[Gerry_MAN]

Try the new firmware for your V5.0.
I have two red V5.0 PCB's as well: It turned out i was still using FW 4.6 on my Challenge S and the other one in my Indy had FW 4.8.0.

Flashed my Challenge S to 4.8.1 and devices attached to the external SCSI connector are now recognized and functional, though i haven't done extensive testing.

Ok,
Looks like I had a few Curve balls tossed at me...
These are probably very unlikely events for others to experience...but who Knows.

Long story short....SUCCESS!!  
I managed to sort out the issue and got the SCSI2SD adapter working and have IRIX 6.5 installed and up and running!!




I upgraded the SCSI2SD board firmware....but I still ended up with the same BUS errors as before.  Hmmm...  :dodgy:

I then thought that perhaps my microSD card was bad?... so I swapped the SAMSUNG SD card out for a Lexar Hi-speed microSD XC 64Gig card.
I also attached a SCSI Terminator to the unused external SCSI port, thinking that perhaps the terminator on my internal Ribbon cable was bad.




Anyhow,
I made these changes and this seemed to do the Trick.  Everything installed Flawlessly over the CD-ROM.

I then was taking a couple of photos for this post...to show the SD cards I used... and I discovered that the original SAMSUNG SD card that came with the SCSI2SD board, had physical damage.  You can see how the top edge is broken off!  (Images below.)

 

I was really shocked that this even managed to hold memory at all.  The damage was not noticeable at first, as it's only about 1mm that broke off the edge.
This is quite unlikely to happen to most people....but figured I would share regardless.  Not sure if this arrived like this?...or if I did this unintentionally during the setup?...not sure.


I swapped it out for this Lexar Hi-speed microSD XC 64Gig card...formatted it first...

**************** ATTENTION ******************
MAKE SURE YOU DO A FULL FORMAT OF THE SD CARD!!!

********************************************

Performing a Full Format of the SD card is pretty important....especially if you are repeating the install process from a failed attempt.
If you perform the "Quick Format" option, this will cause issues with the Install, and you can get Volume Header Errors.
So just make sure to perform the Full Format. It can be along wait I know...but will guaranty the install will go smoothly.

So after the full format was complete, I performed the setup with with the SCSI2SD utility program as before.
After that, the IRIX install process was smooth... through and through.



So overall...
Whether the issue was the Damaged microSD card the entire time?.....and perhaps the Firmware update was not needed?....not sure.
Regardless, anyone reading this who is experiencing similar issues.....as a first step....try and SWAP OUT THE micro SD CARD and do a FULL FORMAT...and not a "Quick format!!" remember that.  :@

Anyhow,
I'm just glad it all worked out in the end. 
Now I'm off to debug this Bad Boy....... an Ultra64 Development board!  







Fun Stuff!!

Thanks for all the help Guys!
Cheers!
-Gerry

[jan-jaap]

I also attached a SCSI Terminator to the unused external SCSI port, thinking that perhaps the terminator on my internal Ribbon cable was bad.

Ah, you see, that's where you were mistaken.

SCSI is a chain, which has to be terminated at both ends. The SCSI controller is a device on the chain, like a disk. The chain can go external (to an external CDROM, tape, disks or scanner), but at the end it must be terminated. If you do not attach external devices, you must install the terminator.

The terminator on the ribbon cable is the other end of the chain.

So this works:
  TRM <-> internal disk <-> controller <-> TRM

And this works:
  TRM <-> internal disk 1 <-> internal disk 2 <-> controller <-> external CDROM <-> TRM

But this is asking for trouble
  TRM <-> internal disk <-> controller <-> ...

And this is not going to work either:
  TRM <-> internal disk <-> controller <-> external CDROM <-> ...

Sometimes you can get away with an unterminated bus, but really you shouldn't do this. Also, active terminators are better than passive.

[Gerry_MAN]

I also attached a SCSI Terminator to the unused external SCSI port, thinking that perhaps the terminator on my internal Ribbon cable was bad.

Ah, you see, that's where you were mistaken.

SCSI is a chain, which has to be terminated at both ends. The SCSI controller is a device on the chain, like a disk. The chain can go external (to an external CDROM, tape, disks or scanner), but at the end it must be terminated. If you do not attach external devices, you must install the terminator.

The terminator on the ribbon cable is the other end of the chain.

So this works:
  TRM <-> internal disk <-> controller <-> TRM

And this works:
  TRM <-> internal disk 1 <-> internal disk 2 <-> controller <-> external CDROM <-> TRM

But this is asking for trouble
  TRM <-> internal disk <-> controller <-> ...

And this is not going to work either:
  TRM <-> internal disk <-> controller <-> external CDROM <-> ...

Sometimes you can get away with an unterminated bus, but really you shouldn't do this. Also, active terminators are better than passive.

Ahha! Ok Good to know.

I did ask someone if I needed to add an external Terminator...and they said if I had a terminator on the inside cable, then that was all I needed.
Good to know...I should probably research the INDY manuals a bit more.

Thanks for pointing that out.
Learning something everyday.    

Cheers!
-Gerry

[dexter1]

Good show Gerry! When i'll update my Wiki i will mention this as an extra error source, so people can take precaution and test the cards before using them in the SCSI2SD.

The UHS 1 cards are a bit overkill for the V5.0, an SDHC class 10 will be sufficient, though i'm not sure about current availability of these cards.
Likely the market for high speed cards is big because of mobile devices recording a lot of data, like smartphones, camera's and gopro's, so that leaves older slower cards as a niche.

Happy hacking with your N64 kit!

[thunderbird32]

I doubt that terminator was his only issue. I have the exact same problem with my Indy (and indeed haven't gotten IRIX installed yet). CD-ROM drive on external port (with a terminator on it's second SCSI port), V6 SCSI2SD on the internal cable (mine being a V6 is the only difference between my setup and his), and I get the same bus timeout issues during the install process. I know the terminator is good (i've used it with both my RS/6000 7011-250 and both of my Suns). Someone on Reddit sent me their SCSI2SD config, and I'm going to see if maybe I've just misconfigured it.

[callahan]

Hey, that's my SCSI2SD config! Let me know if it works.

[gijoe77]

Gerry_MAN That's a great N64 dev setup you got there!!!

[Irinikus]

I must admit that I'm also rather envious! Really nice system! (I'm glad to see you got it up and running!)

Just one question: Is the external SCSI terminator only required when you use a SCSI2SD adapter, as I run two Indy's without these external terminators without issue?

[dexter1]

Just one question: Is the external SCSI terminator only required when you use a SCSI2SD adapter, as I run two Indy's without these external terminators without issue?

Please read Jan-Jaap's post about SCSI termination.
Basically, because the Indy (and Indigo1) only have one WD33C93 SCSI controller, both the internal and external SCSI bus-chains are on a single bus which needs termination on both ends. So yes Indy's and Indigo1 systems must have a terminator on the external bus.
You can possibly get away with not having a terminator if you only have a single device next to the SCSI controller, but i highly discourage it

In contrast the Indigo2 and O2 systems have two SCSI controllers, (two WD33C93 and two AHA7880 respectively), on for the internal bus-chain and one for the external bus-chain, so no termination is needed on their external connectors.

[Irinikus]

Thanks, I understand.

I only have one SCSI device connected, being the system drive in the respective systems.