Forum for all other samplers & synths such as Maschine, MVs, Akai S & Z series, Roland, Korg, OP-1, analog synths etc.
By Ogami Daigorō Sun Mar 11, 2018 11:18 pm
SCSI2SD Guide for Ensoniq Samplers


TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: FAQs
PART 2: Notes and warnings
PART 3: External enclosure
PART 4: Firmware Update and Configuration
PART 5: Formatting a SCSI2SD device (video)

Official SCSI2Sd website:
http://www.codesrc.com/mediawiki/index.php/SCSI2SD


PART 1: FAQs

My Ensoniq sampler has the SCSI option. What storage solution would you recommend?
SCSI2SD is the way to go. It is quiet, fast, reliable, durable and customizable.

Which version (V5 or V6) should I get?
The V5.0b is the stable version, with the widest compatibility. It works well with both SCSI1 (used by Ensoniq samplers) and SCSI2 systems. The V5.0b works flawlessly with all Ensoniq (EPS, EPS-16 PLUS, ASR-10 and ASR-X) samplers. It gives access to 4 SCSI IDs, emulating 4 SCSI hard drives.

The V6 may not work properly in SCSI1 systems (like Ensoniq samplers), including any system using DB25 cabling or passive terminators. It is more expensive, requires more power than the V5 board and may not be stable using the SCSI cable terminator power alone. The V6 gives access to 7 SCSI IDs, emulating 7 SCSI hard drives.

Which micro-SD card for the V5?
Because it uses SPI to access the micro-SD card, there is little benefit to faster memory (class (10) vs. (4) or (2)). Use whatever is convenient. The common, easy-to-find class (10) cards are typically used during SCSI2SD development and testing.

Recommended microSD card capacity:
8GB (2GB per device ID) for the V5

Supports hot swap?
Yes (requires firmware version 4.0 or above)

Should I install the SCSI2SD board internally or use an external enclosure?
Two things to keep in mind:
• Ensoniq samplers do not supply SCSI bus power. The SCSI2SD board needs to be powered another way
• To format a SCSI device, the sampler needs to boot using its floppy drive otherwise the “Format SCSI Drive” command will not even show up in the options. Removing or disconnecting the floppy drive in order to feed power to the SCSI2SD board instead means the sampler won’t be able to use its floppy drive anymore

Personally, I chose to build an external enclosure because:
• An external enclosure can be daisy chained or shared with multiple samplers, each with their own virtual drive within the reader
• I don't want to be required to reinstall the floppy drive (floppy emulator in my case) every time I need to format a SCSI device


PART 2: Notes and warnings:

POWER for the V5 boards:
5V power can be supplied by either:
• The SCSI cable, if the SCSI host supplies sufficient terminator power but unfortunately, Ensoniq samplers do not provide SCSI bus power
• Standard disk drive (Molex) power connector
• Micro USB cable
It is safe to connect both multiple of power simultaneously.

WARNINGS:
• Do not power the board using 12V! This usually happens by mistake when people make custom power cables for use in samplers without standard drive Molex connections. It's very easy to switch the positions of the 5V and 12V wires. The SCSI2SD doesn't require 12V at all, so leave the wire out completely. If you do supply more than 5V, a new hole will appear in the main chip (Cypress PSoC 5lp) and the magic smoke will escape. The SCSI2SD will not work again until the main chip is replaced.
• Do not allow the underside of the SCSI2SD come into contact with any conductive surfaces. Doing so may result in damage to the SCSI2SD, damage to your computer's power supply, or fire.

Active Terminator (on V5 boards):
The terminator can be disabled by removing the 2 resistor packs.
The markings on the resistor pack should be at the Molex drive power connector end.


PART 3: External enclosure

There are 3D printed SCSI2SD cases and brackets available on the market. Another option is to modify an actual SCSI drive enclosure.

I use a SyQuest EZ 135 (made in 1995). It originally has a 3.5'' removable drive that can be replaced with a SCSI2SD board mounted on a 3.5'' bracket. On the back, the case has 2 Centronics 50 pin connectors. The (5V) power supply is external so the enclosure itself is very compact and lightweight. It is nice, rugged and durable.

