Emax

EXCELLENT suggestion, thanks!!  I will try that tonight.  I have a
feeling that you're right -- the whole termination thing is the issue,
as even when the reader is connected to my PC via the SCSI card, it
hangs for a bit while scanning the open slot B (since I only have a
pcmcia card in slot A).  maybe a second pcmcia card will help, along
with the termination on the cable.

also, i've determined that my PC floppy drive can't format emax
diskettes AT ALL.  probably due to the alignment of my PC floppy, as
it's pretty new.  i think i'm going to try and hook up my emax floppy
to the pc to see if i can get it to format a disk. 

i'll keep everyone posted...

--- In emax@yahoogroups.com, ted Summers <djtbs1@...> wrote:
>
> Rex---
> 
> First things first- that pcmcia reader may have no scsi termination,  
> while the Drives that were used on the emax did have termination  
> resistors on them (which could be pulled if needed). That could be  
> your issue right there. Get a 50pin cable with another connector and  
> try attaching an internal terminator on the end of it and see if that  
> helps get rid of the error. I have a external SCSI zip, and on my  
> first boot with the hd, if the zip is off or not plugged in, it  
> hangs. but if the zip is there and plugged in it will boot right the  
> first time every time....
> 
> so you would have
> 
> emax logic -------- driver / reader --------------- terminator
> 
> 
> 
> Secondly- I would format the floppy in the emax, then put the OS  
> image onto it....
> 
> Just a couple of thoughts. Keep us posted. Would be cool to not have  
> any moving parts (ie zip or hd).....
> 
> Ted
> 
> 
> On Sep 12, 2007, at 12:13 PM, pauzetanker wrote:
> 
> > get ready for a long post...
> >
> > i was hoping make this post one where i had success in installing the
> > card reader and thanked all the past users for all the information
> > i've learned about the emax and putting such a thing into my "new"  
> > toy...
> >
> > but so far i've been pretty dead in the water with this project. i'm
> > hoping that posting up what i've done for people to see will
> > eventually lead to some answers from folks in the group. my ultimate
> > goal is to ditch the floppy and LOUD hd, to solely rely on the card
> > reader so i can take this baby out to gigs, without fear of killing
> > the moving parts.
> >
> > i have an emax hd running the 1.1 OS.
> >
> > first order of business was to get a scsi card reader, but i wasn't
> > willing to pay $140 for it just yet. thanks to ebay, i managed to
> > score an SCM PCD-15B off ebay for cheap, which i know folks have been
> > using in MPCs and some other samplers, so i'm hoping there was no
> > compatibility problems there. the pcd-15b is a two-slot reader.
> >
> > i also bought an old SCSI card for the PC, just to make sure that the
> > jumper settings on the pcd-15b could get me to SCSI ID 0. the pcd-15b
> > has only 3 sets of jumpers (as opposed to 4 on the pcd-47b). i found
> > out through trial and error that no jumpers = SCSI ID 0 for slot A.
> >
> > i removed the HD, plugged in the pcd-15b, and booted from floppy.
> > with a pcmcia adapter/SD card in the pcd-15b, the emax would load the
> > software from floppy and then hang at the "Just a moment" screen.
> > however, if i booted without the pcmcia card in the reader, i managed
> > to have the OS load from floppy.
> >
> > ok, so with the OS loaded and emax on, i put in my pcmcia card and
> > tell the emax to format hd. lo and behold, it works! i also have it
> > copy the OS over, which it does (very fast i might add). so things
> > are looking good.
> >
> > now comes the test: i power down the emax, take out the floppy, and
> > try to boot from the pcmcia card. i get past diagnostics, but the
> > emax hangs at "just a moment". no good. i try booting from floppy
> > with the pcmcia card in the reader, and get the same result as before
> > -- it hangs on "just a moment".
> >
> > i decide that i should eliminate the chance that maybe it's a
> > limitation due to me running 1.1 OS. so next order of business:
> > upgrade my emax with the SE upgrade, and move on to the Plus OS.
> >
> > i buy some 800kb diskettes, format them in my emax, and boot my pc
> > into DOS 6.2. since i run my pc solely on SATA drives, DOS wasn't
> > seeing the FAT partition i created. however, it did see my USB flash
> > drive i had plugged in, so that's where i copied the necessary  
> > files to.
> >
> > i used emaxutil to make the upgrade diskette, and pop it into my emax.
> > DISK ERROR. i try re-fromatting my diskette and re-making the SE
> > upgrade diskette a few times before i finally gave up.
> >
> > ok so now i'm stuck. i'm open to any suggestions on the above, but
> > here are a couple thoughts:
> >
> > -maybe the USB to floppy thing isn't a good idea to make the SE
> > upgrade disk, so i'm going to find a spare IDE drive to format into
> > FAT and copy my files to. hopefully this will result in a usable
> > upgrade disk.
> >
> > - maybe ditch the pcd-15b? i guess i can save up $140 for a card
> > reader... :(
> >
> > if you've made it this far, thanks for reading. hopefully soon i can
> > share a success story.
> >
> > rex
> >
> >
> > 
> 
> 
> 
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>