Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Huxley_D on July 29, 2015, 04:43:04 PM
-
So I was lucky enough to pick up a GVP Impact A500 HD8+ Series II (what a mouthful of a name!) for $20 while attending the Amiga 30th Anniversary bash at the Computer History Museum this weekend. This unit is complete in the box with all the manuals and original floppies, and seems to be in good overall shape. It was very dirty / dusty when I got it, so I took it apart and gave it a cleaning with some compressed air. Other than the fan not wanting to spin when it's reassembled (looks like the cables are pressing on the fan when it's all clamped down), it seems to work fine mechanically - it powers on, the drive spins, etc.
(http://i.imgur.com/k7qz8E7h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/f7XnOV8h.jpg)
However, when it's connected to my ROM 1.3 A500 and in auto-boot mode, the drive-access flickers for about 30 seconds before stopping and the Amiga just requests the boot floppy like normal. Based on this, I'm assuming three likely issues:
- The drive has failed
- The drive works but there isn't a bootable OS on the drive
- The drive works and has a bootable OS, but is loaded with a newer OS than my ROM 1.3-equipped Amiga can boot into
Does that summary sound roughly accurate? Am I missing anything?
I'm acquiring a set of Workbench floppies tonight (I currently don't have any OS disks, only some games), so hopefully I'll be able to boot the Amiga to a desktop and try mounting the SCSI drive. I'm also looking into a ROM switcher and a ROM 3.1 chip from eBay, which should theoretically make it easier to run the whole OS (including Workbench 2.x, I think) from the SCSI drive.
Definitely open to any suggestions or tips - it's been ages since I did much with an Amiga, and I'm pretty fuzzy on the best-practices on these machines...
-
Hi!
First, great deal! I had a hard time resisting spending more money than I did there, at the end I tried to get @LoadWB to spend his money, instead, which was great fun. :) The A500HD+ is one of the best-performing, and most "esthetically pleasing" hard drive controllers available for the A500, IMHO.
Second, you don't show it in your picture, but you did get the external power supply, correct? While it's possible to run the A500HD+ off the 86-pin port only, which is what I do, it's not recommended to do this unless you have a low-power drive or one of the SCSI-to-CF or SCSI-to-SD solutions, so as not to tax the bus and stock PSU too much. Just mentioning it to verify that you're not having a power problem. http://members.iinet.net.au/~davem2/overclock/a500hd.html
Third, there are pretty much more different options for what you can do with this setup than there are clouds in the sky. If it were me building another A500 system, here's what I'd do:
Get a new 3.1 ROM ($17 at AmigaKit):
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=157
Get a set of 3.1 disks ($16.34 at AmigaKit) and do a fresh format & install of Workbench 3.1:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1211
Upgrade to a 68010 processor (good for about a 5% speed increase and allows you to use the "Quit" key in WHDLoad, usually run about $5-$10 on ebay):
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=motorola+68010&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=motorola+68010&_sacat=0
Upgrade to an ECS Denise (optional, but I like to have it personally):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-Super-Denise-8373-NOS-for-Amiga-500-2000-and-3000-/161756512645?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25a9708185
You already have plenty of fast ram in the sidecar, looks like yours is already maxed out, if not you can put up to 8MB in there with standard 30-pin SIMM's (also usually run around $5 each on ebay).
If you only have 512K of chip ram you should look into the mod to upgrade it to 1MB. This is pretty easy on most variants of A500 motherboard, instructions vary depending on which MB version you have and which Agnus.
If you still want to keep fallback ability for 1.3, you could get a ROM switcher.
...in any case, a 3.1-equipped, 68010 A500, with 1MB chip and 8MB fast is plenty sufficient for tinkering with Workbench (you might look into the "BetterWB" pack), and also for playing just about any classic game available through WHDLoad. Obviously some folks might prefer to forgo all those upgrades and just use a Gotek or HxC variety of floppy emulator, not my personal cup of tea, but "as many options as there are fish in the sea", and all that. Good luck, have fun, here's a couple more links to get you started:
http://lilliput.amiga-projects.net/BetterWB.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHDLoad
http://whdload.de/
If you really want to max it out, get an Indivision ECS (usually around $100), which will allow you to use any modern monitor. I love 'em, but again that's just IMHO, some people prefer the classic CRT's, blech! :p
-
Thank you for putting together that wealth of useful info and links, Oldsmobile_Mike! Very cool and generous of you.
