Newbie (well oldbie that forget everything) help....

[8bitugy1]

I just acquired an Amiga 2000 and I want to do some upgrades, I have a few questions.  If folks could provide links to websites with answers (I've googled all this, with little luck)....that be great.  Or you can just answer...

1) The machine has a GVP SCSI Card in it.  I want to add a CDROM.  Can I do that internally?

2) It also has a GVP A3001 Series II card.  (very nice).  This has an IDE 40 Header on it.  Can I use this with a Compact Flash drive (with an adapter?). I am missing the IDE Rom, anywhere I can get that?  

3) What is the easiest way to transfer files from my PC to this device?

Any other; in general tips; for a returning fan?  (The machine also has a scandoubler, flicker fixer fitted and two current SCSI drives one of which is defective, the other is only 20 MB).

Thanks in advance.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

1 - Yes.  Look for a SCSI CD drive on ebay.  A year or two back there were tons of them, I got one for $2.99 that I still use today on one of my systems.  Search for old Mac drives, or other systems that had SCSI interfaces as standard.  Your mileage may vary.  Also be prepared to learn about SCSI termination.  For starters (assuming you have a hard drive as well) you'll probably want to do something like this:

GVP card ==> Internal hard drive ==> CD drive ==> termination.  You might be able to get away with just a termination jumper on the CD drive.  Or you might need a "real" one.  I'd try that sequence first.

You should update this card to it's latest ROM's.  Either 4.15 or a Guru ROM, if you can find one.

2 - According to this site:  http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a3001   the optional IDE controller doesn't support drives with more than 1024 cylinders.  This might be useless with a modern CF adapter and card of any reasonable size.  You can look for a SCSI-to-IDE bridge to add a CF, or one of the Kipper2K adapters, or a SCSI card reader, etc.  Good news is, there's lots of other ways of adding a CF.  

3 - Once you add the CD drive, just burn your files to a CD and read them back on the Amiga.  Easy-peasy.  This is what I did before I added other methods to my system (like USB and a FAT-formatted SD card, etc.).  You can also rig up a variety of serial & parallel links, assuming you have an older-ish PC that still has either a serial or parallel port.

A2000's are great, loads of options, I love mine! (see sig, I built it up to this from scratch)  Have fun!  

[danbeaver]

Yes, Mike is correct.  Adding a CDROM (or DVD-ROM) is a great way of starting, plus up your HDD size (20 MB is tiny).  THe GVP 3001 IDE is worthless these days as you will never find one of the two drives that fit it.

I might suggest trying to score a Buddha Phoenix Card (http://www.vesalia.de/e_buddha.htm) which adds a good quality IDE and clock-port.  The Scan doubler is great and the GVP accelerator is nice IF it already has the special GVP RAM with it.  

I love the A2000's durability, expansion capabilities, and ease of work-on ability.

Enjoy!

[8bitugy1]

It does sound great.  The accelerator card has 8 Meg of Ram on it.  Plus the machine has 2 MB of Chipram.  I don't need to get on the internet or anything, is likely to be enough Ram for normal use (seems more than adequate for gaming).  The SCSI card has a spot for ram on it as well, if I fill it, will it conflict with the other ram or will I get to use it too?

That buddha card seems not to be available??  I couldn't find a way to add it to my cart.  It does seem like the easiest solution....  

Anyway, I had a basic Amiga 2000 long ago and this one is just so much cooler....  and I love doing the research....

Thank you both for the tips so far... The gentleman I bought it off of has asked me to transfer some files off it (if I can), so I guess the easiest way will be a CD-R...

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

If the ram on the accelerator card maps into 32-bit address space, then you'll be fine to add more to the hard card (which would map into 16-bit address space), but you'll want to check to confirm this, some early accelerators did things a bit "weird".  Also it looks like there's a couple different ram board options for the A3001.  RAM8 or RAM32.  A tool like SysInfo should be helpful to confirm this, also check the jumper settings and compare them to that site I linked to earlier.

8/2MB of memory should be fine for casual use.  Obviously you'll want more if you intend to go online, or do graphic-intensive tasks, 3D modeling, etc.  It's plenty to get you started though.  

Buddha is like hen's teeth.  If you decide you want one keep a close eye on ebay, Amibay, etc.  Maybe try posting a "wanted" ad?  I just checked AmigaKit, Vesalia, and AmigaStore.eu real quick, and none of them had it listed.  Maybe email AmigaKit, as well?

What version of Workbench is your system running?  If 3.1 you should be able to burn CD's (with the appropriate CD-burning software) once you add the drive.  If something old like 1.3, not so much.  

[8bitugy1]

I'm not sure how to tell what space the RAM maps into...but I'll see if I can figure that out. It's definitely the RAM 8 card.