If you are looking for one, make sure you get the model: EZ135, EXT, SCSI, CSTM
And not: EZ135EXT, P/PORT
They are not the same.

Activity (busy/status) LED info:
• The SCSI2SD board has a built-in activity LED (yellow)
• The SCSI2SD board has an external activity LED connector
• The SyQuest enclosure has a built-in "Power ON" LED on the front

Two options regarding activity LEDs:

1. On the SyQuest enclosure, leave the "Power ON" LED as it is (only works when the enclosure is powered using its external power supply). Take full advantage of the activity LED on the SCSI2SD board (inside the enclosure) by choosing a white (translucent) bracket so you can see yellow light flashing through it.

2. On the SyQuest enclosure, use the "Power ON" LED as an activity LED instead by connecting it to the external LED connector on the SCSI2SD board (works even without the SyQuest external power supply). This is a good option if the bracket you use is opaque.

The SyQuest external power supply is optional as the SCSI2SD board can also be powered using a micro-USB cable. As long as it is powered externally, it will work with Ensoniq samplers.

List of material for option 1:
• SyQuest EZ 135 (model EZ135, EXT, SCSI, CSTM)
• SCSI2SD V5 3.5'' mounting bracket
• SCSI2SD V5.0b board
• 8 GB microSD card
• 6 inch Internal IDC 50-Pin SCSI Male/Female Extension Ribbon Cable
• 6 inch 4-Pin Molex Male to Female Extension Cable (optional, only if you plan to use the SyQuest external power supply)
• SyQuest external power supply (optional)
• Phillips screwdriver
• micro-USB cable

Enclosure modification (option 1)
• Screw the SCSI2SD board to the 3.5" bracket
• Remove the four bottom rubber feet
• Unscrew the 2 screws under the rear feet
• Push the holding tabs to lift off the bottom plate
• Remove the drive (keep the screws)
• Screw the 3.5" bracket where the drive was, using its screws
• Connect the IDC 50-Pin ribbon cable (make sure the edge with the red stripe is connected to pin 1 on the connector)
• Connect the 4-Pin Molex extension cable (optional, only if you plan to use the SyQuest external power supply)
• Make sure everything is secure and connected properly
• Close the enclosure, put the two screws and the four rubber feet back

List of material for option 2:
• SyQuest EZ 135 (model EZ135, EXT, SCSI, CSTM)
• SCSI2SD V5 3.5'' mounting bracket
• SCSI2SD V5.0b board
• 8 GB microSD card
• 6 inch Internal IDC 50-Pin SCSI Male/Female Extension Ribbon Cable
• 6 inch 4-Pin Molex Male to Female Extension Cable (optional, only if you plan to use the SyQuest external power supply)
• SyQuest external power supply (optional)
• Phillips screwdriver
• Wire stripper or cutter
• Soldering Iron and solder wire
• 6 inch cable with a 2-pin female connector at one end (I used a 2-pin fan cable found inside an old scrapped computer)
• Heat-shrink tubing
• Heat gun
• micro-USB cable

Enclosure modification (option 2)
• Screw the SCSI2SD board to the 3.5" bracket
• Remove the four bottom rubber feet
• Unscrew the 2 screws under the rear feet
• Push the holding tabs to lift off the bottom plate
• Remove the drive (keep the screws)
• Cut the cable that goes from the internal Molex connector to the "Power ON" LED. Cut it approximately 3 inches after the Molex connector (see pictures)
• Use heat-shrink tubing to isolate both ends, they must NEVER make contact together. Those two wires are live when the enclosure is powered using its external power supply so make sure everything is secure and well isolated. I used an additional piece of heat shrink tubing to make sure they don't move around in the enclosure
• Solder the enclosure’s LED cable to the 6 inch cable with the 2-pin female connector
• Use heat-shrink tubing to isolate and secure both wires
• Screw the 3.5" bracket where the drive was, using its screws
• Connect the IDC 50-Pin ribbon cable (make sure the edge with the red stripe is connected to pin 1 on the connector)
• Connect the 4-Pin Molex extension cable (optional, only if you plan to use the SyQuest external power supply)
• Connect the 2-pin female connector to the SCSI2SD board
• Make sure everything is secure and connected properly
• Close the enclosure, put the two screws and the four rubber feet back


Photos:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Use heat-shrink tubing to isolate both ends, they must NEVER make contact together. Those two wires are live when the enclosure is powered using its external power supply so make sure everything is secure and well isolated. I used an additional piece of heat shrink tubing to make sure they don't move around in the enclosure.

