[geeks] SCSI for PowerBooks?

[velociraptor]

On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 12:07:53 -0500, Matthew Braun <geeks at leydenjar.com> wrote:
> I've had a project on the back burner for a while now (setting up a
> 4-drive, 200 disc jukebox for CD ripping)[0] that I'm ready to
> undertake. However, I've encountered a annoying problem: my fastest
> machine is my precious little PowerBook G4 (1ghz, 1Gb ram) but the
> jukebox is SCSI. I'm running OS X, but it seems that Apple's desire to
> migrate to the IOKit for device interaction has caused manufacturers to
> barf. Hence, I can't find any OS X compatible PCMCIA cards. Adaptec has
> one card but the driver is in a permanent beta (Adaptec has
> discontinued OS X support and won't be doing any more development). The
> other is by a company called Ratoc and a) their website looks really
> cheezy which doesn't inspire confidence in their products and b) it
> only supports drives and scanners.

I have a Ratoc SCSI PCMCIA card, and while I agree with a 
(and the packaging too), in fact, worked damned well under 
OS 9 (I used it w/tape drives and HDs, as well as a scanner). 
Unfortunately, I never tested the card under OS X.
 
> I've looked into SCSI->Firewire bridges, but for some reason, they all
> appear to be discontinued (?). So I was wondering, does anyone 
> have any recommendations for solutions (apart from getting a 
> cardbus chassis expansion unit)?

I found this "converter" from Ratoc as well:

<http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/subpages/firerex1.html>

You might want to read about some performance tests 
here (which may explain why Orange discontinued theirs.:
<http://www.barefeats.com/hard16.htm>

I am fairly certain another vendor was still selling scsi to 
firewire adaptors at MacWorld last year, but I cannot for 
the life of me remember the brand.  It may have had 'bee' 
or 'buzz' in the name, because I remember it was yellow 
and black.  But google-fu doesn't support "appearance", 
unfortunately. :-)

Are the drives themselves SCSI?  With a little hackery, 
you could probably put IDE->FW bridges in the tower 
more cheaply, and that would have native support.

> [0] Purchased off ebay for $22 (score!)

Nice. Brand/model?  Seller-ID? :-) Does it have a twin?

Btw, Dave McG. sez he has power and water back, 
finally, but it's a *^#$@#(!)## mess.  The hurricane 
made landfall 15 mi. from his place.

=Nadine=