Internal Ultrasatan cable for Mega STe/STacy

[Dal]

Its *seems* like I remember someone saying that they got this to work, and the key
was in how the ID's were set for each device, the Ultrasatan, the internal SCSI board

That would be here

[wongck]

Please guys.
Next time anyone see something important like this... put it in to the wiki or use the FAQ in the wiki to point to the post/thread.
Takes out the guessing.
Thanks.

Sorry DL, not targeting you or anyone...

[Dal]

You are quite right, no excuses. Sorry - I'll consider myself reprimanded!

[DarkLord]

No problem. I'll join Dal and say point taken.

[wongck]

Ok. Added to the AF wiki FAQ.

[Solarricht]

Oops, did i start something?

Appologies here. I have been trawling through various threads and asking questions in hope of a solution all over the forum. I havent worked out how to post a link to another post in different thread yet. I have had contrasting opinions and information on this. I tried the upbove linked solution about changing the IDs as shown, but didnt work for me. I will however try this once more. After investigating an ultrasatan cable b as a solution, i got this post on another thread which maybe somes up why i cant get it to work (although others may have been lucky).



Re: Reverse engineering of some ICD Link adapter
by alexh » Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:14 pm
Think of it this way.

Atari ST(e) has ACSI bus.

ICD Link adapter is ACSI->SCSI host adapter.

UltraSatan is ACSI->SD adapter.

It is not possible to run two host adapters on one ACSI bus.

Sell your ultrasatan and buy one of these :

http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_ ... cts_id=184
Thalion Webshrine

I will try the USD ids again, but if Alanh is right USD is not compatable with scsi host adapters.

Thanks for the help and solutions.

[DarkLord]

Sell my Ultrasatan? Not gonna happen...

[DarkLord]

Also, posted this in another thread but....here it is again...

Umm, I'm pretty sure you can set the card ID's on the Ultrasatan. Here's a quote from Jookie's FAQ page:

http://joo.kie.sk/ultrasatan/faq.html

Q: I got an internal SCSI hard drive and ICD ADSCI Micro Host adapter still fitted in my Atari Mega 4 (SCSI Unit ID: 0). Do I need to remove these first or will the UltraSatan handle being parallel connected albeit via the external hard drive port?
A: it would be best to configure the UltraSatan first to use some other IDs as 0 (i.e. set it to 1 to 7). It shouldn't break when connected to ST with other devices with the same IDs, but you couldn't configure it to new IDs either, because they would 'talk' one through the other (both will respond to the same requests) and the result will be that the ST won't 'understand' none of the devices. So the best would be to configure it on other computer (i.e. on other ST) and then connect it to the Mega ST 4.

There is a program in the downloads section to do this:

http://joo.kie.sk/ultrasatan/download/

Hope this helps.

(note I've not actually tried this myself, so YMMV).

[wongck]

Seems like issue is actually the default SCSI-ID and no easy way to change the SCSI-ID if you only have 1 system.

[alanh]

I will try the USD ids again, but if Alanh is right USD is not compatable with scsi host adapters.

I didn't say that to generalize SCSI adapters. Just the particular one you have.

I've had trouble with my MegaFile if it's in the chain after the UltraSatan, but before it works.

So there's undoubtedly trouble with the USD firmware, but YMMV with different SCSI host adapters.

[Solarricht]

I will try the USD ids again, but if Alanh is right USD is not compatable with scsi host adapters.

I didn't say that to generalize SCSI adapters. Just the particular one you have.

I've had trouble with my MegaFile if it's in the chain after the UltraSatan, but before it works.

So there's undoubtedly trouble with the USD firmware, but YMMV with different SCSI host adapters.

Yep understood thanks, i need to be clearer in my posts. What splitter do you use to put USdisc after megafile?
Am trying HDdriver instead of icd now but no luck so far... Will keep trying until i run out of options. There are people who have had success with this hardware combination so ill pursue it for bit longer.

[alanh]

Not sure what you mean by splitter.

But it goes like this for the configuration that works...

Atari ACSI -> MegaFile ACSI IN -> MegaFile ACSI Out -> USD (Type A cable)

Type A only has one ACSI connector.
Type B has two for IN/OUT.

If I do this...

Internal USD adapter -> Atari ACSI -> MegaFile ACSI IN

Then the USD shows up as "--------"

Alan.

[wood_jl]

Hi, I just ordered one. I hope it's still on!

