FastATA 1200 and Indivision - how to?

[Rob]

If you're going to be installing a Mediator anyway... why not try the A3000/A4000 version of the FastATA?  I don't have any experience with that hardware but off-hand I assume it would work?

Because the Mediator 1200 doesn't have any PCI slots.

[Rob]

I just came across this photo, where someone used ribbon cables to relocate the Fast ATA 1200.



Usually there's ton of dead space towards the front of an A1200 tower with a Mediator.  To me, the obvious solution would be to design a PCB that relocates the Fast ATA and ROMs from under the Mediator and into that dead space.  Turning the ROM sockets though 180° would minimize the size  requirements of such a board.

[Rob]

Rob
Where did you find the picture of the FastATA 1200 on cables? Looks interesting but what about signal losses?

Over to our techs to come up with ready made solution. Which we have been waiting for since the Indivision1200 first came out. :-)

Found it here.

http://www.commodore.gen.tr/adp/alpyre/

[Rob]

What I would do:

1) Sell FastATA and BPPC
2) Buy BPPC with SCSI

Best (and fastest) solution, IMO.

As long as you're not using OS4.x which doesn't have a driver for the SCSI.

[Rob]

There was IDE Fix Express but you can't buy them new now and the max speed possible was 5.1MB/s.

[Rob]

Apparently Elbox have thought about this problem :-). I wrote to them and got this answer:

"Hello,

If you need to install the BVision or Indivision uder FastATA 1200 we
recommed
to rise the main FastATA board using the precision sockets.

Four of them are available in the BVisionKIT:
http://eu-shop.elbox.com/en_US/p/BVision-KIT/29

If the FastATA is rised as high that it is necessary to rise the
Mediator board you can do it using the Mediator 1200 Riser KIT.

It rises Mediator 11,5 mm:
http://eu-shop.elbox.com/en_US/p/Mediator-1200-Riser-KIT/57

Best regards,
ELBOX COMPUTER, Support Dept."

So apparently the solution is to rise the FastATA over the Indivision via the BVisionKIT and then rise the Mediator via the Mediator 1200 Riser kit.

Has anybody done this with succes?

So long as there's 11.5mm between the connectors on the PCI card and the end of the bracket then it shouldn't be a real problem.  If that's the case you could screw 11.5mm stand-offs in the holes on the back panel so you can secure the cards properly.  Either that or make your own offset brackets from the blanks that come with the tower.

[Rob]

It seems there are no drivers for PCI SCSI cards on OS4.x classic and no 68k drivers for the ATA and SATA cards supported in OS4.x.

SCSI is a more expensive route to go down.