Emax

on 9/11/00 12:32 PM, Henrik Nydell at nyd@... wrote:

>> Ahhh that would be the fabled Blue SCSI port found on the late model
>> Emax SE. If memory serves me correctly I read that these were the
>> last of the Emax series built either right before the Emax II went in to
>> production. They have a blue SCSI port in the back and an internal
>> SCSI port neither of which shipped operational.

FYI, the SCSI on an Emax is fully functional (within the scope of SCSI circa
1987).

A little history (trying to remember off the top of my head without looking
back into the documentation...).

Early Emax's had an empty socket for a SCSI chip on the main board, but the
first machines shipped before the SCSI software had been completed and
therefore the hardware was not fully tested. While E-mu worked to develop
the SCSI software, problems were discovered with the design of the main
board. It had to be revised to support SCSI, which was then integrated into
the Rev 2 boards. Early boards (Rev 1) _could_ be rev'd to do SCSI, but if I
remember right, it was approximately 13 cuts and jumps to the board! Not as
easy as dropping in a SCSI chip as had originally been hoped. E-mu offered
SCSI upgrades to all Emax customers, whether they had Rev 1 or Rev 2 boards,
all for the same cost. Some units were cut and jumped, others were swapped
with Rev 2 boards. It was considered 'the right thing' to do for early
adopters. 

Any machines that have the SCSI upgrade can support an internal as well as
external drives. The blue 25 pin connector on the back was obviously to
support external SCSI devices. I'm not sure all units had it. But but if the
unit supports internal SCSI, it supports external SCSI - it just needs the
connector added (and a whole cut into the back of the chassis).

Scott