Emax

hi all...

glad that my story will benefit the group!

Chris, your sequence is pretty much correct.  i'll just restate
everything that i did here, and feel free to ask questions if you need
me to clarify:

1) Connect empty Card Reader to Emax scsi port
2) Boot from floppy (card reader is still empty)
3) Insert PCMCIA card/flash memory into card reader
4) Format PCMCIA card using software from floppy***
5) Insert PCMCIA card into Dell laptop PCMCIA slot, copy Plus OS to
card using EMXP
6) Return card to Emax, remove floppy and boot from card

*** if your emax floppy is already equipped with the Plus OS, you
should be already set to boot from card after this step.

based on my experiences with the upgrade, the key thing is that you
NEED the Plus OS.  the card reader won't work with the 1.1 OS.

i've used two types of card adapters: a Compact Flash card adapter,
and a SD card via a 5-1 adapter, and both worked fine.  the adapters
themselves were generic brands that i don't remember.  i'm sure any
pcmcia adapter or memory format will work just the same.

Regarding the PCD-15B, the page i found that described its use with
the mpc is here: http://www.midicase.com/card_reader_guide.htm

it seems the compatible card readers are from MicroTech, SCM,
Intermart, etc.  card readers from those makers seem to share the
"PCD" prefix.  from what i understand, you'll want to avoid the PCD-50
and -60 because the scsi id implementation is different and possibly
incompatible.

the microtech pcd-47B drives available on ebay moreso than the other
models, and as Ted mentioned certain ones may have the incorrect
firmware to allow for read/write capability.  i located a firmware
replacement that supposedly fixes this, but i don't have a pcd-47B to
test this on.  i can load it to the files section if anyone needs it
and wants to give it a shot.

i was REALLY lucky to get my PCD-15B on ebay for a good price (i'm in
Southern California, btw).  people seem to know about the Microtech
drives -- which is why they go for an arm and a leg, but no one knew
about the SCM branded ones...keep trying, and good luck!


--- In emax@yahoogroups.com, ted Summers <djtbs1@...> wrote:
>
> I am interested in doing this as well. I was looking potentially at  
> any SCSI reader on ebay. But then I saw, not all are writers, so be  
> careful when purchasing. This will take some leg work to get a list  
> of compatible flash r/w. But I am sure over time we can do it.
> 
> Regards,
> Ted
> 
> On Oct 4, 2007, at 7:58 PM, chrisebert05 wrote:
> 
> >
> > Hi,
> > Thanks for posting your story, it's quite inspirational!
> >
> > I have an emax HD SE rack unit that I want to modify as you have done
> > and I had a few questions.
> > 1) It looks like the actual sequence that worked was: attach the
> > PCMCIA reader; boot from floppy; format the PCMCIA card; copy the OS
> > (and data?) to the PCMCIA card from your Dell; boot from PCMCIA card.
> > Is that right? You modified jumpers because you didn't want the floppy
> > drive. I was going to leave mine in and poke a hole in the back of the
> > rack for my PCMCIA cards to fit in. Now that you've blazed the trail,
> > this seems like an evening's work or thereabouts -- am I missing
> > something?
> > 2) I don't think I found the references to using SCM PCD-15Bs in MPCs.
> > Do you have a link? I can't find a PCD-15B on Ebay (you seem to have
> > bought them all! ;) Or maybe it's that I'm in the US and they're not
> > here?) Any advice on selecting a different compatible adapter?
> > 3) I assume that any PCMCIA memory card will work, but I'd love to
> > know which ones you're using, if you don't mind saying. I'm not wildly
> > savvy about hardware, but my poor dear Emax needs help, so I'm trying
> > to muddle through.
> >
> > Once again, thanks for an inspiring set of posts -- I've always wanted
> > to get rid of the noise of the hard drive, too, so the upgrade sounds
> > wonderful!
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>