Storage options for ACSI port

General discussions or ideas about hardware.
pixelpusher
Posts: 144
Joined: 27 Dec 2019 21:01

Storage options for ACSI port

Post by pixelpusher »

Hi all,

are there recommendations/experiences for storage solutions on the ACSI port besides Ultrasatan? (I'm explicitely not looking at internal modifications like adding IDE)

I've seen some solutions (e.g. ACSI2SD on ebay) but research seems to indicate, that they don't work reliable (esp. not with high performance drivers like HDDriver). Are there other affordable solutions, or is Ultrasatan the way to go?

Best,
Steve
Posts: 3305
Joined: 15 Sep 2017 11:49

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by Steve »

You have three options I think,
- Ultrasatan (as you mentioned)
- ASCI2SD (as you mentioned)
- Satandisk
https://www.arananet.net/pedidos/product/satandisk-v4/
- Gigafile
https://shop.inventronik.de/index.php?i ... &id_lang=2

I have no experience with the latter two so I can't tell you the pro's and con's of them, but perhaps others can.
User avatar
exxos
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 28344
Joined: 16 Aug 2017 23:19
Location: UK

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by exxos »

There is of course a internal ultrasatan..
User avatar
mrbombermillzy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2284
Joined: 03 Jun 2018 19:37

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by mrbombermillzy »

I have Satandisk.

Its not perfect but it works and its reliable enough.

The main problems are slow speed (~120kb/s according to Jookies website) and having to reset the ST again before it boots up.
User avatar
PaulJ
Posts: 1568
Joined: 08 Apr 2018 01:14
Location: USA

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by PaulJ »

I don't have any issues with the ultrasatan not booting on powerup. Also it gets around a 950-1050 kb's/sec which isn't slow in my experience. The IDE interfaces, Exxos's, and Lightning get anywhere from 1350 - 1500 kb/sec. The Lightning USB stick drive is only approximately half the ultrasatan speed which I use as backup. I also have a scsi2 board I use in the MSTE that connects to the host adaptor replacing the hard drive and is a tiny bit slower than the ultrasatan, approximately 800-850 kb/sec. They all work without issue for me. Even though there are faster and slower solutions, they all feel the same with the exception of the usb solution but it's not horrible.
pixelpusher
Posts: 144
Joined: 27 Dec 2019 21:01

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by pixelpusher »

Thx for all the feedback!
PaulJ wrote: 21 Apr 2021 21:49 [...] I also have a scsi2 board I use in the MSTE that connects to the host adaptor replacing the hard drive and is a tiny bit slower than the ultrasatan, approximately 800-850 kb/sec. They all work without issue for me. Even though there are faster and slower solutions, they all feel the same with the exception of the usb solution but it's not horrible.
Could you add details about what you use as scsi adapter (as that is something I'd like to look into later too)?

Best,
qq1975b
Posts: 61
Joined: 18 Sep 2017 22:16

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by qq1975b »

User avatar
Smonson
Posts: 717
Joined: 28 Oct 2017 10:21
Location: Canberra, Australia

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by Smonson »

I've been making my own SD card storage solution from scratch. I couldn't afford an UltraSatan. Unlike the ACSI2STM project - which bit-bangs data onto the lines under software control - I've got a cheap CPLD to handle the specific timing requirements of ACSI, so it should be 100% reliable (I hope).
User avatar
Badwolf
Site sponsor
Site sponsor
Posts: 3043
Joined: 19 Nov 2019 12:09

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by Badwolf »

Smonson wrote: 22 Apr 2021 09:06 I've been making my own SD card storage solution from scratch.
This sounds good! :thumbup:

BW
DFB1 Open source 50MHz 030 and TT-RAM accelerator for the Falcon
Smalliermouse ST-optimised USB mouse adapter based on SmallyMouse2
FrontBench The Frontier: Elite 2 intro as a benchmark
User avatar
JezC
Posts: 2782
Joined: 28 Aug 2017 23:44

Re: Storage options for ACSI port

Post by JezC »

Badwolf wrote: 22 Apr 2021 12:00
Smonson wrote: 22 Apr 2021 09:06 I've been making my own SD card storage solution from scratch.
This sounds good! :thumbup:

BW
Yes, hoping that you @Smonson manage to succeed with this!
Keep hearing of lots of people finding issues with US, so not prepared to risk the asking price...but a future cheaper option would be nice!
Especially if/when my mechanical SCSI drives finally give up the ghost... :?

Return to “HARDWARE DISCUSSIONS”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ClaudeBot, semrush [bot] and 6 guests