HDD problems?

[Richter]

Hi.

I have built a small box contatining a 2 gb. HDD hooked up to a standard PC/ATX power supply. From this one i have a 2,5" to 3,5" IDE-cable running to the internal IDE-controller of my A1200.

The problem is, that when i plug it in, u could hear the HDD spinning and then stopping, then the A1200 boots to floppy, starts WB3.1 (wich is always mounted in my external DD) and then nothing more.

There is no HDD read-sound, nor any more spinning of the drive other than 1/5th of a second at the power up.

HDToolbox seems to find nothing... So i can´t format and/or partition.

The HDD LED on the Amiga is constantly lit, wich in my mind indicates a problem. Long time since i've done installations like this so i don´t remember what problem though.

The cable is connected with RED Pin1 down, and the 4 (empty) power-supply inputs up towards the back of the desktop case.

The other way around causes a lock-up (for obvious reasons).

Any suggestions?

[Richter]

Ok. Now i've checked it and the PC recognizes the drive...

One strange thing i discovered just now is that now my mouse pointer will not move at all with the HDD plugged in.

It wasn´t like this before... When i first plugged it in...

Maybe cause i turned the unmarked cable around he wrong way in the IDE-slot once... But how could that affect mouse/kb-chips, if at all?

When i unplug the drive it works fine... However the mousebuttons work.

Somehow i am beggining to suspect my expansion board...

[Richter]

Some pictures of the installation, just to double-check i made no errors:

http://hem.passagen.se/tofflan1/Amiga/

[Richter]

I also discovered it works a little more smooth if i grounded PS_ON (green) for the ATX power supply. More stable power. And MORE power to say the least.

But it doesn´t solve my problem...

However, if i install the cable in my Amiga IDE with the red cable on pin1 (furthest down?) and then twist it halfway around, so i get the red closest to the Power Input on the HDD wich i guess is what is suggested above(?), the mouse error disappears. But i the Amiga still doesn't find the disk...

[Richter]

Well...

For starters it is a Quantum drive. And secondly it is an A1200 Desktop (as seen on pictures).

One thing i don´t get (been awhile since installing hardware for my amigas) is how u could fry a circuit simply by turning the cable around the wrong way, in my setup as is suggested above? If i had a y-connector with power going straight to the 2,5"-connector and then turned it the wrong way, i would understand if at least the IDE-interface could fry. But i am using an external power supply, hooked only to the HDD and for the HDD only, that way no dangerous currents would be able to run through the IDE-cable!? The 3,5" to 2,5" HDD would only be transporting DATA!?

However, i have turned the cable around the right way now, but it still doesn´t work.

I believe it is a power error, since i don´t hear any spinning of the disk after that initial spin. I guess it does only get power when you power on the PSU and then the PSU stops giving power?

As for the cable, i got it from someone i don´t remember at an Amiga-party a year ago or so, then it has been lying around.

[Richter]

Ok. Power now works ok, thanks to a switch-connector and a little soldering.

Now the disk spins, and everything looks ok. The HDD-led lights up at boot and then goes blank in WB. Looks ok. No more constant LED.

But still HDTools cannot find the disk. Nor can i see it in bootmenu.

Can it be of any importance what's on the drive now? I believe it's an NTFS-partition on it... I still believe HDTools would "see" the drive and be able to low-level format right?

[Richter]

Red cable on IDE is placed on Pin1 on the internal Amiga IDE-controller. Right next to the number 1 on the motherboard. So that works ok.

And HDD-led lighting up at boot, is in my mind proof that the IDE-cable itself works?

I've tried the drive and another drive in 2 different A1200's to make sure the IDE-interface wasn't the problem. With no luck...

So it would seem that the cable is the problem somehow... Or something in the way my diskdrives are formatted before (when they where in an AT/PC)?

I recall something called the RDB, wich would be the counterpart of the PC-HDD's MBR? Could that be causing the problem?

I also remember there was a program to fix that called RDB-install or something?

[Richter]

Since i've tried it in two different A1200's, a fried IDE-interface should not be the case.

Then it would be the cable then... I have ordered a new one...

Keep your fingers crossed ppl...

[Richter]

Well yeah... With three A1200's, one A500+ and an A4000 u could say i have my fair amount of Amigas.

That, and an AmigaONE coming in...

But that's about as far as i can take it, before my wife goes all berxerk on me considering i have loads of other retro-electronics stashed everywhere around the house

Thanks for the finger-crossing btw. Tomorrow we'll know.

[Richter]

I managed to hook myself up with another IdeFix'97 Adaptor instead. Thanks to Robin, a good and loyal friend, who is not a member (yet) but reads these forums every now and then.

So now everything works ok. And as a bonus i connected an old CDRom as well.