Hey!

So I have a weird problem and I felt when it comes to weird problems, the Linux groups might be a good start 😃

I have a friend with a really old box thing that I have no idea what is does but it uses old SCSI hard disks. From what I am told it's a centronics 50 pin connector. I have been trying to find an adapter for it to use USB but I have yet to find anything! I find 36 pin all over but that's all. anyone happen to have any idea what I can do?

SCSI and USB do not talk ANYTHING like the same language. I have not seen a box that does that translation, although it should be possible (not cheap!). Why would you want it to talk USB? I am sure that was intended to connect to a matching SCSI controller. Probably for FW SCSI, but you would want to know for sure before you shelled out the $$$. Those tended to be enterprise equipment and not cheap the last time I knew. (Used/Refurb might not be bad.)

I used SCSI to the exclusion of PATA (IDE) back in the 1990s on my first few PCs. 50 pin centronics is an external cable interface, different from 50 pin internal SCSI cables. SCSI was a great performer for its day, but 50 pin SCSI devices are pretty slow by today's standards. I can't recall any kind of adaption that enables using 50pin SCSI with other than a SCSI HBA (Host Bus Adapter). Whether you can still find new 50pin SCSI media I doubt. If there is, selection would be from new old stock, and performance disappointing in use for any computer newer than 20 years old. IOW, IMO, it's unlikely any connectivity is possible from that box to any standard USB port.

Yea but the problem is I have nothing that connects to this old port. i thought since they make old ide to us. adapters one might exist for this

Although USB literally represents "Universal Serial Bus", many argue that it isn't really a Bus at all, especially compared to SCSI. One reason this was argued was that while not infinite very many devices could be added to a single SCSI bus while bandwidth as well as accurate communication begins to suffer when trying to attach more than one device to the same USB port. Some argue this and other differences vehemently while others see it as nit picking but the fact remains that USB and SCSI, regardless of how one defines "Bus", are very different animals. They don't translate for one another.

You will not ever find IMHO a SCSI to USB adapter, and if one did ever exist it would suck... royally. The main reason SCSI became SAS, was to simplify cabling but it remains a true bus. The only reason that USB gained extreme traction and continues to be developed and improved is that USB was a Wintel creation. Numerous other protocols were and are superior to this day but Microsoft and Intel long had the power to crush competition. Once it became so Standard, it has been difficult to move on with any other. USB C with 24 pins has been a huge upgrade that has cemented a long future for USB. I predict USB C will ultimately phase out all other USB forms, but some will likely still argue it isn't a bus at all.

They exist like this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/305608776250

Although you might be able to find a 50 centronics converter I only think the posted link worked with Jaz drives. It might be easier to find and old computer and install a PCI SCSI adapter then it would be to find a suitable USB SCSI adapter. You might spend a lot of money trying to read the old disks and then find out they no longer are readable.

I would advise not bothering at all unless there's money in it. Unless someone has come to you and said "I will pay money to recover all the old data from this," resist the urge.

That said, all the advice is there. Get a historical (pre 2005) pc, ideally with ISA & PCI buses. SCSI cards may exist. Don't neglect retailers of Industrial PCs, which are a great resource. I would suggest network cards to get it off. A 15Mhz ISA bus or pci-1x will do 100Mb, which is your best option.

SCSI stands for: "System Can't See It!" Drivers are legion, trouble abounds and anyone who could help is probably dead.

If you feel like it, you can get a SCSI to IDE adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/CERRXIAN-Fema.../dp/B09G27DNN4

...which you can then plug into an IDE to USB adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-SATA-I.../dp/B01E7EPKUO

...which may work. But maybe not, and at least those things are cheap.

I had one in my laptop just until I retired a few months ago.
My upstream department gets them still.

Don't forget you have to terminate these.

The 50 pin won't let you use the newer scsi disks.

They did make a unobtainable usb to ultra160 or maybe 320 for a brief moment. I should have bought it. Not sure why they don't make it.

Might be easier to buy a used server and get data off then sell it back.

I had a dell server that died and had 4 ultra320's that I'd like get data off. Was trying to find a cheap pci-e card.

Reference. A zip drive company I believe wrote how to communicate with scsi over usb. That was later used in linux. This is why you see sda and such.