Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: AmigaBruno on April 16, 2013, 10:37:27 PM
-
I've just bought a GVP HD8+ hard drive from eBay for my Amiga A500 Plus. According to the eBay listing this has a 42Mb hard drive fitted, but no RAM is included,
Obviously, I could probably fit a larger hard drive, or even a second hand drive to this unit. What kinds of hard drives are compatible?
According to the details on http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/impact500mk2 , this unit will accept up to 8Mb of RAM, but I felt I should check on here exactly what types of RAM are compatible. I seem to remember that 9Mb RAM is the limit for an Amiga A500 Plus. Where is this RAM available fairly cheaply?
-
According to the details on http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/impact500mk2 , this unit will accept up to 8Mb of RAM, but I felt I should check on here exactly what types of RAM are compatible. I seem to remember that 9Mb RAM is the limit for an Amiga A500 Plus. Where is this RAM available fairly cheaply?
Congrats :-) The 500 plus has 2MB chip RAM and you can have up to 8MB Fast RAM.
You can then get an accelerator and as long as it's ram is in the 32bit space the sky is the limit when it comes to RAM.
With accelerator's you do have to be careful that they will work with some sidecar expansions so it's worth a google before getting one.
The GVP you have supports SCSI drives, I'd buy a mechware SCSI card reader and then you can use CF Cards for your HDD which makes it really easy to setup under WinUAE on your PC :-)
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_79&products_id=243
With your GVP it supports up to 8MB and has 4 x 30 pin SIMM sockets so I'd get 4 x 2MB 30 pin SIMM's which would give you the max 8MB RAM.
-
I have the same controller on my A500+, and second the SCSI card reader from Mechware. I also have an external CD-RW connected to mine. It works great. If I am not mistaken, the A500 HD+8 uses the 30 pin simms. I have 8 meg in mine, which is the max, using 4 2 meg simms. I have several 1 meg simms, however, with the 1 meg simms, you can only have 4 meg, as there are only 4 simm slots. The 1 meg simms are pretty common. I bought the ones I have on ebay, they were 4 1meg simms for like $13, so not bad. The 2 meg ones would give you more ram, but are not as common, at least not as I have seen on ebay. Also, If I am not mistaken, the A500+ only has 1 meg of chip ram. Mine has 1 meg, and with the trapdoor 512K module plugged in, has 1.5 meg of chip ram. At least that is how mine is set up.
-
I have 2 x 4mb modules in mine and it is reported as 8mb total ;)
-
I have 2 x 4mb modules in mine and it is reported as 8mb total ;)
Come to think of it, that is what I have in mine as well. :rofl: I guess I am just nutso, so please don't listen to me, just kidding. Seriously, though, that is the way mine is set up, not the 4 2 meg chips like I said. I had a brain f@rt. I think 8 meg is still the max, though. I'm glad some people on here know what they are talking about, as I obviously am nuts. :biglaugh:
-
Yes 2 x 4mb would work also, but you still get stuck at 8MB.
-
I've just bought a GVP HD8+ hard drive from eBay for my Amiga A500 Plus. According to the eBay listing this has a 42Mb hard drive fitted, but no RAM is included,
Obviously, I could probably fit a larger hard drive, or even a second hand drive to this unit. What kinds of hard drives are compatible?
According to the details on http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/impact500mk2 , this unit will accept up to 8Mb of RAM, but I felt I should check on here exactly what types of RAM are compatible. I seem to remember that 9Mb RAM is the limit for an Amiga A500 Plus. Where is this RAM available fairly cheaply?
just for curiosity
how many $$ you payed for ur GVP unit?
-
I know you were asking bruno, but thought you might be interested, I have 2 of them, and I think I paid around $80 each for mine. I caught them on a 'buy it now' when they were just listed.
-
I have the same controller on my A500+, and second the SCSI card reader from Mechware. I also have an external CD-RW connected to mine. It works great. If I am not mistaken, the A500 HD+8 uses the 30 pin simms. I have 8 meg in mine, which is the max, using 4 2 meg simms. I have several 1 meg simms, however, with the 1 meg simms, you can only have 4 meg, as there are only 4 simm slots. The 1 meg simms are pretty common. I bought the ones I have on ebay, they were 4 1meg simms for like $13, so not bad. The 2 meg ones would give you more ram, but are not as common, at least not as I have seen on ebay. Also, If I am not mistaken, the A500+ only has 1 meg of chip ram. Mine has 1 meg, and with the trapdoor 512K module plugged in, has 1.5 meg of chip ram. At least that is how mine is set up.
I've had a look at this SCSI card reader on your link as well as others in this topic, but I don't know how to fit it. I could be confused because it looks like it should be external, but the only place to put it may be inside the GVP case I've just bought. I know that I need 30 pin SIMMS, which I think can only be either 1Mb, or 4Mb each, but the time or refresh rate is also important and I may need to make sure exactly which model I've bought before choosing any. The eBay seller says he has no suitable RAM chips for this unit at the moment. The A500 Plus has the "obese Agnus" which can have 2Mb chip RAM. If you plug in a full 1Mb trapdoor upgrade such as the A502 (not A501 or compatible 512K expansion) or compatible unit (not many are available) then this brings it up to 2Mb chip RAM, but I don't know if any RAM fitted elsewhere would be counted as chip RAM.
I'm really amazed that you can plug in an external CD-RW drive to this unit! Please tell me what kinds of CD drives are compatible. This purchase will let me experience a whole new side to the classic Amiga, which I never went through before without a hard drive, any more RAM than 2Mb or a CD drive. I was persuaded to go the PC route to get online and set up a website. I got the PC on a year's credit, but when I checked recently in archived magazines I think I could have afforded the necessary upgrades to my A1200. I was also involved with a private club or association where they kept talking about PCs only and someone said to me "You don't really know about computers, only the Amiga!", but I had used other systems as well, including CP/M, other 8 bit computers, MS-DOS at a college and under an Amiga emulator, and MS Windows in cybercafes.
In the near future, I hope to get my ADF transfer kit working again, then my Amiga will be really flying with more games and applications, and I'll be creating more graphics, and programs! I hope to apply any knowledge I gain to Linux, AROS, and Aeros as well.
-
just for curiosity
how many $$ you payed for ur GVP unit?
I paid £70.01, including £10 for courier delivery. At the moment this is US$106.79.
I don't plan to buy any RAM chips for the moment, but the $80 mentioned earlier sounds quite expensive compared with some searches I've just done. One factor in the price may be the refresh rate or speed, given in ns. Does this GVP unit require an exact figure in ns for the RAM chips, or if it's higher or lower, would that work?
-
Bruno,
Congrats! It's a great controller. :) I took these pictures just a few days ago mainly to document how I'd mounted my VXL-30 along with Indivision ECS and MegaChip, but they show the GVP hard drive controller as well, which I've upgraded with 4.15 ROM ($10 from tjlazer on ebay), 4MB of 30-pin SIMMS ($10 on ebay), the MechWare card reader and 4GB CF card and "no PSU mod". Everything fits fine with a little jiggling, I still need to either fill where that slider switch was or cram it back in there on mine. But yes, everything fits and works great if you go with the card reader. :)
Also nearly any external CD drive should work, as long as you get the right cable. I got an external CD-RW drive for mine for $2 off ebay, but the 25-pin to 50-pin Centronics connector cable cost an extra $8! ;) Just FYI you may have to fiddle with the termination a bit if you go this route. Search out some of my previous threads and learn from my frustration, LOL. ;)
-
Also, If I am not mistaken, the A500+ only has 1 meg of chip ram. Mine has 1 meg, and with the trapdoor 512K module plugged in, has 1.5 meg of chip ram. At least that is how mine is set up.
For the A500+ you should get the 1MB trapdoor expansion (there's usually a ton of them for sale on ebay, look for ones that are specifically for "A500+"). This would give you the full 2MB. ;)
-
I don't plan to buy any RAM chips for the moment
If you change your mind PM me. I've got a couple spare 1MB chips that came out of mine when I upgraded to 4MB that you could have for the cost of shipping + 1 beer. ;)
Or hunt down a pair of 4MB chips on ebay, I see them all the time going for old Macs. ;)
-
I've had a look at this SCSI card reader on your link as well as others in this topic, but I don't know how to fit it. I could be confused because it looks like it should be external, but the only place to put it may be inside the GVP case I've just bought. I know that I need 30 pin SIMMS, which I think can only be either 1Mb, or 4Mb each, but the time or refresh rate is also important and I may need to make sure exactly which model I've bought before choosing any. The eBay seller says he has no suitable RAM chips for this unit at the moment. The A500 Plus has the "obese Agnus" which can have 2Mb chip RAM. If you plug in a full 1Mb trapdoor upgrade such as the A502 (not A501 or compatible 512K expansion) or compatible unit (not many are available) then this brings it up to 2Mb chip RAM, but I don't know if any RAM fitted elsewhere would be counted as chip RAM.
