BlueSCSI V2 - works with SASI but with issues.

[HIggy]

Hi,

Just to say I managed to test Version 2 of BlueSCSI (now Raspberry Pi Pico based) and it worked.

They are available from here and other places:

https://bluescsi.flamelily.co.uk/

I nice cheap solution that uses minimal power. PiSCSI/RaSCSI is really good but too many features for my basic SASI needs.

UPDATE: I have no problems but other members have. I think at this time it is best to recommend the V1 and flash it with X68K specific firmware. It is also cheaper including the programmer. It will also sit inside the towers and you can see the 'Read' LED flash.

[kanjiology]

Hi,

Just to say I managed to test Version 2 of BlueSCSI (now Raspberry Pi Pico based) and it worked.

They are available from here and other places:

https://bluescsi.flamelily.co.uk/

I nice cheap solution that uses minimal power. PiSCSI/RaSCSI is really good but too many features for my basic SASI needs.

I tested this on my Pro and it has a few quirks but overall works more reliably than the bluescsi v1. Termination needs to be off.

I haven't been able to get things like Dracula or Cameltry to load correctly. Let me know if anyone else has one of these and done some testing/has settings to share.

[aotta]

Hi,

Just to say I managed to test Version 2 of BlueSCSI (now Raspberry Pi Pico based) and it worked.

They are available from here and other places:

https://bluescsi.flamelily.co.uk/

I nice cheap solution that uses minimal power. PiSCSI/RaSCSI is really good but too many features for my basic SASI needs.

I tested this on my Pro and it has a few quirks but overall works more reliably than the bluescsi v1. Termination needs to be off.

I haven't been able to get things like Dracula or Cameltry to load correctly. Let me know if anyone else has one of these and done some testing/has settings to share.

i am trying to get working the bluescsi2 with gamesv4 hds image, but probably i'm missing something...
if i use the original filename, i get an error:

"Driver wih ID0 status: Not operating "

and scsi driver does'nt register.
I a rename the image's name as requested from new fw version, as "HD00512.hds" (id0 and lun0, 512bytes sectors), i get the error:

"Driver wih ID0 status: Not recognized"

termination on or off seems not change the error.
Any help?

[HIggy]

My file (V4 image) is called HD20_512.sda maybe I have not updated to a new BlueSCSI V2 firmware?

I think in the config file i just have a non-Apple option.

What model X68000 are you using it on?

[aotta]

My file (V4 image) is called HD20_512.sda maybe I have not updated to a new BlueSCSI V2 firmware?

I think in the config file i just have a non-Apple option.

What model X68000 are you using it on?

Thank you, i got it working naming the V4 as HD30_512.HDA, shorting the cable to few centimeters and with terminator set to open.
I use the last 2023 firmware.
I also added the powertrm 5v to pin 38 wiring the 5v from the rear of the port s pcb, so i can use the Bluescsi with only one cable connected (my setup is an original X68000 with a desktop Bluescsi as external drive).
It works fine!

[kanjiology]

These are my ini settings if anyone else needs them.
I've noticed the games load more reliably if the SD card is less than 32gb and formatted in FAT32.
Although I still get loading issues on some games, this ini works better for me than not having one at all.

Code Select Expand

[SCSI]
# Settings that apply to all devices
Debug = 0  # Same effect as DIPSW2, enables verbose log messages
SelectionDelay = 0  # Millisecond delay after selection, 255 = automatic, 0 = no delay
PhyMode = 0  # 0: Best available  1: PIO  2: DMA_TIMER  3: GREENPAK_PIO  4: GREENPAK_DMA
#Dir = "/"  # Optionally look for image files in subdirectory
#Dir2 = "/images"  # Multiple directories can be specified Dir1...Dir9
#DisableStatusLED 1 # 0: Use status LED, 1: Disable status LED