I finally got the Mega STe. Then I moved, then summer visitors (houseguests), then summer school. I forgot about this!!!

Thanks!

[DarkLord]

Hi, I just ordered one. I hope it's still on!

I finally got the Mega STe. Then I moved, then summer visitors (houseguests), then summer school. I forgot about this!!!

Thanks!

I can't really speak for Alan, but IIRC, he said he could make them on an "as needed" basis.

He'll answer you shortly, I'm sure.

PS If you can get one, they are awesome!

PSS Right, found it, 4th page, about halfway down:

Ordering will stay open indefinitely.

Cheers.

[DarkLord]

I hadn't seen anyone post any comments or pictures about what they had done with
their cable, so I thought I'd post a couple.

The first pictures shows Alan's excellent cable plugged into the internal ACSI port of
my STacy.

SAM_1532.JPG

The 2nd pictures shows my Ultrasatan, bolted into the drive cage of the STacy. I
used the rails from a 3.5" drive adaptor kit (one of those that lets you put some
thing like an EZ or Zip drive into a 5 1/4" bay) to mount the Ultrasatan with. It
seemed to work fine - very solid. The Ultrasatan now occupies the place that the
original 20meg hard drive was.

SAM_1533.JPG

The 3rd picture shows the drive cage, complete with floppy drive and Ultrasatan,
sitting in the drive bay, on the right hand side of my STacy.

SAM_1535.JPG

Finally, this pictures shows the original hard drive cover, complete with ventilation
holes. I'll need access to the UltraSatan though, so I've got some dremel work ahead
of me to make it fit snugly around the Ultrasatan.

SAM_1538.JPG

All in all, its turned out far better than I hoped it would. I'd love to see what everyone
else has done with theirs.

[blip]

@ DarkLord

Can the Hard Drive cover still be attached to cover up the ultrasatan with SD card inserted?

[DarkLord]

@ DarkLord

Can the Hard Drive cover still be attached to cover up the ultrasatan with SD card inserted?

Sure, you could mount the Ultrasatan a bit back from where I have it. Its much smaller than the
original 20meg hard drive that used to sit there.

I have to ask though - *why* would you want to do that? If you did cover the US up, you'd not be
able to swap out your SD cards without taking the machine apart, or see the activity lights.

Sorry if I'm missing the point of your question though...

[blip]

didnt realise you had to dismantle the STacy to remove the HDD cover... another mod perhaps.

[DarkLord]

didnt realise you had to dismantle the STacy to remove the HDD cover... another mod perhaps.

Oh, okay. Probably hard to tell from the picture, but all that flat piece of plastic does is slide into grooves on the right and
left hand side, then sits in a similiar groove on the bottom. Just a cover, that's all.

PS Here, you can see it installed:

PSS Thank you Spiny.

DSC_0159.jpg

[blip]

probably not worth it but i guess you could cut a hole in the cover large enough to access the SD cards and see the activity lights.

[DarkLord]

Okay, I engaged in hand-to-hand combat, armed only with a hacksaw blade, dremel,
a fairly sharp edged knife, and emerged semi-victorious.

This is the STacy's hard drive cover, modified to allow access to the lights and SDcard
slots of the internal Ultrasatan.

After looking it over, I think I'll probably try to acquire another HD cover and not remove
the strip at the top, only cutting out a slot just barely big enough to reveal the lights
and slots.

P9080002.JPG

Hope I'm not boring everyone with this, but I hadn't seen any posts from any other
STacy/Ultrasatan owners about what they are doing. If nothing else, my gaffs and mistakes
should help others decide on what they want or don't want to do.

To be continued...

[blip]

looks pretty clean as is!

[DarkLord]

looks pretty clean as is!

Thanks!

Yeah, I got it pretty straight, even and all that, but I think I'd just
like the opening a wee bit smaller, so that there isn't any gap around
the Ultrasatan.

It'll do for now, until I get another cover to practic...er work on.

PS been thinking that just about any old piece of plastic, of the same
thickness (to still fit the slots) would do just as good. Could paint it
to match, and surely would be a lot cheaper.

[bid]

Hope I'm not boring everyone with this, but I hadn't seen any posts from any other
STacy/Ultrasatan owners about what they are doing. If nothing else, my gaffs and mistakes
should help others decide on what they want or don't want to do.

To be continued...

Not at all! This is very interesting. Great mod!!!

[spiny]

I'm reading with interest

I have the cable and my old SatanDisk ready to do something similar, just need to find the time