Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: SACC-guy on October 21, 2008, 05:09:30 AM
-
I'm rebuilding the a3000T I bought at AmiWest2008.
So far I installed e-net 2065 and a picasso II.
Working fine.
My questions are:
Did this machine come with a hi density floppy?
What was the size of the hard drive?
How many scsi connectors on the internal cable?
Was the external terminator standard? (passive or active)?
What does the key do? (Didn't get one, just curious)
I'm sure I'll think of more questions.
Any suggestions?
edit
I think I need special rails for 5 1/4 drives to lock in,
I have the rubber bumpers but they just slide in and aren't secure.
I also would like to buy the commodore 25pin ext passive ternimator.
Does anyone have the pregnant 3 button mouse?
end edit
Michael
-
Did this machine come with a hi density floppy?
I believe it came with a 1.76MB floppy as standard, but a regular 880k will of course work. Has to be a certain type of drive for the eject drive to fit the case though.
What was the size of the hard drive?
Not sure
How many scsi connectors on the internal cable?
There is one for the HD and it had a SCSI pass through cable that had more on it, that is removable. The 3000D also had this type of cable. There are a couple of connectors on this, but you can easily add a different SCSI cable with multiple connectors.
Was the external terminator standard? (passive or active)?
Passive and it is standard as it is required for you to use the computer with no external device added.
What does the key do? (Didn't get one, just curious)
It allows you to reset the computer and to lock the keyboard and mouse.
-
@ Tjlazar
Thx for the info.
I only bought the big box and never had a chance to see the 3000T close-up.
Michael
-
No it did not come with a hi-density floppy.
I had the latest/highest option A3000T-040 you could buy from commodore and it came with 880k drives in it. It even has A3000T-040 silkscreened on the front of the case, no 030 on the motherboard, and came factory with the DMAC-4/RAMSEY-7 and fully populated with 18megs of ram on the motherboard. I bought the buster-11 as soon as it was available for it, and replaced one of the drives with a 1.76meg one which cost over $150.00 from the local commodore dealer at the time. I eventually put 3.1 ROMs in it as well. As far as the physical drive type for the case, its the same style floppy drive the A4000 uses. The A3000 style button snaps onto the metal part of the eject lever exactly like the A4000. So if you want a hi-density floppy, just get the one that COMMODORE (not aftermarket) sold for the A4000, pop the plastic face plate and eject button off, snap your A3000 eject button onto it, and install it.
Everywhere in the A3000T manual that floppy drives are mentioned, they are specified as 880k. The HD floppy drive is not even listed under "expansion options". If any A3000Ts were sold with 1.76meg floppys, that would have been a dealer-installed item. HD floppies did not become commonly available until the A4000/A1200 era.
I believe the original hardisk that came in my A3000T-040 was either 100 or 120 meg. I addes so many hardisks through the years, I could be wrong about this, but it was not a HUGE size..
Yeah the key has 3 positions. lock, run, and reset. The reset position is spring loaded to be "momentary" like the "start" position on a car's ignition switch.. heh. kewl as hell.. too bad you dont have the keys. They are real nice.. They are metal, with black plastic covering the ring-end with the commodore logo embossed in it..
The system also came with the "pregnant" mouse.. These mice are pretty nice, fairly hi-resolution, much better button feel, and TONS better than the A500/A1000/A2000 mouse.
The keyboard was the same one that came with the A3000D/A3000UX... Not the A2000 one.
The external SCSI terminator was a chrome-plated DB-25 "dongle" with the C= logo embossed in it.
-
@metalguy66
Great info.
So, I just need a couple of things to be stock.
No one I know here in Sac has a 3000T, but a few had 3000D.
I had a very nice 3k that I set up with AMIX which I sold.
I missed it, so I thought it would be fun to spec out the 3kT I found at the AmiWest2008 show.
Thx,
Michael
-
@Metalguy
That's odd. My late 1992 A3000 desktop had a HD floppy from the factory (don't recall anything in the books either at the time). Funny they went cheap with the A3000T.
-
My A3000T had a HD floppy and the 030 on the mb. Great machine. With a Retina card you were set for flicker free, hi-res goodness.
-
Hi
Hope you get it working just fine. Great machine.
Here is a picture of both of mine.
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/a_scuzz_nov26/a_scuzz_nov2005_265.jpg
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
-
@ scuzzb494
Everythings going fine.