# Settings that can be needed for compatibility with some hosts
Quirks = 0  # 0: Standard, 1: Apple, 2: OMTI, 4: Xebec, 8: VMS
EnableUnitAttention = 0 # Post UNIT_ATTENTION status on power-on or SD card hotplug
EnableSCSI2 = 0 # Enable faster speeds of SCSI2
EnableSelLatch = 0 # For Philips P2000C and other devices that release SEL signal before BSY
MapLunsToIDs = 0 # For Philips P2000C simulate multiple LUNs
MaxSyncSpeed = 5 # Set to 5 or 10 to enable synchronous SCSI mode, 0 to disable

# ROM settings
#DisableROMDrive = 1 # Disable the ROM drive if it has been loaded to flash
#ROMDriveSCSIID = 7 # Override ROM drive's SCSI ID

# Settings that can be specified either per-device or for all devices.
#Vendor = "QUANTUM"
#Product = "FIREBALL1"
#Version = "1.0"
#Serial = "0123456789ABCDEF"
#Type = 0    # 0: Fixed, 1: Removable, 2: Optical, 3: Floppy, 4: Mag-optical, 5: Tape
#TypeModifier = 0  # Affects only INQUIRY response
#SectorsPerTrack = 63
#HeadsPerCylinder = 255
#RightAlignStrings = 0 # Right-align SCSI vendor / product strings, defaults on if Quirks = 1
#PrefetchBytes = 8192 # Maximum number of bytes to prefetch after a read request, 0 to disable
#ReinsertCDOnInquiry = 1 # Reinsert any ejected CD-ROM image on Inquiry command, 1 to enable

# Settings can be overridden for individual devices.
[SCSI5]
Product = "Disk with ID5"

[SCSI5]
Product = "CD-ROM Drive"
Type = 2
# If IMG0..IMG9 are specified, they are cycled after each CD eject command.
#IMG0 = FirstCD.iso
#IMG1 = SecondCD.iso

# Raw sector range from SD card can be passed through
# Format is RAW:first_sector:last_sector where sector numbers can be decimal or hex.
# If end sector is beyond end of SD card, it will be adjusted automatically.
# [SCSI4]
# IMG0 = RAW:0x00000000:0xFFFFFFFF # Whole SD card



[HIggy]

Nice hack on the Powerterm, I will have to do that also!

[aotta]

Nice hack on the Powerterm, I will have to do that also!

Thanks, but both pin 1 and 2 in FC (which i used) seem are 5vsb (drive power on with rear switch, not the frot one). I was too lazy to search in schematics, if you find a better 5v pickup, please share it!

[amazin]

I also added the powertrm 5v to pin 38 wiring the 5v from the rear of the port s pcb, so i can use the Bluescsi with only one cable connected (my setup is an original X68000 with a desktop Bluescsi as external drive).
It works fine!

Hey @aotta thanks for trying that, I thought it would be REALLY simples as that to add 5V Termination power to the SASI/SCSI Connector, but I was too chicken to try it AHHAHAHAHHA Thank you VERY MUCH for that, I'll do it to my machines.

Cheers

[amazin]

Hi,

Just to say I managed to test Version 2 of BlueSCSI (now Raspberry Pi Pico based) and it worked.

They are available from here and other places:

https://bluescsi.flamelily.co.uk/

I nice cheap solution that uses minimal power. PiSCSI/RaSCSI is really good but too many features for my basic SASI needs.

Hey HIggy and others.

I also bought a BlueSCSI V2 (DB25, external) and I'd like you to edit the title to "sort of works with SASI".

Let me explain. I have a BlueSCSI v1, internal, that never worked on any of my X68000s (several Pro-1, Ace and XVI Compact). I haven't tried reverting it back to ArdSCSIno, though.

Now, insisting on the mistake, I got the BlueSCSI V2, this time, an external unit, and although it gets recognized by the Pro/Ace with SxSI, it's too inconstant.