As for workbench It came with 2.04, but I already have an upgraded ROM for it, to 3.1.  (bought it by mistake a few years ago....),  I'll keep an eye open for a buddha, but I'm not gonna hold my breath, I may have to go the SCSI>>IDE>>CF Route.   (though I'm not a fan of the price of SCSI to IDE bridges on Ebay).

I found a SCSI CDRW on ebay that matches MakeCD's approved list, so I sprung for that....though I'm sure there is other software, this way I'll know it works.

It also came with a Magni Systems Video Graphics Encoder and a Frame Grabber....I probably won't use either of those, but I think they are neat

[danbeaver]

The Buddhas were is stock (NOS) at Amigakit about a year ago and kinda got snapped up, but if you look, they do pop up for sale. Another way to transfer files is via ParNet or SerNet with the Amiga Forever disk (CD) or get a network card for FTP transfers.  The GVP SCSI Card RAM will add into your 8 MB 16-bit memory space, and with the 68030 you are pretty set.  A network card will set you back about $100 USD if you are interested.

[Tenacious]

Great stuff Mike and Dan!

If you are going to upgrade to OS3.1 and install a new drive anyway, consider Gulliver's "BetterWB".  He has compiled a package of many of the best OS updates without penalizing system performance.  You can tell I'm a fan.    The trick is to install immediately after the new OS (before you and SW installers alter the OS).

More info can be found here: http://lilliput.amiga-projects.net/BetterWB.htm

[8bitugy1]

It looks very interesting.  The only trick is I have to get the data off the current drives before I replace or wipe them.  But when I do the wipe...that looks great...thanks!!!

[danbeaver]

Right after you format a new drive (on the connector of the dead one), make a directory (like "Old") and copy all the 20 MB files to it; then you can reuse that connector for the SCSI drive (if the cable is long enough).  Longer cables can be found at Amigakit.

Here are some example links:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PLEXTOR-PX-12TSI-SCSI-CD-DRIVE-50-PIN-/171647782928?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27f7015010

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPAQ-2-1GB-Hard-Drive-9B0003-021-SCSI-2-199641-001-/380290781008?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588b18cf50

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_68&products_id=443

[8bitugy1]

Well, at this point is it worth getting a replacement SCSI?...what is the lifetime expectation for 80's vintage SCSI drives?  My thought was it would be better to get a CF drive...  Though those bridge boards that support IDE Hard Drives are expensive.  Plus I could then relocate the CF to a panel on the back of the machine to have easy access to it....?

[Tenacious]

Well, at this point is it worth getting a replacement SCSI?...what is the lifetime expectation for 80's vintage SCSI drives?  My thought was it would be better to get a CF drive...  Though those bridge boards that support IDE Hard Drives are expensive.  Plus I could then relocate the CF to a panel on the back of the machine to have easy access to it....?

I still have SCSIs HDs running in most of my systems.  I'm fond of Quantum drives that are less than 4 GB and they are easy to setup.


EDIT:  Ok, I finished dinner.  SCSI drives made in the late 90s are in the range of 2 to 4 Gigs.  If installed in a hobby system that is not left ON 24/7, I would think some of them have a great deal of life left.  If you are concerned, buy several.  Connect the spare periodically and backup to it.  I wouldn't leave the spare connected full-time (I learned that the hard way!).

Another means of file transfer between other platforms and Amigas is Zip drives.  They can be found for cheap on eBay with all the different interfaces: SCSI, IDE, and USB.  Food for thought.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Good point about the Zip drives, an often overlooked but still very valid method of storing files for older computers.  

[danbeaver]

Well, at this point is it worth getting a replacement SCSI?...what is the lifetime expectation for 80's vintage SCSI drives? My thought was it would be better to get a CF drive... Though those bridge boards that support IDE Hard Drives are expensive. Plus I could then relocate the CF to a panel on the back of the machine to have easy access to it....?

The SCSI drives now flooding sites like eBay are being pulled from servers and are backwardly compatible with SCSI-1 & 2; being from servers they are the ones meant to last, need only a $5 buck adapter, and are fast and quiet. Getting from SCSI to IDE is viable with a $100+ USD adapter (http://www.vesalia.de/e_acard.htm <--Pricey; http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060778.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XIDE+to+SCSI+adapter&_nkw=IDE+to+SCSI+adapter&_sacat=0).

These allow an IDE device such as a CF card reader on the bus.  I prefer (Maxtor) Atlas SCSI drives myself, but have tried them all over time.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

need only a $5 buck adapter

Hi Dan, can you clarify on this "$5 adapter"?  You mean the 50-to-68 pin adapter to use the newer 68-pin drives?  Or a 50-to-80 pin?  I've tried occasionally looking for straight 50-pin SCSI drives that would plug in directly, and come up nearly empty in my searches.  Not that I care much because I mostly use CF, but you know...