A New Challenger - BlueSCSI -

[@helfire23]

Thanks for the review! And yes the diode footprints are too small, have that and a few things queued up for next rev. Macs are officially supported but have had reports of success in PCs. Also great time to run out of stock!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

WOOT! Thanks for the update!

[@geekwithsocialskills]

Nicely done on your device. I'm looking forward to ordering a few once you have stock again.

[@macpb2892]

Why it's not compatible with the 68040 Mac?

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

Any chance of porting the project to the Pi Pico? It's quite a cheap microcontroller, wonder if it would make a difference in costs/availability?

[@helfire23]

@@amirpourghoureiyan1637 As so as Arduino's runtime is ported I'll be testing it out.

[@bretwashere]

Still trying to figure out why you only have 3.3k subscribers. Your videos are amazing and you appear to be the only retro computer channel that’s covering Macs in March so throughly. As a subscriber of your channel for a couple years, please keep up the great work!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Great work, promised! And my relatively low subscriber count confuses me too. I've been doing this for about six years. I've seen others come on and in six months be over 20k subs. I've done every strategy in the book - keywords, tags, collaborations, cross-promotion, promoting on other media, thumbnail stuff - nothing ever changes my trends in any discernable way. It's baffling.

[@bretwashere]

@@JoesComputerMuseum I think one mention from someone like 8-bit guy, Adrian’s Digital Basement, Retro Man Cave, LGR, etc would do the trick. Have you tried to collab? Regardless, your Apple II videos got me back into retro computing. Got myself a IIGS locally in box with monitor and now it’s fully decked out, even with a CFFA 3000!

[@trainingtheworld5093]

@@JoesComputerMuseum I think you offer something unique from those mega retro channels. IMO 8bit guy produces little content and he is a crazy gun nut, Adrian makes a never ending stream of "mail calls" which go for over an hour and have no structure, LGR seems tired of life. I like your videos because you have unique content and have a go at things no one else is doing such as these kits. Please keep making content I definitely enjoy watching.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

@@trainingtheworld5093 Thank you. Everyone has something unique to bring to the table. I just wish the algorithms would help me out.

[@mymediapc9521]

@@JoesComputerMuseum My 2 cents, from what I've seen you need a catchy opening (such as the aforementioned 8 bit guy, Adrian's Digital Basement) and maybe a catch phrase that people will latch onto and repeat. I know that seems stupid and people should care more about the work and content but it's just I've observed. I personally care more for content than catchy things.

[@temporarilyoffline]

You did a great job on this video Joe! When I finally git an 8-bit PC SCSI card I want to try this out.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Thanks!!

[@RetroTheory]

Awesome video. Its perfect for getting these 68k macs up and running cheaply.

[@desiv1170]

Great vid and great product. The SCSI drive in my Classic is still working, but can't hurt to have a backup. Signed up to be notified for when they are back in stock...

[@geekwithsocialskills]

What a really cool piece of kit. I'll be ordering one of these for sure!

[@CrazyTechReviews]

Yeah same, finally something that’s in a reasonable price range! I always had issues with the prices of the SCSI to SDs and this I think might solve that

[@TheBasementChannel]

I’m loving #marchintosh! Finding so many great new channels! Thanks for the great content.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Thank you for watching!!

[@retroguy7649]

Thanks for that! I have just received mine, and I am following your instructions to get it up and running :-)

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Awesome!!

[@tstahlfsu]

"Bob's your uncle" -- reminding me of Dave Jones from EEVBlog :-D Great video as always!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Good artists create. Great artists steal. -- some guy I stole the saying from

[@kjakobsen]

Getting the instructions on listing paper is just beautiful.

[@marcusk7855]

I through out an old dotmatrix printer about a year ago. Was in my garage cupboard since about 2000 when I shut my office. Gave two boxes of paper to my grand kids to draw on but though out the printer and refill cartridges. Probably should have given it away on some retro FB page.

