>>Are there backplanes for the 8500? SCSI backplanes are plentiful... and expensive. Logistically, you will have to measure how much room you have in your Mac. There are some that are made to fit in 5 1/4" bays, there is one on www.rackmountpro.com that fits 5 3 1/2" SCA drives in 3 5 1/4" bays.
I think this one looks reasonable: <http://www.rackmountpro.com/productpage.cfm?prodid=956> I'm sure there are cheaper models, but that's the only site I know of that sells them off the top of my head. >I believe I have now isolated the problem to the Western Digital 18Gig >Ultra2 LVD, that came with a 50 pin adapter. I missed if the drive is natively 80-pin or 68-pin. >The AHA 2940U2W is the card I intend to try flashing - but I heard that >this is not always trouble free and can leave the card unstable >as the >original firmware cannot be re-installed without being >extracted and saved >via the PC flasher utility on a PC - leaving the >card as original. Mind - >I intend to try it anyway as the cards are so >cheap....but AFAIK the card >only tops out at 40MBS and the Cheetah's >will take 80MBS - one is a >160MBS.... Ultra2 is 40MB, but remember that Wide doubles the thoroughput, so it is actually 80MB/s. Also, that is only buffer-to-host, and theoretical at that. I you won't be missing much preformance from the U160 drive by using a Ultra2 host adapter. (And you will save yourself several $100!) As for stability, mine has been rock solid. Bear in mind that there are several versions of the card. I had two of the PC versions, each in different layouts. I checked pictures of the Power Domain 2940U2W on ebay, and then used the one with the same layout. I believe if you do the same you shouldn't see any problems. _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
