Mac Classic - will it ever run again!!

[olivier.jan]

Actually for BlueSCSI V1 (STM32 bases), the file is SCSI-configuration.txt. You can find a brief documentation here : https://github.com/erichelgeson/BlueSCS ... d-Settings

[rubber_jonnie]

Actually for BlueSCSI V1 (STM32 bases), the file is SCSI-configuration.txt. You can find a brief documentation here : https://github.com/erichelgeson/BlueSCS ... d-Settings

Ahh, probably why I missed it, I was looking for the wrong thing!!!

Seems to suggest that it isn't needed for most old Macs as it comes up as a Quantum BlueSCSI drive, but I'm thinking it would be worth pulling the drive details off the physical drive and plumbing them in to see if it makes a difference.

I can now initialise a 2GB drive and also an 80MB drive. Trouble is, once installed I get crashes, such as 'illegal instruction' or address issues. So it boots, but is crashy and unusable. With the real HDD it works just fine.

I feel I'm so close, I just need to get over the last hurdle.

Just saying, I really do prefer machines that just boot from ROM!!!

[stephen_usher]

I think that you need to verify the BlueSCSI on a machine which you know is reliable first. Trying to debug two things at once makes failure almost inevitable.

[rubber_jonnie]

I think that you need to verify the BlueSCSI on a machine which you know is reliable first. Trying to debug two things at once makes failure almost inevitable.

The other problem is fixed, it was a problematic resistor cluster that I dealt with further up the post.

Since I replaced the 4 of them it has been reliable with the original physical hard disk for a couple of days now. It's just the BlueSCSI stuff for now.

[rubber_jonnie]

Ok, I'm going to give up with the BlueSCSI and Mac Classic for now.

I've used the patched hard disk tool, which see the drive and initialises it with no problem, I've tried adding a scsi-config.txt file and changed the drive name to match the physical one I have installed, I've tried various termination options including using a USB power supply to be sure termpower is good enough and I've tried disk sizes of all different sizes, 40MB, 80MB up to just under 2GB, and multiple different SD card sizes and makes.

All can be seen, all can be initialised (With the patched HD tool) and all can have an OS installed, but the OS crashes on boot or shortly afterwards, with weird messages like 'coprocessor not installed', yet this is from a set of install disks that works perfectly with the physical hard drive.

I have to say, it feels really like a termination issue, but I've checked that 5v is good and tried powering via both the Molex and USB connectors, and there is no difference.

The LOG files from the SD card look fine and dandy too.

For now I'm just happy that the other instability issue seems to be resolved as it's been running just fine from that perspective when booted from the

[rubber_jonnie]

Hmm, just measured the voltages at the diodes used for termination, and they are a bit lower than expected for the BlueSCSI based on the info out there on the web, and this is with either the Molex connected, or the USB.

Needs another look.

[stephen_usher]

Which "Blue Pill" did you use? A lot of them don't use the real STM part but a "compatible", which isn't.

[olivier.jan]

Yes, you should test your Bluepill. While testing my internal ACSI2STM for MegaSTE board I ran into various issues with a fake bluepill. After testing with https://mecrisp-stellaris-folkdoc.sour ... -v1.6.html I finally found some good ones and all the issues where gone

[rubber_jonnie]

Which "Blue Pill" did you use? A lot of them don't use the real STM part but a "compatible", which isn't.

I followed the guidelines on the BlueSCSI Github for checking to see if it genuine or not and it met the criteria to say it's fine. Of course it could be a newer more sophisticated fake, you never know.

Nevertheless I will have a look at the tester that @olivier.jan mentioned and see what it says.

[rubber_jonnie]

Ok, so I haven't got round to testing the BluePills as yet, (As usual I am flitting between projects) I'll get that done in the next few days, but I have been testing daily for signs of the crashes that were happening on the Classic, and it has been stable every day so far this week, running throughout my work day, so it looks like replacing the 4 resistors in the R10-R13 cluster did the trick. Phew.

I have to get these BlueSCSIs working though, so hopefully this weekend will be a quiet one and I can get them tested.