I'm really amazed that you can plug in an external CD-RW drive to this unit! Please tell me what kinds of CD drives are compatible. This purchase will let me experience a whole new side to the classic Amiga, which I never went through before without a hard drive, any more RAM than 2Mb or a CD drive. I was persuaded to go the PC route to get online and set up a website. I got the PC on a year's credit, but when I checked recently in archived magazines I think I could have afforded the necessary upgrades to my A1200. I was also involved with a private club or association where they kept talking about PCs only and someone said to me "You don't really know about computers, only the Amiga!", but I had used other systems as well, including CP/M, other 8 bit computers, MS-DOS at a college and under an Amiga emulator, and MS Windows in cybercafes.
In the near future, I hope to get my ADF transfer kit working again, then my Amiga will be really flying with more games and applications, and I'll be creating more graphics, and programs! I hope to apply any knowledge I gain to Linux, AROS, and Aeros as well.
What I did on mine, is took a longer SCSI cable, ran it out of the housing where the circuit board plugs into the A500+, along with a power extension. I layed the SCSI card reader on top of the external CD-RW that I have. Of course, you have the cable showing, but, it doesn't look bad at all. It works great. I am lucky enough to have an EPROM burner, so I downloaded the 4.15 ROM file, and upgraded the controller. I originally bought the EPROM burner to use for copying chips for car computers, but, have used it more on my vintage Amigas and Apple computers than I ever did for those.
-
If you change your mind PM me. I've got a couple spare 1MB chips that came out of mine when I upgraded to 4MB that you could have for the cost of shipping + 1 beer. ;)
Or hunt down a pair of 4MB chips on ebay, I see them all the time going for old Macs. ;)
That sounds great! I PMed you sometime last night my time, but I'm still waiting for your reply. Basically, I wanted to know how much money you want for "shipping +1 beer". BTW, I'm a home brewer and can give you some information about a fantastic new type of kit and my best results.
-
Unfortunately, it seems I've oinly got about 5Mb space left on this hard drive after installing a few programs such as Aztec C V5.06, Magic WB, and Deluxe Paint III, From what I can make out, Monkey Island 2: Lechuck's Revenge is taking up more space than anything else. It seems like a great game though, so I don't want to delete it.
I now think that I need to fit an extra or replacement drive to this unit. I wonder which hard drives are compatible. I think they would have to be either external with a DB25 connector or internal with a 50 pin SCSI connector. I think the maximum capacity is 4Gb, or that the maximum partition size is 4Gb. Can anyone suggest some suitable hard drives for this unit?
-
I have 4,4gb hard drive in my HD8+
You can always buy adapter wich allows you to use hard drives with other SCSI connectors.
There has been lots onf talk about HD8+ and hard drives in EAB. I belive that conlusion was that there is no limit with hard drives, but partitions has a 2gb limit
-
I would go with a SCSI card reader and use a compact flash for the hard drive. Easy to change to a different OS or whatever, by merely unplugging/plugging in a new flash card. Mechware has some great stuff. You could check with him to see if he has any more of the card readers.
-
I would go with a SCSI card reader and use a compact flash for the hard drive. Easy to change to a different OS or whatever, by merely unplugging/plugging in a new flash card. Mechware has some great stuff. You could check with him to see if he has any more of the card readers.
Unfortunately, it seems I can't afford any of the SCSI card readers from Mechware, but I'm working on some schemes to get some more money in the near future.
Meanwhile, I could run out of hard drive space in the next few days. I'm having problems with Manx Aztec C V5.05, which keeps generating error messages that it either can't find the input file, multiple input files have been specified, or it can't open stdio.h or stdarg.h. I've managed to turn one C source code file into an executable program, but I'm not sure how I did it. All the include files locations have been specified in the script the installer generated itself, called aztec.sh . Lattice C comes as 6 ADF images, but Manx Aztec C is only 4. Do I actually need to install all the 6 ADF images onto my hard drive?
As for compatible SCSI hard drives, I think the ones that would be compatible would be either internal 50 pin or external DB25 and low capacity in the Mb range, or certainly not over 4Gb. Am I right?
-
As for compatible SCSI hard drives, I think the ones that would be compatible would be either internal 50 pin or external DB25 and low capacity in the Mb range, or certainly not over 4Gb. Am I right?
Correct. You could use others (like IDE drives) but you'd need additional adapters for that. Capacity limits are based on what ROM version you have in the device. 4.15 is the latest, if you don't have that you can pick up a copy from tjlazah on ebay or amibay for $10. I believe it supports up to 4GB drives, with 2GB partitions. I wouldn't risk going any larger than that. There's also a GuruROM available but finding it is like hen's teeth!
More info here: http://babel.de/amiga.html
Amiga is an expensive hobby!! ;)
-
Unfortunately, it seems I can't afford any of the SCSI card readers from Mechware, but I'm working on some schemes to get some more money in the near future.
Meanwhile, I could run out of hard drive space in the next few days. I'm having problems with Manx Aztec C V5.05, which keeps generating error messages that it either can't find the input file, multiple input files have been specified, or it can't open stdio.h or stdarg.h. I've managed to turn one C source code file into an executable program, but I'm not sure how I did it. All the include files locations have been specified in the script the installer generated itself, called aztec.sh . Lattice C comes as 6 ADF images, but Manx Aztec C is only 4. Do I actually need to install all the 6 ADF images onto my hard drive?
As for compatible SCSI hard drives, I think the ones that would be compatible would be either internal 50 pin or external DB25 and low capacity in the Mb range, or certainly not over 4Gb. Am I right?
Unfortunately, I can also understand the 'not afford' part of it. You are not alone. ;)
-
Correct. You could use others (like IDE drives) but you'd need additional adapters for that. Capacity limits are based on what ROM version you have in the device. 4.15 is the latest, if you don't have that you can pick up a copy from tjlazah on ebay or amibay for $10. I believe it supports up to 4GB drives, with 2GB partitions. I wouldn't risk going any larger than that. There's also a GuruROM available but finding it is like hen's teeth!
More info here: http://babel.de/amiga.html
Amiga is an expensive hobby!! ;)
I'd already given up all hope of getting an IDE adaptor before I bought this. I'm afraid I don't know what ROM version is in this device. How can I find out?
Unfortunately, earlier today I had one failed boot from this drive when a requester popped up with the message "Not a DOS disk in drive dh0:", but it's only happened once so far. I've also checked my installation disk, but it appears on the Workbench as NDOS and won't boot up either.
I think the Amiga can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be. There's also the free bonanza of previously very expensive software, as well as lots of books and magazines converted into PDF files. This has saved me over £2,000 since I bought my Amiga A500 Plus just before Christmas last year!
BTW, I'm still waiting for a reply to my personal message to you. The message included some details about home brewing. This is Amiga related, because it improves the results you get while doing artwork, and I started doing home brewing when I had my original Amiga A500. You live about halfway between two suppliers of home brewing kits. One is in London.
-
Disaster! Only about 5 days after receiving this hard drive unit, it has now become unbootable! :cry:
I must have tried over 10 times just now to boot from it, after downloading a copy of SAS C, then transferring it to Amiga floppy disk. I was looking forward to installing it, then finding out if this would find the files it needs and actually work, when I realised that my hard drive was taking longer than usual to boot up. The power light and the hard drive access lights still come on and the extra RAM is still there, but eventually the Amiga displays the insert floppy disk boot screen. :furious:
Using X-Copy I've found that there are only a few sectors on the GVP installation floppy which aren't corrupt, so the disk can't be salvaged. I'll have a look round for some GVP software which may fix it. At the moment, drive dh0: doesn't register as being there at all!
I'll contact the seller on eBay to tell him that the drive has failed after only 5 days of normal use and I want him to do something about it.
-
Don't panic: The Install floppy is available here: http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/impact500mk2#s_impact500mk2
It's in DMS (Diskmasher) compression format. And it will fit on a 720k IBM format disk.
Cant really blame a 20yo hard drive for packing it in if that's what happened and its not the unit.. I've got a few spares here and I'd happily send them to you if you paid postage. But I'm guessing you're not in Australia.
-
Don't panic: The Install floppy is available here: http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/impact500mk2#s_impact500mk2
It's in DMS (Diskmasher) compression format. And it will fit on a 720k IBM format disk.
Cant really blame a 20yo hard drive for packing it in if that's what happened and its not the unit.. I've got a few spares here and I'd happily send them to you if you paid postage. But I'm guessing you're not in Australia.
There's a couple of problems with this. I've never used DMS format so far and do I have to copy it onto a 720K IBM format disk? I could use CrossDOS, which I've downloaded.
Of course, I can blame a 20yo hard drive for packing it in after 5 days, because I bought this item as used from eBay, meaning it should work for the time being, not fail after 5 days! I'm not sure what the time limit is, though.
