Building and setting up an external DB25 BlueSCSI

The BlueSCSI is a modern replacement for old mechanical SCSI hard drives.
A recent addition to the range is the DB25 external version of the BlueSCSI. Its compact size, combined with the BlueSCSI's ease of setup make this one an incredibly useful tool for any vintage Mac collector.
Here is a brief tutorial describing the process of assembling and setting up the DB25 external BlueSCSI.
#BlueSCSI #retrocomputing #macintosh
00:00 Intro
02:19 Build
13:53 Setup
LINKS:
Official BlueSCSI website:
scsi.blue
BlueSCSI Github:
github.com/erichelgeson/bluescsi
Emaculation (SheepShaver):
www.emaculation.com/doku.php/...
Redundant Robot (Mac ROMs):
www.redundantrobot.com/sheeps...
Macintosh Garden (System 7.5.3):
macintoshgarden.org/apps/maci...
My shop (for Australian customers):
recapamac.com.au/shop
If you enjoy the content and would like to make a small donation, you can do so here:
www.paypal.me/branchus
Tools/Products used (paid links):
Digital Multimeter: kaiweets.com/products/kaiweet...
T15 Torx (for opening compact Macs): amzn.to/2ZJKWN3
Microscope: amzn.to/2HnSI5H
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[@asm1]

This is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. My Brother's Precious SE30 has languished in a Cupboard. I am going to Bluescsi it (as well as pram battery replacement) and Back up the internal drive. Was wanting to know how to mount the Blue SCSI externally to start with. His is quite expanded (network, DiMMo 50mhz and 128MB ram) Running 7.5.5 as is. Will probably mount internally and remove the hdd eventually but this is great.

[@enzofitzhume7320]

I hope your channel blows up!! (in a good way). Keep up the great content.

[@XKSteve]

For those who do not know, to shutdown sheepshaver (or basilisk II) just press control+esc easier than force quitting the app. The blueSCSI Devices are brilliant.. Thanks Bruce for giving me the confidence to have a go at repairing a dead SE I just picked up cheap.

[@TheBasementChannel]

Good variant! I bought a db25 adapter for my regular blueSCSI as I found it more convenient to share it across several machines. Might pick up one of these with its handy case instead!

[@ScarletSwordfish]

That's so nice that you can use SheepShaver to load software onto it. This seems way more convenient than the SCSI2SD v5.5 for getting software from modern computers to older Macs.

[@JoesComputerMuseum]

Crazy coincidence: I just got one of these TODAY.

[@arturjski5661]

I used to be an apple tech too and I also carried with me my 500 Meg external HD with everything on it. Good times.

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

Great Video Bruce very informative

[@aa-au]

Bruce, I pressed all the things. A great video and explanation of setting one up. I will have to get one for my vintage Mac, then may even try and build one myself.

[@Samplers]

Fantastic vid Bruce! Love all that you do.

[@RTSRetroTechShed]

Thanks for the video, easy to follow :)

[@antontdk2420]

Very clear instructions. Hi respect for your time and people like you!

[@beautifulportland9592]

Thanks, I was having difficulty getting my (Removed HD) Macintosh SE read the Micro SD card in the BluSCSI until I followed your renaming directions. Now's it reading the SD card! Thanks for you help.

[@Jared-Pace]

Amazing video. Appreciate all of the detail! :)

[@michaelloret7344]

Great video! Clear and to the point, thank you.

[@johnrevill9592]

A brilliant start to finish instructional video. Great work Bruce.

[@fizzbinn9325]

In the US here, just built mine and success! Thanks for the tips!!

[@Bball_and1]

Watched your tutorial and subscribed

[@JustChiminin]

Tremendous assistance, thank you sir.

[@jase1438]

Great video, Putting together mine at the moment, Didn't know about SheepShaver, got it running on Windows pretty easily using the info in your vid. Thanks!

[@laynesamba]

Great video! I did something similar a few months back.

[@Guroth]

This was great to watch and I’m seriously thinking this would be great for my Plus

[@channelite]

Awesome video. I could restore my old quadra 650 that has a dead hard drive.