I'm happy to report that I did indeed get a PSU with the GVP drive, along with *everything* else - as best I can tell, it's a complete set, with the box, manuals, disks, cardboard inserts, etc. etc. I'm a relative newcomer to the Amiga collecting scene but I've been in the 68k Mac world for years and years and I can vouch for how rare it is to find rare accessories like this, let alone ones that were kept all together. I really lucked out here!
I'll spend some time reading through the info and links you provided later, but again, thank you - having a newbie-friendly guide like this is worth its weight in gold right now!
-
It seems to be the same GVP drive I use with my Amiga A500 Plus with Kickstart 2.04. I didn't get any documentation , the original HDD in the unit soon failed, then I had to fit it with a new drive which already had Workbench 2.x and some software installed. There's a topic I posted about it somewhere on here. I've never heard anything about powering it from the A500/A500 Plus though. It has its own PSU, which I switch on first, then allow it to spin up before turning on the A500 Plus. When I turn off the HDD PSU the Amiga A500 Plus screen goes blank, although it's still in the same colour scheme as before.
My GVP drive has some extra RAM, but not the maximum. If I got any more RAM, it probably wouldn't work with the RAM I've already got. I recently noticed an interface on the back of this unit, but I don't know what it's for. Would this allow me to fit a CD-ROM drive of the right type with the right cable? I don't know.
Of course, the classic CRT monitors are best for the Amiga, except for hires productivity display modes, as pointed out by Kooky Tech (Dan Wood).
-
My GVP drive has some extra RAM, but not the maximum. If I got any more RAM, it probably wouldn't work with the RAM I've already got. I recently noticed an interface on the back of this unit, but I don't know what it's for. Would this allow me to fit a CD-ROM drive of the right type with the right cable? I don't know.
If my understanding is correct, the port on the back of the GVP is a 25-pin external SCSI port, suitable (in theory, at least) for connecting an external hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, a Zip drive, etc., though driver availability on our old versions of Workbench may be questionable.
Hope this helps!
-
I have same hardware wich is powered through A500. It has a 4gb HP hard drive and I haven't had any problems.
-
Correct, the DB25 port on the back is for connecting external SCSI devices. I've used mine to successfully connect DVD drives, CD burners, external hard drives, SCSI card readers, etc. Obviously you'll need some kind of case to house and power the device, and to figure out the SCSI device ID & termination, which can be the trickiest part if you've never done it before. I know I had a tough time wrapping my head around it at first! ;)
Setting up/prepping a hard drive is certainly doable under 2.04/2.1 or 1.3, but IMHO if you choose this route you're only making it harder on yourself. The software is available and it works, but unless you have some pressing need to use one of these older versions (i.e., nostalgia, or compatibility with some certain old software)... why make it harder on yourself, when you can get 3.1 ROM's & disks for under $40 USD? ;)
The sidecar supports up to 8MB of 16-bit fast ram. The best way to do this (again, IMHO), is with two matching 4MB, 30-pin, 60n's SIMM's. You can usually find these on ebay for around $5 each. There's tons of them on there, but these should work fine:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4MB-30pin-SIMM-RAM-MEMORY-without-parity-4x8-30-pin-/161019154549?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item257d7d5075
Also while I'm thinking about it, if yours doesn't have the latest ROM, it's cheap to upgrade to 4.15, which offers improved compatibility with larger hard drives. The best, best ROM you can get for the device is the GuruROM, but these are exceedingly difficult to find, not because of the ROM itself, but because of the little PCB that sits between the ROM chip and the board, and has been out of production for decades.
