BlueSCSI PowerBook Version 2023 October
PowerBook BlueSCSI Connector Underside Detail
PowerBook BlueSCSI Connector Topside Detail

BlueSCSI V2 PowerBook

$36.99 – $51.99

Hardware version 2023.10a

Bracket colors will vary!  Beige or Blue are the standard colors, depending on which filament I have at the time.  Bracket color selection is not offered.

Double-sided tape under the printed bracket is recommended for the PowerBook 100 series’ strange friction fit system, to avoid being knocked loose.  For extra precaution, electrical tape can also be applied to the metal friction bracket.

Select your Style below, Assembled or Kit.

See additional Product Images for closeups of connector insertion.  Please note that a pin is missing in the PowerBook BlueSCSI connector – there should be a similarly missing pin on your original SCSI drive.  Match up those missing pins when plugging in for proper operation.

*All* units (kit / assembled) come with the Pico-W for wireless support.

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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 mounting bracket.
* Assembled: Fully Assembled and Tested
* Kit: Only the surface-mount parts are installed, everything else is loose (see kit-assembly page)
Fully unassembled is not offered on this model.  Manual assembly is not pleasant with 0402 parts.

Not included: SD card

BlueSCSI V2 PowerBook

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.

The product gallery image is showing a pre-release PCB version which needed a little tweaking.  Release version is 95% the same.

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.

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

  • Termination enable/disable is handled with a jumper
    • TRM_ON for termination enabled
    • TRM_OFF for termination disabled
  • An external LED can be added by soldering to the pads labeled “EXT_LED”

Additional information

Dimensions N/A
Style

Assembled, Kit

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