[@icantgivecredit871]

This is quite useful, as it would allow easy swapping among various Macintosh systems. Wish this were available in the U.S. !

[@BranchusCreations]

It will be very soon!

[@icantgivecredit871]

@@BranchusCreations Awesome!

[@jayfuspd]

Wonderful video, Bruce! Thank you! I recently began the restoration process of my old IIci and was wondering what to use for a disk drive.

[@GarthBeagle]

Nicely done as always Bruce! I will definitely be getting one of these once they're available in the US (found trying to use the regular BlueSCSI off an external SCSI port to be quite difficult to just fit any system hahaa)

[@BlackEpyon]

I think the DB-25 makes it a better fit for old Macs. On a PC, you'd be better off getting one with a 50-pin IDC or 50-pin Centronics, depending on your setup.

[@pocketscience911]

Brilliant - thanks. Just waiting on delivery now.. :)

[@BranchusCreations]

Order received, thank you!

[@pocketscience911]

@@BranchusCreations just arrived... soldering iron warming up.. :)

[@ast3663]

thanks for your videos, also love your soldering tuts. At the moment I'm considering trying BlueSCSI for my PowerBooks..but am new to all the termination stuff. I have two Centronics cables with HDI-29 ( not 30) powerbook connections at the end but wasnt able to connect the two pb 540/520 together, both 'lost' their internal drives at startup..uargh

[@BlackEpyon]

I've got a SCSI hard drive on the way that was SAID to be tested and working, unlike the last one which wasn't tested, and was DOA (won it for $1 because nobody else bid). If this one doesn't work, I'm going to send it back and consider getting a BlueSCSI. I just prefer mechanical hard drives, but the only good SCSI hard drive I have is already in use on another system.

[@sideburn]

Got one to transfer files to the internal BlueSCSI in a PowerBook 180. Apparently it needs external power when connected to the PowerBook 100 series. Kindof a Bummer.

[@droolerdork]

This is a good tutorial. I would like to note, when renaming the ROM file, I had to do it through the 'Get Info' window. The guide on the Sheepshaver websites mentions doing it this way. Renaming it in the Finder did not work for me on El Capitan.

[@eugenios2006]

great video bruce is there some 3D printable case files for this....? available anywhere

[@EvLoutonian]

Love your work, Bruce! I've been meaning to order this kit from you for a little while now.. Just wondering, is there an adaptor (or ribbon cable) available so that it can also be used internally, if wanted, connecting to a 50 pin internal header connector thingo?

[@BranchusCreations]

Not that I'm aware of, but there is an adapter that goes the other way, allowing you to use the internal BlueSCSI as an external device.

[@EvLoutonian]

@@BranchusCreations ok THANK YOU!

[@frankiii9165]

My idea is using also an external bluescsi because my hard drive still works nicely. I just need the DB-25 adapter and put it into the end of the SCSI chain.

[@kriva111]

Hi Bruce. Please. Is there a chance to make .hda image and load it with applications and games I choose? Thank you

[@cf9978]

Hi there do you reckon it will work with akai cd sampler 3000xl

[@TaijanDean]

Hi Bruce, I have a Macintosh Plus with am original Hard Disk Drive. By some miracle, the Hard Drive does work and I've booted system 6.0.8 from it many times. I understand however that it's only a matter of time before the drive fails or dies so I'm looking for a SCSI2SD solution. As you explain in the video, to use such a device like the BlueSCSI, a diode is required to be soldered onto the board to provide termination. I was wondering whether the external BlueSCSI was able to powered externally via USB or something, in case for a novice like me just starting with these machines, the act of taking the machine apart and soldering is a little daunting.

[@BlackEpyon]

I must be the only mook who still wants to use a mechanical hard drive on his old computers. I'll use CF or SD based solutions when I have to, but it's not my preference. I like hearing the motor spin up, and the armature tick.

