Subject: SCSI/IDE laptop adapters
To: None <port-sparc@netbsd.org, port-macppc@netbsd.org,>
From: der Mouse <mouse@Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA>
List: port-sparc
Date: 08/25/2007 21:12:40
(I'm sending this to five lists, the five lists that I think most
likely to have an interest in such a thing - ie, the ones most likely
to be using machines built during the era when SCSI laptop disks were
popular enough to be used. Since followup discussion on some lists is
likely to go in directions not appropriate for other lists, I've set a
Reply-To: address which is a bitbucket; please fix it if/when you
reply, to send to just the list appropriate for your reply.)
I have a SPARCstation Voyager, which unfortunately has a fairly small
disk (773 MB). But this machine uses SCSI disks and has space for only
a laptop-form-factor drive (well, unless you want to go external, which
is rather suboptimal). I understand there are other machines in the
same boat, such as some Mac laptops (I don't know whether they're
PowerPC or 68k - or perhaps some of each - which is why I'm sending to
both the macppc and mac68k NetBSD lists.)
I did some searching and found there was a company that made an adapter
that fit next to a modern (thin) laptop drive, so the result was a
somewhat thickish "disk" that still fit within the old laptop form
factor - but which spoke SCSI to the host even though the disk was IDE.
Most of them were fairly expensive, but there was one that looked
reasonable. The vendor that was said to carry it, though, no longer
does (I phoned them and asked), so I wrote to the manufacturer.
They offer to sell them to me at US$65 apiece, quantity 10. I'm
willing to pay that rate, but I have no need for more than maybe two.
So I'm wondering if people would be interested in buying these off me
(at my cost, which probably means about USD 70 including shipping, at
least within US48+CA).
The device in question is the Century CHB25INT, as described in
http://online.century.co.jp/BittradeTest/e_shop/chb25int.html.
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