[@santospoland]

I spoke to Eric over on the Macintosh Garden discord and he did some testing with PPC and so far there are green lights but he was brief on details, nor did I ask for that matter but I am getting a couple of these. Great review, thank you.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Good to know, and thank you!

[@tub8r]

Nice review and demo! Does anyone know yet if it works with IBM PS/2?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

There's a 90% chance it'll just work for you. The newest firmware works on just about anything.

[@BajaTym]

Great video, and the units seem to be sold out already! I’m impressed, really enjoyed watching. Just subbed. 👍

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Thanks!

[@JimLeonard]

Even I can appreciate the instruction sheet. Very nice work on the part of the creator.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I can hear it now, Eric soldering kits, extractor fan whirring, and an old ImageWriter II in the corner, happily going Bzzzzt, Bzzzzt.

[@RavenWolfRetroTech]

Thanks Joe! Looks like a great product so I ordered a Kit today for the SE/30 I am restoring!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@kjamison5951]

Handy tip: use some kapton tape to hold the SD jack to the board, if you have a slightly shaky hand. Less chance of making a mess of the soldering. Use a tip cleaner before soldering to help the solder stick to the tip of the iron. For tiny pads like this, get some really thin solder like 26 or 28 gauge. It helps to keep the solder on a single pad.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

ALL THESE THINGS

[@markcummings150]

Great video Joe. This was the first review I’ve seen that showed that the OS could be setup using another drive once the initial file was created. I was worried it was like the Rominator in some respects. I wanted to get one of the external bluescsi devices for my 1mb Mac Plus, but wasn’t aware it doesn’t run on that. Hopefully later it will support more platforms.

[@markcummings150]

I just checked the designers web site and the Mac Plus is supported with caveats regarding the SCSI terminators and the drivers to use.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

@@markcummings150 I was about to reply and tell you this, but you found it. YAY!

[@trainingtheworld5093]

Great kit, I'll have to buy one and test it out on some of my machines.

[@brentgreeff1115]

Using a Mac since 2007 - so I am a bit of a newcomer. - I want a BlueSCSI, - The optical drive emulation and the ease of setup - I am going to buy it now, and get the Mac later. - I played Myst & Riven on PC, but I want a retro Mac to get the proper experience. - Seems PowerPC is now supported, based on the Github page. - Riven was released in 1997 & in 98 on DVD. - I really hated swapping those discs. - What would be the ultimate Myst / Riven Mac? - The G3? ( BlueSCSI wiki says the beige is supported ) - there are like 10 different G3 models and many seem to have that DB-15 video port. - Are there G3s that are all-on-one? - gonna take me a while to figure this out :) - nice vid.

[@RudysRetroIntel]

Excellent video and product! Too bad sold out now, will check later this month.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I'm Joe, and I approve this comment. ;)

[@eliotmansfield]

I would of left the scsi disk powered up for that authentic ‘about to die’ retro hard disk sound. I used to work in a lab in the late 80’s fixing hard disks and the sound of knackered bearings haunts me to this day.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I didn't shut it off. It shut itself off. That was the failure mode.

[@MadManDarkJedi]

This is so cool, I think people should use it to backup everything from the old scsi drive before bad thing happened. You know when hdd die, they lost everything.

[@RedmondMonk]

great job on this video!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Glad you liked it!

[@Lee_Adamson_OCF]

Shit. I find out about this thing literally the day after I laid down big money for several scsi2sd units. Lol.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Don't fret. The SCSI2SD is freaking awesome, and currently has wider support than the BlueSCSI. The BlueSCSI is out of stock right now anyway!

[@ResonantBytes]

We seem to have quite similar soldering techniques. What a pleasure to watch when the person doing the soldering just does the same thing I would do instinctively. :) Did you notice any performance difference to the SCSI2SD? - Not a Mac-guy, so I don't know if the Mac can utilize the full 10MB/s synchronous transfer with the SCSI2SD. Thanks!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Subjectively: they seem the same to me.

