SCSI 3 in a Sun Box

I was given a whole bunch of old Sun and HP hardware. I want to know if I can fit a ST39173WD drive into either a Classic or a Sparc5. I know next to nothing about SCSI. The motherboards have 'normal' SCSI connectors but the hard drive has some sort of SCSI-3 interface. Can I use this drive on either of these motherboards? How? If I can do that, I then want to connect a SCSI CD ROM drive whih has a 'normal' SCSI connector on it.
MarkCAsked:
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SysExpertConnect With a Mentor Commented:
Sun sometimes has some weird drives, but on the whole they are SCSI compatible.
You will need an adapter.
It may be a simple SCSI 50 pin to SCSI 2 mini Centronics.
These are availabel at any good cable store ( oscaroscar.com or similar ).

Check the Specs on the WD drive, and order the correct cable.

I hope this helps !
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Kyle SchroederEndpoint EngineerCommented:
THe drives probably have LVD SCSI connections...I can research the drive in a bit (little busy at the moment) and see what I can find.

I just can't stop commenting at EE, even though there are many other things to do!  I'm addicted!

-dog*
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magarityConnect With a Mentor Commented:
Here is the manual for that family of drive:

http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/iguides/scsi/67518e.pdf

On page 16 we see that this model is a regular SCSI drive and not an LVD drive.  All you need is a cable with the two different type ends - one end for the type in the Sun (I assume 50 pin type) and one end for the drive (I assume 68 pin type).  It is not an LVD type drive, although that was a valid concern.

Enquire with your favorite mailorder vendor or local superstore for a cable.  Expect the price to be $25US or less.
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magarityCommented:
"I just can't stop commenting at EE, even though there are many other things to do"

Don't complain - I'll trade a job for free time to play EE whenever you want.
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MarkCAuthor Commented:
OK, I have a cable, I plug it in, the machine starts (more than it was doing before, BTW).

Then I get an error saying it can't find SCSI device 0,3. Ok, I figure this means device 3 on bus 0 (you need to understand I know nothing about unix) so I ensure the drive is set to ID 3. Nothing. And taht's where I am stuck. The cable I have is not terminated, since the cable which was originally in the box for the other rtype of SCSI drive was not terminated.

Any ideas?  I can post the whole error message if you think it will help. I also did a probe scsi-all and got what appears to be some error codes back...

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SysExpertCommented:
1) If the cabl eis not terminated, then you need to set the termination jumper on the SCSI drive. Check the specifications on the web for the pinouts.

2) If that does not resolve it, I would check the SUN site ofr info on how they want the drives jumpered. There are parity options, ID and LUN options etc
See what is standard.

3) You are still going to need to Install an OS.....

I hope this helps !
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MarkCAuthor Commented:
I'll try setting the termination on the drive tonight. The Sun boxes originally came with licenses for Solaris but I am not sure what the situation would be now. The HP server ran HPUX but I'm not even going to try to fire it up.

Apparently you can run Linux on them so I thought I'd try that. Either create a bootable image on the hard drive or create a boot CDROM if that's possible.
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SysExpertCommented:
Check the Linux sites, you should be able to download an CD ISO image for your hardware and then use that to install.

I hope this helps 1
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MarkCAuthor Commented:
Hmm. U can't terminate at the drive on WD models.

Says it wants "active (ANSI SCSI-2 Alternative 2)terminators when terminating the bus."

It goes on "You must provide external differential termination to these drives when termination is required."

??
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SysExpertCommented:
That means you need to get a cable that allows you to put a terminator on it.
Most good cable companies will be able to provide it, if you do not have one.

I hope this helps !
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Kyle SchroederEndpoint EngineerCommented:
Belkin should have something that will work, they have every kind of SCSI cable/adapter anyone could think of!

www.belkin.com

-dog*
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Kyle SchroederEndpoint EngineerCommented:
Split between magarity and SysExpert
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