I really want to salvage all the software and data on this hard drive if possible. I suppose all the software which was already installed is available online if I know where to look. It included some software supplied free with the Amiga by Escom/Amiga Technologies, including Wordworth, Digita Organiser, Turbocalc (with tutorials), a database program, Personal Paint, Monkey Island 2, and several smaller games probably written in AMOS, because AMOS system files such as RAMOS were included. The main data I've generated is a DPaint III graphic of a superhero type character which took several hours to draw, so I don't want to lose that.
I'm in London, UK. Your "few spares" offer sounds interesting, although you don't give any details. I've been having problems finding a compatible hard drive which I can afford. It took 12 days for a package to arrive here from Alaska, so I suppose a package from Australia would take longer. Please give me a description of what you're offering and tell me how much the postage would be.
Thanks for all your help.
-
I've told the eBay seller that this drive has failed after only 5 days. His reply is that he can't give any warranty on these old drives, but he's offered a replacement hard drive so long as I pay the postage. Unfortunately, I still don't know if I can salvage the software and my DPaint graphic from the failed drive.
Meanwhile, I'm watching a SCSI drive on eBay which is 3.5 inch, 50 pin, and measured in Mb, not Gb. This is for a reasonable price and more than one is available. I'm fairly sure this is compatible, although I'm not sure if the height will allow it to fit into the GVP unit. Does anyone know what height would be too high? I don't want to post a link to the listing on here in case that causes these drives to sell out without me buying one.
-
If the seller has a SCSI 50 pin replacement drive I'd take him up on it. Sounds like he's a reasonable chap/gal. No need to get into the rulings of what "used" means on ebay as its pretty cut and dry. Warrantee is a different thing.
I'd be verifying that the problem is with the drive though(If you aren't absolutely sure). Checking and re-seating the connections on the drive and the mainboard. (If you're ofay with that sort of thing), especially if you have stuff on it that you want off.
As to the IBM floppy transfer. Yes using cross dos or WB 2.1 or above (MD) will do it for you. With a single floppy it's going to be a challenge but not insurmountable. And there is lots of doco on the web and here on how to set up a cut down WB floppy and do the floppy shuffle. It used to be the only way in the late 80s. (This all assumes your floppy drive is good) And you have a good understanding of the Amiga and WB.
As to the hard disks I have I can't remember all of them. I have a 1.2GB Quantum FB, I know that, and one around 130MB and one around 50-80. I'd have to go out to the garage and pull down the containers and go through them. Postage to the UK is going to take around 12 days and I guess around $50 (30 pound uk) but you can check that online if your inclined to go ahead.
Yes the drive needs to be the standard 1 inch height. If you get the older double height it 'aint gonna fit.
Let me know if your interested. But I'd take the seller up on his offer once I'd verified the actual drive was faulty and not the unit.
-
If the seller has a SCSI 50 pin replacement drive I'd take him up on it. Sounds like he's a reasonable chap/gal. No need to get into the rulings of what "used" means on ebay as its pretty cut and dry. Warrantee is a different thing.
I'd be verifying that the problem is with the drive though(If you aren't absolutely sure). Checking and re-seating the connections on the drive and the mainboard. (If you're ofay with that sort of thing), especially if you have stuff on it that you want off.
As to the IBM floppy transfer. Yes using cross dos or WB 2.1 or above (MD) will do it for you. With a single floppy it's going to be a challenge but not insurmountable. And there is lots of doco on the web and here on how to set up a cut down WB floppy and do the floppy shuffle. It used to be the only way in the late 80s. (This all assumes your floppy drive is good) And you have a good understanding of the Amiga and WB.
As to the hard disks I have I can't remember all of them. I have a 1.2GB Quantum FB, I know that, and one around 130MB and one around 50-80. I'd have to go out to the garage and pull down the containers and go through them. Postage to the UK is going to take around 12 days and I guess around $50 (30 pound uk) but you can check that online if your inclined to go ahead.
Yes the drive needs to be the standard 1 inch height. If you get the older double height it 'aint gonna fit.
Let me know if your interested. But I'd take the seller up on his offer once I'd verified the actual drive was faulty and not the unit.
The seller hasn't said that it's a 50 pin SCSI drive, just that it's come out of an A1200, so I've asked him to confirm that it's a 50 pin SCSI not an IDE, or how I can use it with this unit. I'm worried in case this unit is requires a half height drive, but I get a full height or "1H" drive from somewhere. I have no actual measurements of what is meant by these terms. He seems to be an Amiga expert, so I assume there's an answer that will tell me how I can use it. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about electronics to verify that the problem is with the hard drive, not the rest of the unit. I recently bought an electronic projects kit and have been testing resistor values to build my first circuit. I suppose this means I could open up the GVP unit and check all the resistors to see if one has blown out. I don't think I know enough to check any other components, though.
I've been transferring ADF images onto Amiga floppies in df0: , so I can't help wondering why I should transfer anything onto an IMB/MS-DOS format 720K floppy disk. I think a better idea would be to convert the GVP installer software to ADF then transfer it to df0: . Is there a reason why I shouldn't? I hope I can then do something like an AmigaDOS install dh0: and see if that gets it up and running again.
Please check what spare hard drives you've got. So far, I haven't got a price for postage from the seller for a replacement hard drive. I have got a very reasonable price for a 50 pin SCSI hard drive, with a larger capacity than 42Mb, though. I hope that after receiving your information, as well as the seller's information and P&P, then I can make a decision about the best course of action in the next 1-2 days.
-
Yeah A1200 drives are IDE so that wont help.
Any 3.5" 50 pin scsi of standard 1.3" high (Half height not full height)will fit. There are different types like differential but these are rarer. Normal SCSI are hard to find but there should be millions in the UK.
I'll check the garage tonight. They all have OSs on them one has 2.1 I think which might help you out.
Checked Australia Post. Half a Kg to UK is $17.70 Air, $23.70 Registered Air(Tracking)
Ive got bubblewrap, a postpack hard envelope is about $3. I'm pretty sure they are under 500gm but with packaging it could go over. http://auspost.com.au/apps/international-parcel.html
You might think why does this guy even care, what's the scam?: Nothing, I love seeing Amigas come back to life.
Did you see this one, on UK ebay? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LT70S029-Quantum-SCSI-50pin-700MB-HDD-/260789595830?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item3cb8456eb6 55 UK Pounds (Refurb.) 700Mb is a nice size, and Quantums seem to go on forever. But the price is getting close to the price of a SCSI-Flash card adaptor. (which is a much better option BTW)
Looking at other ebay items they're bloody expensive.
-
Okay I had a look out back and I'm right out of parrots...... I got a slug!
Sorry just went all Monty Python there for a sec.
Seriously, I've got a 50MB, 105MB and 240Mb all Quantum Prodrive LPS. (made in Japan) These each weigh 450g.
I've also got a 1.1GB Quantum DSP3107L which is Malaysian made but it's 500g so the postage will be more.
The 2 Quantum Fireball 2.1GB units I' rather keep for myself.
So if your willing to pay the postage from Oz, around $25 (16GBP) with tracking and postpack. I'll bubble wrap your choice and send it to you. They all have 2.1 OS on them. I'm guessing your A500+ is std 2.1 ROM ?
I tested each drive on my A500/A590 for a little while and they work fine(apart from the standard SCSI HD whine. Arrh Compact Flash cards, so nice and quiet).
As with all old HDs all it takes is one drop and "crunch" paper weight. But the Quantums do head park and seem to be very resilient. IMO. No guarantees..
Anyway, let me know if you want me to send one over the water.
Cheers
-
Okay I had a look out back and I'm right out of parrots...... I got a slug!
Sorry just went all Monty Python there for a sec.
Seriously, I've got a 50MB, 105MB and 240Mb all Quantum Prodrive LPS. (made in Japan) These each weigh 450g.
I've also got a 1.1GB Quantum DSP3107L which is Malaysian made but it's 500g so the postage will be more.
The 2 Quantum Fireball 2.1GB units I' rather keep for myself.
So if your willing to pay the postage from Oz, around $25 (16GBP) with tracking and postpack. I'll bubble wrap your choice and send it to you. They all have 2.1 OS on them. I'm guessing your A500+ is std 2.1 ROM ?
I tested each drive on my A500/A590 for a little while and they work fine(apart from the standard SCSI HD whine. Arrh Compact Flash cards, so nice and quiet).
As with all old HDs all it takes is one drop and "crunch" paper weight. But the Quantums do head park and seem to be very resilient. IMO. No guarantees..
Anyway, let me know if you want me to send one over the water.
Cheers
Thanks for all this information! I know from recent investigations that although Amiga A1200s have internal IDE interfaces, they're sometimes fitted with adaptors to take SCSI drives. I wanted to send you a PM to ask you if a certain SCSI hard drive was compatible, but it seems I can't PM you through this site, only through messagers I don't use, or at least using another identity. This drive seems such a bargain they may sell out if I post the link on here. Out of your offered drives, the Quantum 240Mb sounds best. A$25/|£16 is fine. The only problem is waiting 12 days or longer for it to arrive. My ROM is Kickstart 37.175 , the standard for the A500 Plus. The eBay seller has an eBay shop, has made loads of sales and I've bought from him before, so I know he's OK and an Amiga expert. I may buy the bargain SCSI drive, then the 240Mb one from you later. I'll wait and see what the eBay seller tells me about what drives he has available.
