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Jeebs · Jul 20, 2003, 11:41 AM

Back in the earliest versions of OS X, I was able to mount my SCSI Orb drive, but haven't been able to since 10.1 (although it still works in OS 9). Others with systems similar to mine (G4 dual 450 and Adaptec 2930 SCSI card) reported that their SCSI Orbs continued to work in 10.1.

Is anyone out there using a SCSI Orb drive with Jaguar? Or has anyone converted it to a FireWire device? -- Thanks

Immortal K-Mart Employee · Jul 20, 2003, 12:04 PM

Mine has the USB adapter and works fine in 10.2.6

Jeebs · Jul 20, 2003, 12:45 PM

Originally posted by Immortal K-Mart Employee:
Mine has the USB adapter and works fine in 10.2.6

Does yours have the SCSI/USB "smart" cable? Castlewood sells that separately for $75, but says it has a maximum transfer rate of 1MB/sec., while the original speed was around 10-12MB/sec. I guess I'd really hoped for a faster FireWire solution in the $50 range, or better yet, a simple system hack to enable the SCSI device to just work as it used to.

At least there's hope! Thanks.

Immortal K-Mart Employee · Jul 20, 2003, 01:26 PM

Originally posted by Jeebs:
Does yours have the SCSI/USB "smart" cable? Castlewood sells that separately for $75, but says it has a maximum transfer rate of 1MB/sec., while the original speed was around 10-12MB/sec.

Yup that's the one. It came with the drive though.

Better idea. They sell the drive WITH the usb cable on ebay for about $50. my advice, trash it and get a CD burner or a firewire drive.

I use mine sometimes but it is slow as all hell.

Jeebs · Jul 20, 2003, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by Immortal K-Mart Employee:
Yup that's the one. It came with the drive though.

Better idea. They sell the drive WITH the usb cable on ebay for about $50. my advice, trash it and get a CD burner or a firewire drive.

I use mine sometimes but it is slow as all hell.

Thanks. I've already got a CD burner, but I'd consider an external FireWire drive. In the meantime, I'm doing my backups with DV Backup from Coolatoola.com. It allows me to back up directories as tape archives on my DV camcorder. Depending on the tape speed and error protection setting, I can get between 7.5 and 15 gigs on one 60 minute tape.

Immortal K-Mart Employee · Jul 20, 2003, 05:05 PM

So what you need an ORB drive for?

Jeebs · Jul 20, 2003, 06:02 PM

Originally posted by Immortal K-Mart Employee:
So what you need an ORB drive for?

Well,

1) I already have the drive--it'd just be nice to be able to use it in OS X.

2) I can't get a built-in Zip drive in a G5, nor can I boot into OS 9 on a G5 to access the Orb. Having some type of removable media for a G5 would be useful.

3) Tape archive is a bit of a hassle putting the data tape in the camcorder, plugging in the FireWire cable, set the needed settings, start the DV Backup program, etc.. Orb is simpler (just put the cartridge in the drive), faster, and is supported by Retrospect for incremental backups. Then again, perhaps in the future, DB Backup will be, too. For long term storage of large archives, the camcorder route is excellent--but removable media is better for short term storage of smaller files.

Then again, by the time the G5s ship, there may be other options. Thanks for responding, Immortal K-Mart Employee.

Socially Awkward Solo · Jul 20, 2003, 08:11 PM

Originally posted by Jeebs:
2) I can't get a built-in Zip drive in a G5, nor can I boot into OS 9 on a G5 to access the Orb. Having some type of removable media for a G5 would be useful.

Get 750 meg firewire zip drive, it even matches a G5.

http://www.iomega.com/direct/product...=1058746212931