[@ResonantBytes]

@@JoesComputerMuseum Thanks :)

[@csudsuindustries]

This will be interesting to see how it deals with an Apple IIe PDS HardDrive Volume. I have a LC III with the card waiting for a new hard drive to get working. Have you tried mounting an existing volume into Basilisk II to see if the image is cross platform compatible?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I have not tried cross mounting with anything. I almost never use emulation, so I haven't had a use case to try it.

[@helfire23]

You can mount the images in Basilisk II and copy files over.

[@jidissafi7413]

I wish you had stayed on there a little longer and maybe done some file transfers or something. In my experience with it, it's not so much of an all-or-nothing, where everything is OK once it shows up on the desktop or you can boot from it. Sometimes it takes a minute. Did things go relatively well after the install and system transfer? -and thanks for the video!

[@alerey4363]

I would definitely build a custom SCSI longer cable with a 90 degree twist to position de sd card slot on the front of the performa/LC case, cut a slot into it and have a super practical removable SD card with several OS versions & sofware ready to boot

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I like this idea.

[@richards7909]

I know they do a SD socket on a cable with a SD style end you can just plug in. Not sure if the do microSD though. As for cutting holes in cases, controversial :D Anything on the rear like a blanking plate that can be removed and replaced with a custom plate? Not as easy as accessing it on the front mind...

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

@@richards7909 It might be possible, in the case of this specific machine, to do something with the PDS slot cover and a 3D printed doodad. It may also be possible to do the same with the floppy - yank the floppy drive out, put the BlueSCSI in that slot instead (with a specially made 3D Printed doodad) and align it so the card is accessible through the slot.... Lots of options.

[@YoutuberRivaLima]

Compatible with hardware samplers, like Roland, E-mu, Ensoniq, etc?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Not sure. Has not been tested. But it's so inexpensive, it's not a huge risk to get one for testing.

[@ducksonplays4190]

That hard drive had no head activity, so I assume it's rubber bumpers are gummed up. You could try the repair/replace of those bumpers which would have a chance of fixing the drive.

[@chrislong6601]

Does it work on other SCSI machines? Here in the UK interest in the 68k Macs is minimal - I've been give loads of them which get used as door stops etc, but I have a number of other pieces of kit that use SCSI drives.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

My understanding is that they do work in other machines.

[@chrislong6601]

​@@JoesComputerMuseum Interesting! I'll try to find more details! Thanks for responding Joe. Keep up the good work!

[@tim1724]

It seems extremely likely that this would work on an Apple II (with the Rev C SCSI card, the High Speed SCSI card, or a RAMFast SCSI card). Has anyone tried it on an Apple II yet?

[@RetroTheory]

I tried it on a PC ISA SCSI card and it worked fine.

[@alfaxgo]

Although Blue Pill can be programmed using Arduino IDE, it's not an Arduino. Nice video.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Yup. I've been corrected many times. ;)

[@alfaxgo]

@@JoesComputerMuseum Sorry, I read many comments trying to find one but didn't read all. First video I watched from you, subscribing now. Congrats

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

@@alfaxgo No worries, and Thanks!!

[@ildoddo]

Awesome! Where can I find that VGA adapter for Macintosh Performa?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Good question on the VGA adapter. This particular one is almost as old as the Performa, so there are better ones. The "modern" versions have 10 DIP switches so you can select the video output you want the Mac to use. Do a search for "mac vga 10 switch" and you'll find many options.

[@ildoddo]

@@JoesComputerMuseum yes! I find it, thank you very much!

[@Hiraghm]

I can't find what the maximum size SD card I could use with a bluescsi on a Mac SE/30, anywhere I've looked.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

You probably don't need larger than 32GB. I use 32GB SD cards regularly. Based on the size partitions and therefore images that the target machines can see, you likely won't need very large SD cards. I do not believe any limit is actually documented.

