Adaptec AHA-2930** (v4.3) supported?

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Level 1

8 points

Adaptec AHA-2930** (v4.3) supported?

SETUP: PowerMac G4/1.25GHz dual, 1280M RAM, Mac OS X Server 10.3.9

I've been having a problem with Retrospect 6.1.126 on this machine, which I posted about in their support forum. I noted that I was connecting to the external DDS drive with an Adaptec AHA-2930** (v4.3) card -- this was a SCSI card supplied by Apple when the computer was ordered. One of the users in the forum said the Adaptec 2930 is not supported under OS X 10.3 or higher. I know Adaptec stopped doing active development for new Mac products a long time ago, but is this Apple-supplied card truly NOT supported in 10.3. or 10.4 (which I'm thinking of upgrading the server to in the near future)? It's been working fine in this config for more than a year now. I think the problem I'm having with Retrospect randomly quitting is not tied to this -- and of course I'll be taking that up in their forum -- but I'd like to know if this user's claim is true or not. Can anyone tell me definitively if 10.3 or 10.4. includes built-in drivers for this card? Thanks.

various, Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Jan 19, 2006 9:30 AM

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Answer 1

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,406 points

Jan 19, 2006 11:26 AM in response to urza311

Hi uzra311,

Download this driver from Adaptec for the 2930. Can be used for Panther and Tiger.

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Answer 2

urza311 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 19, 2006 10:35 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Gah -- that driver is from 2002. Actually, as far as I know, this Adaptec card has been functioning fine under Server 10.3.9 ever since I did the clean install of Server in early 2004. I always assumed, since Adaptec had stopped updating drivers, that my only hope for a viable driver was if it was built into the system itself -- which it appears to be.

The question I'm asking: is built-in support for this card documented anywhere in particular? I'd like to rule the card out as the root of the problem (or, at least point out to this guy in the Retrospect forum that the card is actually acceptable to use under Server 10.3.9). And, secondly, will this card work under Server 10.4 if I upgrade to that, or should I plan on replacing it with an ATTO or some other card? Thanks.

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Answer 3

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,406 points

Jan 20, 2006 6:40 AM in response to urza311

Well, yes. The date on it is a bit back there, but it works. I used that driver on a G4 450 dual running Panther and it worked perfectly.

It is confusing that you need it at all. If you look in the Extensions folder of the System folder, you'll find a .kext file for both the 2930 and the 29160. Yet you still need to load these drivers in order for these cards to work. At least in the regular versions of Panther and Tiger. I don't have any experience with the server editions.

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Answer 4

urza311 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 10, 2006 2:11 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Finally found out this is kind of a moot point -- whether or not Apple's got drivers that support the Adaptec cards, Retrospect no longer supports them. I replaced it with an ATTO UL4S and it's working fine so far a couple of weeks later (knock on wood). More info below, in case anyone's interested.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Dantz does not support any Adaptec SCSI adapters for use in any Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.3 or 10.4. Adaptec is no longer developing SCSI drivers for the Mac OS.

Adaptec has issued a driver compatibility statement at:

http://adaptec-tic.adaptec.com/cgi-bin/adaptectic.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?pfaqid=11052

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