Sometimes it gets detected, sometimes it does not.
Sometimes I get a "So low SCSI level".
Sometimes it boots fine.
Sometimes it boots but crashes before it gets to LHES.
Sometimes it boots all the way, but crashes when loading a game.
Sometimes it loads a game, but when it accesses the HDD to load another stage, it crashes again.
And what's infuriating is that if you reset and try again the same thing you were doing before, it might work. You can't trust something unreliable as this.

So all in all, it's inconsistent. You cannot rely on it. I've replaced it with my old Aztec Monster (more on that later) and it works every. single. time. 100%, no hiccups. No delays, never fails to get detected, never fails to boot, never fails to load a game. Never. Works 100% reliably.

I've tried @kanjiology 's bluescsi.ini settings, tried BlueSCSI's own recommended settings, nothing changed.

I've tried using the HDD_V4 image, tried creating my own. Tried using a max sized virtual HDD (1017MB, as per XM6G's recommendation), tried a 40MB one. Nothing has made any difference, I insisted quite a lot with different sized HDD images, but nothing made any difference, it's not related to HDD size.

I also played around with the SCSI ID for the virtual HDD, and it seems to be more reliable when used ID from 4 to 6 (HD40_512_XXX.hds, HD50_, HD60_) than using lower IDs (10, 20, 30. Note that HD00 can't be used, although in the XM6G emulator, you can).

I don't have a SCSI card on my SASI machines, nor I have a Super with it's native SCSI interface to test it. I could then say that "the SASI interface, with the SxSI driver isn't 100% compatible with the SCSI implementation on BlueSCSI V2" or "BlueSCSI V2 can't accept any quirks that may exist on SASI machines using the SxSI drivers".

However, I decided to try the BlueSCSI V2 DB25 on my XVI Compact, and boy oh boy, what a contrast.

It works PERFECTLY, it works RELIABLY, it boots every time, it loads everything right, all the time, it's fast, it's brilliant, absolutely no complaints whatsoever.

I did two things, however:

- Used SCSI ID 0 (HD00_512_XYZ.hds) for the Virtual HDD
- Changed parameter EnableSCSI2=1 to enable SCSI2 (although I don't think the SCSI on the XVI Compact is SCSI 2)
- Having the terminator jumper closed (termination on) or open (termination off) made no difference

By doing those changed, I could get it to work, and it's working absolutely GREAT.

[kanjiology]

Hi,

Just to say I managed to test Version 2 of BlueSCSI (now Raspberry Pi Pico based) and it worked.

They are available from here and other places:

https://bluescsi.flamelily.co.uk/

I nice cheap solution that uses minimal power. PiSCSI/RaSCSI is really good but too many features for my basic SASI needs.

Hey HIggy and others.

I also bought a BlueSCSI V2 (DB25, external) and I'd like you to edit the title to "sort of works with SASI".

Let me explain. I have a BlueSCSI v1, internal, that never worked on any of my X68000s (several Pro-1, Ace and XVI Compact). I haven't tried reverting it back to ArdSCSIno, though.

Now, insisting on the mistake, I got the BlueSCSI V2, this time, an external unit, and although it gets recognized by the Pro/Ace with SxSI, it's too inconstant.

Sometimes it gets detected, sometimes it does not.
Sometimes I get a "So low SCSI level".
Sometimes it boots fine.
Sometimes it boots but crashes before it gets to LHES.
Sometimes it boots all the way, but crashes when loading a game.
Sometimes it loads a game, but when it accesses the HDD to load another stage, it crashes again.
And what's infuriating is that if you reset and try again the same thing you were doing before, it might work. You can't trust something unreliable as this.

So all in all, it's inconsistent. You cannot rely on it. I've replaced it with my old Aztec Monster (more on that later) and it works every. single. time. 100%, no hiccups. No delays, never fails to get detected, never fails to boot, never fails to load a game. Never. Works 100% reliably.

I've tried @kanjiology 's bluescsi.ini settings, tried BlueSCSI's own recommended settings, nothing changed.