-
NP, The reason they are free is because I've moved to SCSI-Flash Card adaptors and I can't see myself going back. But I haven't cut any holes in my stuff. That would be convenience at too great a cost. If you are looking at buying multiple drives for capacity and transportability Id suggest the same as Oldsmobile_Mike.
They're quiet, Cool(As in temp), fast and relatively cheap.
Enjoy the journey, remember it's just as much fun as the destination.
-
If I could offer any help or perhaps an alternative I would recommend the following -
4.3GB Fujistu SCA80 £9.99 inc delivery (eBay.co.uk BIN)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Fujitsu-MAB3045SC-4-3GB-80-pin-SCSI-Hard-Disk-Drive-CA01606-B37300LT-/00/s/MzQ5WDMwMA==/$(KGrHqJ,!gwE+26ejT2fBQIO2VFkhw~~60_12.JPG) (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fujitsu-MAB3045SC-4-3GB-80-pin-SCSI-Hard-Disk-Drive-CA01606-B37300LT-/360478872408?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item53ee371358)
and this adaptor
50 /68 / 80 SCA SCSI adaptor £2.69 including postage (eBay.co.uk BIN)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/SCA-80-to-50-68-PIN-ULTRA-SCSI-II-III-LVD-SE-ADAPTER-/00/s/NTAwWDUwMA==/$(KGrHqNHJCcE8ffeUbpUBPM0NvL14Q~~60_12.JPG) (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCA-80-to-50-68-PIN-ULTRA-SCSI-II-III-LVD-SE-ADAPTER-/200688586608?pt=UK_Computing_Drive_Cables_Adapters&hash=item2eb9f8cf70)
This combination works for me on my GVP HC8 and HD500 setups. It also works on my GVP Combi 040 and A590.
Limitations
I have done a lot of setups using the GVP based devices and I have noted some limitations - as to why they are they I am unsure.
While the GVP HC8 can find pretty much any properly terminated device on the SCSI chain, I have found a limitation of use to 3.67GB of storage (without a Guru ROM)
I have found that should I have say a partition setup outside a 3.67GB area it is not mounted and unusable. If I have a partition that spans past this 3.67GB barrier most of the time its not mounted (and unusable) but on the very odd occasion that it is all writing to that partition is corrupted.
I have tested this under FFS / SFS and NSD - (have not tested this with PFS3)
On my A590 however (using SFS / NSD and Version 7 ROM a full 8.1GB HDD works flawlessly)
If you are ever to buy a SCS HDD, remember to ensure that it is LVD and or SE - do not buy HVD based SCSI drive as this simply will not work for you.
-
If I could offer any help or perhaps an alternative I would recommend the following .....
and this adaptor
..
..
This combination works for me on my GVP HC8 and HD500 setups. It also works on my GVP Combi 040 and A590.
Limitations
I have done a lot of setups using the GVP based devices and I have noted some limitations - as to why they are they I am unsure.
While the GVP HC8 can find pretty much any properly terminated device on the SCSI chain, I have found a limitation of use to 3.67GB of storage (without a Guru ROM)
I have found that should I have say a partition setup outside a 3.67GB area it is not mounted and unusable. If I have a partition that spans past this 3.67GB barrier most of the time its not mounted (and unusable) but on the very odd occasion that it is all writing to that partition is corrupted.
I have tested this under FFS / SFS and NSD - (have not tested this with PFS3)
On my A590 however (using SFS / NSD and Version 7 ROM a full 8.1GB HDD works flawlessly)
If you are ever to buy a SCS HDD, remember to ensure that it is LVD and or SE - do not buy HVD based SCSI drive as this simply will not work for you.
Well done Zetr0. There had to be someone in the UK that could help out. I only just realised that Mechware is out of SCSI-Flash Card adaptors. Options evaporating.
Thanks for the Low Voltage Differential (LVD) / Single ended (SE) tip. I've actually got one of those adaptors but packed it away when I couldn't get it to work with a 9GB drive from a Compaq Server enclosure. Will have to review it for an external enclosure I have.
Much cheaper local option AmigaBruno.
-
While the GVP HC8 can find pretty much any properly terminated device on the SCSI chain, I have found a limitation of use to 3.67GB of storage (without a Guru ROM)
Random question - you don't happen to know of any sources for a Guru ROM, do you? ;)
-
I only just realised that Mechware is out of SCSI-Flash Card adaptors.
He's out of the more commonly used type, but does have plenty of PCD-60B's available, which is what I'm using in my GVP sidecar case. Had to remove the faceplate and top cover (both just pop off) to get it to fit, but she does fit in there. ;)
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_79&products_id=250
-
He's out of the more commonly used type, but does have plenty of PCD-60B's available, which is what I'm using in my GVP sidecar case. Had to remove the faceplate and top cover (both just pop off) to get it to fit, but she does fit in there. ;)
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_79&products_id=250
95 Dollar. I suppose that's what you pay for hens teeth.
-
Reasonable enough compared to the cost of most Amiga things these days. :-\
-
Reasonable enough compared to the cost of most Amiga things these days. :-\
Absolutely agree. Mechy stands behind his gear, and has great support. Worth every penny. I have bought from him many times, and have never been disappointed.
-
If I could offer any help or perhaps an alternative I would recommend the following -
4.3GB Fujistu SCA80 £9.99 inc delivery (eBay.co.uk BIN)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Fujitsu-MAB3045SC-4-3GB-80-pin-SCSI-Hard-Disk-Drive-CA01606-B37300LT-/00/s/MzQ5WDMwMA==/$(KGrHqJ,!gwE+26ejT2fBQIO2VFkhw~~60_12.JPG) (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fujitsu-MAB3045SC-4-3GB-80-pin-SCSI-Hard-Disk-Drive-CA01606-B37300LT-/360478872408?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item53ee371358)
and this adaptor
50 /68 / 80 SCA SCSI adaptor £2.69 including postage (eBay.co.uk BIN)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/SCA-80-to-50-68-PIN-ULTRA-SCSI-II-III-LVD-SE-ADAPTER-/00/s/NTAwWDUwMA==/$(KGrHqNHJCcE8ffeUbpUBPM0NvL14Q~~60_12.JPG) (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCA-80-to-50-68-PIN-ULTRA-SCSI-II-III-LVD-SE-ADAPTER-/200688586608?pt=UK_Computing_Drive_Cables_Adapters&hash=item2eb9f8cf70)
This combination works for me on my GVP HC8 and HD500 setups. It also works on my GVP Combi 040 and A590.
Limitations
I have done a lot of setups using the GVP based devices and I have noted some limitations - as to why they are they I am unsure.
While the GVP HC8 can find pretty much any properly terminated device on the SCSI chain, I have found a limitation of use to 3.67GB of storage (without a Guru ROM)
I have found that should I have say a partition setup outside a 3.67GB area it is not mounted and unusable. If I have a partition that spans past this 3.67GB barrier most of the time its not mounted (and unusable) but on the very odd occasion that it is all writing to that partition is corrupted.
I have tested this under FFS / SFS and NSD - (have not tested this with PFS3)
On my A590 however (using SFS / NSD and Version 7 ROM a full 8.1GB HDD works flawlessly)
If you are ever to buy a SCS HDD, remember to ensure that it is LVD and or SE - do not buy HVD based SCSI drive as this simply will not work for you.
OK, thanks. This drive seems to be the largest size allowed with the Amiga, or perhaps it needs to be formatted as two partitions of 2Gb each. My Kickstart ROM is 37.175 or 2.0 , so I can't run Workbench 3.X at the moment. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about or may never even have heard of SFS or NSD. I suppose they're systems for more advanced Amigas than I'm used to. I'm afraid I have no real idea what you're talking about in the third paragraph under the heading "Limitations" which starts "I have found that...", but it sounds like some kind of error caused by having a drive which is larger than the designers of the A500 and A500 Plus imagined ever being used with those computers.
I've copied and run the GVP installer software, which only mentions AmigaDOS and FFS formats. More details of what I discovered with this software in a separate post. I've also unscrewed and looked at the whole unit, but not tested it with a multimeter yet.
The bargain SCSI 50 pin hard drives I found are still available on eBay. There are still 10 units available, meaning no more have been sold so I've decided to post the link on here so that people can tell me whether or not these are compatible with my GVP SCSI unit. They're 80Mb, so the designers of this hardware should have imagined that people may upgrade to that capacity so I doubt it would cause problems by being too big. I'll be watching this and will buy one if they're about to sell out. I hope that someone tells me whether or not they're compatible before then. I was trying to work out if they're too high to fit in the GVP case.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170986450162?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
Unfortunately, I don't know about the different types of hard drives mentioned in your final paragraph.
