Surviving SCSI Hell
The Poetics of SCSI for Musicians and Samplists
Musicians often refer to a
journey through SCSI Hell when
they are setting up their samplers.
This is a deliberately simple article
dealing with a technical subject area.
We're not here to become SCSI
experts but simply to get our sampler
connected to our computer. I'm
including links in case you desire to
learn more about SCSI, but all the
basics are on this page.
Fortunately, its not as bad as it used
to be as samplers, particularly Emu
samplers, which have much better,
more robust scsi hooks built into the
operating systems than they did a
few years ago. Originally, the idea
was simply to connect samplers to
CD Rom players so the user could
load (and buy) sample cd roms.
However, it quickly became apparent
that users also wanted to use their
computers to edit, store, and
manipulate samples. This requires
not only a connection between
sampler and cd rom, but for the PC
to recognize and control the
sampler's innards and the sampler to
shut up and listen when the PC says
Sample CD Roms in Emu format
by Rich the
TweakMeister
The Mystik
Garage is
an Emu
Sample CD
Rom
formatted
for all Emu Samplers. It features
Lo-Fi Sound FX, unusual drum
Kits, and lots of samples to add
spice to your compositions. If you
want that hip lo-fi element in your
compositions, this disk will work
for you! $49.99 Tell Me More!
Classic! Ice
Kold Tekno is
an Emu
Sample CD
Rom
formatted for
Emu samplers based on a wide
variety of sounds taken from the
vintage Korg MS-20 Synth. Its like
turning your 64 voice Emulator
into 64 Korg MS20s! Awesome!
$49.99 Tell Me More!
The Post Industrial CybrSound
Dept is a Sample CD Rom for
Emu EOS samplers (will NOT work
with ESi samplers) It features a
Massive 128 meg bank,
to do something. Also, they have to crammed
"share" devices like cd roms, cdr 999
samples
machines, hard disks, etc., and in
and 980
order for this to happen, the scsi
presets,
masters must be able to "refresh" This bank
their memory of what is the current of sounds
state of these fickle peripherals. And will fill your Emulator to the brim
both the computer and the sampler and transform it into a unique
master synthesizer, combining
needs not to "freak out" (i.e., crash)
samples of analog, digital, PCM
when the drive that was there a
and Software synths with a
moment ago is no longer there selection of acoustic instruments.
because the "other" master Smaller banks are included for
temporarily borrowed, or "stole" it. compatibility with older EOS
machines (E4, Esynth, e64,
Three "Core" Concepts of SCSI: IDs, e6400). The presets on this CD
termination, and refresh. Rom make extensive use of real
time controllers, filters and cords
ID's. to bring out the unusual and
unique sounds. This is an
> awesome and complete sound
palette for the contemporary retro
Typically, there are 8 SCSI IDs on sound, as well as for exploring the
cutting edge of ambient and
a given scsi adapter (card), and
industrial sound.
there can be only one device on
Price $79.99 plus shipping
each ID. One of them, typically #7, More info. Order Online now!
is
reserved for the "host adapter" or SCSI card
Why should you want
to connect a sampler that fits into a slot inside your computer.
to the PC, anyway? Consider the IDs like TV channels. If you
There are 2 very cool want to watch a certain show, you have to
things such a setup tune in to the right channel. To send a sample
allows: 1. The fast to a sampler, the computer will send the
transfer of Wave files appropriate data down to cable to the ID it
from your PC to the thinks the sampler is on. If the sampler is on
sampler over the scsi
the right channel, its will sense the data
cable. This is often
coming in and respond by receiving it. If its
 called SMDI, and it is set to a different channel (ID), it will ignore
incorporated as a the data. Easy so far. The tricky part is this.
feature in Sound Forge
Some devices insist on using certain IDs.
(full version) and
Most PC SCSI cards want ID# 7. Most Zip
Wavelab, also in
Recycle and chicken drives give you a choice of 5 or 6. CD Rom
system's Translator. drives and hard drives fortunately are pretty
2. The ability for your flexible and you can assign any ID. But the
PC to capture an image trick to these devices is that you can't just take
of your sampler's hard
them out of the box an plug them in. You
drive. This allows you
have to manually set the ID with tiny little
to burn custom
sample cd roms. "jumpers" that typically reside on the back of
the drive. (Some drives have tiny switches in
For more on this topic
see the procedure for a row called "dip switches". The same
hooking these up. concept applies.) You have to actually read
the manual to figure out which jumper setting
corresponds to which ID. But don't let this scare you. It's pig-easy to set
jumpers, all you have to do is read a simple diagram and stick the little
plastic jumper over the right pins. Also, let me tell you now. Never
throw away your manual to a SCSI device. Keep it where you will find it
in two years when you decide to change your SCSI setup. The ID
assignment does not have to follow any order. You don't have to assign
IDs the way you cable up items, nor do IDs have to be in sequential
order. They just have to be unique, where only one device "owns" a
certain ID.

For more on ID's and SCSI arbitration (a fancy word for which device
gets the data), check out the Adaptec Hardware FAQ. Great info!

