip drive though & some more scouring turned up a RamFAST manual in
text format in one of the directories of  ftp://apple.cabi.net/pub/
   This is along with loads of other stuff for the Apple II & IIGS at that URL.
   Anyway, after reading through the manual, I discovered the DIP switch
settings for the card. Apparently some other RamFAST SCSI card revisions
use a jumper block instead of the DIP switch. The only switch positions
mentioned on the 8-position switch on the Revision C card are 1 & 2
   All other switches should be off. If you are using a //e, then all
should be off except switch 2. If you are using a GS, all should be off
except switch 1. In my particular case, I couldn't get the Zip drive to be
recognised until I switched termination off.
   Having termination switched on with switch 1 on caused the machine to
lock up in a condition which even a full reset (OA-Control-Reset) wouldn't
work & couldn't acess anything else either.
   Switching the Zip Drive to SCSI ID 5 with Termination set to OFF enabled
the card to be recognised in the following fashion.
   Start the GS without anything plugged into the SCSI card & enter the
control panel. Make sure the slot your RamFAST SCSI card is plugged into is
set to 'YOUR CARD', then switch off. Plug your Zip drive into the card &
switch it on, making sure Termination is set to OFF.
   Switch your GS on, immediaately pressing the zero '0' key & wait for the
built in utilities to come up. Your RamFAST card should recognise the Zip
drive, in which case you'll be able to format & partition the drive.
Restart the GS with your GS/OS install disk & you'll be able to install the
GS/OS. Once installation is complete, reboot & you'll have a working boot
drive with GS/OS courtesy of your Zip.
   A number of people emailed me regarding this during the course of
getting it to work, with many suggestions. If you have trouble, try
switching the termination to ON or changing the SCSI ID to 6. Not all SCSI
buses need termination as I have found in my troubleshooting with many
pople's Macs & on other Apple IIs.
   Hope this helps someone else in trouble & will be included in the FAQ.

-- 
Bye For Now, Terry Allen

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