-
@AmigaBruno
Hello there, my apologies for perhaps confusing you with detail, I will try and clear this up for you. but first if I may, I would not recommend those 80MB SCSI HDD's at that price - it is also touch and go if it fitted within the GVP HD8+ casing. To be sincerely honest, I would sooner send you a prepared one for postage cost before I let you suffer those prices.
I should also mention that POWER is very important here, the original GVP A500HD8+ provides 4amps on the +5 rail buy ONLY 0.5amps on the +12v rail. if you try to run a HDD that requires more +12 volt power (like newer SCSI drives) you will destroy the PSU.
Please check your GVP Power Supply, if you are unsure - just take a picture and post it here I am sure either I or a fellow member can help.
_____________________
Now, In ALL my experiments the GVP controller (without GURU-ROM) appears limited to only being able to access 3.67GB of data storage. It can see larger drives and with HDToolsBox you can even create partitions - however any partition that is outside the first 3.67GB does not mount, nor does any partition that spans past this amount.
I.e. Partition HD3: size of [ 1.1GB ] starting at 3GB to 4.1GB spans past this 3.67GB clipping area. I am unsure why, I have been informed that this should not be, however I have tried many disks and many GVP controllers and the above holds true for the following -
Geforce - 040 / Combi 040
Impact A2000 HC
Impact A2000 HC Series II
Impact A2000 HC+8 Series II
Impact A500 HD8+ Series II
I have tried the above on various A2000 / A4000 motherboards as well as an A3000 motherboard.
Now, this isn't a problem, after all one could have a couple of disks and that should easily be most Amiga software published - most certainly all of the best software.
That aside, its very easy to set up a large hard disk to only use the first 3.67GB of space. I would be more than happy to help you - it maybe daunting at first - but once you get the hang of it - it truly is easy.
_____________________
Now, FFS or Fast File System (available with KS2.x) can partition up to 4GB of data in one fat chunk however with the GVP controller this can cause problems, so I would suggest perhaps two or three partitions something like
DH0: 512MB (System) - Workbench Install
DH1: 2.1GB (Games)
DH2: 1GB (Work)
This will certainly give you a great start to getting the most from your A500. I purchased a couple of PC SCSI cards so I could prepare HardDisks on my PC under WinUAE - its much MUCH quicker - if you would like I can help you with your hard-disk.
_____________________
Now a little more information that I think will help you.
SFS - Smart File System
This allows for VERY large partition, 128GB I believe, it also requires a minimum 020 processor - however CPU aside it is 20% faster access than FFS.
PFS3 - Professional File System 3
Now open source (for the most part) PFS3 supports larger Hard Disks as well as large Partition sizes (about 100GB) - it also has optimizations for stock 68000 CPU's all the way up to 040 and 060 processors. Like SFS, PFS3 also provides a speed boost in both accessing the device and transferring data. However this increase is down to the controller, the device and the CPU of the host system.
NSD - New Style Device
This is an older method now - however a lot of devices support this interface (some by a little hacking) to allow direct commands to the device. this allows for larger disk sizes to be supported.
There, I hope that helps, if there is anything thats too complicated or you would like more detail on, please just ask =)
-
I've downloaded a copy of the GVP installation software, converted it from DMS to ADF format, then copied it across to my Amiga onto a floppy disk in df0: . I took some notes, but not all that detailed. Here are the results.
Throughout all my attempts to use GVP Fastprep and GVP Expertprep, I found that my GVP unit and/or hard drive was listed as SCSI device 6 and a Quantum hard drive of 0Mb capacity. AmigaDOS and Workbench fail to recognise that there is any device dh0: .
I thought I may have lost all the data on my hard drive, and it was totally corrupted, so the only way to use it again was to format it. Most of, or nearly all of the options are ghosted.
The error messages I've had include the following.
This setup is illegal. All partitions must have at least one cylinder! Try again.
Mounting volume DH0:
Formatting volume DH0:
An error occured during AmigaDOS format. AmigaDOS format failed!
I thought I'd made some more notes, but I haven't. I'll go through this procedure again soon, but just from memory, here's what else happened.
I think the Fastprep and/or Expertprep software detected a ROM and which version the ROM was.
There's another program, which I think is called GVPScsiCtrl, which I ran from the Shell. The options include -m to mount a device and -r to rescan for devices not detected at startup. When I typed -r the hard drive read light came on, but nothing else happened.
That's all I can tell you at the moment. I'll run this software again in the next couple of hours and take some more detailed notes. It seems that a component in the GVP unit may have failed, which somehow allows the hard drive read light to come on, but prevents the drive from being read. All I can do is check the resistors. I know someone who can repair electronic devices, including laptops and notebooks and is a member of a group which gives free advice and free repairs. Another member of the group is an Amiga enthusiast who owns three A1200s. He recently visited me with someone else to help me get my flat reorganised and tidied up. I pointed out the Amiga, which had floppy disks covering up the name Amiga and asked if he knew the name of it, which he did. In that case, perhaps he can help repair the GVP unit. I'll let you know.
-
@AmigaBruno
Hello there, my apologies for perhaps confusing you with detail, I will try and clear this up for you. but first if I may, I would not recommend those 80MB SCSI HDD's at that price - it is also touch and go if it fitted within the GVP HD8+ casing. To be sincerely honest, I would sooner send you a prepared one for postage cost before I let you suffer those prices.
I should also mention that POWER is very important here, the original GVP A500HD8+ provides 4amps on the +5 rail buy ONLY 0.5amps on the +12v rail. if you try to run a HDD that requires more +12 volt power (like newer SCSI drives) you will destroy the PSU.
Please check your GVP Power Supply, if you are unsure - just take a picture and post it here I am sure either I or a fellow member can help.
_____________________
Now, In ALL my experiments the GVP controller (without GURU-ROM) appears limited to only being able to access 3.67GB of data storage. It can see larger drives and with HDToolsBox you can even create partitions - however any partition that is outside the first 3.67GB does not mount, nor does any partition that spans past this amount.
I.e. Partition HD3: size of [ 1.1GB ] starting at 3GB to 4.1GB spans past this 3.67GB clipping area. I am unsure why, I have been informed that this should not be, however I have tried many disks and many GVP controllers and the above holds true for the following -
Geforce - 040 / Combi 040
Impact A2000 HC
Impact A2000 HC Series II
Impact A2000 HC+8 Series II
Impact A500 HD8+ Series II
I have tried the above on various A2000 / A4000 motherboards as well as an A3000 motherboard.
Now, this isn't a problem, after all one could have a couple of disks and that should easily be most Amiga software published - most certainly all of the best software.
That aside, its very easy to set up a large hard disk to only use the first 3.67GB of space. I would be more than happy to help you - it maybe daunting at first - but once you get the hang of it - it truly is easy.
_____________________
Now, FFS or Fast File System (available with KS2.x) can partition up to 4GB of data in one fat chunk however with the GVP controller this can cause problems, so I would suggest perhaps two or three partitions something like
DH0: 512MB (System) - Workbench Install
DH1: 2.1GB (Games)
DH2: 1GB (Work)
This will certainly give you a great start to getting the most from your A500. I purchased a couple of PC SCSI cards so I could prepare HardDisks on my PC under WinUAE - its much MUCH quicker - if you would like I can help you with your hard-disk.
_____________________
Now a little more information that I think will help you.
SFS - Smart File System
This allows for VERY large partition, 128GB I believe, it also requires a minimum 020 processor - however CPU aside it is 20% faster access than FFS.
PFS3 - Professional File System 3
Now open source (for the most part) PFS3 supports larger Hard Disks as well as large Partition sizes (about 100GB) - it also has optimizations for stock 68000 CPU's all the way up to 040 and 060 processors. Like SFS, PFS3 also provides a speed boost in both accessing the device and transferring data. However this increase is down to the controller, the device and the CPU of the host system.
NSD - New Style Device
This is an older method now - however a lot of devices support this interface (some by a little hacking) to allow direct commands to the device. this allows for larger disk sizes to be supported.
There, I hope that helps, if there is anything thats too complicated or you would like more detail on, please just ask =)
I think that what's good about the 80Mb SCSI hard drive I posted the link to is that it's old, but unused, the price is only £15, and postage is free. This is compared to other hard drives costing more, with a classic Mac OS installed, and where the postage is about as much, or even more than the hard drive itself. If you search for "SCSI hard drive 50 pin Mb", then you'll see what I mean. Thanks for your offer of a prepared hard drive for postage only. How much?
My GVP power supply details as printed on the sticky label are as follows.
DVE switching power supply
Model No. DSA1502
Input 100-250V
47-63Hz 0.32A
Output +5V 2A
+12V 0.5A
I hope this tells you something.
-
@AmigaBruno
Hello there, looking at the specification of you PSU (its identical to mine)
5volts at 2amps
12 volts at 0.5 amps
This sadly reduces the options available for what Hard-Disks you can use. So before you buy make sure you ask the seller what power requirements the device has - should that they exceed either 5 volt or 12 amperage - then you should avoid these devices.