I've tried using the HDD_V4 image, tried creating my own. Tried using a max sized virtual HDD (1017MB, as per XM6G's recommendation), tried a 40MB one. Nothing has made any difference, I insisted quite a lot with different sized HDD images, but nothing made any difference, it's not related to HDD size.

I also played around with the SCSI ID for the virtual HDD, and it seems to be more reliable when used ID from 4 to 6 (HD40_512_XXX.hds, HD50_, HD60_) than using lower IDs (10, 20, 30. Note that HD00 can't be used, although in the XM6G emulator, you can).

I don't have a SCSI card on my SASI machines, nor I have a Super with it's native SCSI interface to test it. I could then say that "the SASI interface, with the SxSI driver isn't 100% compatible with the SCSI implementation on BlueSCSI V2" or "BlueSCSI V2 can't accept any quirks that may exist on SASI machines using the SxSI drivers".

However, I decided to try the BlueSCSI V2 DB25 on my XVI Compact, and boy oh boy, what a contrast.

It works PERFECTLY, it works RELIABLY, it boots every time, it loads everything right, all the time, it's fast, it's brilliant, absolutely no complaints whatsoever.

I did two things, however:

- Used SCSI ID 0 (HD00_512_XYZ.hds) for the Virtual HDD
- Changed parameter EnableSCSI2=1 to enable SCSI2 (although I don't think the SCSI on the XVI Compact is SCSI 2)
- Having the terminator jumper closed (termination on) or open (termination off) made no difference

By doing those changed, I could get it to work, and it's working absolutely GREAT.

Congratulations on getting it to work!

I have only tried the BlueSCSI V2 internally on the X68000 Pro.

I used to have the V1 installed but it stopped working, tried two different units. It now always gives the error "So low scsi level", and only launches upon a cold boot and stops working after. V2 still has a few quirks but is a lot more rock solid. I'll be trying PiSCSI as well to see if that gives anymore favorable results.

[HIggy]

@amazin glad you had some progress.
I was getting 'So Low SCSI level' etc, but when I changed the Termination header it has been working fine on the CZ600-CE.

It is always detected and boots. Maybe look at the Termination header on the BlueSCSI?

I am also running @aotta PwrTwrm mod so no extra power wires!

[aotta]

i had only a strange issue left: if i use 2 or more HDA's images in the SDCard, when booting with Help pressed i got only the partitions on FIRST ID DISK on the SDcard to choose for booting, other drive are not even checked.
I mean, when IPL scans drive, it starts as soon as it get the first drive available and boot.
When booted, i see all the tre drives, but i can't boot from the second or third one in this way.
I flagged as bootable the first partition of each drive, it's that wrong?
Any hints will be appreciated, thanks!

[amazin]

Hey @aotta

I did some developments on this subject, and not really for BlueSCSI V2, but rather for V1. I've bought a ST-LINK V2 programmer and re-programmed the BlueSCSI V1 firmware with the original ArdSCSIno-stm32 firmware.

MAAAANNNNNNN it's insane. Now it works ABSOLUTELY PERFECT on my X68000 Pro and the Ace with the SxSI driver.

PERFECT, absolutely perfect.

However another thing I found out is that you have to check two things if you're using a SASI computer:

1) Of course you have to set on switch.x, parameter BOOT to ROM ED$0100
2) Parameter HD_MAX should be **ZERO**, not 1 as it comes by default.

HD_MAX is the max number of **SASI** devices. Since we are not using ANY SASI devices, it should be zero. Since I did that change from whatever number to zero, my computer boots every single time, perfect, no problems whatsoever.

Now coming back to BlueSCSI V2: it won't work on my X68000 Pro and Ace with SxSI, no matter what I do. It won't work. I cannot recommend it to anyone. Your mileage may vary using an internal/desktop unit, perhaps, but for me, my DB25 external unit only works PERFECT on my SCSI-native XVI Compact.

So please have a look at the parameter HD_MAX on your switch.x.



