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Date:      Fri, 17 May 1996 15:02:51 -0500
From:      "Daniel M. Eischen" <deischen@iworks.InterWorks.org>
To:        owner-freebsd-questions@freefall.freebsd.org, ptroot@uswest.com
Cc:        Questions@FreeBSD.org, dwhite@riley-net170-164.uoregon.edu, tpalmer@riverdale.edu
Subject:   Re: Adaptec 2940 & 1542
Message-ID:  <9605172002.AA20525@iworks.InterWorks.org>

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> > Are you sure the 2940 has a 68 pin and not a SCSI-2 50 pin? If it's a 50
> > pin, then a Iomega Zip should work with a simple cable, that wouldn't
> > be too expensive. If it's 2940W then that's a SCSI-3 device, which I think
> > UltraWide is another name for. SCSI-3 is supposed to be backward compatible
> > with SCSI-2. The cable could be expensive.
...
> I have a 2940UW which has a 68 pin external connector and BOTH a 50-pin 
> and a 68pin internal connector.  Of course you can only use two of these 
> connectors at any one time...
> 
> The 2940W is the same as above but with only the 50pin connector internally. 

Huh?

>
> Does anyone know if it is possible to get convertors to connect 50pin 
> drives to 68pin cables internally ?  I would like to be able to use the 
> external connector even if I mix drive types internally..

U - Ultra
W - Wide

Ultra just means that you run the SCSI bus at twice the speed.  A device that
does 10 MHz transfers in non-Ultra mode, can do up to 20 MHz transfers if
it supports Ultra mode.  Wide means that a device supports 16-bit transfers.
Actually the SCSI spec allows 32-bit transfers, but AFAIK there aren't any
32-bit capable SCSI cards or devices.

So, an 8-bit device doing 10MHz transfers will give you 10 MB/sec, and an
8-bit device doing 20MHz transfers in Ultra mode, will give you 20 MB/sec.
For the same scenario with a wide device, you get 10 MHz = 20 MB/sec, and
20 MHz = 40 MB/sec.

The 2940 has one internal 50 pin and one external 50 pin connector.  The
2940W has one internal 50 pin, one internal 68 pin, and one external 68
pin connector.  This is regardless of Ultra or non-Ultra.

Though I haven't done it myself, it is possible to connect an 8-bit device
to a 68-pin internal cable.  You have to be carefull of termination issues.
Adaptec suggests that you get 50-pin/58-pin adapters from them, but I do
know that you can get them from other vendors.  Try Cables America or
Cables To Go in the Computer Shopper.  I have an external 68-pin SCSI cable
from Cables America that hasn't given me any problems.  Make sure you get
some sort of return policy because bad cabling is too common.

Dan Eischen
deischen@iworks.InterWorks.org



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