Image

Image

Image

Image


PART 4: Firmware Update and Configuration

*** Do not connect the SCSI2SD to the computer yet ***

From the SCSI2SD website, download:

1) The latest scsi2sd-util
2) The latest Firmware

Firmware Update:

Run the scsi2sd-util
Click File, Upgrade Firmware...

Image
Select and open the Firmware you downloaded


Image
Searching for bootloader...
Now connect the SCSI2SD to the computer using a micro-USB cable.
Firmware Update Successful.


SCSI2SD Configuration:

Image
*General Settings: Make sure everything is unchecked. Leave everything else the way it is


Image
*Device 1:
• make sure "Enable SCSI Target" is checked
• SCSI ID: Choose any number (0 to 7) except 3. Ensoniq samplers have a fixed SCSI ID of 3 and the ID of your SCSI storage device must be different from that of the sampler. If it isn't, your sampler will never see it. I recommend reading the Ensoniq SCSI operation manual, available online
• Device Type: Select Hard Drive
• SD card start sector: Make sure it is set to 0
• Auto: For device 1, make sure it is unchecked so the sector really starts at 0
• Device size: select 2 GB
• Leave everything else the way it is


Image
*Device 2:
• make sure "Enable SCSI Target" is checked
• SCSI ID: Choose any free number (0 to 7) except 3
• Device Type: Select Hard Drive
• Auto: This option takes into consideration the sector count of the previous devices. Check it so that the SD card sector starts right at the end sector of the previous device
• Device size: select 2 GB
• Leave everything else the way it is


Image
*Device 3:
• make sure "Enable SCSI Target" is checked
• SCSI ID: Choose any free number (0 to 7) except 3
• Device Type: Select Hard Drive
• Auto: Check it so that the SD card sector starts right at the end sector of the previous device
• Device size: select 2 GB
• Leave everything else the way it is


Image
*Device 4:
• make sure "Enable SCSI Target" is checked
• SCSI ID: Choose any free number (0 to 7) except 3
• Device Type: Select Hard Drive
• Auto: Check it so that the SD card sector starts right at the end sector of the previous device
• Device size: select 2 GB
• Leave everything else the way it is


Click: Save to device.

Image


PART 5: Formatting a SCSI2SD device

User avatar
By tapedeck Sun Mar 11, 2018 11:30 pm
very vool and very thorough - thank you!
i put one in my e-mu and it rocks. i replaced the disk drive.

really cool to see how you daisy chain devices.
User avatar
By JUKE 179r Mon Mar 12, 2018 2:56 am
Cheers Ogami! I saved your post as a PDF file! :-D
User avatar
By richie Mon Mar 12, 2018 5:26 am
Thank you for taking the time to put this together.
By Ogami Daigorō Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:15 am
How to migrate / transfer data from old storage solutions (CD-ROMs, external SCSI drives and floppy disks) to a SCSI2SD board.

Ensoniq samplers: Storage Migration to SCSI2SD Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: Intro
PART 2: Software setup
PART 3: SD card access
PART 4: Computer to SCSI2SD
PART 5: CD-ROM to SCSI2SD
PART 6: Image to SCSI2SD
PART 7: Floppy Disk to SCSI2SD
PART 8: External SCSI Drive to SCSI2SD
By gbrettell Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:20 pm
I purchased a v5.1 board from https://store.inertialcomputing.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SCSI2SD-V5.1-bracket-black.