Termination

OK, you got the IDs set. Now you need to tell the master where the
"end" of the scsi chain is. We are not talking about the "logical" end,
which would be the last ID, but the physical end(s), the last device(s)
physically on the chain(s). There may be one or two chains. One is the
external chain from the outside port on the scsi card. The other in the
 internal chain, connected from the card's internal SCSI port. Typically,
samplers should be put at the end of the external chain, because often
they only have one connector, so you can't connect beyond that.
Termination tells the Master device that the end of the chain is reached
so it can stop sending commands. If termination is not set, when the
master does not receive the acknowledgment from the last device, it
might simply wait for it. It might eventually "time out" after waiting a
specified period, or yep, it might wait forever for the response that
never comes, and your system will essentially be "locked up". Most
samplers are "auto terminating" which means they sense when they are
the last device and act appropriately. Internal CD ROM devices are
usually not so smart, and you have to turn the termination "on" on the
last device. Termination is set on most devices by either a jumper or a
dip switch, much like IDs. Again this is easy. Just look for the
termination diagram in the manual and do the jumper thing again.
There's no soldering, wires, or mess. Just stick the little plastic jumper,
a small rectangular plastic piece with two holes, over the correct pins.
You can do it by hand alone, though sometimes a needle nose pliers
helps pull them out them from their current locations, or put the
girlfriend's fingernails to work.

To clarify lets say your system starts with the scsi card in the computer
(ID7) then one path goes to the external out of the card to a ZIP, then to
a Hard drive (ID2) and cd rom drive (ID4) in an external case, then to
the sampler. (ID5). However the other thread goes from the Internal
connector on the scsi card to a CDRW internal to the computer (ID3).
Which devices need to be terminated? Answer: Both the Sampler and
the Internal CDRW machine as these are the two physical ends of the
chains. If you want more info on SCSI termination in a more technical
(and accurate) language go to Adaptec's termination page.

Refresh

When you change a SCSI ID to a Help! Every time I boot Win XP it

device like a sampler, the changes tries to install drivers for my E-
often don't take place until you mu Ultra 8 times! Help me stop
cycle the power. On some this utter madness!

particularly errant scsi systems, Hehe. Let me remind you what a

you might have to actually unplug
the device from the wall and
power back on before the device
will assume its new identity. Rule
of thumb when changing IDs and
termination. Power down, wait a
minute, and cold start everything
afterwards. A "warm boot" might
not do it. Failure to do this has led
has led to many a samplist pulling
out their hair. If your SCSI system
ever completely goes bonkers on
you, its a good idea to power down, make some coffee, let you and your
system refresh yourselves.
great deal my cd roms are---OK!
Here's the fix: Let windows XP
search for the drivers till it fails all
8 times. This may take a long time
but you only have to do this once.
Make sure you remove all cd roms
from the drives 1st so it doesn't
search them too. Make sure not
to hit "cancel" during this process
(or you'll have to do it again, next
boot). after that, the sampler will
be recognized as an unknown
device.

Also, most samplers have a command to poll the SCSI pathways to see
which devices are connected. This situation may change often when
you swap out zip disks or remove, replace a cdrom disc from the drive.
By hitting the "Re-log drives" command in the sampler, the sampler will
get a fresh picture of everything that is connected. Its a great idea to
relog your drives after your computer accesses a device you want your
sampler to access. Windows, for example will constantly re-log all scsi
drives connected to see if new media has been inserted. This "feature"
wreaks havoc on samplers as Windows often "steals" the device away
from the control of the sampler. The trick here is to go to the Windows
control panel and turn "auto insert notification" OFF, and leave it off,
never turn it back on, and if any program (like the real audio jukebox)
asks you if it can turn it on for you always say NO! The PC has no
business accessing the samplers drives. It can't read them, and because
it can't read them, it assumes they are blank and that you might want to
format them. The answer there is, of course, NO!. Moral of the story,
on the PC, turn off "Auto insert notification" You Don't want the PC to
 relog the drives. From the sampler side, you DO want to relog the the
drives. Consider the PC to be a bully, its always trying to take more
drives than it owns. The Sampler is a wimp, its constantly losing its
drives to the PC, so it has to constantly reclaim them. This is why you
have to turn auto insert off--so the PC behaves.

Cables and Connections

Zip drives are easy because they have 2 connectors, so they are perfect
for the middle of the chain. Internal CDRs and CD Roms are good too,
because SCSI ribbon a cable like you see in a computer can connect
many different devices. Devices that will cause trouble are external CD
Rom/R machines that

have one connector. Which are you going to connect it to? If you
connect it to the one scsi port on the sampler then how do you get to the
PC? The work around here is 1) Simply, do not get an external unit that
has one SCSI port, make sure it has two. 2) Buy a SCSI ribbon cable
with multiple connectors like is used inside the computer can buy some
external connectors and attach them to the cable. Its not recommended
by manufacturers, but it works and its cheap.