Let me know.

Cheers

[amazin]

i had only a strange issue left: if i use 2 or more HDA's images in the SDCard, when booting with Help pressed i got only the partitions on FIRST ID DISK on the SDcard to choose for booting, other drive are not even checked.
I mean, when IPL scans drive, it starts as soon as it get the first drive available and boot.
When booted, i see all the tre drives, but i can't boot from the second or third one in this way.

Oh I see what you mean, this seem to be a limitation of SxSI as it'll boot from the lowest bootable ID, always.

It can boot from another partition on the first bootable drive, apparently.

Cheers

[aotta]

Oh I see what you mean, this seem to be a limitation of SxSI as it'll boot from the lowest bootable ID, always.

It can boot from another partition on the first bootable drive, apparently.

Cheers

Yes, that's the question!
And i confirm it works for selecting different partitions on first drive. But It's a pity  with Sasi couldn't have a real drive boot selector, but at least i understood it's not for my mistake. Thank

[HIggy]

@amazin - I will be looking to get some more devices for my growing family 😄

The smaller size of BlueSCSI V1 is a benefit. Could you program BlueSCSI V1 via:

https://github.com/keirf/greaseweazle/wiki/Firmware-Update

The Greaseweazle and BlueScSI V1 both use STM32 'Bluepill' boards.
I don't have the ST Link programmer.

@aotta - So if my SDcard has more than 1 image on it I can select it and boot from it? If so what are the instructions.

Thanks

[amazin]

The smaller size of BlueSCSI V1 is a benefit. Could you program BlueSCSI V1 via:

Hey Higgy, welp, this is for upgrading the BlueSCSI firmware to a newer BlueSCSI firmware. I tried it to replace the firmware with the ArdSCSIno, and it did not work.

Then I bought the ST-Link V2 and it went smoothly. I had bought one previously from Amazon, lots of complaints there, but this one worked fine:

https://kunkune.co.uk/shop/arduino-compatible-boards/st-link-v2-emulator-debugger-and-programming-unit-stm8-stm32-compatible-with-arduino/

And the BlueSCSI V1 with ArdSCSIno is **PERFECT** works PERFECT.

-Amazin

[aotta]

@aotta - So if my SDcard has more than 1 image on it I can select it and boot from it? If so what are the instructions.

Thanks

No, if your sistem is SASI you can select at boot only different partition if your .HDA file contains more than one partition, but only the first image (the one with the lower ID) is used as boot drive.
Other images (with higher IDs) are anyway seen by system as drive b:, c:, and so on.

[aotta]

To make easy the renaming and update of the files in the SDCard, i used an "SDCard extender" for my internal BlueSCSIv2 installed in the Expert HD:


may be this would be useful for someone else too!

[HIggy]

Cheers for info guys

@amazin - I have ordered a V1 BlueSCSI and a programmer. Did you follow a guide to write the other Firmware to the BlueSCSI?

@aotta - you come up with some cool mods! Do you have the normal Sharp HD cable inside your Expert?

[amazin]

@HIggy Had to follow a guide on youtube on how to connect the ST Link V2 to the STM32 BluePill, install the drivers, and after that it was just the matter of uploading the firmware.bin file to the STM32.

It's pretty much straight forward, the only problem is that on some crappy ST Link V2 programmers, the pins on the outer case label do not match what's actually the pin order inside, so you have to remove the cover on the programmer to make sure.

Then what I did was to connect the pins:

SWDIO
GND
SWCLK
3.3V

to the following pins on the STM32 Bluepill:

GND
SWCLK
SWO
3V3

To program it I used the "STM32 ST-Link Utility"  with the following settings:

Connection Settings
SWD
Frequency 4,0MHz

Mode
Hot Plug
Disable [ ] Enable hot debug in low power mode

Reset mode
Software system reset

You might need to update the firmware on the ST Link V2 before attempting to replace the firmware on the Bluepill.