I would be happy to prepare you a 4.1GB Viking - free just the cost of postage which would be under a £5 for shipping within the UK. I could possibly throw in a spare SCA80 adapter as well for cost - i.e. you can just refund me the ebay price for a new one.
I will say that the Drive I have here requires more amps on the +12 volt so might not be good for you at the moment - alternatively you could look at upgrading your GVP A500HD8 power supply to an ATX or mATX PSU.
(http://s6.postimg.org/3zbk6s8j5/GVP_A500_HD.png) (http://postimage.org/)
This is the pin-out for the GVP A500HD8+ Power Supply / Cable, if you have a few moments with a soldering iron - one can easily interface this with an ATX or mATX power supply.
I hope that helps.
-
@AmigaBruno
Hello there, looking at the specification of you PSU (its identical to mine)
5volts at 2amps
12 volts at 0.5 amps
This sadly reduces the options available for what Hard-Disks you can use. So before you buy make sure you ask the seller what power requirements the device has - should that they exceed either 5 volt or 12 amperage - then you should avoid these devices.
I would be happy to prepare you a 4.1GB Viking - free just the cost of postage which would be under a £5 for shipping within the UK. I could possibly throw in a spare SCA80 adapter as well for cost - i.e. you can just refund me the ebay price for a new one.
I will say that the Drive I have here requires more amps on the +12 volt so might not be good for you at the moment - alternatively you could look at upgrading your GVP A500HD8 power supply to an ATX or mATX PSU.
(http://s6.postimg.org/3zbk6s8j5/GVP_A500_HD.png) (http://postimage.org/)
This is the pin-out for the GVP A500HD8+ Power Supply / Cable, if you have a few moments with a soldering iron - one can easily interface this with an ATX or mATX power supply.
I hope that helps.
Well, I'm a bit confused by this offer now. Before I post details of some more error messages and readings from the GVP software at the end of this message, I need to ask you a couple of questions. First of all, you say that your PSU for your GVP unit is the same as mine. You have offered me a 4.1Gb Viking hard drive for just the cost of postage, which you say is £5 or less. Unfortunately, I also need an SCA80 adaptor, because it hasn't got a 50 pin connector. You don't say how much this will cost me, though. Here's one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCSI-SCA-80-Pin-F-to-50-Pin-M-Internal-Adapter-K-/320597027825?pt=UK_Computing_Drive_Cables_Adapters&hash=item4aa5126bf1 and here's another one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCSI-SCA-80-Pin-F-to-50-Pin-M-Internal-Adapter-/330436901004?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item4cef92f88c , but I don't know if either of them is compatible. You then go on to say that "the Drive I have here requires more amps on the +12 volt", so it might not work unless I upgrade my PSU to an ATX or mATX PSU, but you don't say how much it would cost to buy or adapt one which is compatible with this unit. How much? I feel I've already spent about enough on this thing, which only worked for 5 days and caused some hardship. It's starting to look like a bottomless pit which could just cost me more and more money.
As for the GVP installation software, here are some more error messages and data.
FastPrep says "This drive was prepped under the old system which wasn't correct! Do you want to Re-Prep it?"
ExpertPrep gives the following details on Page2
Hard Disk Drive Info
Name: QUANTUM
Size: 0Mb
ID/Rev: CTS40S 3.09
I'm not sure what all of this means, but I think that to sum up, something is being detected while something else isn't. This may indicate that a particular component has blown out. This component could cost next to nothing, then my main expense would be a soldering iron and solder. I would then have access to all my hard drive data again, so long as I haven't accidentally wiped it when I tried to reformat, but didn't get any messages that the format had failed. Earlier on, I did get messages saying that it couldn't format the hard drive.
-
@AmigaBruno
I am sorry to confuse you - sadly I have a lot of data in my head that I try to make easy to read - sadly I fail sometimes.
1. I have a spare 4.1GB Viking SCSI hard disk.
2. This Hard Disk has an SCA80 connector - thus needs an adaptor to work with the GVP
3. I *may* have a spare SCA80 to SCA50 / SCA68 that you can have - but I would like a replacement for it. The SCA adaptor I linked to above is the same adaptor and would suffice as a replacement.
4. I would be happy to prepare this Hard Disk for you and you can have it free - just the cost of postage - which in the UK is £5
5. To use larger / newer Hard Disks you will most likely need to upgrade your GVP A500HD power supply - as newer drives use more amps on the +12volt line and your PSU wont be able to supply that demand.
Alternatively
I have here a 200MB or so 50 pin SCSI hard Disk that I have just retrieved from storage - it came out of my other GVP A500HD. it is already configured for Workbench 2.0. You would be welcome to this for the cost of postage - again about £5.
-
@AmigaBruno
I am sorry to confuse you - sadly I have a lot of data in my head that I try to make easy to read - sadly I fail sometimes.
1. I have a spare 4.1GB Viking SCSI hard disk.
2. This Hard Disk has an SCA80 connector - thus needs an adaptor to work with the GVP
3. I *may* have a spare SCA80 to SCA50 / SCA68 that you can have - but I would like a replacement for it. The SCA adaptor I linked to above is the same adaptor and would suffice as a replacement.
4. I would be happy to prepare this Hard Disk for you and you can have it free - just the cost of postage - which in the UK is £5
5. To use larger / newer Hard Disks you will most likely need to upgrade your GVP A500HD power supply - as newer drives use more amps on the +12volt line and your PSU wont be able to supply that demand.
Alternatively
I have here a 200MB or so 50 pin SCSI hard Disk that I have just retrieved from storage - it came out of my other GVP A500HD. it is already configured for Workbench 2.0. You would be welcome to this for the cost of postage - again about £5.
OK, now we're getting somewhere! Unfortunately, I need to ask you about point 5. which is "To use larger / newer Hard Disks you will most likely need to upgrade your GVP A500HD power supply - as newer drives use more amps on the +12volt line and your PSU wont be able to supply that demand". Does this refer to the Viking 4.1Gb hard disk which you're offering me? If so, would I need the following device, possibly with an adaptor or new plug spliced onto it http://www.vesalia.de/d_mstechmsn750val.htm ? It doesn't matter if you don't understand the German description, what does matter is the price of EUR43.99. As for the offer under "Alternatively", that sounds like a much better bet, because I already know that it's compatible with my unit. The £5 sounds like a bargain, or at least money I can afford to waste after spending £70.01 on this unit 2 weeks ago.
Please can you tell me anything about the error messages I listed in my last post? What do they indicate?
-
There is way too many new comments on this post for me to follow, but just a couple quick thoughts:
- I haven't had any problems using a 4GB CF card on mine. It's partitioned 300MB OS/1.8GB Work/1.8GB Games. Always keep partitions under 2GB if using FFS. Haven't had any issues that would limit me to 3.67GB, but I believe without the GuruROM you're limited to using a total drive capacity of 4GB or less.
- Since I bought my unit from Europe and was never able to find a North American power supply, I modified it using the instructions on this page:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~davem2/overclock/a500hd.html
to draw power from the A500's internal connector. This worked fine for both the 80MB drive my unit came with and my MechWare SCSI card reader. I wouldn't try to run a newer, more power hungry drive this way, however. Maybe one that's slower though (5400 RPM) as opposed to 7200 RPM might work. Same thing if you're using the GVP power supply - try to stick to a less power-hungry drive like Zetr0 says, or a CF card.
- You can find out your ROM version by looking at the GVP motherboard. It's the only socketed chip on the board and should have a sticker on the top. Alternatively I believe SysInfo reports the ROM version, as well.
- I don't recall what version of HDToolbox works with Workbench 2.0, but again my .02 cents is to upgrade to 3.1 (ROM is about $15 on ebay or AmigaKit, disks can be downloaded from lots of places). I found the 3.1 HDToolbox much easier and more intuitive to use than the GVP ExpertPrep/FaaastPrep utility.
Good luck!
-
@AmigaBruno
OK, now we're getting somewhere! Unfortunately, I need to ask you about point 5.
"To use larger / newer Hard Disks you will most likely need to upgrade your GVP A500HD power supply - as newer drives use more amps on the +12volt line and your PSU wont be able to supply that demand".
Does this refer to the Viking 4.1Gb hard disk which you're offering me?
Yes the Viking 4.1GB HDD that I have offered requires more power than the standard GVP A500HD Power Supply can provide.
If so, would I need the following device, possibly with an adaptor or new plug spliced onto it http://www.vesalia.de/d_mstechmsn750val.htm ? It doesn't matter if you don't understand the German description, what does matter is the price of EUR43.99.
That power supply is some what over kill, you could use any mATX or ATX PSU.