Are you using the correct cables and adapters? Before you buy a CDR
machine make sure you physically look at the connector to see what
kind it is, noting whether it is male or female. You do not need the
"best" scsi cables to get your sampler working reliably, no matter what
the documentation says in your manual. I routinely only buy the
cheapest, and they have never, ever, caused me a problem. DO make
sure your cables are securely connected. Use the clips and fasteners to
make sure the connection is tight. And if you are having problems with
data transfers take a look back there and make sure the cable didn't get
unseated partially. Its very wise to cut the power before messing with
your cable connections.

Here's everything you need to know about the

Help! My PC sees
many different types of connectors. At the
my sampler's hard
drive but it won't bottom of this page is a place where you can
read any samples or buy cables and connectors. As you see, it is a
banks? I'm going
good idea to avoid devices with the newer 68
crazy! Should I
pin connectors as they are pricey! The "old"
reformat?
"Mac style" 25 pin and old "scsi 1" 50 pin stuff
Take your medicine,
works well and are the least expensive. Your
OK? The PC will
never, ever be able to sampler will not know the difference.
see inside the drive
you formatted with I'm still in SCSI Hell, Help!
the sampler. If you
reformat it with the Sometimes you do all the above and there still
PC, the sampler will is a problem. Perhaps SoundForge will not
never see inside of it. see your sampler. Sometimes your computer
Also realize you locks up when it polls the sampler at boot.
cannot save sampler Solutions may not exist for some problems
banks to a PC hard
and scsi cards, particularly the ultra cheap
drive. There is one
exception to these scsi cards that may have come bundled with
rules. if you have cdr drives. However, if you have an Adaptec
Chicken system's card of recent origin, you should be able to get
Translator, you might it to work.
be able to back up
banks to disk image 1. Recheck termination. It's a pain, I
files on your PC. know, but you have to do this. Pull the cd
roms out of the computer and check the
jumpers. Make sure those internal cables are tight. These are usually
the problem when you crash during boot. See, Windows is waiting for
the last SCSI device to yell back "I'm the last dude on the chain, go
ahead". But because you didn't set termination to on the the last device,
possibly a cd rom drive deep in the computer, windows doesn't hear it
and is waiting. Or the cable is out of the slot so the command never got
to the terminating device. OK tweaks, listen. 95% of the problems I
have helped people with were due to this.

2. Recheck scsi IDs and auto insert notification on the cd

drives. You are sure? Ok proceed.
3. Go to the Device manager and see if the scsi card is in the list. If
not, the Plug N Play driver is not installed. If yes, but there is an (!)
exclamation mark, the driver is not installed properly. Sometimes this
may happen if you install the wrong driver, or if you installed the driver
with incorrect ID settings, even if you later corrected them. Another
possibility is that your SCSI driver is installed with DOS drivers and is
operating in Real Mode. If your SCSI card has its own BIOS, which will
show on the screen at bootup time, it may need to be tweaked to work
in windows better. Some cards may have a control panel you can access
from windows. Some cards may allow you do disable the SCSI bios
and that might help.

Having a BIOS enabled allows your Need a SCSI card?

computer to boot from a SCSI hard
Here's two that
drive. If you are only using SCSI hard drives many people use on
from the sampler, and using SMDI to bounce the Emusaic list. I
samples around, and accessing scsi cd roms use the Adaptec
from both the sampler and computer, then the 2906 with my e5000
BIOS may not need to be enabled. You'll The prices at
Amazon are low and
have to consult the manufacturers site or your
you can count on
manual for more specifics. Sometimes SCSI them for speedy
card makers assume you only want to use SCSI service
hard Drives with your computer and think Adaptec 2906 PC
that's why you bought their product. They or Mac Get price
might have you install a utility that makes this You may also want
easy to do. If the first thing you did after to visit this store for
popping in the scsi card was to run an scsi cards, hard
drives, other
installation program from a cd rom, it may
accessories.
have installed some utilities and a real mode
DOS driver. Sometimes these utilities
completely confuse the new user and lead you down the wrong path.
They typically are not thinking you want to install a digital sampler and
use SMDI. I advise that you not use such utilities and don't even install
them. Most cards only need the windows plug n play driver to be
installed for full functionality of the sampler, cd drives, and SMDI. For
 more detailed info, read this article in the Microsoft knowledge base.

SCSI Setup & Basic SCSI Troubleshooting in Windows

Uninstall the driver(s) and installation programs. Shut down. Turn on

all SCSI devices. Now Boot. Let windows find the SCSI card without
any drivers installed and follow the prompts. This will allow the "Plug
N Play" features of windows to find the card, load drivers and register
the driver in the registry. The computer will probably ask you to
reboot. Do it. Now see if the scsi card shows up. Go to Sound Forge
and see if it shows up there. It should be there now.

4. Know when to give up on a card. Sometimes you have to. If

your SCSI card is old and came out before PNP (plug N Play) when
windows 95 became popular, you may have to do a ton of research to
get it working right, and there is a possibility it will never work. Some
ISA and even some freebie PCI cards, even if installed and registered
properly with windows, will fail during a SMDI dump. These
problems are usually related to bad drivers. You might try to install a
more current driver if one exists. After that, you should weigh the the
value of getting a new card that is known to work with your sampler.
You can leave hell at any time by spending 50 bucks on the right card.

Best of Luck in your Music Making!

Rich the TweakMeister

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