Amiga.org

Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: tonyvdb on September 09, 2015, 05:45:25 PM

Title: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 09, 2015, 05:45:25 PM
So I was able to pick up a nice clean (still white) A2000HD that has the keyboard mouse and two floppy drives as well as a 850mb SCSI drive and 1mb of ram. I got it for $375USD

Was that a decent deal and is there anything that I should look out for once I receive it?
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 09, 2015, 05:55:08 PM
Remove that barrel battery, if it still has one.  But you've been around here long enough to know that.  :)

Also I'd check what revision motherboard it has.  Some early 4.x boards had known issues (it's all documented on the various Amiga hardware resource websites already, no need to rehash it here).  6.x is generally more desirable, with 6.2-6.5 being probably "the best".  Also later versions are more likely to have KS 2.04 ROM and ECS chipset.

What SCSI interface card does it have for that hard drive?  It may have extra fast ram and other goodies inside.  As far as the price you paid, $375...  eh, maybe a hair on the high side, but if it's clean & white, and you find any treasures inside, it's worth it.  :)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Darrin on September 09, 2015, 06:11:19 PM
If you're lucky like me then you might have the revision where you can add and external switch to a jumper on the mobo and toggle it between PAL and NTSC (I just set mine to PAL and left it there).  I think mine was the ECS Rev 6.3.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 09, 2015, 07:00:42 PM
Good to know, I have the sys info and it has ECS so must be a "newer" board
Thanks everyone.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 09, 2015, 07:13:34 PM
Quote from: tonyvdb;795345
Good to know, I have the sys info and it has ECS so must be a "newer" board.

Look for a sticker on the board to give you the exact Rev. #.  I think the silkscreen will only have a "4" or a "6".  You can also tell by the # of RAM chips: old boards have 32 chips, newer boards have 8.  ;)

Don't forget that battery!!  :D
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 09, 2015, 07:23:24 PM
Yup, will most certainly remove the batt.
I should have it by Friday or Monday next week as its only traveling across Canada to get to me.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: SACC-guy on September 09, 2015, 07:52:49 PM
Quote from: tonyvdb;795337
So I was able to pick up a nice clean (still white) A2000HD that has the keyboard mouse and two floppy drives as well as a 850mb SCSI drive and 1mb of ram. I got it for $375USD

Was that a decent deal and is there anything that I should look out for once I receive it?
Not to rain on your parade..
Aren't all 2000s "beige" or "tan"?
I've never seen a white (aka 4000D style) 2000.

This tank of a amiga is great to upgrade! enjoy!
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 09, 2015, 08:28:22 PM
Quote from: SACC-guy;795348
Aren't all 2000s "beige" or "tan"?

I would actually call my main A2000 "grey", at least the faceplate.  It can be hard to tell in photos though, especially if you use flash (or if your monitor is mis-adjusted... or if Amiga.org compresses them too much during upload).

My other one is a little more "beige", but I've never seen one yellowed to the point of how A500's/A1200's frequently get.  Maybe they have less bromine and whatever other chemical junk in their faceplates?

Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure.  I think she's puurty.  ;)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: amigakid on September 09, 2015, 08:48:38 PM
A wee bit high end price, unless there are some little goodies in there.  I was given an A2000HD about a month ago.  I had an extra KB and mouse and the drive was bad.  Got a new Floppy on Ebay and now it works great.  Battery removed and no MB damage.  Now sits pretty along side my other Amigas.  The 2000 series I thought was a pretty ugly machine, BUT the expansion capabilities of her were great as well as easy to work inside without cutting every knuckle on my hands :).  Enjoy her!
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 09, 2015, 09:09:07 PM
Quote from: SACC-guy;795348
Not to rain on your parade..
Aren't all 2000s "beige" or "tan"?
I've never seen a white (aka 4000D style) 2000.


Yes face is kind of a grey color but case and keyboard are nice and clean whitish.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Robbie on September 09, 2015, 09:53:48 PM
Quote from: tonyvdb;795345
Good to know, I have the sys info and it has ECS so must be a "newer" board
Thanks everyone.