[@wd-4053]

8:15 usually the circle around the anode hole indicates that you solder a diode vertically.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Thanks!!

[@rootbeer666]

...This will work for other SCSI systems from the era, right? Like Amiga? I see in the video in the end it's uncertain. I'd like to know, actually.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Probably, but I have not tested it in other systems so I can't say for certain.

[@EricJorgensen]

Curious why the Plus isn't compatible? I mean, i guess what we're hearing is that it's been tested and didn't work, but i wonder if there are any guesses why. I have a Plus in a closet that i am mildly interested in resurrecting but not at the cost of a scsi2sd. Also some old workstation hardware but if 040 and powerpc macs don't like it i suppose it's unlikely that my mips magnum pc 4000 will like it.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

The Plus is compatible generally. It was discovered after I posted this video that the designer's Plus had an issue.

[@EricJorgensen]

@@JoesComputerMuseum I guess I will pick one up when the kits are back in stock, and probably get started re-capping my Plus and repairing any damage the battery may have done. Maybe assemble the esp8266 ppp (or was it slip?) to wifi modem i saw a couple years ago, though I understand that speeds over like 16.8kbps really stress the Plus.

[@sideburn]

Can’t find a Macintosh portable adapter for this anywhere

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Because they don't exist. It's difficult designing one. We talk about it on and off in the BlueSCSI developer and seller community.

[@kylejones8392]

Dang, this is cool as heck! My Classic doesn't need an expensive SCSI2SD, I can move that over to the Performa 475 or Mystic Color Classic!

[@kirishima638]

There have been a few kits like this over the years - SCSI2SD, PowerMonster - but they’ve all been hard to get/incredibly expensive. I hope this one doesn’t end up the same. Also hoping for a PowerBook version.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

From what I understand, this is completely open source. One can just pull the code and PCB files and make their own if so inclined. github.com/erichelgeson/BlueSCSI

[@helfire23]

All open source and open design. That was my frustration too. Will be making a powerbook and external adapter sometime in the next few months.

[@kirishima638]

@@helfire23 Easier said than done. I can solder/desolder very well but fabricating PCBs/connectors is beyond my ability.

[@helfire23]

@@kirishima638 Don't sell yourself short, it's getting quite easy to do. Since it's open others can do it to and keep it going as well.

[@kjamison5951]

No support for PowerPC Macs? Aren’t they IDE hard drives and SCSI optical drives?

[@larrystone654]

Thanks for this video! Can it be used as an external SCSI drive for an SE?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Probably, if you use a 50 pin to 25 pin adapter.

[@larrystone654]

@@JoesComputerMuseum Thank you. I’ll give it a try!

[@facepixel]

where to buy one of this BlueSCSI SD Card Adapters for Vintage Apple Macintosh

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

jcm-1.com of course!

[@facepixel]

@@JoesComputerMuseum where to buy it ?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

@@facepixel I already answered that. You can purchase them from my website, jcm-1.com

[@facepixel]

@@JoesComputerMuseum i already order 2 from ur website dude , from 4 days ago . thank you man

[@timcarabott]

Pretty sure these work on PowerPC's - I've just ordered one for my Power Macintosh 7200/90

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

They absolutely do, especially the newer version 2.

[@raskolnikov9067]

Found the channel five minutes ago. Subscribed.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

:D

[@warlockd]

I remember seeing the older version. This is a fork from somone else who made an even simpler design (Without termination) that he really didn't do much for 2 years on it.

[@RoyAntaw]

I wonder if this could be used to replace the 4.3GB SCSI drive in my SUN Enterprise Ultra II system?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Maybe? If the SUN is standard SCSI, it might work. I can't vouch for that, though.

[@perrys90]

Have you tried to get it to work on an Apple IIgs?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Personally, no. I don't have a IIgs SCSI card, so I can't test it. It would probably work, though.