TJLazah sells 4.15 ROM's on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-4091-GVP-or-Supra-Series-III-SCSI-ROM-update-/131566171810?hash=item1ea1f476a2
And here's info on the GuruROM: http://babel.de/amiga.html
And this link has info on setting the jumpers inside the case: http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.com/bboah/product.aspx?id=1194
More here: http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/impact500mk2
There's a German version of the A500HD8+ manual floating around, but I don't know where there's an English version. For other things the A2000 version manual can be helpful (in English, here): http://amiga.resource.cx/manual/Impact2000_SeriesII.pdf
Amiga is not a cheap hobby, and it's a personal pet peeve when people don't want to spend the money to "do it right", but almost all these items I've linked to in this and the previous post can be had for under $20 each. And that's one thing I absolutely love - that you can get some little chip for $20 bucks, plug it in, and radically alter the performance of your device. One of my favorite things about this hobby, actually. Try doing that on a PC. :)
Read up, and have fun! :D
-
Once again, Oldsmobile_Mike has swung to the rescue with a ton of well-written, helpful advice and links!
A follow-up question (which may warrant its own thread, if the answer is complex): a few years ago I purchased an "Amiga Forever!" CD which contains various emulators, ROM's, OS's, etc. - does that mean I could legally request someone make me a set of OS 3.1 floppies, or do I still need to purchase them the normal way?
Thanks again - I'm so grateful for all the help here!
-
No prob! Not touching that question about "is it legal or not", however. I would say yes, but then I'm sure the copyright police would be all over this thread in a hot minute, LOL. ;)
-
Yes , because you have Amiga and it has kicktstarts and it came with
Workbench.If they got lost I would say nobody will give you legal problems but you can still try and contact some people if you want some (problems):)
-
I'm amazed to find out that I can plug in a CD ROM drive to this unit, but I still have no real idea how to do that and to get it working.
I'm not sure if the connector on the GVP drive is for power or data. I doubt it's for both.
I already own a CD ROM drive I bought over a year ago, sold as compatible with the Amiga. It seems to be an old PC drive designed to fit inside a case. It's a Samsung SCR-630. I bought the Fresh Fish and some Amiga Active CD ROMs to use with it. I planned to fit it to my Amiga A1200, but it came with some very complicated instructions, so I couldn't do it.
The CD ROM drive has a Molex connector for power. I've got some spare PC PSUs which are 400W and 500W that would fit, but AFAIK all PSUs of that type may need their two main connectors plugged into a motherboard before they can work. I don't think there are any suitable connectors on the Amiga motherboards.
I'd need to know how to connect and how to power this CD ROM drive before I could do that. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever be able to do that.
I recently saw an "Amiga CD ROM drive" advertised on eBay, but it was external, had a kettle lead connector and a lead with different plugs on each end. It didn't say Amiga on the drive. Perhaps an old Mac external CD ROM drive would work.
-
@AmigaBruno -
You kill me, man. Don't just say you can't do it, thousands of people have done it before you. Research man, research!
To plug into a 500 sidecar all you need is a SCSI cable an an external chassis to physically hold and power the drive. I bought mine off ebay a couple years ago for $3 from some Mac user. ;)
The physical connection is easy, configuring the SCSI ID and termination is what's hard, if you've never done them before. Also I recommend OS3.1 or 3.9. No reason you couldn't do it with an earlier version - again - you'd just be making more work for yourself, doing it that way.
I'm a very visual person, I can learn more from a few pictures than I could from a thousand pages of text. So if you're like me, here's a few pictures to get you started:
-
Do not want to hijack this thread, however was following it as I have a similar HD8+ and have a quick question on the ROM chip ... so buying the ROM chip offered on ebay is not enough? You also need an additional board?
TJLazah sells 4.15 ROM's on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-4091-GVP-or-Supra-Series-III-SCSI-ROM-update-/131566171810?hash=item1ea1f476a2
And here's info on the GuruROM: http://babel.de/amiga.html
-
Do not want to hijack this thread, however was following it as I have a similar HD8+ and have a quick question on the ROM chip ... so buying the ROM chip offered on ebay is not enough? You also need an additional board?
The 4.15 ROM chip off ebay will plug right in. It's the GuruROM which requires a PCB adapter fitted between the ROM chip and the socket.
