[RndTbl] Need to borrow a SCSI Controller

[Adam Thompson]

I'm 99% sure that particular IBM drive has dip switches on it to enable onboard termination.  Whether those are accessible from outside its current case is another question entirely.
-Adam

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________________________________
From: Roundtable <roundtable-bounces at muug.ca> on behalf of Trevor Cordes <trevor at tecnopolis.ca>
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2023 6:08:38 PM
To: Alberto Abrao <alberto at abrao.net>
Cc: Continuation of Round Table discussion <roundtable at muug.ca>
Subject: Re: [RndTbl] Need to borrow a SCSI Controller

On 2023-01-12 Alberto Abrao wrote:
>
> I am not very familiar with SCSI, It may be easier for me to just
> explain what I want to do.

Haha, welcome to the very simple and carefree world of SCSI.

> - IBM TotalStorage Ultrium Tape Drive (3580-L23).
> https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/overview-ibm-totalstorage-ultrium-tape-drive-3580-l2

Ultra160 is 68 pin, LVD and wide.  It says the tape itself can push
20MB/s, up to 40 if you luck out on compression.  So really any lvd
fast wide card should run it at max speed.

> - SCSI Cable. One ends seems to connect on the drive, the other one
> would connect to the card, presumably.

Did you check if your cable can connect to external box?  And the cable
is the same on both sides?  Should look like a super-dense connector.
You can match it up with pictures online.

The IBM spec says they supplied a terminator with the drive.  That
probably means the drive itself doesn't do optional self-termination
(bummer).  Is the 2nd connector on the drive case filled with a
terminator?  I do not have any 68 pin terminators.  They are rare.
Might be easier to find another external 68 pin SCSI device that can do
self-termination and put that on the end of the chain.  :-)

I have these cards that offer 68-pin external connectors you can
borrow.  Oh, btw, you'll need a box with PCI.  Almost no old-style SCSI
cards exist for PCIe, certainly none that people have just kicking
around.

With external 68-pin:
IBM RS/6000 PCI 11H8085 AN011H8083 NCR 53C825 chipset sym53c8xx
Tekram DC-390F Symbios Logic 53C875
Those 2 will get you only get you 20MB/s, but that should be fine

With only internal 68-pin:
Adaptec ASC-29160N PCI (suports 160MB/s)

But the internal-only one can be turned into external with:
SCSI CABLE internal to external 68 pin; 3 drop internal, 1 drop
external on metal slot bracket; int68-int68-int68-ext68

Loving SCSI yet?

If the Ultrium drive doesn't need to be kept in mint condition, I often
find it's best to crack open the external SCSI case those things are in,
take out the bare drive, and plug it into your SCSI setup internally,
using your normal PS power for it.  Much easier to do internal
termination.  I have many internal 68 pin cables with terminators
built-in or tacked on.

If you can't find an external terminator or a device that can self
terminate to put on the chain, then your only choice is converting to
internal.

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