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Cant get SCSI2SD to boot Mac Plus
Posted by: thinbits on 2015-10-22 13:50:49
I've got a Mac Plus I'm trying to get working with a SCSI2SD card. Card seems to work, I just can't get the Mac to boot from it.

The original external APS 120MB drive boots the Mac Plus just fine, and I've got a copy of Apple HD SC Setup 7.3.5 that has been patched. I've setup the SCSI2SD card at ID 6, and made a 250MB partition on it with the patched HD SC Setup. The contents of the APS drive copy over just fine, and I've opened and closed the System Folder on the SD card to bless it.

Despite all that, I can't seem to get the Mac to boot from the card. If it's the only thing on the bus (and the terminator resistors are installed), when I power on the Mac I just get the blinking question mark. I don't see the activity light on the card flash at all from the initial bus scan or any sort of booting activity. I've also tried pulling the terminator resistors and using an external terminator with no luck.

What am I missing here?

Thanks,

Dave

Posted by: techknight on 2015-10-22 15:10:18
you need termination power. If the SCSI2SD has a jumper for built-in termination power, you have to select it. 

Posted by: thinbits on 2015-10-23 10:46:01
I've got one of the new v5 boards that doesn't have the jumper.

The J3TERMPWR jumper is not used on these boards. Due to the more efficient power supply (switching regulator as opposed to linear reegulator) USB power is sufficient to run run the terminator.
Re-reading that last sentence, is it saying I need USB plugged in to power the terminators? I would have expected them to be powered by the molex plug.

Posted by: bobo68 on 2015-10-23 13:26:02
I'd ask Michael McMaster. I do not think that the terminators cannot be powered by the molex plug but then if there is no jumper anymore +5V from the molex would always be connected to the terminators and the TERMPWR line?!?

Posted by: thinbits on 2015-10-23 14:22:03
I'll ask him about that.

So, is there anything else I should be trying to make the card bootable? Other than not being able to boot from it, it appears to work fine.

As far as I remember*, only thing that should prevent it from booting would be something wrong with the driver or the system folder not being blessed.

* in the early 90s I was the lead engineer on the DiskFix and Optimizer products from Central Point. I used to know this stuff inside out, now that part of my brain is feeling very rusty.

Posted by: Apache Thunder on 2015-10-23 19:19:59
Have you tried giving Lido a go? Give it a full repartition and format. Lido takes care of the drivers too so that might fix the issue if the driver partition is messed up somehow.

Posted by: sstaylor on 2015-10-23 21:28:41
Doesn't the plus need a resister soldered into place somewhere to provide termination power?

Edit: apparently a diode and a resistor, according to techknight

https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/17130-scsi-ports-not-working-on-3-mac-pluss-confused/&do=findComment&comment=169787

Posted by: techknight on 2015-10-24 05:46:37
The newer plus boards actually have a diode placement on the PCB itself, you could just solder one in place and itll work fine. 

Posted by: mori512k on 2015-12-30 16:30:38
Don't know which scsi2sd drive you have, but I have the external drive and it works great. If it's a standard internal scsi2sd, it might not work. Possibly a termination issue.

Mike is excellent at answering questions.

Posted by: Elfen on 2015-12-30 19:33:01
I've got a Mac Plus I'm trying to get working with a SCSI2SD card. Card seems to work, I just can't get the Mac to boot from it.

...

...

I've setup the SCSI2SD card at ID 6, and made a 250MB partition on it with the patched HD SC Setup. The contents of the APS drive copy over just fine, and I've opened and closed the System Folder on the SD card to bless it.

...

...

Thanks,

Dave
How big is this SD Card in the SD2SCSI adapter? what system are you using or the Mac Plus?

The only thing I could see as a problem is the rest of the SD Card not being Partitioned and formatted. You should partition and format the rest of it up in 500MB Slices

Posted by: mori512k on 2015-12-31 20:47:17
The smallest as cards I could find are 8mb. When I format, I use a 2 gig partition. It's the largest that system 6 &7 can handle. I just waste the rest, although you could probably create several 2 gig partitions.

In the HD SC set up, it will, by default, create a small partition. Can't remember the size, but it is small. The partition size needs to be increased in the set up to the size you want up to the 2 gig limit.

Posted by: Paralel on 2015-12-31 21:09:42
Try using Hard Disk SpeedTools for MacOS Classic from Intech. That might get the card formatted correctly and running.

Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2016-01-01 02:46:29
Hey there

I saw a Shane McRetro video on YouTube. He was trying to install a compact flash reader in his lc475. Unfortunately, I don't remember the software he used to format the compact flash card, but I guess the video can easily be found on Youtube (I would have given you the link but i'm at my grandparents' house and the internet is quite poor, you can't watch YouTube...)

I remember he ticked a box saying "bootable", and he didn't use all the space of the CF card but it worked (after he realised that you can't use a more-than-2gig partition)

So could your problem be that the software you used, albeit being patched, did not build a bootable partition??

Posted by: techknight on 2016-01-01 05:53:18
I used Lido with my Adtron SCSI-CF and never had issues. 

Posted by: Paralel on 2016-01-01 10:52:53
Love my Adtron. Being built to industrial standards, it should out live all of us.

Posted by: techknight on 2016-01-01 12:49:52
Yup, I use mine with a 4GB Microdrive. 

Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2016-01-03 01:38:20
Yeah I think Lido is better than the patched version of Apple HD setup. You should try Lido.

Here is the link: http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/lido-756

Let us know how it turns out ! I have ordered some SCSI2SDs and I hope they will work with my plus.

Posted by: james_w on 2016-01-03 07:44:14
Yeah Lido is the only disk formatter I've found to reliably make bootable disks from flash memory cards

Posted by: Paralel on 2016-01-03 13:57:33
I find Hard Disk SpeedTools has been able to handle anything I've thrown at it.

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