Evo EM-400 SFX (mATX) £15.49 (inc postage) ebay BIN
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/EVO-LABS-E-M400-SFX-From-Factor-mATX-400w-PSU-/00/s/MjAwWDIwMA==/z/0OAAAOxymiVQ-W2e/$(KGrHqR,!ioFCpN0mT07BQ-W2eR9tQ~~60_35.JPG) (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EVO-LABS-E-M400-SFX-From-Factor-mATX-400w-PSU-/350779887065?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item51ac1c4dd9)
You can use any ATX / mATX power supply - even a reclaimed one from a PC. you will have to wire up a power-swtich and obviously the cable to the GVP A500HD+8
Also I should point out even a 100watt PSU would have enough power to provide the A500 and the GVP side card with all that it needs.
As for the offer under "Alternatively", that sounds like a much better bet, because I already know that it's compatible with my unit. The £5 sounds like a bargain, or at least money I can afford to waste after spending £70.01 on this unit 2 weeks ago.
I like to help were I can, I have no need for this Hard Disk and its only sitting on a shelf now - so its yours for postage instead of collecting dust - I think its a 240MB HDD off the top of my head.
Please can you tell me anything about the error messages I listed in my last post? What do they indicate?
I found that Faaastprep is not all that good a program to be honest. I would suggest the use of HDTools / HDTools Box to configure a HDD, even a SCSI one on a GVP product.
You should be able to use a Workbench 3.0 install disk - this has HDToolsBox program available - I dont believe it needs 3.0 Kickstart - I will test this under emulation later to see if this is the case.
I hope that helps.
-
[update]
I can confrim that with Kickstart 2.0 you can use a Workbench 3.0 or 3.1 Install Disk to prepare your hard-drive.
you will find the program in HDTools directory.
-
@AmigaBruno
Yes the Viking 4.1GB HDD that I have offered requires more power than the standard GVP A500HD Power Supply can provide.
That power supply is some what over kill, you could use any mATX or ATX PSU.
Evo EM-400 SFX (mATX) £15.49 (inc postage) ebay BIN
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/EVO-LABS-E-M400-SFX-From-Factor-mATX-400w-PSU-/00/s/MjAwWDIwMA==/z/0OAAAOxymiVQ-W2e/$(KGrHqR,!ioFCpN0mT07BQ-W2eR9tQ~~60_35.JPG) (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EVO-LABS-E-M400-SFX-From-Factor-mATX-400w-PSU-/350779887065?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item51ac1c4dd9)
You can use any ATX / mATX power supply - even a reclaimed one from a PC. you will have to wire up a power-swtich and obviously the cable to the GVP A500HD+8
Also I should point out even a 100watt PSU would have enough power to provide the A500 and the GVP side card with all that it needs.
I like to help were I can, I have no need for this Hard Disk and its only sitting on a shelf now - so its yours for postage instead of collecting dust - I think its a 240MB HDD off the top of my head.
I found that Faaastprep is not all that good a program to be honest. I would suggest the use of HDTools / HDTools Box to configure a HDD, even a SCSI one on a GVP product.
You should be able to use a Workbench 3.0 install disk - this has HDToolsBox program available - I dont believe it needs 3.0 Kickstart - I will test this under emulation later to see if this is the case.
I hope that helps.
OK, fine! I'll have the hard drive which is sitting on your shelf gathering dust. I hope it will bring my GVP unit back to life, but I'll also check the resistors, which may be all I can do. I'll send you a Personal Message with my address. You tell me how you want me to pay you the £5 or less for postage.
-
PM replied to, will pack up the drive this afternoon and get you a shipping quote - Payment by PayPal is fine =)
-
Well done Zetr0. There had to be someone in the UK that could help out. I only just realised that Mechware is out of SCSI-Flash Card adaptors. Options evaporating.
Thanks for the Low Voltage Differential (LVD) / Single ended (SE) tip. I've actually got one of those adaptors but packed it away when I couldn't get it to work with a 9GB drive from a Compaq Server enclosure. Will have to review it for an external enclosure I have.
Much cheaper local option AmigaBruno.
I have the 6 slot scsi card readers in stock here guys:
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_73&products_id=250
I also have scsi to ide bridges(acard 7720U) here:
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_74&products_id=251
Mech
-
I have the 6 slot scsi card readers in stock here guys:
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_73&products_id=250
I also have scsi to ide bridges(acard 7720U) here:
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_74&products_id=251
Mech
What a shame they're so expensive! If only someone made a cheaper card reader which only read one type of card and was almost guaranteed to break down after a certain period of time, like a piece of Amstrad equipment, then I'd buy one.
-
Thanks for all the advice and offers of help on here!
Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for a reply to a personal message to Zetr0, which I sent a few days ago.
Zertr0, I asked you if you'd already sent the SCSI hard drive, an email address to send payment to and how you'd sent it. Please get back to me about this.
-
I've just taken the GVP SCSI HD8+ unit apart to try looking for faults and here's what I found. I'll upload and post some pics later.
I should point out that I don't know much about electronics and I'm just trying to get into it again for the third of fourth time. There was only one component which looked like a resistor. I checked it with my multimeter, but I got a read out, which was fluctuating, so obviously this was within a certain tolerance range. This means it hasn't blown out. There were other components marked as R followed by a number, but they didn't look like resistors to me. I tried and failed to get readings from them.
I unplugged the cable connecting the SCSI drive to the main board. I noticed that part of it was bent and that one or two wires may be broken. I played with it in my hands, trying to bend it in the opposite direction, in case this may bring the possibly broken wires in contact again.
After all this, I reassembled the whole unit and slotted onto the side of the A500 Plus again. This is a very delicate and frustrating job, which I feel may well break the connector on one or both units. After turning on the GVP unit, waiting for it to spin up, I turned on the A500 Plus to see what happened, but there was no change. The drive still spun, the drive light came on, but it failed to boot up. It tried to boot three times, then fell back to df0: as the boot drive. I also tried using the drive disable switch and when I did, it made no attempt to boot from hard drive, exactly as it should do. I then flicked the switch to re enable the drive and it tried unsuccessfully to boot again.
Obviously, my next step should be to get hold of a compatible cable. I'm not sure if an old PC bought in 2000 would have one fitted, but I'll check. If not, it may be a few days until I can get hold of one.
-
Here's the latest developments in the saga of my GVP unit which only worked for 5 days.
First of all, Zetr0, I hoped to have received your hard drive by now after you told me you'd received £5.00 from me via PayPal. I sent you another PM. Have you posted it? If so, then when and how?
I also bought a replacement SCSI ribbon cable connector from Amigakit. I thought I should buy one which was just long enough, instead of one which was far too long. The cable already fitted was 10cm long and most of it was folded and squashed underneath the hard drive, which could have damaged it. I ordered a cable from Amigakit which was advertised as 2cm long, so I thought that that length plus the connectors would be enough. When I got it, I found that the 2cm length included the connectors. It looked just too short, but I eventually managed to connect it to both ends. The end result was that the hard drive still doesn't work, the drive light still lights up, but the GVP software doesn't to detect a Quantum hard drive and may not be detecting any hard drive at all.
My plans now are to order a longer SCSI cable from Amigakit and continue to wait for the replacement hard drive from Zetr0.
I notice that Amigakit is listed on a topic about Amiga repairers, so I wonder if they could repair this unit and how much they'd charge. I'll ask them.
I'll post some pics soon, but personally, I can't see anything that gives me a clue what's wrong with this unit.
-
I don't think there's anything wrong with your unit, you've just got a crashed hard drive. It happens dude, you've got 20+ year old hardware. A quick search on ebay shows 846 active listings for "50 pin scsi hard drive", many starting at under $20. Good luck!
I still have that extra 2MB of memory I was going to send you BTW, damned UPS wanted to charge me $30 to send it though, which is pretty ridiculous considering you can probably get it locally for under $10. If I can ever make it to the post office they might be able to slow-boat it over to ya for a more reasonable rate, in which case I'll shoot it over to ya. Na Zdorovie!
-
I don't think there's anything wrong with your unit, you've just got a crashed hard drive. It happens dude, you've got 20+ year old hardware. A quick search on ebay shows 846 active listings for "50 pin scsi hard drive", many starting at under $20. Good luck!
I still have that extra 2MB of memory I was going to send you BTW, damned UPS wanted to charge me $30 to send it though, which is pretty ridiculous considering you can probably get it locally for under $10. If I can ever make it to the post office they might be able to slow-boat it over to ya for a more reasonable rate, in which case I'll shoot it over to ya. Na Zdorovie!
Please explain exactly what you mean by a crashed hard drive. I'm still waiting for the replacement from Zetr0, anyway.
So, you never sent the 2Mb of RAM! I've been expecting it to arrive any day for weeks now. I didn't think you were going to send it by UPS, just US Mail or whatever it's called. I don't know about any compatible RAM I can buy locally for under $10 or about £7.50. I don't know about any problems you have getting to a post office, as you live in Washington DC. I can walk to a post office in just a few minutes. Over here, a lot of post offices are being closed down. Is the same thing happening over there?
-
Please explain exactly what you mean by a crashed hard drive. I'm still waiting for the replacement from Zetr0, anyway.
