A4000 IDE / SCSI question

[tormedhammaren]

Hi

I've got an A4000 with a Cyberstorm MKI 040/40
and a SCSI-2-module (cybscsi.device v 8.3). I
would really like to attatch my IDE-devices - a WD 40 Gb HD and a standard IDE CD-ROM to the
SCSI- module. I know there is some kind of IDE-SCSI bridge that would work.

Does anybody know anything about this bridge/adaptor, where I can get it and how it is in use with the Cyberstorm MKI SCSI-2-module? Would it be better to use a real SCSI-hd? At this
moment I am using the internal IDE-conectors on
the A4000 motherboard, and it's rather slow.

Thanks to all at amiga.org

Regards Tor

[logicalheart]

I don't know about an adapter that will let you use IDE devices on your SCSI controller, but there is a device that will let you use SCSI devices on your IDE controller.  I believe it is called SCSI+.  If you want faster IDE devices, you should take a look at the PowerFlyer and Buddha/Catweasel.  - Lars

[vortexau]

tormedhammaren said:

...my IDE-devices - a WD 40 Gb HD and a standard IDE CD-ROM...using the internal IDE-conectors on
the A4000 motherboard, and it's rather slow

You don't say what version of the OS you are using, or whether you are using a 'patch'! OS Versions earlier to 3.5 don't work all that well with HDs larger than 4.3Gb. In addition, the System Partition should be smaller than 2Gb, I believe.

It may be possible to install a Zorro-card EIDE Controller that works better (and faster) than the original headers?

In any case, SCSI (although pricey) should be faster than the IDE.

[tormedhammaren]

Thanks

I use OS 3.5, so hds>4.3 GB works, but I'm thinking of trying out pfs3.

Is there an online infopage about the Powerflyer card? Who is making them?

What is the speed of the internal IDE-
connector in the A4000?

[MikeB]

You best bet is buy a scsi drive and leave the your IDE drives where they are.

The IDE port on the A4000 is the same as the powerflyer and buddha.. no speed difference.

Powerflyer is made by Elbox   www.elbox.com

[Temal]

That isn´t quite true, is it? The Powerflyer is much faster than the standard IDE-controller on any Amiga. And, the Powerflyer also comes with AllegroCDFS which supports "non standard" IDE-devices, such as LS-120 and DVD. But, it´s cheaper to get one of those IDE->SCSI converters (yes, they do exist and are working good) if you don´t need DVD for example...  =)

[Piru]

You're looking for acard SCSIDE AEC-7720U.

I've got two of the SCSI2 kind, and they work perfect on my BlizzPPC SCSI. Currently I've got two matrox IDE hds, 40 and 60 gig ones. The speed is awesome, 9.7mb/sec (max of BlizzPPC), and the seektime of the new SCSIDE hds beats the sh*t out of my old SCSI hds. My boot time halfed(!) the the new drive (the old one was real scsi).

The new SCSIDE have a flashrom that support upto 160gig hds (last time I checked, it could be more now), and the older ones can be flashed with a PC or Mac (I won't bother though, I'm happy with upto 120 .

Personally I'd never go back to real SCSI hds again, they're just too damn expensive and usually noisier than IDE hds.

Cyberstorm MKI SCSI2 should be just fine with SCSIDE, since it looks 100% normal SCSI device to it.

You can get the SCSIDE from KDH (for example).

One nice bonus of SCSIDE is that you don't need to reformat to use your old IDE hd with it. Just plug SCSIDE and plug the hd to SCSI bus, and you see all your data thru it. And should SCSI give you some trouble, just unplug the drive from SCSIDE and use it thru IDE bus. Cool :-)

Here are the manuals of the AEC-7720U (scsi2 model):
aec-7720_bridge_qig.pdf
aec-7720u&uw.pdf

[Kurt]

Acard makes an IDE to SCSI converter they also make which is way cool a 4 IDE raid to SCSI adapter.
The Amiga sees the raid as one very large and fast SCSI drive.

I know two Amiga companies that sell it
and it works like a champ 120 gig SCSI drive is very expensive but a 120 IDE and a acard is
reasonable. The Acard should cost about $75.00
www.softhut.com (brought a 120gig "SCSI" drive from joe and it was a IDE with this adapter )
www.mrhardwarecomputers.com sell's the adapter with and without drives
both sell them.

Kurt

PS I know that Yamaha has sold some SCSI burners which are their standard IDE ones with this
interface attached for SCSI.

ohh very important if you use an kickstart 3.1  A4000 or A1200 without an IDE drive attached the machine waits for 25 secs during reboots for an IDE drive to spin up. If you run any sort of utility that makes your machine reboot during startup it will increase your boot time to by a minute or more.

so disable the IDE port using a two 4.7k resistors
tie pin 3 to 39 and pin 5 to 39.

real easy twist one side of the two resistors together stick that side into a cable at pin 39
take the other sides and stick them into pin 3 and 5. bingo major speedup of your boot time.

[Kurt]

temal SCSI DVD players don't need software for the system to see it. just plug and play buddy.
of course you need Amidogs movie player to play
the DVD.


kurt

[Temal]

One thing is for the system to see a device, another is to use it. I didn´t know about Amidogs movie player, sounds cool. But, DVD:s can also be used to store files, pictures...well any data you like. Is it possible to browse the content on the DVD without a filesystem that can handle UDF?

[MikeB]

@Temal

Dont believe me speak to individual computers, they told me that the onboard IDE is the same speed as the powerflyer and buddha cards..
As i wanted to use either in my A4000T and they said its the same IDE.
Might be slightly different for A4000D.

[Kurt]

well the funny thing is I have a Pioneer SCSI DVD ROM drive hooked to my A1200T and the stupid thing worked out of the box. Put a DVD in it and bingo the system displays the DVD and the files on it. I am using AOS 3.9 and CacheCDFS. I never really thought about it. I brought the DVD ROM drive because it was cheap and I could not find a SCSI CDROM drive  besides Toshiba and I had three die in the previous 15 months. Not a very good track record in my book.

I brought the DVD rom because I wanted a CDROM drive for my A1200 and DVD was just a bonus thing to try.

I Just went and put The Lord of the Rings bonus DVD in the drive and hit list

8.Fellowship_bonus:> list
Audio_ts                           Dir ----rwed 27-Apr-02 09:08:39
Autorun.inf                         73 ----rwed 13-Jul-01 13:11:22
common                             Dir ----rwed 04-Apr-02 15:37:58
disc.id                            178 ----rwed 04-Apr-02 13:28:32
install.exe                     734208 ----rwed 13-Jul-01 13:28:24
Jacket_p                           Dir ----rwed 27-Apr-02 09:20:29
Readme.txt                       14914 ----rwed 13-Jul-01 13:11:22
Video_ts                           Dir ----rwed 27-Apr-02 09:20:27
win                                Dir ----rwed 04-Apr-02 13:24:04
4 files - 5 directories - 379 blocks used

It lists the files fine and stuff

cd directory works and stuff

curious will have to play some more

Kurt

[Temal]

Ahh! Good to hear!

[tormedhammaren]

Hi

Thanks for valuable help! I think I will try out that acard-thing. I saw it on ebay to a quite low price.

Kurt, that IDE-port tweak you were talking about... Yes I'm using 3.1 ROM on A4k. Is the tweak reversible? I'm not really into microelectronics, but it should not be to hard, should it? :-? What if I use my CD-ROM on the IDE-port. Will the boot time still be 30 secs longer?

Regards
Tor