I had better luck connecting all together, the BlueSCSI and the ST Link V2 to the USB port. You don't need to press reset on the BlueSCSI nor change any of the jumpers.

Ping me if you need help.

Cheers

[amazin]

@HIggy a picture to help:

[Golga]

Hey @aotta

I did some developments on this subject, and not really for BlueSCSI V2, but rather for V1. I've bought a ST-LINK V2 programmer and re-programmed the BlueSCSI V1 firmware with the original ArdSCSIno-stm32 firmware.

MAAAANNNNNNN it's insane. Now it works ABSOLUTELY PERFECT on my X68000 Pro and the Ace with the SxSI driver.

PERFECT, absolutely perfect.

However another thing I found out is that you have to check two things if you're using a SASI computer:

1) Of course you have to set on switch.x, parameter BOOT to ROM ED$0100
2) Parameter HD_MAX should be **ZERO**, not 1 as it comes by default.

HD_MAX is the max number of **SASI** devices. Since we are not using ANY SASI devices, it should be zero. Since I did that change from whatever number to zero, my computer boots every single time, perfect, no problems whatsoever.

Now coming back to BlueSCSI V2: it won't work on my X68000 Pro and Ace with SxSI, no matter what I do. It won't work. I cannot recommend it to anyone. Your mileage may vary using an internal/desktop unit, perhaps, but for me, my DB25 external unit only works PERFECT on my SCSI-native XVI Compact.

So please have a look at the parameter HD_MAX on your switch.x.



Let me know.

Cheers

I just had 4 BlueSCSI v2's made up (2 desktop and 2 of the new Centronic 50 pin) and the 50 pin connectors arrived today so I had a play around with it this afternoon.
Test system is a Expert HD which has a old working 40 MB drive installed.

Plugging the desktop 50 pin into the internal SASI cable the machine booted straight up into LHES however like everybody else on a SASI system it's very unreliable.
I spent a few hours changing setting and file names to what others have suggested with no real improvement what so ever.
I'm using SP2 of the v4 HDS image and using Gradius 2 as my test game as it seems to have constant issues.
My ini settings are as follows. I'm also running the Pico from USB power for now.
[SCSI]
SelectionDelay = 0
Quirks = 0
EnableSCSI2 = 0
MaxSyncSpeed = 5

Change the file to use a higher drive number made no difference what so ever so I left it as HD10_512.HDS.
Boot is set to STD
SRAM is set to program.
Regardless if you have Boot set to the Ram position or SRAM set to No_use these essentially do the same thing in regards to booting the SxSI bootloader from NVRAM, in fact my OG SASI drive would only be detected and run normally with the SRAM set to Program and Boot set to STD.
HD_MAX 1. Again doesn't matter if set to 0 or 1. If it's set to 0 it will just skip the SASI drive to the next drive down the line. I found the system booted faster with it set to 1 and didn't effect reliability any worse than it already was.

Anyway regardless of the settings I used, Gradius 2 would get errors pop up as soon as executing the !Start.bat. Hitting Retry several times I'd get to the Konami screen and that was about as far as it got.

The only way I could get the system to run more reliably was using the latest nightly firmware, I even got Gradius 2 booting to the game. While far better than the old firmware the game loading was still inconsistent although at least it was loading into the game before I got errors. Only once did the game boot normally.

Thought I'd share my experiences with my Expert HD. Hopefully a future firmware update will sort the issues for us SASI users.
I might have to try source an alternative like an older version of the SCSI2SD which is known to work with SASI.

[kanjiology]

I think I want to branch out and try PiSCSI and Bancho eventually.

V2 isn't 100% reliable but it actually works versus V1 that would not boot for me. But I will see if changing some values in Switch.X gets that working for me. I'll try a nightly build and see if that gets it to run a little better.

[amazin]

My dudes, BlueSCSI V1 converted back to ArdSCSIno is **absolutely** reliable on my machines, all SASI with SXSI.

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, no boot failures, no loading failures, absolutely NOTHING.

@kanjiology if you need any help with it, let me know. For me it's a no brainer, V1 all the way to the bank.

-Amazin
PS: the only thing I've changed on the photo above was setting the boot to STD instead of ROM.

[kanjiology]

Thanks @amazin I'll probably open it up this weekend and try giving it another shot with your settings.

[Golga]

I think I want to branch out and try PiSCSI and Bancho eventually.

V2 isn't 100% reliable but it actually works versus V1 that would not boot for me. But I will see if changing some values in Switch.X gets that working for me. I'll try a nightly build and see if that gets it to run a little better.

Yeah I'm going to get a PiSCSI made up next. I should have done more research into the differences in X68000 models and when people were saying they had BlueSCSI v2 working it was on SCSI models like Super and above.
Hopefully a solution is found in the future, would be a shame to waste these ones I had made up.

[Golga]

I had a few PiSCSI's v2.7 made up via JLCPCB and after a bit of a learning curving installing the software I can say it works 100% with a SASI X68000 in my case Expert HD and OG model. All the games I had issues with on Blue v2 like Gradius 2, Final Fight, Street Fighter 2 etc loaded flawlessly on the PiSCSI.

It can take a bit of time setting up if you're like me and not familiar with the Pi but once done and wifi set up you can use the web interface to upload your hard drive images in this case the v4 HDD image and away you go.
I haven't dabbled with any of the extra features like Ethernet support but for now I'm just happy having a working hard drive emulator.

Pro's
Easy to use once set up and can remotely add/remove hard drive images via the web interface. Perfect for any model of the X68k and those of us with SASI machines. A Pi with WIFI is a must! very convenient if you want to install the HDD internally, no need to keep pulling the SD card in and out when you want to change the HDD image!
Speed was fantastic.

Con's
Unlike the BlueSCSI v2 you have to wait for the Pi to boot up and load before using the drive.
Unless installing internally using the 50 pin flat ribbon connector you'll need an adapter to use externally via the 50 pin Centronics connector. I did really have high hopes for the BlueSCSI v2 Centronics version I had made up.
I'm thinking about making a simple compact Centronics to 25 pin D adapter Via Kicad for the OG models.

I didn't have to touch any of the settings in SWITCH I had previously set up for the BlueSCSI however the termination dip switches on the PiSCSI must be set to on (both of them) otherwise you'll get the connection issue popping up on the X68k boot.
I used the recommended firmware version 22.12.1.
Earlier versions say they have SASI drive support but I'm not really worried about it as from what I've read SASI drives are limited to 40 megs anyway.

Hopefully some clever peeps can make the BlueSCSI v2 work on the older SASI X68000's but very happy with the PiSCSI.

[Golga]

Just a follow up tip for PiSCSI on SASI. On the PiSCSI pcb, run a wire from pin 34 on J3 to the ACT pin on J2. This gets the HD Busy light working on your machine (Should also work on later models with SCSI built in)
I'll eventually add pictures of the simple mod to my repair log on AA.

[Golga]

Just a bump for this thread.
I recently acquired a 1mb upgrade card for one of my OG x68000's and noticed a few days back a new firmware release (v2023.07.03) for the BlueSCSI v2 so I thought I'd give it a go using my BlueSCSI 50 Pin Centronics version.

So far everything works flawlessly. I've been able to consistently load the games I was previously having issues with listed in my previous post.

I didn't do anything special, installed my ram card, did a coin battery mod, loaded the Sxsi bootloader into ram and went into SWITCH and changed the ram from 1mb to 2mb..that's it, no voodoo magic or throwing poop at the wall in settings to see what sticks for 30 mins.

Further reading it seems we have erichelgeson to thanks for this and looks like a preset has been added to the bluescsi.ini
https://github.com/BlueSCSI/BlueSCSI-v2/releases/tag/v2023.07.03

My bluescsi.ini file simply looks like this
[SCSI]
System="X68000"

Hard drive file is named HD10.HDS
it automatically detects the rest.

