Sun, 25 Oct 2020
Getting a SCSI2SD to work with an Akai S1100 is quite a challenge!
There appear to be subtle but important differences between an S1100 and an S1000. I cannot say for sure if any of these tips apply to the S1000.
External SCSI
I bought a SCSI2SD v5.1 with an adapter that would interface with the external SCSI connection on the back of the S1100. From my previous project getting the S1100 to work with a complex Compact Flash (CF) solution, I learned that the internal SCSI cable needed to be reversed on the end that connects to the SCSI card in the S1100. Reversing almost certainly means filing off the plastic slot guide from the female end of one part of the cable. After many attempts to get the external SCSI connection to work, I have concluded that Akai S1100 external SCSI and the SCSI2SD v5.1 are incompatible.
- SCSI2SD v5.1 is incompatible with external SCSI on the Akai S1100.
Internal SCSI Cable
The type of internal SCSI cable used seems very important. I have a long internal cable for 3 total devices. Even after cutting the nub off one end and reversing the cable, I can't the S1100 to recognize the SCSI2SD plugged in at the other end.
I am still using the internal cable that was in my unit when I bought it off eBay. I have no idea what is special about it, but it is short!
SCSI2SD Configuration
When are you working with these old units, there can be a lot of uncertainty around getting the settings for the hard disk to work correctly.
I was able to work leaving the General Settings completely alone. One should enable SCSI terminator (if applicable to your infrastructure) and leave all the other settings at default values or unchecked.
- There is no way to change the default SCSI channel for an S1100 hard disk to anything but 5.
- It is not necessary to set any of the SCSI2SD devices to channel 5, but if you don't, the S1100 will poll for a working disk until it gives up trying. To move past this and get to work, you'll need to press SKIP.
For each device, select a SCSI ID. The maximum number of disks one can create with SCSI2SD v5.1 is 4. I set my SCSI ID on each of the 4 devices to 0-3 respectively.
Sector size (bytes) is very important. The S1100 needs sectors sizes of 512 bytes.
Sector count will change depending on how you size your disks. The S1100 is only going to
FORMAT vs ARRANGE
There is some confusion in some of the posts out there about whether to use FORMAT or ARRANGE to correctly setup the disks in the S1100.
I personally have found it is better to use FORMAT. Kee