I was able to configure (4-SCSI ID's 0,1,2, & 4) and load the latest firmware 4.8.03 ... the utility program stated the operations were successful.

Problem ... my Ensoniq EPS-16+ does not recognize the SCSI2SD ... it displays an error "NOT AN EPS SCSI DEV" ... it states the same error for all 4-SCSI IDs that were configured.

I've tried different SD cards, slow SCSI setting, USB power, 5V power form a SCSI enclosure ...nothing seems to work ... any ideas??

Has anyone used the newer v5.1 board successfully with the EPS-16+?

Thanks for any help on this matter.
User avatar
By JUKE 179r Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:33 pm
I've read on other forums of EPS-16 owners having to use the program Translator Pro to format the SD card and get it to work wit the SCSI2SD board.
Hopefully someone with an EPS knows an easier way.
By gbrettell Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:09 pm
JUKE 179r wrote:I've read on other forums of EPS-16 owners having to use the program Translator Pro to format the SD card and get it to work wit the SCSI2SD board.
Hopefully someone with an EPS knows an easier way.



Thanks for your reply … that was helpful.

Ultimately, I was able to get things working using information from R-Massive web site.
http://zine.r-massive.com/ensoniq-scsi2sd-guide/

Ensoniq SCSI2SD Content Management Tutorial and Starter Pack
https://mega.nz/#!CZ9ThQBQ!ohk-zdWoWt03ygH7pk9tSsrme7R3KvD8m6mwpZTeQjk


Translator SCSI2SD microSD Ready-To-Go pack
https://mega.nz/#!SIllVYZK!RLZUiM33GwT1TKId1yXNLH0y3yVcvipM7-FC3Gca7Sk

Using RMPresUSB and Translator … I was able to format the SD card with bootable full drive images (using a PC and a SD card reader). That was the key to being able to format the SCSI2SD card via the Ensoniq EPS-16+ once it was able to recognize the SD card (having the bootable image loaded) .. without that, I could not get the EPS to recognize the drive as being a valid Ensoniq SCSI Device.

Thanks again for your help.




Gregory Brettell
User avatar
By JUKE 179r Thu Jul 18, 2019 7:32 am
That's good to know. Thanks Gregory for reporting back to help others.
By Nwl Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:02 am
Hello, i have this total newbie question about scsi cables: i just got the scsi2sd v5
I knew that basically i've got to get the 50 pin to 25 adaptor to a cable into the scsi plug behind my eps, but went into https://samplerzone.com/products/scsi-c ... eacd&_ss=r and got pretty much overwhelmed by the offers, can someone please inform me, if its possible to use a cen50 or mdb50 to db25 cable directly? Or i gotta get the 50 to 25 pin adapter? In that case, there are any considerations other than male female?
I have (clearly for sure) never dealt with scsi
Thanks everyone for all this info
By Nwl Wed Sep 18, 2019 3:43 pm
Hello, im a bit lost in the process. Wondering if Juke has the pdf of this, becouse i cant see the pics and it may help. Anyhow, what i want to ask is, how do i get the 50 pin conector or cable extension into the 25 pin connector in my eps?
By willievee Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:16 am
I'm having a strange issue trying to set up my SCSI2SD with my ASR-X. I have the v5.5, and use a USB power supply. I was able to take a 8gb card, create a single 2gb partition, and format that partition to FAT16. The ASR-X recognized it and formated it. When i put the card in my pc, I can see the folders created by the ASR-X. But, whenever I try to save to it in the ASR-X, it gives me the Error 5 code and resets. I've tried having the termination set to on and off, and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Anyone else have an issue with crashing on saving?
By willievee Sat Nov 09, 2019 11:41 pm
I think I figured it out, for those having issues with 8 gb cards. Using a 2 gb card and having a single sector seems to work well. It's a bit less convenient, but still reasonable compared to other storage solutions.
By asrxpro Sat Mar 14, 2020 7:53 pm
Has anyone gotten their scsi2sd v6 to work with the asr-x pro?

I've seen people on Youtube who used both together, but I cannot get them to work together. The asr-x sees the devices, but cannot read, write or format them.