Centronics 50 Pin BlueSCSI V2, Top Down View
Centronics 50 Pin BlueSCSI V2, Connector View

BlueSCSI V2 Centronics 50 Pin (Shorter)

$37.00 – $54.00

Hardware version 2024.03a

Case Color Will Vary!  Translucent Top Half is the standard, and bottom half will either be beige or blue at random (case color selection is not offered).

Select your Variation below, Assembled or Kit.

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Description

Included in the sale: Depends on selected  variant.  All variants include all necessary parts (including pre-programmed Pico module) and 3D printed case.
* Assembled: Fully Assembled and Tested
* Kit: Only the surface-mount parts are installed, everything else is loose (see kit-assembly page)

Not included: SD card

BlueSCSI V2 Centronics 50 Pin (C50)

BlueSCSI V2 is an open hardware and software fork of ZuluSCSI’s SCSI2SD implementation, targeting the Raspberry Pi Pico’s RP2040 microcontroller.  This version uses MicroSD cards.

System Compatibility

BlueSCSI is compatible with a huge variety of SCSI hosts, including: Vintage Apple Macs, Sound Samplers, SGI workstations, and many others.  Please see the GitHub Wiki for more information on specific system compatibility.

Setup

  1. Find an SD card
    1. Desktop style uses a full-size SD, all others use MicroSD
  2. Format your SD card as the “Fat32” or “exFAT” filesystem types
    1. They probably are formatted this way already
  3. Find or create a disk image
    1. See the Usage section of the GitHub wiki for premade images or instructions on how to create your own
    2. BlueSCSI emulates hard drives and CDROM drives
  4. Copy the image to the SD card and name appropriately
  5. Boot

Disk Image Naming Convention

Convention For Hard Drives: HDXY_OtherText.hda

  • X is the SCSI ID, Y is the SCSI LUN (most often LUN is 0)
  • Example: HD10_Sys7.5.3.hda
    • This hard drive image would appear to the system as SCSI ID 1, LUN 0

Convention for CD Images: CDXY_OtherText.hda

  • Same as hard drive, X is SCSI ID and Y is LUN (LUN is most often 0)
  • Example: CD60_CivII.hda
    • This CD image would appear to the system as SCSI ID 6, LUN 0

LED Indicators

The green LED on the Raspberry Pi Pico module (this is the smaller green PCB) will flash a code if there is an issue.  3 flashes indicates it can see the SD card but is unable to read any contents.  5 flashes indicates it cannot see the SD card at all.  If you see a few blinks and then the LED stays off, you’re all set.  After startup, this LED serves as a disk activity indicator.

In addition, there is a white LED for power and blue LED for disk activity.  Power LED is next to the Centronics connector and Activity is right by the SD slot.

Troubleshooting

  • Check file naming, follow the convention or BlueSCSI won’t see any disk images
  • Try powering using the “berg floppy” connector, or USB
  • Check the log.txt file which is written to the SD card
  • Reformat or try another SD card

Kit Assembly

Assembly Instructions are available here: https://bluescsi.com/docs/Kit-Assembly-Instructions

Hardware Notes

  • The case has one button marked “1”
    • Button “1” is “BOOTSEL” on the Raspberry Pi Pico and should be held when plugging into USB to update firmware
  • Termination is always enabled

Additional information

Weight N/A
Dimensions N/A
Style

Assembled, Kit
WiFi

Yes, No

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