news.telus.net <tom@spam.mediastep.com> wrote:

> This probably has been asked to death in this forum, if so I apologize.
> 
> What brand/model SCSI cards will work with System 6.0.1?

Both models of Apple's SCSI card are supported by System 6.0.1, and the
drivers come with the system software.

If you get hold of an original Apple SCSI card, make sure it is running
firmware revision C, or GS/OS won't like it.

If it has an original ROM on it, you can determine the version number by
looking at the Apple part number on the ROM label:

341-0112A is revision A
341-0112B is revision B
341-0437-A is revision C

If you get hold of a card with revision A or B firmware, it is possible
to burn your own 27C128 EPROM with a copy of the revision C firmware,
assuming you have access to a suitable EPROM programmer and a copy of
the firmware in a suitable format.

The Apple High-Speed SCSI card only ever had one firmware version, so it
will work out of the box.  (I don't have its number handy.)

If you aren't sure what the two cards look like:

Identifying an Apple SCSI card is easy enough, because they have the
usual Apple copyright message on the circuit board.

The original Apple card has a row of eight jumpers near the left end of
the card, a 28 pin EPROM about the middle, and a 40 pin NCR 5380
Dual-in-line (rectangular) SCSI chip near the right.

The high-speed Apple card has a row of four DIP switches near the bottom
centre, a 28 pin EPROM near the middle and two socketed 44 pin square
ICs near the top right corner, one of which is an NCR 53C80 SCSI
controller.

Both cards have the SCSI cable soldered directly to the board, with a
female DB-25 connector that is normally mounted on the back panel of the
IIe/IIgs (using one of the appropriately sized cable access holes).


There are other SCSI cards that will also work with System 6.0.1.  The
revision D RamFast should work fine, as long as it has recent enough
firmware.  You should get hold of the drivers for it as well (they don't
come with the system software).

I expect that you could also use a revision C RamFast and some of the
other third party cards, but I don't have any experience with them.
Have a look for the FAQs for this newsgroup - they may have more useful
information.

> And how compatible are those SCSI cards with the more recent external SCSI
> CDROM drives and external SCSI hard drives?

For SCSI hard drives, either Apple card is your safest bet.  There have
been compatibility problems between the RamFast card and relatively
recent SCSI hard drives (notably the Quantum Fireball series), probably
due to the drive requiring that the host implement the SCSI arbitration
phase, which the RamFast doesn't do (but the Apple cards do).

For CD-ROM drives, the RamFast is probably a better option than the
Apple card, simply because it supports the audio CD control command sets
for more models.  The Apple cards can only control audio CD playback
using Apple's oldest three models (CD-SC, CD-SC+ and CD-150).  More
recent CD-ROM drives will work for data-only access.

> What are some the of the most ideal HD + CDROM setups that are readily
> attainable some of you can recommend?

I haven't bought a new SCSI hard drive for use on my IIgs since about
1993, so I can't claim any recent knowledge there.  I've never bought a
CD-ROM drive for use on the IIgs (just borrowed some old Apple ones
occasionally).

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz