How do I check this old SCSI hard drive?

[Uzumaki]

Digging through pile of leftovers from 20 years ago I found a 500MB hard drive that is 2.5", one of the last made before everyone stopped making 2.5" SCSI drives completely. I think it came out of my old Powerbook which had died long ago.

 

I checked around and it costs an arm and a leg to connect it to anything. A 2.5" to 3.5" adapter is not cheap. A SCSI to IDE bridge is over $100. Or SCSI to USB over $50 and requires older OS to use as it hasn't been supported for years. pretty much anything pre-serial SCSI is too dang expensive.

 

I do have a working Powerbook Duo 280c that could use this hard drive but it does not have modem, disk drive, or USB, and with only room for one internal hard drive and no external hard drive case that can hold 2.5" drive, and the hard drive I found definitely does not have any OS as it won't boot (blinking ? icon)

 

Even if I can get a cheap external hard drive case and hook it to my Powerbook via SCSI dock, it has System 7.1 so that rules out getting cheap external serial modem since basic internet software wasn't included as standard until System 7.5 or later, and I don't have any PC that has working serial port. I don't even know if a cheap USB to serial would work for file transfer. One that is true RS232 seems to costs a lot

 

Any idea how can I access the hard drive to check and verify it works, transfer anything that may be important, and wipe it clean so I can sell em? I have:

Powerbook Duo with SCSI dock, no modem, no USB, no CD burner (no software and no driver either) I do not have the big Duo Dock or I would have used 2.5" to 3.5" adapter and installed one inside.

iMac with OS 9.2 and USB + internet capable.

[Rybags]

On a standard PC, a PCI SCSI adaptor card is cheapest - I've got one I bought years ago for about 30 bucks.

No doubt there'd be plenty of used ones around - just buy one, install for as long as you need it then pull it out again.

[Osgeld]

aye not having access to a pci slot hurts a lot cause you can find those adapters for practically nothing (and linux will mount HFS partitions if you install HFStools )

Edited August 14, 2014 by Osgeld

[jaybird3rd]

Yeah, this is the kind of situation in which an old PC with expansion slots comes in mighty handy. I'd be glad to send you one of the pile of Adaptec PCI SCSI cards in my parts drawer, if only you had a PC to use it with.

[Muzz73]

Drop it in the water. If it floats, it's a witch!

[+Gemintronic]

Maybe you can find a really old Mac for cheap. They used to use SCSI. I *just* gave a PowerMac to a recycler for scrap.. sigh.

[Uzumaki]

Maybe I'll dig up a pre-iMac era Macintosh. Using the often-overlooked SCSI Disk Mode (which turned pre G3 Powerbooks into expensive external SCSI drive), I should be able to get it added and many early PowerPC usually came with 7.5 or newer that should allow basic internet access.

 

There isn't any cheap local Macs on Craigslist and eBay is going around $40-$50 shipped for Macs not 100% tested or missing hard drive :/ Some of the later Powerbooks that do have SCSI port and USB are actually a bit cheaper.

[Uzumaki]

Herp derp... an used external SCSI CD-ROM is cheap and bootable System CD is also cheap.