So, you never sent the 2Mb of RAM! I've been expecting it to arrive any day for weeks now. I didn't think you were going to send it by UPS, just US Mail or whatever it's called. I don't know about any compatible RAM I can buy locally for under $10 or about £7.50. I don't know about any problems you have getting to a post office, as you live in Washington DC. I can walk to a post office in just a few minutes. Over here, a lot of post offices are being closed down. Is the same thing happening over there?
I work 12 hours a day. Post offices aren't open at 2am when I get out of the office, and one needs to sleep sometimes. Sorry, and it sounded like you didn't need it as badly when you mentioned that it already had 2MB in it. But seriously, you need to put a little more effort into this. You don't know what "crashed hard drive" means? Seriously? Google it! Use ebay. Type in "30 pin simm" There's 134 listings for them! And didn't your mother ever teach you it's rude to nag people when they're offering you things for free? Bah, I give up!
-
I'll be putting one of these up on ebay over the next few days. It's got a 48Mb drive and 2Mb of RAM. Currently it's case is in a retrobrite bath (and is lightening up nicely I must say). I'll let you all know when I put it up on ebay.
-
I work 12 hours a day. Post offices aren't open at 2am when I get out of the office, and one needs to sleep sometimes. Sorry, and it sounded like you didn't need it as badly when you mentioned that it already had 2MB in it. But seriously, you need to put a little more effort into this. You don't know what "crashed hard drive" means? Seriously? Google it! Use ebay. Type in "30 pin simm" There's 134 listings for them! And didn't your mother ever teach you it's rude to nag people when they're offering you things for free? Bah, I give up!
As I suspected, the term "crashed hard drive" covers a few different faults. Not only that, but the information I've found doesn't feature SCSI drives or the Amiga, but I'm not sure if that matters.
As for searching for just "30 pin simm", not any type of 30 pin simm is compatible. I was pleased to hear that you had some which was definitely compatible.
At the moment, I don't think I'm any nearer to getting this GVP unit working again. I still haven't received the replacement hard drive from Zetr0 and haven't heard from him either. :huh:
-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290922727787
My ebay listing as previously mentioned.
Happy bidding if your interested. :)
If not, have a nice day anyway.
-
Good news! I've heard from Zetr0 that he's posted the SCSI hard drive to me, but this was only last Friday, because he's been ill.
I hope this means I'll be able to get my GVP SCSI unit going again and enjoy my alternative Amiga history where I wasn't limited to floppy drives and 1Mb or 2Mb RAM! I'm gonna party like it's 1993. :pint:
Of course, the main reasons I'm using a classic Amiga or an Amiga at all are so that I can do computer graphics again (Windoze and even Linux graphics software put a stop to that, but I thought I needed to persevere) as well as use various applications and play games I missed out on. All of this on REAL Amiga hardware, not on a PC!
-
As promised some time ago now, here are some pics of the insides of this faulty GVP unit. I hope someone on here can see something wrong with it that I can't see. I don't know much about electronics. The black circles drawn on both sides of the SCSI cable indicates where I saw the cable bent, before I straightened it out.
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/10709/medium/1_GVP1.JPG)
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/10709/medium/1_GVP2.JPG)
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/10709/medium/1_GVP3.JPG)
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/10709/medium/1_GVP4.JPG)
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/10709/medium/1_GVP5.JPG)
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/10709/medium/1_GVP6.JPG)
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/10709/medium/1_GVP7.JPG)
-
Well, the replacement SCSI hard drive from Zetr0 has now arrived! I don't know much about electronics and I'm now trying to learn again for about the third time, so please don't laugh or criticise me.
All I have to do now is remove some thick, tightly fitted posts which are holding the hard drive itself onto a board which I didn't take any pics of. I think these may be called brass stand offs, as used to insulate PC motherboards from their cases, but I'm not sure. I don't know if I've got a tool I can use for this. I hope everything will suddenly work after I've done that, but I can't help doubting that it will. Other things I could try are:
1. buy a longer cable from Amigakit
2. remove the interface from one end of the original cable, cut it to a reasonable length, then refit the plug and plug in the cable again (I don't know how to remove the interfaces, though)
If these ideas don't work, then I'll have to take send my GVP SCSI controller and hard drives somewhere for repair, but I'm not sure where.
-
Some tthings that might increase your chances of success:
1 Get the technical specs of your new HD from the net.
2 Ensure that the SCSI id jumpers are set the same as your failed drive (You didn't change these, right?). If not, a safe id would be something other than 0 or 7, one of these is usually used to identify the controller itself.
3 The new drive will need Termination, see the docs from step 1. This is usually a jumper.
There is a very good tutorial about SCSI issues, diasy-chaining, termination, etc, that's been linked in the past. Anyone still have the link? Have you Googled SCSI termination?
Reading thru all of this, many folks have stepped forward (some above and beyond). This is a great community! ;)
-
Some tthings that might increase your chances of success:
1 Get the technical specs of your new HD from the net.
2 Ensure that the SCSI id jumpers are set the same as your failed drive (You didn't change these, right?). If not, a safe id would be something other than 0 or 7, one of these is usually used to identify the controller itself.
3 The new drive will need Termination, see the docs from step 1. This is usually a jumper.
There is a very good tutorial about SCSI issues, diasy-chaining, termination, etc, that's been linked in the past. Anyone still have the link? Have you Googled SCSI termination?
Reading thru all of this, many folks have stepped forward (some above and beyond). This is a great community! ;)
Here's another newsflash! I opened up my GVP SCSI host controller/RAM unit again and slowly managed to remove the poles or stand offs holding the old hard drive in place. I used the tools supplied in a standard PC too lkit. I then screwed in the new hard drive (a Conner HDD), plugged in the power and SCSI cables and screwed the GVP case back together. After a few minutes cursing the Amiga A500/A500 Plus edge connector design and wondering if I was finally going to break it, I managed to finally slide the GVP unit onto the edge connector. I plugged in the PSU, turned on the GVP unit and heard it spinning. I waited for at least several seconds, then turned on the Amiga. I continued to wait, while the drive light flashed rapidly, then went off, but then it started flashing again. The screen was still white. Suddenly, a Shell window appeared then an error message saying it couldn't find something, followed by the Shell window closing and I was faced with a Workbench screen!!!! After all this, I noticed there were two partitions, named DH0: and DH1: .
Tenacious, I'm afraid I don't understand all the advice you've given me which I've quoted above. I don't know if I need to study and follow it. All I know is that I've plugged it in and it WORKS! Does this mean I'm OK to continue using the hard drive as it is now, or what should I do to avoid damaging it?
Unfortunately, recently I found that my ADF transfer kit had stopped working yet again and the cable fell out of the back of the Amiga TWICE while I was using it! I think my Amiga parallel port may have totally blown out now. I suppose I'm lucky the whole Amiga didn't blow up. Unfortunately, I haven't got any other cable or device I can plug in to check my Amiga parallel port. Can someone suggest something I can buy to check it? A printer is the obvious choice, but I don't know if any of those old printers would still work. I also used to use a Digiview device, but they blew out twice and had to be returned to Topeka, Kansas for replacements. What else is still available?
-
It sounds like your friend Zetr0 took care of you very well with the HD and it's jumper settings.
The SCSI interface is versatile, but, has a small learning curve. If you ever hope to get more from this system (CD reader or writer, Zip drive, one of Mechy's card readers, etc), you should read up on SCSI termination, IDs, etc. I'll bet Wikipedia has some good stuff. ;) For now, I think you're good to go.
None of the Amiga ports are "hot pluggable" (The power must be OFF to add or remove a cable!). Most ports will survive a couple of accidents, but, the damage is accumulative. One day the port will simply stop working. Fortunately for you, the A500 has socketed chips and can be repaired easily.
The parallel port is particularly useful. You can get sound samplers (like GVP's DSS8+), hardware MP3 decoders (like MasPlayer), video enhancement (DCTV, GVP's G-Lock), etc. Many of these take some patience to find today.
-
It sounds like your friend Zetr0 took care of you very well with the HD and it's jumper settings.
The SCSI interface is versatile, but, has a small learning curve. If you ever hope to get more from this system (CD reader or writer, Zip drive, one of Mechy's card readers, etc), you should read up on SCSI termination, IDs, etc. I'll bet Wikipedia has some good stuff. ;) For now, I think you're good to go.
None of the Amiga ports are "hot pluggable" (The power must be OFF to add or remove a cable!). Most ports will survive a couple of accidents, but, the damage is accumulative. One day the port will simply stop working. Fortunately for you, the A500 has socketed chips and can be repaired easily.
The parallel port is particularly useful. You can get sound samplers (like GVP's DSS8+), hardware MP3 decoders (like MasPlayer), video enhancement (DCTV, GVP's G-Lock), etc. Many of these take some patience to find today.
I'll read up on the SCSI standard. I hope to get a SCSI CD-ROM drive which may or may not even have been designed for the Amiga! This is something I never had on an Amiga in the past.
I'll look out for sound samplers, genlocks, and video digitisers that use the parallel port, I had all those devices years ago.