Check it says ECS under display for the actual ECS chipset. Mine says DMA/Gfx: ECS Agnus - 1 Meg, but STD Denise under Display (OCS)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 09, 2015, 10:12:31 PM
Quote from: Robbie;795361
Check it says ECS under display for the actual ECS chipset. Mine says DMA/Gfx: ECS Agnus - 1 Meg, but STD Denise under Display (OCS)


Yup, says ECS under Angus and Display.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 09, 2015, 10:43:49 PM
Here a couple pictures of it

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMTUw/z/JlUAAOSwu4BV4iZz/$_57.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzkwWDk5Mw==/z/JLsAAOSw3ydV4iZ7/$_57.JPG
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: giZmo350 on September 09, 2015, 10:58:13 PM
Welcome to the Miggy 2 Grand club! :)
If it's just a Plain Jane stock A2KHD it probably will arrive with an A2091 SCSI controller and hopefully a SCSI CD-R/W. The only thing I can add to check for if it has an A2091 is to check for version 7 ROMs on the board. Some older ROMs can make you wanna pull your hair out! LOL As others have pointed out, the only other trouble spot to check for is the battery.... These are really fun machines... Get an Indie ECS Pronto! :)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Robbie on September 09, 2015, 11:06:53 PM
Quote from: tonyvdb;795363
Here a couple pictures of it

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMTUw/z/JlUAAOSwu4BV4iZz/$_57.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzkwWDk5Mw==/z/JLsAAOSw3ydV4iZ7/$_57.JPG



Ah cool, the full ECS. nice. I'm a bit confused why it says it's not as fast as a standard A600 though.. hmm!
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 09, 2015, 11:28:16 PM
Quote from: tonyvdb;795345
I have the sys info and it has ECS so must be a "newer" board

Or an older board that someone upgraded with newer chips.  Like Hicks said in Aliens, "I say we crack the case and do a visual inspection of the motherboard.  It's the only way to be sure."  Or something to that effect!  :laughing:

(http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/072/034/1275681680230.jpg)

Haha, sorry, just messing with ya.  Congrats again!  :D
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 10, 2015, 01:07:11 AM
LOL, Will update when I've received it :)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: rednova on September 10, 2015, 01:21:56 AM
Hi:

I bought my amiga 2000HD for us$ 300.
It works fine and I'm very happy with it.
It had installed in the hd (50 mb) deluxe paint 4 and directory opus,
which I really like.
I installed myself : brilliance, movie setter, and disney animation studio,
amospro.
I love my amiga very much, I kiss her so often :)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: midway on September 10, 2015, 02:05:19 AM
very puuurty :) my first miggy was a 2000
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: vince_6 on September 10, 2015, 10:06:17 AM
Nice!!!

I sold mine back in the days but I bought one from a friend last June and she is at his home...
Maybe this winter I'll go pick her up :-)

Full ECS + flicker fixer = 170e
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 15, 2015, 02:31:38 PM
Well, got the 2000HD last night and opened her up.

The battery is brand new (replaced by previous owner) so thats good and no damage to the board. It has the revision 6.2 motherboard and of course has the A2091 hard drive controller with SCSI drive installed. It also has two Chinon disc drives. Nothing else is installed so not as nice a find as the other member got.

Is there anything I need to look for in the power supply or are they usually good for a long time in this model of Amiga?
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Vlabguy1 on September 15, 2015, 09:17:14 PM
Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;795352
I would actually call my main A2000 "grey", at least the faceplate.  It can be hard to tell in photos though, especially if you use flash (or if your monitor is mis-adjusted... or if Amiga.org compresses them too much during upload).

My other one is a little more "beige", but I've never seen one yellowed to the point of how A500's/A1200's frequently get.  Maybe they have less bromine and whatever other chemical junk in their faceplates?

Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure.  I think she's puurty.  ;)



Hmm..want that multi-card reader...where to get??

Rich.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 15, 2015, 09:44:51 PM
Quote from: Vlabguy1;795677
Hmm..want that multi-card reader...where to get??

That's a Mechware SCSI card reader.  Long unavailable, except for when they pop up on Ebay for exorbitantly marked up prices over what Mechy used to charge.  :(
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Vlabguy1 on September 15, 2015, 09:52:19 PM
Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;795680
That's a Mechware SCSI card reader.  Long unavailable, except for when they pop up on Ebay for exorbitantly marked up prices over what Mechy used to charge.  :(


Grr...of course.  What is the next best thing?  Looking for an easy solution to be able to swap files between Amigas, and my Mac.  

