Mac OS 9 Discussion > Storage
FireWire tape drives
dressupgeekout:
I've got a VXA-2e external tape drive. It connects with FireWire only, no SCSI. Official drivers are really difficult to find for this thing, but I've managed to track down some software and documentation. I tried to get it up and running with my Windows XP machine, because that's the only computer I have at the moment with FireWire -- but I can't get it to work. Pretty sure it's a software problem on the Windows side, I have no reason to suspect it's e.g. a mechanical issue with the drive itself.
The good news is that I've got a Quicksilver G4 tower on the way, which of course comes with FireWire and gives me another chance to get this drive functional. Has anyone gotten a tape drive to communicate with classic Mac OS over FireWire before?
DieHard:
If I remember the drive itself is an 8mm SCSI (even though it has a controller connected via FW)
OK, just to play devil's advocate... in 2024 there are cheap and more efficient ways (much faster that 8mm tape) to backup Mac OS 9.
Start with an external FW caddy/case that supports 2.5 SATA drives and then buy various dirt cheap SSD drives (240 GB about $24); if possible pick a case that has easy dis-assembly or tool-lees drive removal...
now you have various approaches...
For an exact clone that will even mirror drives with copy protected music programs use the Apple ASR software; for full and incremental backups with catalogs use "Retrospect"
For manual OS9 Backups, Format the external drive with multiple volumes and just drag the folders.
ssp3:
--- Quote from: DieHard on June 19, 2024, 03:19:04 PM ---Start with an external FW caddy/case that supports 2.5 SATA drives and then buy various dirt cheap SSD drives (240 GB about $24); if possible pick a case that has easy dis-assembly or tool-lees drive removal...
--- End quote ---
My favourite external FW toy for all OSes is this one
https://www.freecom.com/product/hard-drive-dock-quattro-35296/
It's OS9 bootable and produces no data transfer errors, even with problematic G4 FW800 PowerBooks.
DieHard:
--- Quote ---My favourite external FW toy for all OSes is this one
https://www.freecom.com/product/hard-drive-dock-quattro-35296/
--- End quote ---
That looks so awesome, thanks for sharing :)
IIO:
there are not that many docking stations with firewire, and freecom is definetly one of the better names, they also make great regular enclosures.
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