SCSI hot swapable?

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 requir ...

Windows Hardware 9627 This topic was started by ,


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369 Posts
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Joined 2000-11-15
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.

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Responses to this topic


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1207 Posts
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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.

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3087 Posts
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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.

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3857 Posts
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Why not just use a USB unit? Those should support the functionality that you are looking for, but you would get a performance penalty.

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369 Posts
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OP
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)

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3857 Posts
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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.

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614 Posts
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yeah that is tru i lost a hd once to that just unpluggin and repluggin lol it sux