[aperezbios]

Hi folks,

Since it's been a handful of months since we launched ZuluSCSI, and nobody seems to have learned about it here, so I thought I'd introduce it. There's a new SCSI emulation product in town, closely related to SCSI2SD V5.1 and V6. If you're familiar with SCSI2SD, you can think of it as somewhat of a fusion of SCSI2SD V5 and V6, performance-wise. Unlike SCSI2SD V5, ZuluSCSI supports synchronous SCSI, at both 5Mbytes/sec and 10Mbytes/sec (although read throughput is limited to around 8 megabytes/sec, best-case. Write performance is generally in the 2-3 megabytes/sec range, noticably faster than SCSI2SD V6, but nowhere near as fast as the FPGA-accelerated SCSI2SD V6 is. Unlike SCSI2SD, ZuluSCSI configuration requires no desktop utility, relying purely on file name conventions, as well as an optional plain-text INI configuration file for more advanced uses.

Astute observers may notice that this board layout is extremely similar to SCSI2SD V5.1's PCB layout. This wasn't accidental. We re-used the SCSI2SD V5.1 board layout as a convenient starting point, when devlopment of ZuluSCSI began back in December of 2021. Feel free to ask an questions.

Full disclosure: I own Rabbit Hole Computing, which commissioned development of ZuluSCSI, as a response to critical semiconductor shortages. Those shortages have prevented us from being able to manufacture more SCSI2SD V6 and V5.2 boards, and show no signs of improving. 

I've also had a bunch of SGI gear since long before SCSI emulators were an affordable (or even existing) thing, and had an account on Nekochan for a number of years, prior to its implosion. I say this only because I'm not _just_ here to make a buck.

The GitHub project page is at http://github.com/ZuluSCSI/ZuluSCSI-firmware and there's a basic ZuluSCSI web page at http://zuluscsi.com. Here's an obligatory high-res photo:

[Raion]

Hey Aperezbios, long time no see sir!

Nice development, I wouldn't put it past you to do so. I need to setup a page eventually for accessories compatible with SGI so I'll keep your project in mind. Good job!!

[02girl]

I'm thinking about putting one of these in my Indy. I guess it is the same config as SCSI2SD?

[opcode]

I just ordered one of these to test it out. Not feeling much love for the scsi2sd at the moment. I have been building out ChallengeS machines and using v5.2 and 6 boards and it has just been painful. I am currently hammering ftp over a 100mb card and out of 204 files transferred, 11 failed. It would also hang for periods of time.

[opcode]

I can't get this thing to work properly. I have tried a ton of settings. Does anyone have a working disk img or config I can try on my card?

[opcode]

I am having the worst time trying to get this thing to work with IRIX. I have been trying to install IRIX 5.3 and I keep getting write errors. I have SCSI2 turned off and have tried installing a ton of different ways. I created my images from my Linux system using dd: dd if=/dev/zero of=HD1.img iflag=fullblock bs=512K count=8500 && sync. I am using Samsung SD cards that are fast enough. I have the same problem no matter what SD card I have installed. I have tried on two different ChallengeS systems that were able to install just fine with real SCSI drives. Am I doing something wrong with the disk image creation? Is it not properly sized?

 My current setup is to have the 5.3 iso I made from my Linux system as CDROM on SCSI ID2. Scsi term is on.

My current bare bones config:
[SCSI]
# Settings that apply to all devices
Debug = 0 # Same effect as DIPSW2, enables verbose log messages
SelectionDelay = 255 # Millisecond delay after selection, 255 = automatic, 0 = no delay
PhyMode = 0 # 0: Best available 1: PIO 2: DMA_TIMER 3: GREENPAK_PIO 4: GREENPAK_DMA
#Dir = "/" # Optionally look for image files in subdirectory
#Dir2 = "/images" # Multiple directories can be specified Dir1...Dir9

# Settings that can be needed for compatibility with some hosts
Quirks = 0 # 0: Standard, 1: Apple, 2: OMTI, 4: Xebec, 8: VMS
EnableUnitAttention = 0 # Post UNIT_ATTENTION status on power-on or SD card hotplug
EnableSCSI2 = 0 # Enable faster speeds of SCSI2
EnableSelLatch = 0 # For Philips P2000C and other devices that release SEL signal before BSY
MapLunsToIDs = 0 # For Philips P2000C simulate multiple LUNs
MaxSyncSpeed = 0 # Set to 5 or 10 to enable synchronous SCSI mode, 0 to disable

# Settings that can be specified either per-device or for all devices.
#Vendor = "QUANTUM"
#Product = "FIREBALL1"
#Version = "1.0"
#Serial = "0123456789ABCDEF"
#Type = 0 # 0: Fixed, 1: Removable, 2: Optical, 3: Floppy, 4: Mag-optical, 5: Tape
#TypeModifier = 0 # Affects only INQUIRY response
#SectorsPerTrack = 63
#HeadsPerCylinder = 255
#RightAlignStrings = 0 # Right-align SCSI vendor / product strings, defaults on if Quirks = 1
#PrefetchBytes = 8192 # Maximum number of bytes to prefetch after a read request, 0 to disable

