Scanning:Adding another SCSI card to a old mac?

[vinny]

Long story.
I've been running my drum scanner off of the Supermac clone that came with it. It's got one scsi card that i use for the scanner. My current workflow is a pain and takes a long time to go from scan to working on the file in photoshop. Here's my workflow:
Start photoshop 3.0 and use the scanner plug in to open the DTS scanner software.
Prescan the image, set the borders and make a small scan to check the density levels.
The scanned file shows up on the screen and i then have to save it to the desktop for later transfer to my external scsi hard drive.
I then unhook the scsi from the scanner end and plug it into the 2GB external hard drive.
I have to shut the Supermac down, start up the 2GB hard drive, restart the Supermac so it'll recognize the external drive.
I transfer the desktop file(s) to the drive, eject the drive and disconnect the scsi from the external drive end.
I then have to connect a scsi to firewire adapter to the external drive that's hooked up to my imac G4.
I open the external drive on the imac, open each file to give it a quality check, save the files to an external firewire drive that's permanently connected to the imac via firewire.
Sound like fun? It's not, but the results are magnificent and they match the originals easily.

1.How do i get the scanner software to save the files onto the Supermac automatically as it scans?

2.Could i get the scanner software to save the files to the 2GB external drive if i added another scsi card to the Supermac? That would save me some time and put less stress on the scsi connections over time.

The Supermac is running OS 7.5.3. I tried running the scanner off of a G3 with scsi initially but it wouldn't run os classic properly along with a bunch of other issues. I'd like to stick with the Supermac since it works and runs the scanning software.

[AJSJones]

Vinny, SCSI devices can be "chained" so you can have the 2GB drive and scanner attached at the same time. You'll need to find the correct cable(s) to connect, and either the HD or the scanner needs to have 2 SCSI connectors. I'm using a twin G4 under OS 9 and have a 9GB SCSI disk attached at the same time. It's possible your scanner is fussier than a usual SCSI device. Sandy King , I think, has 2 SCSI cards in an older Mac so hopefully she can guide you with more/better advice!

Andy

SCSI is fussy but
1) make sure the SCSI i.d.'s of the two devices are different.
2) make sure the one connected to the card is NOT terminated but the one connected to it IS terminated
(i.e. Computer - device 1 - device 2. Terminate only #2 (unless the Supermac card says otherwise)

[Ted Harris]

Vinny,

While what Andy says is true it is still not necesarily a good idea. Your scanner was designed and manufactured with the anticipation that, as a professional/industrial device, it would be part of a dedicated scanning workstation without other devices i the chain. So, it may work but it may not. I think your trouble in running on a G3 or G4 would more likely be the SCSI card you were using. Barring that, why not just stay with the Supermac and network it so that you can move your files that way. I use a dedicated machine for scanning and then move the files over the network to the machine I use for editing.

[vinny]

Andy, i tried to diasy chain and it didn't work if i recall.
Ted, part of the problem with the G3 set up was that it wouldn't see the scsi card. I had another scsi device on that computer prior to all this and it did work but i messed something up when uninstalling software.
Networking the two was recommended to me before but i couldn't get it to work. I'm not very good with computers though. I need somebody to walk me through it.
thanks so far guys

[sanking]

Vinny, SCSI devices can be "chained" so you can have the 2GB drive and scanner attached at the same time. You'll need to find the correct cable(s) to connect, and either the HD or the scanner needs to have 2 SCSI connectors. I'm using a twin G4 under OS 9 and have a 9GB SCSI disk attached at the same time. It's possible your scanner is fussier than a usual SCSI device. Sandy King , I think, has 2 SCSI cards in an older Mac so hopefully she can guide you with more/better advice!

Andy

SCSI is fussy but
1) make sure the SCSI i.d.'s of the two devices are different.
2) make sure the one connected to the card is NOT terminated but the one connected to it IS terminated
(i.e. Computer - device 1 - device 2. Terminate only #2 (unless the Supermac card says otherwise)

Good advice.

I have two SCSI cards on one older G4 Mac, and I use them to run two SCSI scanners. However, I have found some conflicts when running both SCSI scanners at the same time so to avoid problems I now only run one at a time. I have also separate OS 9.2.2 systems that I use with the two scanners in an effort to avoid Extension conflicts. Basically you should clear the Extension folder of everything but essential extensions when running OS 9.2.2.

Also, make sure that you turn on the SCSI device before booting into MAC OS System. Mac System will not recognize the device if you turn it on after starting the system.

Sandy King

[Henry Ambrose]

If the Supermac has an empty slot for another SCSI card you can add a card. Then you have one bus for the scanner and another which hosts the hard drive. If there are no open slots you can't do this. Do you know if the machine has NuBus or PCI slots? (I don't remember) That will determine what card will work. You might find a used NuBus card but boy they're ancient. Heck plain old PCI is pretty old these days.

When saving the file it does offer you a choice of where to save the file -- right? When you have your hard drive hooked up to your new SCSI bus it'll show up in the finder as a drive just like the internal drive. You should be able to save directly to it.

As far as transferring your files to your iMac - I suggest ethernet. The Supermac is probably 10T but it'll still work - just not screaming fast. I think they had built-in ethernet if not add a card if you have a hole to plug it into. You can do the ethernet with a little ethernet hub and a cable. Faster and newer is not better since you are limited by what the Supermac will put out, so old and cheap is fine.

This works pretty well. I ran my Leafscan 45 this way for quite a while. It frees up your main machine for editing so you can scan on the old one and work on the last scan on your newer machine. Makes a fast workflow as you run back and forth from keyboard to keyboard. Way, way better than screwing with swapping drives around.

Adding to the warnings about SCSI use:
Turn on the SCSI devices first and then boot the machine. Never connect or disconnect SCSI devices from the host while any of it is powered on. You will need termination on each bus. SCSI Probe is a handy little program you should try to find. It will help you with configuration, finding and mounting your stuff.