Edit: Pic 1, regular ROM. Pic 2, GuruROM. :)
-
Hi again guys,
Thought you might enjoy a quick update: I got in touch with a local Amigan via Craigslist yesterday, and he was kind enough to create a pair of Workbench 1.3 floppies for me. Using those, I was able to (finally!) boot to the OS and tinker around - I was relieved to see the memory line at the top showing ~9 megs (512k chip + 512k fast + 8m in the GVP sidecar). The HDD still wasn't mounting or doing much of anything, so I started tinkering with the GVP setup disks that came with it. None of them could "see" the HDD, but during one attempt there was a loud CLICK from the GVP drive, the read/write LED started blinking, and suddenly it was working (and bootable!). Maybe the heads were stuck and needed some coaxing to work loose after 20+ years of lying dormant? Who knows - I'm just psyched that it's working now!
(http://i.imgur.com/W121w6Vl.jpg)
I definitely don't 'trust' this Quantum drive and won't be terribly surprised if it suddenly dies on me, but it's at the very least confirmation that the entire GVP sidecar is electronically sound. Not too bad for $20!
Have any of you experimented with mounting some sort of SCSI-to-CompactFlash (or SD?) adapter in one of these sidecars? Any suggestions or advice around that idea?
-
Have any of you experimented with mounting some sort of SCSI-to-CompactFlash (or SD?) adapter in one of these sidecars? Any suggestions or advice around that idea?
Nice, glad it's working! Yeah, 20 years of not moving, heads probably were a little stuck, haha. :D
Any SCSI-to-CF or SCSI-to-SD solution that's compatible with the Amiga should work in the sidecar. Personally I use a Mechware SCSI card reader in mine (gives slots for PCMCIA, SD, xD, CF, MemoryStick, and SmartMedia). Excellent reader but now that the hoarders have gotten hold of them, you can usually only find them on ebay for a couple hundred $$ (Mechy sold them much cheaper when he had them). I had to take the cover and faceplate off (and a little bit of snipping) to get it to fit. Here's a couple pics, one from when I first installed it, and one from when I upgraded to 3.9 a few months ago:
-
PS - which AD&D game is that in your pic? I <3 those! :)
-
Nice, glad it's working! Yeah, 20 years of not moving, heads probably were a little stuck, haha. :D
Any SCSI-to-CF or SCSI-to-SD solution that's compatible with the Amiga should work in the sidecar. Personally I use a Mechware SCSI card reader in mine (gives slots for PCMCIA, SD, xD, CF, MemoryStick, and SmartMedia). Excellent reader but now that the hoarders have gotten hold of them, you can usually only find them on ebay for a couple hundred $$ (Mechy sold them much cheaper when he had them). I had to take the cover and faceplate off (and a little bit of snipping) to get it to fit. Here's a couple pics, one from when I first installed it, and one from when I upgraded to 3.9 a few months ago:
Does your top cover actually still fit over all those gubbins? :)
-
Does your top cover actually still fit over all those gubbins? :)
Yes sir! :)
Pics with it closed: http://www.amiga.org/forums/showpost.php?p=793381&postcount=12
Although I've tended to the habit of leaving the bottom screws out lately, so I can just "pop the hood" whenever I need to get at the other slots, LOL. ;)
-
Yes sir! :)
Pics with it closed: http://www.amiga.org/forums/showpost.php?p=793381&postcount=12
Although I've tended to the habit of leaving the bottom screws out lately, so I can just "pop the hood" whenever I need to get at the other slots, LOL. ;)
Ah ok, but, I bet your anti-RF radiation shield doesn't fit does it?!
-
Ah ok, but, I bet your anti-RF radiation shield doesn't fit does it?!
What do you think? ;)
:laughing:
-
What do you think? ;)
:laughing:
I think you're irradiated. :laugh1:
-
I think you're irradiated. :laugh1:
Here's a pic of me working on my Miggy. ;)
(http://science.phillipmartin.info/radiation_suit.png)
-
If working on old computers exposes us to radiation, then presumably we're all going to develop superpowers, i.e. Peter Parker > Spider-Man. I look forward to developing the speed, computational power and sleek good looks of an Altair 8800.
-
I'm saving a ton of money by not having to turn the lights on at night anymore!
Although the dogs do look at me funny...
If working on old computers exposes us to radiation, then presumably we're all going to develop superpowers, i.e. Peter Parker > Spider-Man. I look forward to developing the speed, computational power and sleek good looks of an Altair 8800.