[@BranchusCreations]

Someone told me that the BlueSCSI doesn't support SCSI 2. Is that true?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I have not tested it in that scenario, but the designer says it is not SCSI2 compatible.

[@tombarber8929]

That's the theory at least, for why it seems like it doesn't like PowerPC Macs. I tried on a 6100, Eric(the creator) has tried on a few PowerPC Macs, and somone on Discord tried it on a beige G3. Computer chimes, shows a cursor, and then completely locks up. Doesnt seem to make a difference if its the boot device or not

[@BranchusCreations]

@@tombarber8929 I guess we have to keep in mind that the SCSI2SD has been on the scene since 2013, and BlueSCSI is a new player. I'm sure future revisions will solve this. It all looks very promising.

[@kjamison5951]

I am definitely going to get some of these. The SCSI2SD are a trifle expensive...

[@chandrab]

Could this be used to replace the SCSI hard drive on an NeXT system? (Cube or Station)

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Maybe? I'm not sure.

[@cbmeeks]

Much of the Arduino library/IDE is compatible with the Blue Pill but the Blue Pill is no more an Arduino than the Teensy. :-) At any rate...thanks for the video! I have several Macs with dead or missing SCSI drives and I didn't know this existed!

[@bretwashere]

Same boat here. I might get this for my PowerBook 145B and Mac SE FDHD.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I'm just going by what the designer says about the Blue Pill. I did not research the MCU in any great detail.

[@devondetroit2529]

Can I use this in a akai sampler or Yamaha?? I was gunna get an scsi2sd 6.0 but it’s way more expensive than this

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Honestly, I do not know. Perhaps Eric Helgeson knows?

[@helfire23]

I do not know as I dont have a sampler, but you could try and report back!

[@paulmccorkle1910]

Power Mac's are IDE, not hard to find. But it would be nice.

[@VintageMusicGearTV]

Hi joe would you be able to use this on a akai sampler with a scsi interface cheers Simon

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Not sure. Has not been tested. But it's so inexpensive, it's not a huge risk to get one for testing.

[@OzRetrocomp]

Darn... Looks like it's not compatible with the Plus. 😔 Maybe I need to find myself a Classic or an SE? Although I have a DEC AlphaServer that this _might_ work on...

[@michaelrich6923]

I was thinking about DEC hardware too. I have a few DEC Alpha Workstations that I hope these would work in.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

The Imagewriter II was pretty killer.

[@RonsCompVids]

Next Up: BENCHMARKING!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

How did you know, sir?

[@PintzAmigaGameNight]

Can you use jt on a amiga?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

If the Amiga supports SCSI-1, then it will probably work. If it supports SCSI-2, then probably not.

[@RenatoAquino]

Just one wrong detail that I noticed. Arduino is a brand/company and the bluepill is a product from STMicro. In other words, the bluepill is not an Arduino.

[@helfire23]

It uses the Arduino SDK - which is not limited to Arduino(brand/company) boards.

[@KenjiUmino]

"not compatible with all machines" ... how about the mac IIsi then ? has anyone sucessfully used the BlueSCSI in a IIsi yet ?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Based on the official compatibility list, I would say 'probably' on the IIsi, but there's no reports on it yet. github.com/erichelgeson/BlueSCSI#compatibility

[@KenjiUmino]

@@JoesComputerMuseum thanks for the link (and the video) when i get around to fix my IIsi, I want to swap the oscillator for a little overclock while i'm in there and I also want to throw out the original 80 meg SCSI HDD as it is noisy and another possible point of failure. different question, maybe you can help me with that as well: would i need any special drivers or something to use the external apple SCSI CDROM drive (with the caddy system) on a DOS PC ? some nice person gave me his IBM 5170 and a friend happened to have an ISA SCSI controller card with DB25 connector flying around that he didn't need, so i thought it would be nice if i could use the apple CD drive should i ever need CD ROM on a 286 :-)

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

@@KenjiUmino It will probably work with whatever drivers are necessary for DOS to see the card and initialize the CDROM drive.

