Apple Powerbook 165 HDD for SD card replacement

[Finarfinius]

Hi

i have this Apple Powerbook 165 (https://oldcrap.org/2020/06/07/apple-macintosh-powerbook-165/) laying around but looks like the HDD doesn't work anymore

those computer accepted a
80MB - 160mb SCSI Quantum Go-Drive (40 + 8 pins)

i would like to give it new life, and would like to replace the HDD with a SD card mod

can you guide me pls to some options that would work with my Powerbook 165?

Thank you

 

[ajacocks]

Hello @Finarfinius , and welcome to the forum.

You can replace the failed scsi HDD with one of these scsi to sd solutions:

PowerBook F4Lite BlueSCSI V1.1 [F4Lite.TbA.PB.THT.V1.1] – Tech by Androda

androda.work

ZuluSCSI V1.1 2.5'' (for Laptops/PowerBooks)

store.rabbitholecomputing.com

Both should work in your 165.

- Alex

 

[3lectr1c]

I put one of those F4Lite BlueSCSI devices in my PowerBook 180c, and it works great. You can save some money as well if you are comfortable with soldering the parts yourself. Also, that PowerBook could likely benefit from having the capacitors on the LCD panel replaced. They are quite prone to failing and leaking.

 

[Finarfinius]

I just made the order for F4Lite BlueSCSI

looking forward how it goes, will update here for my 165

 

[Finarfinius]

So i tried setting up the F4Lite BlueSCSI

- formatted 512MB SD card to exFat and Downloaded RaSCSI-Boot-7.5.3.hda_.zip (as the link from on the vendors page was no longer working)

RaSCSI Reloaded - Macintosh Repository

RaSCSI Reloaded (Mac abandonware from 2022)

www.macintoshrepository.org

- unzipped and put it on the card as HD50_512_753.hda , all according to the vendor instructions https://androda.work/product/powerbook-bluescsi-f4lite-tht-v1/

however, i still get the floppy image on start

i noticed that the F4Lite BlueSCSI has fewer pins than the slots, but is probably not an issue?

PS: i double checked the HW installation, if the pins are inserted correctly and all looks fine and fits nice... so i guest there must be some issue with the System setup on the BlueSCSI

 

[GiGaBiTe]

Double and triple check that you have the names of the disk images correct on the SD card, because even a single letter typo will cause the BlueSCSI to not work. I believe that you need to have the SCSI ID somewhere in the name of the disk image file.

Be sure you have the pins on the BlueSCSI connected to the ribbon cable properly. I believe you need to leave the pins open nearest the inner curve of the ribbon cable, but it has been awhile since I installed a BlueSCSI, so I may be wrong. IIRC, the BlueSCSI should have power and activity LEDs to show it working if it's connected properly.

And BE ABSOLUTELY SURE to put thick electrical tape over the top pins of the RPI board pins poking up over the module. It's very easy for the board to short out to the metal inside the drive bay, and from the bottom of the keyboard, and can cause catastrophic damage to the machine. I had one short out inside a PB 145 and it caused rolling yellow lines down the screen, on a black and white only screen....

Once you get the OS booting, go in the power settings and turn off HDD spindown completely. The BlueSCSI doesn't tolerate being powered off randomly, and it'll cause massive data corruption.