Rich
Nice looking 2000 btw..
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 15, 2015, 10:02:48 PM
Quote from: Vlabguy1;795682
Grr...of course.  What is the next best thing?  Looking for an easy solution to be able to swap files between Amigas, and my Mac.

A network?  Floppy disks?  j/k.  Maybe one of these?

(http://www.vesalia.de/pic/cfide40adapterslot.jpg)

Really it depends.  You looking for internal, external, CF, SD, etc.  Lots of options.  :)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Vlabguy1 on September 15, 2015, 10:14:00 PM
Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;795684
A network?  Floppy disks?  j/k.  Maybe one of these?

(http://www.vesalia.de/pic/cfide40adapterslot.jpg)

Really it depends.  You looking for internal, external, CF, SD, etc.  Lots of options.  :)



Nice for now looking for external either some sort of USB hub..or what you posted a CF card reader..front mount would be nice.  USB obviously gives more options.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: trekiej on September 15, 2015, 10:34:49 PM
I would have to say that the A2000 is one of my favourite Amigas. It was my first big box Amiga.
The A3000 Tower is another one.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 15, 2015, 11:06:09 PM
Quote from: Vlabguy1;795686
Nice for now looking for external either some sort of USB hub..or what you posted a CF card reader..front mount would be nice.  USB obviously gives more options.

I have my A2000 set up that I can transfer files via either CF, SD, or USB.  All my PC's have media card readers too.  Think I use SD the most, honestly sometimes forget I even have USB even though the plug is right there on the side of the monitor, LOL.  ;)  I think CF & SD solutions may be a little cheaper than USB, but like you said, USB gives more options.  :)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Vlabguy1 on September 15, 2015, 11:21:27 PM
Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;795689
I have my A2000 set up that I can transfer files via either CF, SD, or USB.  All my PC's have media card readers too.  Think I use SD the most, honestly sometimes forget I even have USB even though the plug is right there on the side of the monitor, LOL.  ;)  I think CF & SD solutions may be a little cheaper than USB, but like you said, USB gives more options.  :)


I have look in to this..I'm fine with just an SD reader..
Is Amigakit the source for this type thing??
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 15, 2015, 11:42:22 PM
Quote from: Vlabguy1;795691
Is Amigakit the source for this type thing??

ROFL.  ;)

No, Google.  :)  All kinds of SCSI-to-SD and IDE-to-SD adapters out there.  Where you start obviously depends on what kind of interface your Amiga has now.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Tenacious on September 16, 2015, 01:43:47 AM
As always, nice pics Mike.

I like the blue LEDs behind front air vents.  A touch of modern without going over the top.  ;)

Did Mech tire of making SCSI card readers, or, did the raw materials dry up?  I'd like about 3 more of them.

@ Vlabguy  

Another option for file transfer is a Zip drive.  They are available (cheaply) as SCSI, USB, IDE, and Parallel interfaces.  The PC format can be read on most platforms (PC and Amiga, Mac, Linux, etc).
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 16, 2015, 02:01:55 AM
Quote from: Tenacious;795695
As always, nice pics Mike.

I like the blue LEDs behind front air vents.  A touch of modern without going over the top.  ;)

Did Mech tire of making SCSI card readers, or, did the raw materials dry up?  I'd like about 3 more of them.

ty :)

Mech bought them somewhere.  If you search the forums he posted the whole story, I think because I bugged him about it enough.  ;)

He bought them all somewhere, thousands of them, had to track them to a warehouse through some obscure government surplus tracking code.  He updated the firmware and whatnot, and eventually sold them all, more to people using old synthesizers than to Amiga users, unfortunately.  But that's why they still pop up on ebay pretty frequently - the synth crowd.  You should be able to find his whole story somewhere here.  ;)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 16, 2015, 02:21:49 AM
Love this forum, I've never seen a site that takes a topic so far off of where it started LOL
The USB input looks interesting in place of one of the CHINON drives.

Will any 50 pin SCSI CD rom drive work with the included SCSI controller?
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 16, 2015, 02:35:17 AM
Quote from: tonyvdb;795697
Will any 50 pin SCSI CD rom drive work with the included SCSI controller?

