Akai s3200 (not XL) and SCSI card reader?

Hi duderinos.

I've been trying to find info on this but I can't find anything useful.
There's only a bit of speculation on the net but nothing concrete.
Also, please spare me from info on 3000XL or 3200XL as they are different inside.

I just got a mint-condition s3200 from its first owner (http://instagram.com/p/W4Mau5lGuH/) and it really is like new, almost...even the insides are pristine and without dust.

Anyways, I know a bit about CF card readers as I had one on an s2000 as well as MPC2000XL.
I opened the s3200 and realized it only has the connection for its floppy drive (IDE, I guess) so I guess (?) that's no good for a card reader.
However, if I remove its SCSI card (that offers the external 50-pin connection), it reveals a 64-pin SCSI connector on the mobo.
Do you know if I could install an internal CF card reader, connect it to that socket and make it work?

Thanks a lot if anyone can answer this one.

EDIT: I'm a fool! D'oh, it seems the internal SCSI card also has an internal connector in addition to an external one; that's actually kinda clever and I was so eager to remove that I missed it. So I put it back.
Well, I need to try and see if a CF reader works as I have one on my s2000XL (I'll get an IDE reader for it)...however, am I right that OS 2.0 is probably needed for SCSI operation? My s3200 has 1.0 in it (I just ordered a floppy with OS 2.0).

UPDATE: Tried connecting a SCSI CF reader into the back of the internal SCSI card of the s3200.
It hangs on boot. I made sure SCSI ID was set to 5 on both machines and termination was on.
Hmmm.

Also, it's odd that the manual, afaik, doesn't mention anything about internal SCSI, even when mentioning the MO drive, which'd be internal.
I'm wondering if everything is meant to be connected to the external SCSI port?

I've got an IDE reader as well as OS 2.0 coming in the mail so we'll see if those helps.
Until then, I've got a sh*tload of old floppies.

you generally need to boot with a card in the card reader, yea?

Oh, I did have a card in the reader.

There's no s3200 OS on the card (and actually it's an MPC2000XL-formatted card) but I was expecting some kind of message – such as "bad disk" etc – instead of just the system hanging...as I think it'd let you at least format the disk if it was incompatible.

Fanu,

The reason for your problems is this - the internal SCSI port on the IB301S SCSI card (which is what you will have in your S3200 unless you have the Mutec SCSI card) is, well, back-to-front, or upside-down. The plastic 'key' that stops you from putting the SCSI cable in upside down is simply in the wrong place - and seems to be on every IB301S card I've owned.

(The IB301S is the card that has a blue 'Centronics' SCSI connector on the outside of the machine and a 50-way internal connector on the opposite end, inside the machine)

This design flaw freezes the machine as soon as the S3200 attempts to access the SCSI bus. But it doesn't seem to cause any damage, like blowing the SCSI fuse for example.

The solution:
File away the plastic 'key' that protrudes from the SCSI cable, just at the end that plugs into the SCSI card. Now plug the SCSI cable into that port 'upside down'. Job done.

Obviously this does not affect the external port, that one is wired up OK:)

I can't say exactly which card readers work on the S3200 because I use MO drives in mine, but I'm almost certain that they will work on the S3200 if they work on XL models.

I have a mutec SCSI card here too, and the internal connector looks to be wired in the same way, but I have yet to test it with an internal device.

This will also apply to the other models that use the same IB301S SCSI card: S2800, S2800i, S3000, S3000i (and maybe the CD3000?) when using any kind of internal SCSI device.

I was about to throw an MO drive in the bin before I discovered this:)

Let me know if this helps,

Matt

pcd50b & acard 7720 solution work
above tips about switching around the cable also apply to other akais.... s1000/1100