[@CoolerQ]

Biggest downside I see is that the SD card is trapped inside the case so it's a big production any time you want to swap disks. That's why I've decided I am happiest with an RaSCSI, which has an Ethernet/WiFi-accessible web interface for swapping disks.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Good point. Now I have to get an RaSCSI to review!

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

I want one of those t shirts.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

www.8bittees.com/product/short-sleeve-happy-mac/

[@kjamison5951]

“That’s the most foutery bit…” LOL! I haven’t heard ‘foutery’ in a long time! *fouter* (sl.)(chiefly Scottish) _(v)_ to fiddle with, to find tricky to handle. _(n)_ a handless or clumsy person, *foutery* _(adj)_ fiddly or tricky

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Yeah. I watch Big Clive a lot.

[@CommodoreGreg]

It took until the 22nd for me to know it's MARCHintosh?!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Where have you been? We've been tweeting, and gramming, and Tubing about it for days!! ;D

[@kenabi]

i think, honestly, i'd prefer an actual ssd adapter. i'm getting rather annoyed at seeing so many things use sdcards. they're okay for things that wouldn't qualify as intensive applications (e.g.; memory cards for devices where its in theory temp storage until you can offload) but as a primary? yeah i'd rather have a more permanent solution that isn't going to randomly die with little to no predictability. at least regular ssd's of just about all flavors can be somewhat predicted under normal operation. and while it's nice that people are making things to help with the aging/dying SCSI drive problem, ehhhh. i'm just not feeling this particular route.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I think for most developers the biggest deciding factors are a)the final cost to the consumer and b) the effort required for development. Transcoding between SCSI and SD is relatively simple, since the SD protocol is essentially a serial data stream, and the original SCSI protocol is not that complex. Transcoding between SCSI and SATA isn't straight forward. SAS may be easier since it's a form of SCSI, but the SATA/SAS/M.2/NVMe/PCIe interface chips, access speeds and all that jazz required to do it likely makes it cost prohibitive. You'd basically have to be a professional electronics engineer with a full lab to make it happen, I'd suspect.

[@channelite]

Cool, I can revive my Quadra 650 which had the Quantam fireball that died.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

:D

[@MrRobbyvent]

performances?

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Working on it!

[@thomassmith4999]

Hopefully it works on PCs

[@shinigamilee5915]

Wow. You printed the instructions on a dot matrix printer.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

The inventor did, yes.

[@kjamison5951]

A 2.5” version would be a big benefit to PowerBook owners...

[@helfire23]

Soon 🙂

[@johncabrer2328]

BluePill is not an Arduino. It is an STM32.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Noted in the comments, and on a follow up video. ;)

[@SuperVstech]

Now load up a copy of marathon and get gaming!

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

HA! You don't want to see me game. I'll get frustrated and engage in real property destruction. It's bad mojo.

[@ste76539]

It's not an Arduino board, stop calling it that. It's an STM32 based board nicknamed the 'Blue Pill'. Also, it's 'height' there is no 'th' sound on the end.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

I referred to it as Arduino due to documentation provided with the project. I have been corrected many times since, thank you.

[@doripsempor]

i am from indonesian how to my acept it

[@francoisleveille409]

I post this comment on March 27th, this video was posted on March 22nd and the North American purchase site says 'sold out'... duh!

[@GrandmaHatesTech]

Oh Oh. Looks like something is Broken

[@JohnDoe-ml8ru]

Floppy power connector is dumb since Mac's don't use them.

[@rogerdearman]

Sol-der. But I'm British so I have more respect for the English language. I also pronounce aluminium correctly. Edit 2 add . After re reading this, I realise that I should probably add "this was typed whilst smiling and was meant in humour".

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Al you min ee um. :D

[@rogerdearman]

@@JoesComputerMuseum correct!