The ONLY quirk so far is if you power cycle the machine you need to reset the power on the BlueSCSI V2/Pico otherwise you get the Chk.Conn error. Simply hitting the reset button works fine.
I don't think this would be an issue if the machine was modded to power the Bluescsi v2 from the internal x68000 psu.

The Centronics 50 Pin version is SO convenient! especially for the older SASI machines.

I'd still recommend the PiSCSI if mounting internally due to the convenient web interface which means not having to modify or open your machine every time you need to access the SD card.

Exciting times.

[HIggy]

Now I have my Expert 2 working I thought I would try my BlueSCSI V2.
Initially it did not work (worked fine on X68000 OG). I updated the firmware and added System="X68000" to config and it booted the new 1.07 HD image, but I was getting read errors quite a bit in the short test I did.

So I as mentioned by others, the cheapest solution has to be BlueSCSI V1 reprogrammed with ArdSCSIno firmware.

Externally on a short 50pin IDC cable it will sit nicely out the way between the twin towers, and you can even see the access light flickering.

[aotta]

I create a new firmware of Bluescsi v2 that solved many read error i got with official version.
Asked for a pull to the original github repository ( https://github.com/BlueSCSI/BlueSCSI-v2/pull/102 ) , but in the meanwhile you could try it, loading the attached update firmware.
Please feel free to try and use this bluescsi.ini:

[SCSI]
System = "X68000"
EnableParity = 0

Now i can load StarWars and Dracula without error, i tried others game and all fine, but please report any issue to check if i could improve the patch.

[HIggy]

@aotta thanks for this, I've updated my V2 and hope to test it.
I have the cables to mount my V2 inside my Expert 2 but I've been using a V1 externally because of issues.

[aotta]

@aotta thanks for this, I've updated my V2 and hope to test it.
I have the cables to mount my V2 inside my Expert 2 but I've been using a V1 externally because of issues.

I tested the patch with V2 connected externally to my cz-600, I'll test it in next days in my expert with internal V2 so waiting for your feedback if you'll be quicker!

[aotta]

I finally tested the new firwmare with my other X68K, an Expert HD with BlueSCSI V2, and it works fine too, with no more "sector not found" error (at least, since now) !

Please report if you get any error on some program / game loading!

[opooly]

Just a bump for this thread.
I recently acquired a 1mb upgrade card for one of my OG x68000's and noticed a few days back a new firmware release (v2023.07.03) for the BlueSCSI v2 so I thought I'd give it a go using my BlueSCSI 50 Pin Centronics version.

So far everything works flawlessly. I've been able to consistently load the games I was previously having issues with listed in my previous post.

I didn't do anything special, installed my ram card, did a coin battery mod, loaded the Sxsi bootloader into ram and went into SWITCH and changed the ram from 1mb to 2mb..that's it, no voodoo magic or throwing poop at the wall in settings to see what sticks for 30 mins.

Further reading it seems we have erichelgeson to thanks for this and looks like a preset has been added to the bluescsi.ini
https://github.com/BlueSCSI/BlueSCSI-v2/releases/tag/v2023.07.03

My bluescsi.ini file simply looks like this
[SCSI]
System="X68000"

Hard drive file is named HD10.HDS
it automatically detects the rest.

Hi All,

Just to confirm that BlueSCSI v2 works just fine on my OG as well as my Expert, it's plug n Play!

[kanjiology]

I updated to the latest firmware and v2 is working excellent on my Pro.

[kanjiology]

I tried Street Fighter 2 and Fatal Fury and wasn't able to play, they both error. Was using FW Version: 2024.04.02-release Apr  3 2024 02:22:50, the pull request with the x68000 quirks should already be in by that release.

[incrediblehark]

@kanjiology, did the recent update fix any of your problems?

Also, does anyone know how to get the HDD led to work with X68000 and the BlueSCSI desktop version?