-
Kaum zu glauben! You said you couldn't read manuals in German. I can read them, so if I can do it then anyone can do it.
As for the CD ROM drive fitting, that's a DVD ROM drive in your pics, but designed to be external. It looks the same style as one I saw recently on eBay, which was a similar colour to the Amiga case. It also has its own mains power cable. Of Course, you're not actually allowed to use this drive with an Amiga, because it's not the same or a similar colour, so it's shouting at the Amiga, as it's black.
@AmigaBruno -
You kill me, man. Don't just say you can't do it, thousands of people have done it before you. Research man, research!
To plug into a 500 sidecar all you need is a SCSI cable an an external chassis to physically hold and power the drive. I bought mine off ebay a couple years ago for $3 from some Mac user. ;)
The physical connection is easy, configuring the SCSI ID and termination is what's hard, if you've never done them before. Also I recommend OS3.1 or 3.9. No reason you couldn't do it with an earlier version - again - you'd just be making more work for yourself, doing it that way.
I'm a very visual person, I can learn more from a few pictures than I could from a thousand pages of text. So if you're like me, here's a few pictures to get you started:
-
Kaum zu glauben! You said you couldn't read manuals in German. I can read them, so if I can do it then anyone can do it.
As for the CD ROM drive fitting, that's a DVD ROM drive in your pics, but designed to be external. It looks the same style as one I saw recently on eBay, which was a similar colour to the Amiga case. It also has its own mains power cable. Of Course, you're not actually allowed to use this drive with an Amiga, because it's not the same or a similar colour, so it's shouting at the Amiga, as it's black.
@AmigaBruno -
You kill me, man. Don't just say you can't do it, thousands of people have done it before you. Research man, research!
To plug into a 500 sidecar all you need is a SCSI cable an an external chassis to physically hold and power the drive. I bought mine off ebay a couple years ago for $3 from some Mac user. ;)
The physical connection is easy, configuring the SCSI ID and termination is what's hard, if you've never done them before. Also I recommend OS3.1 or 3.9. No reason you couldn't do it with an earlier version - again - you'd just be making more work for yourself, doing it that way.
I'm a very visual person, I can learn more from a few pictures than I could from a thousand pages of text. So if you're like me, here's a few pictures to get you started:
-
Here's a pic of me working on my Miggy. ;)
(http://science.phillipmartin.info/radiation_suit.png)
Haha! Nice one!
Btw, does anyone know how these dma scsi interfaces perform when compared with the kipper cf ram board that attaches to the 68000 socket? And I'm looking for a comparison between a sidecar without accelerator (but with ram) to make it fair. I'm just interested to know if a dma drive interface is noticeably better (and worth the expense) on a 68000 Amiga when compared with the kipper CF ide (PIO) ram board on the same 68000 Amiga.
-
Oldsmobile_Mike
I have to say thanks for the great info. I also have a nice GVP (well 3) and 2 A590s. I am looking forward to having a great time with one of my A500s and put together a nice set up like yours minus the 03 upgrade. btw I was looking forward to meeting you and lots of others in CA last weekend but I had to cancel my flight and stay to deal with some work stuff.
This Amiga thing is like a sickness I have gone from no Amigas ever in my life to like 13 and a AmigaOne X1000 to boot. So far I am having a blast and I am very happy with this little hobby :)
-
This is a great thread with a lot of awesome info.
And Huxley_D I'm jealous! :)
-
This is a great thread with a lot of awesome info.
And Huxley_D I'm jealous! :)
Hahaha - don't be too jealous, my GVP is still being flaky. I can't yet tell if it's just the (notoriously failure-prone) Quantum drive or the GVP itself, but it frequently fails to be recognized by the system without being repeatedly disconnected / reconnected to the side of the A500. Something definitely fishy going on here...
H.
-
Hahaha - don't be too jealous, my GVP is still being flaky. I can't yet tell if it's just the (notoriously failure-prone) Quantum drive or the GVP itself, but it frequently fails to be recognized by the system without being repeatedly disconnected / reconnected to the side of the A500. Something definitely fishy going on here...
H.