[@mactechnc]

Great video. It was very helpful and informative. I have a question. You said in your video that you can add another partition/drive image, as long as it is given a different SCSI ID. Can I assume, you would just create a second drive image, as the first one was created? Then once created, it can be copied to the external DB25 BlueSCSI in the same manner and the the first one, correct? Now, the question is before I copy the second partition/drive image to the BlueSCSI, can I copy files to the partition with SheepShaver before I copy the second partition/drive image to the BlueSCSI and change the partition/drive image? Or would I have to use the BlueSCSI file transfer tool to move files from my iMac to the BlueSCSI partition. I ask because, like you, since I was an Apple Tech for while, I also have an external SCSI hard drive to which I copied all of the System versions, I had at the time, into various folders.So, if I had to backup a customers data and reinitalize the internal HD, the installed a fresh version of the System Software. I would like to set up my external DB25 BlueSCSI in the same manner. The DB25 BlueSCSI is a lot easer to carry around. I would appreciate and advice/recommendations you might offer. Thank you, Randy

[@BranchusCreations]

Yes, your assumptions are all correct. You can even just duplicate your first disk image on the SD card. As long as you rename the second one so that it uses a different SCSI ID, it will come up on your Mac as a different drive. And yes, you can use SheepShaver to load the disk image and then make any changes you want via emulation. You can even load it directly from the SD card, so you can make any changes, shut down SheepShaver, pop out the SD card and put it in your BlueSCSI.

[@theaustralianconundrum]

@@BranchusCreations I assume the internal one will be perfect for my recently acquired Macintosh 7500/132 604? It has it's original IBM Apple stickered 1 GB HDD but it's very noisy!! I just need to replace this old boot drive with a silent one and then continue to connect my other old vintage hard drives to do benchmarks and generally entertain myself! You are one CLEVER and dedicated man. Thanks.

[@FixedUntilBroken]

Completely out of the realm of stuff I do(I'm into automotive electronics), I just saw a link on Facebook so I decided to check it out. Neat project. Just curious why did you choose to stick with the devboard on the release? Personally I am not fan of 3.3v regulator they use on most the bluepills myself. The nice thing is you can get a bluepills with a cks32 on it for cheaper than buying real stm32s. That being said I don't think any vendors have real stm32f103 at the moment

[@BranchusCreations]

This isn't my project, I'm just a reseller, but the reason for using a development board is to keep this as easy as possible to assemble. It's available as a DIY kit, and the through-hole soldering makes it easy enough for a novice.

[@FixedUntilBroken]

@@BranchusCreations makes sense. I was just curious. But it definitely makes more sense since this community is probably more likely to want to DIY one. In the automotive community I almost never sell any non-assembled kits so I always break out of the dev board when I go to sell. I do it because I feel like I have better control over the end product but yeah different markets. I always offer them as unassembled kits but I'll sell like 1-2 like that and the rest are assembled

[@tombarber8929]

@@FixedUntilBroken Along with what Bruce said, at least for a while the full Bluepill dev board was cheaper than the bare STM32 chips.

[@FixedUntilBroken]

@@tombarber8929 yeah that's because the chips are fake and not paying their arm licensing fees. I mean the fakes work ok and can be very hard to tell they aren't actually real when they redo the mask on them. Good luck getting a real stm32f103 right now anyway. I'm not knocking it at all I was just curious. I know sometimes end users feel like it's unfinished when they see a dev board even though in reality that's not true.

[@wordleman00]

Hello, how to install Windows into this SD card?

[@n3rd193]

Hi, are the micro sd socket and the diode the same as for the desktop version ?

[@BranchusCreations]

Yes for both.

[@n3rd193]

@@BranchusCreations Many thanks for your answer !

[@morganmatheson3383]

Which is the better device, BlueSCSI, or SCSI2SD? Seems like they're similar in performance generally, but BlueSCSI is a bit cheaper.

[@BranchusCreations]

The SCSI2SD has been around longer and is probably a more mature product, and is compatible with more devices. The BlueSCSI is cheaper, easy enough for someone with novice soldering skills to build themselves and is really easy to setup.

[@morganmatheson3383]

@@BranchusCreations I'm across the ditch in NZ, might have to get a couple for my growing classic mac collection. :)