Cynan 0 Posted January 30, 2002 Hey all, I'm in current need of a SCSI CD-ROM drive and the only one I have is currently in my main machine, which I don't want to switch off and have any downtime. So. My question is, can I just pull out the ribbon cable and connect it up to another system? SCSI can do that right? and if so, are they're any requirements (you know, disabling things etc) that I need to do before I do it? I'm running WinXP atm for reference btw. Thanks. --Cynan. Share this post Link to post
BladeRunner 0 Posted January 30, 2002 Hummm, I really would NOT recommend attempting to hot-swap any device, be it SCSI or not. Sure a lot of SCSI HD's in RAID arrays are hot-swapable but that is only because they are using hot-swap chassis. I've even got an IDE RAID setup at work that has hot-swapable drives. I don't know of any devices that support simply being un-plugged from an IDE/SCSI cable and then having a new device added. Share this post Link to post
Brian Frank 0 Posted January 30, 2002 I don't know if this applies, but I've got a fix that may help. Just go to device manager and remove the device and then put it in your other machine. The downside is that you'll probably have to endup rebooting to get it to work once it's in the other machine. I've only tried this with IDE drives, so your mileage may vary. Share this post Link to post
clutch 1 Posted January 30, 2002 Why not just use a USB unit? Those should support the functionality that you are looking for, but you would get a performance penalty. Share this post Link to post
Cynan 0 Posted January 30, 2002 This is a one-off clutch. I just need to borrow the drive to install UNIX on a SPARC that I have lying around. I'm thinking I'll do what Brian said and uninstall the drive, then just swap over the ribbon cable temporally and then swap it back and scan for hardware changes. I just wanted to be sure it wasn't gonna go boom! (as I know could happen if I removed the power connector and it spiked - well ok not boom, but it could break) Share this post Link to post
clutch 1 Posted January 30, 2002 Well, you have to remember that SCSI cables do rely on termination, so that alone could cause major issues. Also, unplugging any device not explicitly designed for hot-swap use can fry the unit and its controller. Share this post Link to post
pimpin_228 0 Posted January 30, 2002 yeah that is tru i lost a hd once to that just unpluggin and repluggin lol it sux Share this post Link to post