A good cleaning of that edge connector might help, but I would replace that drive asap, and avoid putting repetitious strain on the connector. I know it's designed to be connected/disconnected, but you know, 30-year-old hardware and all... ;)
-
A good cleaning of that edge connector might help, but I would replace that drive asap, and avoid putting repetitious strain on the connector. I know it's designed to be connected/disconnected, but you know, 30-year-old hardware and all... ;)
Totally agree, 100%. I've got some other SCSI drives (both internal and external) buried in my storage locker, but I'm a little nervous about replacing one 20+ year old drive for another 20+ year old drive. I think you mentioned one (rare, expensive) SCSI-to-CF adapter earlier - are there any others I should be looking for, possibly ones that won't require an organ sale to procure?
Alternately, I think I'll be buying one of the "kipper" adapters soon anyway, which might make it a moot point...
-
I think you mentioned one (rare, expensive) SCSI-to-CF adapter earlier - are there any others I should be looking for, possibly ones that won't require an organ sale to procure?
Alternately, I think I'll be buying one of the "kipper" adapters soon anyway, which might make it a moot point...
The best ones IMHO are the ones Mechy used to sell, but I own two so might be a little biased. ;) Do a search on ebay for "AztecMonster", they're around a hundred bucks and I think there's some threads on here about folks using them in the past.
Here's one where someone specifically mentions using it in the GVP: http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?18378-CF-SCSI-adapter-CF-AztecMonster
I prefer CF but there's also the SCSI2SD project, I believe a few places have these for sale: http://www.codesrc.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=SCSI2SD
Kipper's stuff is great, also. Again, it's just personal preference for SCSI in my retro machines. :)
-
FYI they just got a new shipment of the SCSI2HD boards a couple days ago, and are available again. I just ordered 2 of them.
http://imall.itead.cc/scsi2sd.html
-
It seems like I should forget about attempting to add a SCSI drive to my GVP hard drive unit then. I could plug it in, but it wouldn't work. I have no idea how to set it up.
Meanwhile, it seems here's another, easier solution for my A1200 http://www.vesalia.de/e_amigaslimcddrive.htm . It seems like I just plug it in, then it works. Can it really be that simple? They're closed until Septmber 1, though.
-
It seems like I should forget about attempting to add a SCSI drive to my GVP hard drive unit then. I could plug it in, but it wouldn't work. I have no idea how to set it up.
Meanwhile, it seems here's another, easier solution for my A1200 http://www.vesalia.de/e_amigaslimcddrive.htm . It seems like I just plug it in, then it works. Can it really be that simple? They're closed until Septmber 1, though.
You'll still need to set up the software and drivers.
Man! Stop this nonsense about "I have no idea how to set it up". I've seen you post comments like that before and I am really getting sick of seeing them. None of us had a flipping clue what we were doing at one point. We all sat down, pulled out an instruction manual, read a little bit, researched, Googled, and asked questions when we got stuck. No one is going to hand you the answer on a silver platter, unless you get lucky enough to find a really bored, experienced Amigan in your area. But it's not that hard! It's not rocket science! And if you would just read and research the forums you'd find all the information you need to get a CD drive working with your A500.
Instead of just throwing up your hands and saying "I can't do it", at least TRY. :D
/rant mode off
-
Well, I thought someone would suggest something.
AFAIK, all I do is plug it this device with the IDE cable containing three plugs. Before doing that, I think I should install BetterWB on my new CF card, because it has program icons representing CD ROMs. After installing BetterWB, then plugging in the CD ROM drive, if my A1200 doesn't recognise it, then I'm %&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@!ed! Unless people advise me what to do next, that is.
Hopefully, I'll find a German book about carrying out seemingly impossible upgrades to the A1200, then after following the instructions in it, I'll send a copy to Oldsmobile_Mike!
-
You'll still need to set up the software and drivers.
Man! Stop this nonsense about "I have no idea how to set it up". I've seen you post comments like that before and I am really getting sick of seeing them. None of us had a flipping clue what we were doing at one point. We all sat down, pulled out an instruction manual, read a little bit, researched, Googled, and asked questions when we got stuck. No one is going to hand you the answer on a silver platter, unless you get lucky enough to find a really bored, experienced Amigan in your area. But it's not that hard! It's not rocket science! And if you would just read and research the forums you'd find all the information you need to get a CD drive working with your A500.
