X68000 XVI Compact CF question

[X-Col]

Guys, managed to score a Compact XVI fully recapped 
All works great apart from the second floppy drive which doesn't read disks.

Ive read about the problems that can be caused by just opening them, so may just wait for the new HxC floppy emulator with full X68000 support.
In the meantime I need to get a Hard Drive or CF adapter (I have a spare Aztec Monster) to work with it. Don't really want to mod it at this stage, had enough of electronics at the moment. I just want to enjoy it for the time being.

Is there a simple solution for adding one of the above externally?

[Neshek]

Hi!

I'd go for this..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUN-Micro-SCSI-External-CD-Drive-W-CD-Caddy-595-1929-05-411-X559A-/141531808607?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item20f3f4035f
Get rid of the optical drive and put the aztec in it. If i'm not wrong there won't be any internal adapter needed. and no trouble either.
I think both sides are HD-50 cable. Maybe DB-25 for the enclosure, but i am quite certain it's HD-50

Other cases with other SCSI standards are possible. For example, scsi-3 (Ultra something) enclosure would need hd-68 to hd-50 cable instead and 50 pin to 68 pin internal adapter.

SCSI is quite backward compatible, so as long as you get the right adapter, you should be good to go. On the Amiga, if my memory is not tricky, used to have scsi-3 (Ultra, Ultra Wide SCSI) HDD on SCSI-1 (SCSI) enclosure (already populated in first slot with SCSI-1 (SCSI) optical drive) with CN-25 to HD-50 cable on the SCSI-2(Fast, Wide or Fast Wide SCSI) controller.. ^^'

Hope it helps!

Edit:
Forgot you were in UK.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUN-411-PN-595-3067-01-DAT-DDS-External-SCSI-Tape-Drive-working-order-incVAT-/111567976835?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopAccessories_LaptopDrives&hash=item19f9f83983

And this cable should do the trick..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUN-530-1793-02-SCSI-2-to-SCSI-2-CABLE-/360317598414?pt=UK_Computing_Drive_Cables_Adapters&hash=item53e49a3ace

[H68k]

The SCSI connector on the Compact models is a Micro Centronics port and not High Density one. The same Micro Centronics connector was also used for SCSI on some PC98 models to.

You'll need a Micro Centronics to HD50 or 50 pin SCSI adapter. They appear from time-to-time on the auction sites, alongside pre made adapter leads.

[eidis]

 Hi X-Col !

Here you can find a link to shop where to purchase a Micro Centronics 50-pin converter.

X68000 XVI Compact external SCSI converter
http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:x68000_xvi_compact_external_scsi_converter

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[X-Col]

Thanks for the advice chaps 

Seams straight forward, will let you know how I get on! 

Update: I couldn't find that adapter Eidis, so purchased this one instead. Should be a little easier to get a 25 pin cable...

[X-Col]

Success!
Got a cable for D25 to 68 pin.
Then purchased a 68 pin to SCSI 50 converter for the AztecMonster.

It works great 

[Psygnosis8]

Congrats!  Just don't clear you SRAM.  I'm learning this the hard way.  You'll need aHumanOS floppy to reset the bios settings to boot from the SCSI drive.

[SuperDeadite]

Congrats!  Just don't clear you SRAM.  I'm learning this the hard way.  You'll need aHumanOS floppy to reset the bios settings to boot from the SCSI drive.

You really shouldn't though.  When SRAM is cleared, the machine resets to STD boot, meaning first it checks the floppies, then scans the SCSI.  If your SCSI device is bootable, it should find it just fine, unless you have other issues.

[X-Col]

One more question,
Since my floppy drives are dodgy, can I load floppy images into the Compact via the CF hard drive?
If so, how? 

I'm sure I read somewhere that it was possible...

[Neshek]

2HDSim

For some games that can't be installed on hard drive it's nice.
But better have spare memory..

http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:installing_games_to_hard_drive

[Psygnosis8]

Congrats!  Just don't clear you SRAM.  I'm learning this the hard way.  You'll need aHumanOS floppy to reset the bios settings to boot from the SCSI drive.

You really shouldn't though.  When SRAM is cleared, the machine resets to STD boot, meaning first it checks the floppies, then scans the SCSI.  If your SCSI device is bootable, it should find it just fine, unless you have other issues.

Yeah, I don't know what's wrong.  It won't either of my hd replacement devices at any SCSI id.  My friend is trying to fashion a human os disk...I'm assuming you can access switch.x from there?

Edit: after you see the floppy disk error do you need to wait a long time or push any buttons to make it boot from SCSI?

[X-Col]

2HDSim

For some games that can't be installed on hard drive it's nice.
But better have spare memory..

http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:installing_games_to_hard_drive

Cheers
I can't find a program called 2hdsim, but I did see some mention of another called 2hdboot. Is this the one I need? If it is, how does it work?
I have a total of 10mb memory installed in the Compact 

Update: just noticed 2hdsim in that link, don't know why I missed it on first read   
I'll have a go at getting it to work. Some games just refuse to work from HD and my floppies are dodgy, so hoping this will resolve the issue for these games...
BTW what is the maximum HD size you can install in a Compact? 

Update2: only managed to get one game loaded using 2hdsim, is there a tutorial for using 2hdboot instead?

I've worked it out