I found almost all the hardware I needed.
Still missing the external scsi terminator
and the keys.
Michael
-
Hi
Well done... You are the proud owner of the greatest Amiga ever. Sadly also the last great Amiga. Everything after this became very confusing.
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
-
I have for quite awhile considered it the best Amiga ever also!
Dan
-
SACC-guy wrote:
@ scuzzb494
Everythings going fine.
I found almost all the hardware I needed.
Still missing the external scsi terminator
and the keys.
Michael
Do you have the feet ? I was lucky enough to get feet for both of mine. Not so lucky with the A4000T though not so bothered with that machine. Just out of interest what is the colour of your on off switch ?
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
-
dannyp1 wrote:
I have for quite awhile considered it the best Amiga ever also!
Dan
It was the culminating point of the original growth pattern of the Amiga, like the end branch line of development. Someone, somegroup obviously felt that the Amiga should go in a slightly different direction after this and there wasn't the same depth of thought given to any of what came after the A3000T. Not saying the route the A3000T was going was right, but at that time the Amiga did have a say in the development of computers so I guess we will never know.
Very important that we keep the living breathing A3000Ts still in existence alive. Not sure if the forum has a user base but would be nice to know how many are still running and or in store, and what the kit consists of. [ Same goes for all Amigas really ]
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
-
I have had my 3000T since my father bought it for me new in 91. Mine came with HD floppy. I used it daily until I shut down the bbs that was on it in oct 97. It sat in storage until last x-mas when I was home at my parents over the holidays and found it sitting in the attic. Since then I have replaced battery, added 3.1 roms, os3.9, mediator, voodoo3, ethernet card, cyberstormPPC, 128 megs ram, 68 gig seagate scsi HD, completed int2 hack to use PPC and cyberstorm scsi. It is once again being used daily!
-
Metalguy66 wrote:
No it did not come with a hi-density floppy.
If any A3000Ts were sold with 1.76meg floppys, that would have been a dealer-installed item. HD floppies did not become commonly available until the A4000/A1200 era.
There were two floppy drives for the A3000 and A3000Ts. The A3010(880K DD) A3015HD(1.76MB HD)
I don't know for sure, but I was always under the impression that "most" A3000s and A3000Ts came with hi-density floppies since 1990.
At any rate HD floppies were around as long before the A4000/1200 era, and I don't think they were common then either as Commodore made, what I think was "just another bad decision" back then, releasin brand new AGA machines (A4000 and A1200) one with HD floppy and one with DD. To me this made no sense. I mean if they had just put an HD flopppy standard in the A1200, then AGA only software could have been on HD disks. An AGA demo could have been on a 1.76mb disk and you would know it would work on all AGA machine. No need to worry about OCS with DD as it's an "AGA" demo. But no, we still got AGA only software on DD disks, because only half of the machines had HD. Dumb. So the HD in your A4000 was relegate to transfering files from your PC. Fun....
But a A3000T with an HD floppy I highly doubt would have been a dealer-installed item (unless you got a second drive installed or something) it probably was just a standard A3015.
-
I think the A1200 not having a HD drive was nothing more than a cost cutting move. They were trying to make the A1200 the new C-64 and wanted it affordable to the masses.
Dan
-
@ scuzzb494
Yes, the feet were on the machine.
The on/off switch is wht/beige.
Michael
-
dannyp1 wrote:
I think the A1200 not having a HD drive was nothing more than a cost cutting move. They were trying to make the A1200 the new C-64 and wanted it affordable to the masses.
Dan
I insisted that when I bought my A1200 it came with the massive 80MB hard drive... Took me a while to fill then I went 350MB .. which cost me £350. Still in the 1200 and working fine. Nothing changes though, may as well be 80GB to 350GB in the current market and fills about the same speed. Except with the Amiga I really could completely fill the drive and it would work just fine.
Happy days.
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
-
More questions
are the 5 1/4 rails special? what I have won't lock in.
I would like to get the 3 button pregnant mouse and the
commodore ext scsi terminator.
update
I got a 3000 keyboard (has short cable) and a 2 button pregnant mouse (also short cable) and am waiting for the manual.
Should I get a 3640 card?
I'll have this just like new soon! (yeah)
Michael
-
I haven't been able to find a source for any of the A3000T rails. I've been forced to fudge around to make something work. Does anyone know where these rails can be obtained?
Dan