# Settings can be overridden for individual devices.
[SCSI1]

Vendor = "SEAGATE"
Product = "ST225N"
Version = "1.0"
Serial = "0123456789ABCDEF"
Type = 0
TypeModifier = 0
#SectorsPerTrack = 63
#HeadsPerCylinder = 255



[SCSI2]
Product = "CD-ROM Drive 2"
Type = 2
#Dir2 = "/"

My log after a failed attempt:

[0ms] DIPSW3 is OFF: SCSI termination disabled
[1ms] Optional GreenPAK detected, loading firmware
[53ms] GreenPAK firmware successfully loaded
[267ms] SD card detected, FAT64 volume size: 30522 MB
[267ms] SD MID: 0x1B, OID: 0x53 0x4D
[268ms] SD Name: EB1QT
[268ms] SD Date: 3/2013
[268ms] SD Serial: 0xE05F3979
[270ms] Reading configuration from zuluscsi.ini
[270ms] Active configuration:
[275ms] -- SelectionDelay: 255
[281ms] -- EnableSCSI2 is on
[1454ms] Finding HDD images in directory /:
[1455ms] -- Opening /hd1.img for id:1 lun:0
[1455ms] ---- WARNING: file /hd1.img is not contiguous. This will increase read latency.
[1456ms] ---- Read prefetch enabled: 8192 bytes
[1509ms] SCSI ID:1 BlockSize:512 Type:0 Quirks:0 ImageSize:4194304kB
[2010ms] SCSI PHY operating mode: GREENPAK_DMA
[2011ms] Initialization complete!
[2011ms] Platform: ZuluSCSI v1.1
[2011ms] FW Version: 1.0.7-release Aug 25 2022 19:51:14
[9179ms] WARNING: . Current settings are 63 sectors x 255 heads = 16065 but image size of 8388608 sectors is not divisible. This can cause error messages in diagnostics tools.
[136617ms] SDIO SD card error on line 256, error code 28
[136617ms] SD card write failed: 0x9C
[137968ms] SDIO SD card error on line 256, error code 28
[137968ms] SD card write failed: 0x9C
[140850ms] SDIO SD card error on line 256, error code 28
[140850ms] SD card write failed: 0x9C
[140938ms] SdioCard::stopTransmission() timeout
[143220ms] SDIO SD card error on line 256, error code 28
[143220ms] SD card write failed: 0x9C
[143235ms] SdioCard::stopTransmission() timeout
[147057ms] SDIO SD card error on line 256, error code 28
[147057ms] SD card write failed: 0x9C
[148497ms] SDIO SD card error on line 256, error code 28
[148497ms] SD card write failed: 0x9C
[148531ms] SdioCard::stopTransmission() timeout
[149922ms] SDIO SD card error on line 256, error code 28
[149922ms] SD card write failed: 0x9C
[149949ms] SdioCard::stopTransmission() timeout
[151261ms] SDIO SD card error on line 256, error code 28
[151261ms] SD card write failed: 0x9C

[weblacky]

I have not use any of these products, but before you can get any advice from the creator, I’d probably try one of several things:

Use the SD formatter from the SD card Association websites to make sure that your partition scheme is in alignment with the flash block size. OSes such as Windows will not do this 100% correctly for flash media as it’s a little different from normal SSD drive media.

I assume the product uses exfat and not fat32 but verify that. Reformat and immediately use DD to create your files because your logs claims that your current image file is non-contiguous.

See if you can find an option to correctly specify the hard drive geometry. It looks like you’re trying some form of automation by not mentioning it, but the log clearly states that whatever it’s defaulting does not match your image size.

Maybe one of these things will cause something else to shake loose and work.

[opcode]

That is a great idea about using the sd card formatter. I will try that. I formatted it exFat on my Windows 10 box through the OS. I was creating the images on my Linux box and then copying them to the SD card. I will create it directly on the card.

I was trying to find some old Seagate 4G drive manuals to see if I could get the info to set up the settings correctly but didn't have much luck. It has been sooo long since I have had to deal with level of detail on HDDs. I really want to make this thing work and document it here so others can use it. The ability to just have HD images would be amazing.

I did shoot Rabbit an email on his site to come and check this thread when I posted it.

[opcode]

Wanted to give an update. aperezbios replied to my email and looks like I needed a newer firmware. I have since then purchased 2 more boards. This thing works like a dream. I have built out a 5.3 install image and now working on a 6.5. My goal is to get these base images installed and then upload them somewhere so no more installing everything from scratch.

I would highly recommend the zulu scsi board.

I looks like it supports emulating tape drives. I am going to try to get that working next.

[Raion]

I'm happy to see that this is working for people here and I am going to update our pages to recommend his company. To everybody involved in this hard work I thank you for continuing to contribute the best way you can.