[How To] Connect the HKT-01 devkit without PCI slot

(work in progress && only tested on Windows 7 64 bits)

Less and less motherboards have PCI slots nowadays,
so it's time to start looking for solutions to connect our favorite HKT-01 devkit via other methods...

Related threads:
- How To use the Katana SDK on Windows 7
- How to use the Katana SDK on Linux
- Recommended harddrive for the Katana dev unit

1) Connect the Adaptec 2940U SCSI card via PCIe (PCI Express)
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I tried the following PCIe to PCI adapters:

1-A) PCIe - PCI adapter card - Low profile PCI cards on PCIe slot
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[GALLERY=media, 2245]Pci_riser_cardb by T_chan posted Aug 10, 2017 at 10:07 AM[/GALLERY]
Since this adapter rises your PCI slot a little bit, you're supposed to insert only low-profile PCI cards if you want it to fit the bracket correctly. I therefore removed the bracket, and used a PCIe Extension cable like this one so that the adapter & the 2940U are connected together outside my PC case:
[GALLERY=media, 2247]Pcie_extender_cableb by T_chan posted Aug 10, 2017 at 10:08 AM[/GALLERY]

This one:
- needed the power cable connected, otherwise nothing would work
- installed the PCIe drivers automatically,
- needed the installment of the SCSI driver as described in the sticky "[How To] Use the Katana SDK on Windows 7"
- managed to run the GD-M part of DACheck.exe
- managed to run the GD-DA part of DACheck.exe

More testing is needed, but this one seems to work OK on Windows 7.

Update 06/2017: the chip used for this card has incompatibilities with Linux, so better avoid it if you're not using Windows.



1-B) PCI-E Express Dual PCI Riser Extender Adapter with cable
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[GALLERY=media, 2246]Pci_dual_adapterb by T_chan posted Aug 10, 2017 at 10:08 AM[/GALLERY]
This one:
- also installed the PCIe drivers automatically,
- aslo needed the installment of the SCSI driver as described in the sticky "[How To] Use the Katana SDK on Windows 7"
- managed to run the GD-M part of DACheck.exe
- failed to run the GD-DA part of DACheck.exe - crashed Windows 7

Hence, this adapter is not recommended for now.
I should try this adapter again one day with a eSata cable connected to provide extra power, you never know it could work with that...

Update 06/2017: tried under Linux with eSata power cable connected, seems to work ok. Seems to be the better choice for Linux.
Only real disadvantage is the eSata connecter which is placed right under the PCI card, making it difficult/impossible to fully insert the card in the slot... but it seems to work.
Also, certain PC cases have an extra slot at the back to add an extra card that is physically not directly connected to your pc, which is handy. I'm using the Fractal Design R4 now for this reason. (sadly, the R5 does not have that any more)

 

on a related note, we should also try to find a solid state replacement for the hdd... i tried the aztec monster scsi to compact flash but had some weird issues... will try again sometime soon as i am on the move now.

 

That has already been found last year
Kuze & I are using SCSI2SD, cfr http://assemblergames.com/l/posts/809746/

 

actually, i just noticed that i also tried scsi2sd and not aztecmonster scsi 2 compact flash...i was wrong as it was some time ago...

it actually locked up my devbox and i had to go from win7x64 to vistaX86 and run the sdk utilities from a 32bit environment to get it to work again...

did it actually work for you?

 

(replied in http://assemblergames.com/l/posts/809746/ to keep things together & stop the hijacking of this thread...)