Miscellaneous Operating Systems/Hardware

I was looking for hard drives on ebay and came across 2.5" SCA SCSI hard drives. 10k rpm.

I was wondering if anyone had ever tried these in SGIs with 68<->80 pin adapters. I picked up a few to try so I hope they work out. I'm hoping they'll be quiet and cool, but that might be a little high hope. I'm hoping to stick a couple in an Indy.

I had never seen 2.5" SCSI drives, I thought besides some early Macintosh PowerBooks the 2.5" drives were IDE then SATA and SAS.

here's a sample: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121210721327

2.5" SCSI drives w/ SCA connectors were a later feature in server systems. I believe earlier 2.5" SCSI drives in the likes of DEC Multia, Sun Voyager, Powerbook(s) and Sparkbook(s) used more traditional connectors.

Here's Geoman's posting about fitting a Savvio 2.5" SCSI drive to an Onyx2/Octane style carrier: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16724686

mmk's later post about oing something similar with an Indigo2: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16725275

I later did the same: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16720465&p=7359832#p7359832
(The drives I picked up were relabeled by IBM, like the auction you linked to.)

Well not searching was a little embarrassing. Also very promising. Can't wait for them to show up now.

I've got a couple sitting in a box at home. Haven't mounted them yet, even though it was maybe a year ago I bought them... Pity.

I have some too - look nice, but you need to get a reasonably precise adapter plate to use them in SCA systems. The converter option would open up a homemade alternative without needing a metal brake, but I think your average desktop Fast/Narrow system would be a bit wasted on a Seagate Savvio.

SAQ wrote: ... but I think your average desktop Fast/Narrow system would be a bit wasted on a Seagate Savvio.

It may well be, but $10-20 for a drive, $5 for the 50/68 pin adapter, and another $5 for bracket is often cheaper than a period-correct SCSI drive if you can find one that works well... And for how much longer will it keep working? Nice to have a strategy for replacement.

The smaller 2.5" device makes fitting the drive plus adapter into older systems easier. Thus this combo may make it possible to more easily and affordably maintain functionality and outward originality.

You're right about them being difficult to align for 3.5" SCA applications, but those drives are still easy to find and likely to work.

After reading about this on 68kmla.org I've ordered some Savvio drives and narrow adapters to try and revive some older Macs and Sun LX and IPX. I'll report back what I find. I figure if there are problems it's going to be around termination - but isn't it aways with SCSI?

I agree with smj that while these might be overkill in one sense, they are a very attractive alternative vs. period drives to get these machines back up and running.

It can also be a pain. Many 2.5" to 3.5" adapters don't have all the mounting points they "should" - for example, the bracket I ordered didn't have the bottom-mounted threads I needed for an Indigo2 sled. Sure I've got suitable drill bits and a basic tap & die kit, but still...

Thanks for the posting, I'm going to order one and give it a try as well.

I received my lot of seven 2.5" Savvio drives yesterday. Tonight, using a 50 pin to SCA adapter, I was able to partition and format filesystems on an older Mac with all the drives

I then put one of the drives in a Sparc 20 (which is SCA) and it was able to see/format the drive without issue. These drives are nice and quiet as well.

So - I'd say so far so good! As discussed, physical mounting will be an issue in some machines. Hopefully, termination won't be a big problem using the narrow adapters. Most of these drives will end up helping to resurrect a lot of my classic Apple gear.