Instead of just throwing up your hands and saying "I can't do it", at least TRY. :D
/rant mode off
I second that, what is with people these days. You have a brain, use it. If you need someone to walk you through things or need help setting it up ask and someone will try their best to help you. We are in the information age besides, nearly anything can be found on youtube or google. Anyone can learn this stuff.
-
Totally agree, 100%. I've got some other SCSI drives (both internal and external) buried in my storage locker, but I'm a little nervous about replacing one 20+ year old drive for another 20+ year old drive. I think you mentioned one (rare, expensive) SCSI-to-CF adapter earlier - are there any others I should be looking for, possibly ones that won't require an organ sale to procure?
Alternately, I think I'll be buying one of the "kipper" adapters soon anyway, which might make it a moot point...
another option is to get a acard 7720U scsi to ide bridge and use a cf to ide adapter, allows a cf inside. its a great solution.
-
FYI they just got a new shipment of the SCSI2HD boards a couple days ago, and are available again. I just ordered 2 of them.
http://imall.itead.cc/scsi2sd.html
How do those things go? Work okay with 4GB SD?
BTW a word of caution on the Aztec Monster units. I could only get mine to work at 2GB. Which is better than nothing but not worth the price tag.
-
Digging up old thread... sorry :) Asked in FB Commodore Amiga group also but figured I would ask here as well as it's easier searching google if it's someplace like here :)
Is anyone with this drive *NOT* using the U-Shaped FCC RF shield that comes with the unit? I'm picking one of these up on ebay and it doesn't come with the shield so wanted to ensure I could safely operate it without this shield. I'm assuming so, but always better to be safe than sorry.
Thanks!
-
Digging up old thread... sorry :) Asked in FB Commodore Amiga group also but figured I would ask here as well as it's easier searching google if it's someplace like here :)
Is anyone with this drive *NOT* using the U-Shaped FCC RF shield that comes with the unit? I'm picking one of these up on ebay and it doesn't come with the shield so wanted to ensure I could safely operate it without this shield. I'm assuming so, but always better to be safe than sorry.
Thanks!
I used to use one of these units with my first A500, and never used that "U" shaped "shield". Never had any issues with anything.
-
Thanks for the quick reply - appreciate the info.
-
Hi,
Had a gvp card for my old Amiga 2000, when I tried to get it working I had to change a line from SCSI to gvp.SCSI I believe it was in the HD setup. Can not totally remember for it has been about 5 years or more since I played with SCSI drives.
-
Hi,
Had a gvp card for my old Amiga 2000, when I tried to get it working I had to change a line from SCSI to gvp.SCSI I believe it was in the HD setup. Can not totally remember for it has been about 5 years or more since I played with SCSI drives.
The point here is that you must use the correct name for the SCSI driver, which is dependent on the interface used, so this would be gvp.SCSI for an A500 or A2000.
-
The point here is that you must use the correct name for the SCSI driver, which is dependent on the interface used, so this would be gvp.SCSI for an A500 or A2000.
gvpscsi.device or omniscsi.device, depending on if you have the Guru-ROM. :D
-
Me last month ...
http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_september17/scuzzblogdseptember17_1304.htm
Me in August ...
http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_august17/scuzzblogdaugust17_1402x.htm
I switch on a GVP each morning first thing with my 500 in the workshop. Sadly the drives do eventually die but they are a pretty hard working unit. Fortunately I have enough to see me out.
The 590 is funny cus it has this fan that will kick in at odd times. I just tap the case and it stops. Thing is it is so noisy it will wake up the neighbourhood .. so I do have to remember I left it on. I could disable it but just adds a bit of character to the unit.
Some of the GVPs power up on the switch and others power up when the Amiga powers up. My Turbo only kicks in when the 500 fires up. The one in the Workshop runs from the switch from the getgo. I actually prefer the 590s on the XT.
-
gvpscsi.device or omniscsi.device, depending on if you have the Guru-ROM. :D
Thanks for the correction. Can't believe I got that wrong..... Must be getting old.