Forum for all other samplers & synths such as Maschine, MVs, Akai S & Z series, Roland, Korg, OP-1, analog synths etc.
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By HanHuman Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:10 am
Hi,

I currently have an Ensoniq EPS 16+ (with SCSI card) and gonna receive an AKAI S1000HD (with SCSI card too) in a few days.
Had enough with the floppies, now looking for a solid 2022 (almost 2023) solution to replace that. Not really interested by the floppy emulators, SCSI is just better in every aspect.
After a little research it seems Zulu SCSI is the better bet at the moment, does anyone have experience with that and one of those two samplers?
Unfortunately it seems that power doesn't come out of the SCSI ports on these machines so an extra source is needed, like with a Molex cable plugged to the floppy power port for instance. But I've also read that some people fried their Zulu SCSI by plugging it on the wrong one. So yea, gotta be sure. All the guides I found are for the SCSI2SD cards, but those are no longer available + they look like a pain in the d*ck to setup.

Thanks for any help.
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By HanHuman Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:22 am
There's also BlueSCSI, but no idea how compatible they would be with those samplers.
On this website https://bluescsi.onegeekarmy.eu/

Image
This one would fit great in the back of the EPS 16+ ^
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By HanHuman Tue Dec 27, 2022 8:53 pm
Little update: Apparently BlueSCSI has bit of a slower read/write time. Can't confirm 100% cause there's firmware and software versions involved and I'm not willing to go down that that rabbit hole. So Zulu SCSI it is. I'm gonna try first with the ESP16+ and the 'ZULUSCSI MINI V1.0 SD ADAPTER' + an SCSI cable to bring the device closer to the front of the rack for convenience. It will also be universally accepted with every other samplers if needed, just by formating specific SD cards for each one. Imo it is the easiest way to get in the Zulu SCSI thing, no opening up the sampler etc. Just plug and play (with a little SD configuration first).

This Image
+ this Image
to this in the back Image
All SCSI DB25 connexions, easy sh*t.

Important note: In the case of the EPS 16+, the 'ZULUSCSI MINI V1.0 SD ADAPTER' will need extra power from some phone charger through USB, as the SCSI port of this machine doesn't carry power (as far as I've read). Some samplers carry power through their SCSI ports and some don't. So if anyone else plans to try those Zulu SCSI devices, get confirmation from people who actually own the sampler and tried it first hand. Because it seems like their is a lot of misinformation about powering these things in forums, and if you do something wrong that's a fried little brick you will end up with.

Ordering now, will post here how it went for future people wanting informations on that specific setup. (EPS16+ / Zulu SCSI Mini.)

For the S1000 I might go the internal version route, with mounting bracket in the front etc. But will see about this one later.
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By HanHuman Thu Dec 29, 2022 6:05 am
terry towelling wrote:looking forward to hearing how the Zulu scsi works out for you.
I've thinking of adding a scsi card reader to an EPS classic and ASR10.

Not sure about the EPS classic but SCSI in the ASR10 is the exact same configuration as in the 16+ yea.
Should receive everything by early next week.
By terry towelling Wed Jan 04, 2023 2:25 am
HanHuman wrote:
terry towelling wrote:looking forward to hearing how the Zulu scsi works out for you.
I've thinking of adding a scsi card reader to an EPS classic and ASR10.

Not sure about the EPS classic but SCSI in the ASR10 is the exact same configuration as in the 16+ yea.
Should receive everything by early next week.


the EPS classic and the ASR10 have different SCSI outs -- different PIN number amounts. But part from that it looks like the one Zulu SCSI unit should work on both machines, just need to swap the SD cards and have the pin number convertor cable.

Also, hoping I can use the Zulu SCSI on my Yamaha SU700 sampler.
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By HanHuman Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:51 am
terry towelling wrote:the EPS classic and the ASR10 have different SCSI outs -- different PIN number amounts. But part from that it looks like the one Zulu SCSI unit should work on both machines, just need to swap the SD cards and have the pin number convertor cable.

Also, hoping I can use the Zulu SCSI on my Yamaha SU700 sampler.

Should be compatible with every sampler out there with a SCSI disk system and its own formatted SD card, at least that's what they say.
My order is stuck in UK's customs, seems like it's gonna take a while.
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By HanHuman Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:00 pm
terry towelling wrote:looking forward to hearing how the Zulu scsi works out for you.
I've thinking of adding a scsi card reader to an EPS classic and ASR10.

So here's how things went:
In one SD card you can have up to 8 partitions, all of which have to be named respectively HD0.img, HD1.img, HD2.img… until HD7.img (you can skip HD3.img because that slot seems to be used by the system so no point creating one). This is necessary in order for .img files to be recognized by Zulu SCSI. Not sure if there's a size limit but I went with 8 partitions/images of 1Gb in one 8Gb SD card.
To create these image files I used the demo version of Translator 7, you can do a lot more with that app (Backups etc)
https://www.chickensys.com/downloads2/translator.html

In that app go:
1- Operations > Create virtual drive > New
2- Select your sampler and partition size then press Create
3- Name the file HD0 and select 'Type: standard image'
4- Copy this file into 6 other files: HD1, HD2, HD4, HD5, HD6 and HD7.
5- Format your SD card in FAT32 and drop those 7 files in.

Then plug the Zulu SCSI mini with an SCSI cable to the back of the sampler and to to micro USD phone charger for power. Then switch on your sampler with the OS floppy in and go:
1- CMD > System > FORMAT SCSI DRIVE.
2- Select the volume you want to be your boot drive, I went with SCSI 0 and default label DISK000.
3- No idea what INTERLEAVE is, leave as default then format disk.

Then at the end of the formatting process:
4- COPY OS TO SCSI DRIVE > Yes.
5- ERASE > Yes.
6- INSERT MASTER DISK > Insert boot floppy and press Yes.
7- SETUP DEFAULT DIRS > I don't really know how file management really works yet but if you press Yes it will create default folders for Sounds, Banks, Sequences, etc accessible from LOAD > System.

And there you go, light speed saving/loading (compared to floppies) and chunky storage at your finger tips. :smoker:
I'll get some SCSI cables to do the same for my S1100 with another SD card soon, this is too good.
Farewell floppies and slow GOTEK emulators, this is proper 21st century tech. :nod:

Image
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By richie Mon Feb 20, 2023 2:07 am
If you're trying to run the Zulu SCSI without power, plug in the usb charger and see if the drive detects on your EPS.

Keep in mind, that when you do this, first connect the usb charger to the port on the Zulu SCSI. Once you've done that, then turn on the EPS.
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By HanHuman Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:15 am
RevolutionInTheHead wrote:Yo! I followed your luverly steps to set up the microSD for the Zulu Mini for my OG EPS. However, I keep getting a "No SCSI Device Connected" message when trying to format the partitions/drives. The EPS recognises the SCSI expansion on start up. Anyone have any ideas about what I'm missing?

Late answer but, yea what richie said should cover it. It's a pretty straight forward setup.