adding a 2nd scsi HD to an older mac

[jasonpaul]

i apologize for the length, but i have so many questions before i purchase any hardware. i appreciate any advice.

i would like to add more storage to my 8600. i currently run 8.6, but during this upgrade i would like to switch to 9.0. my internal ribbon goes - from mac, open, CD(id-3), zip(id-5), open, stock HD(id-0).

1.) is adding a drive simple plug & play into an open spot?
2.) does it matter what the id is(other than 3,5,0)?
3.) does the physical place on the ribbon matter?
4.) will the mac see the new drive before the stock bootdrive, interfering with startup?
5.) are drivers needed for non-apple drives if i re-initialize?
6.) do all drives accept HFS+ ?
7.) i believe the 8600 uses ultra(scsi-3). without installing a scsi card can i use wide, ultra-2 or 3 with just the pin adapter? (i understand that the speed of the faster drives won't be there)
8.) is scsi-3 lvd or hvd ?
9.) what is scsi LP?
10.) do external drives use different scsi-types? are they plug&play?

one more thing, on the motherboard of the 8600, there are two scsi controllers(i think) labled, J9 (STD scsi scsi-1)and j10 (Fast scsi scsi-0). is that standard and fast? what does the label scsi-1 and scsi-0 mean?


thanks again!

 

[Badger]

1; generally yes,
2; you can use any open ID number,
3; physical position does not matter as long as ID and termination are correct,
4; during the bootup the computer searches the scsi chain looking for a working system, adding a device will add to the search sequence. If there is no system on the disk the search will continue, the extra delay will be minimal. Use the startup control panel to make sure the correct system folder/disk is selected. you can put different systems on different disks and switch between them. Normally, the 8600 is limited to OS 9.1 or older but it is possible to get around that limit. (See www.os9forever.com)
5; yes, however the Apple disk utility can install drivers during the re-format/initialization,
6; I don't know, but HFS+ is a logical format structure and should be independant of the disk type,
7; according to the Low End Mac site, the 8600 uses fast scsi on the internal bus and standard scsi on the external bus. (www.lowendmac.com). I don't know if you can connect all versions of scsi (with adapters) to these busses.
8 & 9; don't know,
10; External scsi drives are the same types as internal drives. With the proper ID and termination scsi drives are plug & play BUT are not hot-swapable. Make sure you always shut down the drive and computer before connecting external drives.

The 8600 has separate scsi busses for the internal and external devices. So in theory you can have seven devices on each bus. Each bus has its own controller, J9 for the external (5mbs) and J10 for the internal (12mbs).
Good Luck.
Badger

 

[jasonpaul]

thanks badger