Yes, they should.  I've almost never had bad luck with SCSI CD drives, just feels like they're "built better" than IDE.  Or for another option, this is the drive that I use with my A500:

IBM LF-D291BK 4.7GB 5.25 in. SCSI-50 Pin DVD-RAM 04N5967

Paid $34 for mine on ebay a while back, brand new.  Looks like they're going for even cheaper, now.  Although a white one or beige would probably look better in an A2000.  ;)

Edit: check your ROM version.  v7.0's are available pretty cheap and resolve a bunch of problems older ones had.  There's also v8.0 ROM's, but I think that's some homebrew hack, I don't know all the details on those offhand.  ;)
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: tonyvdb on September 16, 2015, 02:41:07 AM
Oh ya, love SCSI. The video toasters SCSI drives in my 4000 are still working.
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Vlabguy1 on September 16, 2015, 04:03:02 AM
Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;795684
A network?  Floppy disks?  j/k.  Maybe one of these?

(http://www.vesalia.de/pic/cfide40adapterslot.jpg)

Really it depends.  You looking for internal, external, CF, SD, etc.  Lots of options.  :)



Hey Mike is this a plug n play type thing??
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on September 16, 2015, 04:15:26 AM
Quote from: Vlabguy1;795704
Hey Mike is this a plug n play type thing??

You're killing me man, you've never seen one of those before?  That's just a generic picture of one I found online, although I do have a couple kicking around in a drawer for my various Miggy's.  Lots of people use them on A4000's, etc.  Typically you'd plug it into the 40-pin IDE header on the motherboard, configure the jumpers (usually not much more complicated than Master/Slave), run power to it, stick in a CF card, and boot/prep/format it for Workbench.  These kind aren't hot-swappable though (which is a difference between the extra LUN's in the Mechware device), because, well... think of it as replacing the hard disk in your A4000.  You wouldn't unplug that when it's powered up, would you?  ;)

Anyhow, blah blah, the rest should be self-explanatory.  Time to go get some coffee!  :D

Edit: it's the same concept as this.  I couldn't find a decent pic of an A4000 in my 30-seconds of Googling, but here's a pic of similar concept in an A1200:
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Vlabguy1 on September 16, 2015, 12:51:42 PM
Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;795706
You're killing me man, you've never seen one of those before?  That's just a generic picture of one I found online, although I do have a couple kicking around in a drawer for my various Miggy's.  Lots of people use them on A4000's, etc.  Typically you'd plug it into the 40-pin IDE header on the motherboard, configure the jumpers (usually not much more complicated than Master/Slave), run power to it, stick in a CF card, and boot/prep/format it for Workbench.  These kind aren't hot-swappable though (which is a difference between the extra LUN's in the Mechware device), because, well... think of it as replacing the hard disk in your A4000.  You wouldn't unplug that when it's powered up, would you?  ;)

Anyhow, blah blah, the rest should be self-explanatory.  Time to go get some coffee!  :D

Edit: it's the same concept as this.  I couldn't find a decent pic of an A4000 in my 30-seconds of Googling, but here's a pic of similar concept in an A1200:



Sorry bout that.. Yes I have seen them before..guess not sure why they are not more popular with the big box Amigas..and would like something hot swappable but not a deal breaker I guess.

Rich
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Niding on September 16, 2015, 02:33:59 PM
I enjoy the USB I got for my A1200, while I use the Card reader just as much at the moment.

https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/product/rapidroad-usb.html

Wether or not one of those can be used in a A2000 I dont know.

This is the official thread of the USB developer http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=75396&page=19
Title: Re: Bought an A2000HD
Post by: Vlabguy1 on September 16, 2015, 03:15:11 PM
Quote from: Niding;795722
I enjoy the USB I got for my A1200, while I use the Card reader just as much at the moment.

https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/product/rapidroad-usb.html

Wether or not one of those can be used in a A2000 I dont know.

This is the official thread of the USB developer http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=75396&page=19



Yup..I have seen this.  I was thinking more for my 4000's and 4000T's...but either way a big box Amiga.. I think I would need  X-surf cards :)... And that looks pricey..and hard to come by..

Rich