English Amiga Board - View Single Post - WinUAE and USB->SCSI adapters

mark_k · 18 January 2016, 15:27

While I haven't used WinUAE for that I do have experience with these USB-SCSI converters.

What I would do, is create an HDF of the exact same size as your target SCSI hard drive, set that up as you want using WinUAE, then write the HDF to the SCSI drive using a command like dd or similar (I use Linux, though there are probably Windows equivalents, maybe WinImage???). That way the setup process would be much faster than having WinUAE access the SCSI drive directly.

The price of the converter you linked to is rather high. Strangely the same seller has a Belkin converter for US$48 which is more reasonable (still with the same very-high shipping cost though). Both converters use the same chip inside, and are functionally identical.

General converter tips (for all SCM-chip-based converters): Most work as standard USB mass storage devices, providing you set the connected drive's SCSI ID to 0. To use more than one SCSI drive in a chain, or with non-0 ID, you have to install a specific driver in Windows. Only 32-bit drivers were ever produced though. You can force the old driver to install even in 32-bit Windows 10. The converters work fine with no need for special drivers in Linux.

Most of the converters derive their power from the SCSI TERMPWR line. That means the drive(s) you connect must supply termination power in order for the converter to work. (Or use a special adapter which inserts termination power. The Belkin converter would have come with one of those when new.)

18 January 2016, 15:27	#2
mark_k Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Posts: 3,335	While I haven't used WinUAE for that I do have experience with these USB-SCSI converters. What I would do, is create an HDF of the exact same size as your target SCSI hard drive, set that up as you want using WinUAE, then write the HDF to the SCSI drive using a command like dd or similar (I use Linux, though there are probably Windows equivalents, maybe WinImage???). That way the setup process would be much faster than having WinUAE access the SCSI drive directly. The price of the converter you linked to is rather high. Strangely the same seller has a Belkin converter for US$48 which is more reasonable (still with the same very-high shipping cost though). Both converters use the same chip inside, and are functionally identical. General converter tips (for all SCM-chip-based converters): Most work as standard USB mass storage devices, providing you set the connected drive's SCSI ID to 0. To use more than one SCSI drive in a chain, or with non-0 ID, you have to install a specific driver in Windows. Only 32-bit drivers were ever produced though. You can force the old driver to install even in 32-bit Windows 10. The converters work fine with no need for special drivers in Linux. Most of the converters derive their power from the SCSI TERMPWR line. That means the drive(s) you connect must supply termination power in order for the converter to work. (Or use a special adapter which inserts termination power. The Belkin converter would have come with one of those when new.) Last edited by mark_k; 18 January 2016 at 16:23.