How to get Mac SCSI Disk Mode working?

August 10, 2017 2:15 AM

I have a Power Macintosh 8500 (System 8.5.1) which I am trying to connect to a PowerBook G3 (System 9.2) via SCSI Disk Mode in order to transfer off old files and photos for nostalgic reasons. I recently purchased an HDI-30 SCSI cable for this purpose, yet I can't seem to get it operational.

The information on this procedure I have been referring to includes:

Setup of SCSI Disk Mode

Connecting SCSI devices (starting on page 59)

Apple Power Macintosh 8500/150 Specs

Apple PowerBook G3 233 (PDQ - Late 1998) Specs

I have set up the Power Book with an unused SCSI address, then shut everything down and connected the HDI-30 cable, and started the Power Book back up again. The screen lights up and the cursor appears and can be moved around, but no SCSI icon appears on the screen as it is supposed to. This is the point at which I am stuck.

Any tips or tricks to get it working would be most appreciated.

posted by fairmettle to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Is there some excellent reason why it's easier to go this way than to have both machines running as normal and connect them with a network cable?
posted by flabdablet at 7:09 AM on August 10, 2017 [2 favorites]

Worst case you should be able to pull the drive via the IFixit instructions and connect it with an IDE cable. I have retrieved data from dead computers many times this way. You don't even need an enclosure, just set the hard drive somewhere secure and be careful to ground yourself before you touch it. These older laptop hard drives are a bit more prone to head crashes than the newer ones, so don't move it around while it's spun up.
posted by wnissen at 9:42 AM on August 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

Im with flabdablet, I would get a FTP server running on a current computer, boot your Power Macintosh connect it to your network, and transfer the files off using FTP.
posted by gregr at 10:13 AM on August 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

I always found Target Disk Mode to be a pain to get working on SCSI. But if you connect them with a network cable (or just plug them both into your normal home network or whatever), rather than setting up an FTP server you can just use the built-in Personal File Sharing.
posted by russm at 7:37 PM on August 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

Seconding Personal File Sharing, ideally via an ethernet cable. Keep in mind with vintage hardware like that, you may need a 'crossover' ethernet cable.
posted by Wild_Eep at 7:39 AM on August 11, 2017 [1 favorite]