Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Rinusch on March 03, 2026, 03:45:49 PM
-
Hi all,
I've always been an Amiga user and big fan. I have a number of Amiga's and had the idea of connecting one of my A1200's to install the seemingly great Amiga Game Selector distribution on the real hardware.
But..first I need to make a few decisions about where to install it onto (CF/SD/Harddisk) and how to connect those to my A1200.
1) I was thinking about buying an internal CF2IDE adapter. I currently have a 2,5" harddisk connected there, but would swap that out.
However, AGS (AGA version) requires a 32Gb CF/SD card it says. So my first question is: how will I know if the adapter I have in mind (https://gotek.nl/shop-ide-2-cf-male/) will be compatible with a particular CF card, as they're normally used with cards up to 4Gb's I understood. And also the brand/type can also matter from what I read here and there.
2) Big CF cards turn out to be quite expensive. Are there any people having good experiences with IDE2SD adapters in an A1200, and if so: which types?
3) Does the kickstart version of the Amiga 1200 matter? I have both a Commodore version (3.0 I guess) as well as an Amiga International version (3.1).
4) I was also looking at an HD alternative. I could also watch out for a cheap 2nd hand 2,5" HD with a minimum capacity of 32Gb and preferably low rotation speeds to minimize noise. I assume that I can just as easily 'write' the AGS image to an HD as I can write it to a memory card with e.g. Win32DiskImager, right?
5) I was also looking at and IDE->PCMCIA adapter, so that I can easily switch cards if required without opening the Amiga. Any pros/cons in particular compared to the internal solutions?
Quite some questions, sorry.
It's not that I haven't tried doing my homework..but so far I haven't found answers to these questions.
Would be much appreciated if you guys could share any (partial) experiences/knowledge.
Best regards!
-
Simples.
Get a IDEtoSD and attach to the 44pin IDE internal. Remove the RF Modulator and use a SD extender so you can easily access the SD card for insertion and removal etc. via the RF shield hole.
Optional:
Buy a PCMCIA internet card and roadshow TCP/IP stack. Setup a SMB share to your PC to copy files.
-
Having experimented for the last few weeks on this issue I can speak with some authority.
1) Spinning rust hard drives are hot and unreliable (as are Zip Drives...well they're not hot but I swear mine could have caught fire this week as that died)
2) SD2IDE cards don't work well for 2 devices on one data bus as they default to Master and like to hog the bus. Zeb's WHDLoad image seems to bypass this to some extent but your other device will have to be slave.
3) CF2IDE Solutions are FAR the superior solution. The media is more expensive but a 8GB Industrial Grade 'Extreme' (fake SanDisk brand) seems ok for £19 on Amazon! Get a good controller with a Slave/Master jumper and you are away. I found one with both a 44pin and 40pin socket! Awsome!