Where to buy Adaptec 2940 PCI SCSI-2 card?

[Acieed]

Originally posted by ckiang
If anyone can help me with my SCSI problem.
Regards
CK

CK.. converting from 68pin to 50pin can be quite problematic, especially if the higher bits are not terminated properly or passively by the cable or convertor. Make sure your scanner end is terminated also.Try disable terminator power on scanner if there's an option for it.

Try borrow another cable or adapter and try. If not, use the internal 50-pin port with a internal-to-external adapter.

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by Acieed

CK.. converting from 68pin to 50pin can be quite problematic, especially if the higher bits are not terminated properly or passively by the cable or convertor. Make sure your scanner end is terminated also.Try disable terminator power on scanner if there's an option for it.

Try borrow another cable or adapter and try. If not, use the internal 50-pin port with a internal-to-external adapter.

Scanner side only got "Terminator : ON/OFF". 2 SCSI ports, like most SCSI devices. I tried both, no difference.

Tried "Auto" and "High ON/Low ON" for "Adaptor Termination" in the SCSI BIOS, no effect.

Is there a difference between a 50->68 or 68->50 cable? I suspect so. Don't have ready access to cables and adaptors now, probably will bring the scanner to office to try there.

Now I know why they phased out SCSI for external devices in favour of 1394, USB 2.0, etc.

Regards
CK

 

[Acieed]

Originally posted by ckiang
Scanner side only got "Terminator : ON/OFF". 2 SCSI ports, like most SCSI devices. I tried both, no difference.

Tried "Auto" and "High ON/Low ON" for "Adaptor Termination" in the SCSI BIOS, no effect.

Is there a difference between a 50->68 or 68->50 cable? I suspect so. Don't have ready access to cables and adaptors now, probably will bring the scanner to office to try there.

Now I know why they phased out SCSI for external devices in favour of 1394, USB 2.0, etc.

Regards
CK

Always avoid trying to do 68/50 pin converstion. Bad cables may even damage your devices. That's why they got both 50-pin and 68-pin versions even for new HDDs. Your best bet now would be to get the int-to-ext adapter from SLS, maybe $15. But you'd also need another cable then.

Or you can try lowering the default sync speed in the SCSI BIOS to just 10MB/s, 2940UW default should be 40MB/s. But I doubt it'd help. The "Auto" termination on the 2940UW doesn't always work very well, it works better on the newer cards, so stick to manual.

SCSI is truly high performance that comes with some hassle esp. for beginners and it isn't as "plug and play" as USB/1394. I got 29160 for my HDDs and 2940 for the E4XT. Anyway, scsi bus length on 2940 (FastSCSI-2) is limited to 2-3m, so stacking up many external devices not so advisable on it too.

 

[rochkoh]

Yeah!! I finally got it working last night! Thanks for all the info. Needed to get them latest ASPI drivers.

enjoy!
rOCh

 

[tky]

An alternative solution to the SCSI is to get the Adaptec USB2Xchange adapter. It uses your USB port, and has a SCSI cable termination on the other end. 50pins, and fit right into the CSIII perfectly.

Be aware that there are 2 versions out there. USBXchange and USB2Xchange. The later support USB2.0.

I like this solution as my PC has limited expansion slot. Besides, no need to open up the casing....

Cheers!

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by tky
An alternative solution to the SCSI is to get the Adaptec USB2Xchange adapter. It uses your USB port, and has a SCSI cable termination on the other end. 50pins, and fit right into the CSIII perfectly.

Be aware that there are 2 versions out there. USBXchange and USB2Xchange. The later support USB2.0.

I like this solution as my PC has limited expansion slot. Besides, no need to open up the casing....

Cheers!

Nikon has said that this will NOT work with their scanners, so...

Anyway, I gave up on the 2940UW, got a simple 2906 which worked right out of the box.

Regards
CK

 

[beachbum]

Originally posted by tky
An alternative solution to the SCSI is to get the Adaptec USB2Xchange adapter. It uses your USB port, and has a SCSI cable termination on the other end. 50pins, and fit right into the CSIII perfectly.

Be aware that there are 2 versions out there. USBXchange and USB2Xchange. The later support USB2.0.

I like this solution as my PC has limited expansion slot. Besides, no need to open up the casing....

Cheers!

hi tky,

i am interested in this solution. how much does the USBXchange and USB2exchange cost? where?
Also, if using USBxchange, doesn't it limit the overall through-rate to that of the USB speed, rather than SCSI speed?
Please enlighten.

 

[Zoomer]

Originally posted by beachbum


hi tky,

i am interested in this solution. how much does the USBXchange and USB2exchange cost? where?
Also, if using USBxchange, doesn't it limit the overall through-rate to that of the USB speed, rather than SCSI speed?
Please enlighten.

Your speed will be limited, and your CPU utilisaton will be higher. And all for nothing, ckiang has said that it would not work with the CS III. ;p

Personally, I think USB is a consipracy by Intel so people would need faster general processors.

 

[Acieed]

USB is still better for stuff like notebooks, PDAs, cameras, joysticks etc. stuff which you're more likely to "plug-and-play"..

HDDs, CDRW, scanners etc. high performance stuff always stick to SCSI and IDE whereever possible

 

[beachbum]

okay.... roger that!

:embrass: funny... i tot i posted my reply before CKiang's?? but the time apparently doesn't reflect so leh....

 

[tky]

No doubt CPU utilization would be higher with USB. But I do have limited expansion slot. Moreover, I recently upgraded my PC , so the addition penalty on CPU is not too much for me.

As for the performance wise, I feel it's fast and have no complaint. However, I've not tried the scanner on a dedicated internal SCSI adapter. Based on the Adaptec website specs, the USBXChange speed is limited to 750Kb/s while USB2XChange can utilize the full 480MB/s bandwidth. And actual speed in this case will be limited by the SCSI2 interface - probably about 20-40mb/s.

I bought the adapter at Funan 5th Flr - Regold System. If I'm not wrong, only I saw 1 piece left. So, for those who are interested, do hurry. Paid $125 for it.

Last but not least - I have no problem setting up the scanner on my system. Very smooth in fact.

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by tky
No doubt CPU utilization would be higher with USB. But I do have limited expansion slot. Moreover, I recently upgraded my PC , so the addition penalty on CPU is not too much for me.

As for the performance wise, I feel it's fast and have no complaint. However, I've not tried the scanner on a dedicated internal SCSI adapter. Based on the Adaptec website specs, the USBXChange speed is limited to 750Kb/s while USB2XChange can utilize the full 480MB/s bandwidth. And actual speed in this case will be limited by the SCSI2 interface - probably about 20-40mb/s.

I bought the adapter at Funan 5th Flr - Regold System. If I'm not wrong, only I saw 1 piece left. So, for those who are interested, do hurry. Paid $125 for it.

Last but not least - I have no problem setting up the scanner on my system. Very smooth in fact.

The USBXChange works with the Coolscan III? Nikon's FAQ says otherwise!

Regards
CK