How do you SPlit the A1200's Floppy Power connnector?

[paul1981]

The hard drive I wouldn't power from the floppy connector (3.5" that is, 2.5" should be fine) but directly from the PSU.

I used to power my 1200's 3.5" hard drive from the floppy connector with a Y-Splitter cable for about 6 years (3 hours per day on average, so it was well used and tested method) and I didn't see any problems at all.  So I wouldn't be too afraid of using this method.  If you are still scared though, you could always hook a power feed directly from the power socket connector on the 1200's motherboard, but that would involve taking the motherboard out and soldering your hard drive wire to it (12v, 5v and GND) to the actual underside of the socket.  That would be a good idea though because you could then attach other things to it in the future should the need arise (like a fan for example).

[paul1981]

One case of 'no problems' doesn't necessarily prove it's fine. You may have been lucky.
3.5" drives differ widely in power consumption. Without making sure the model at hand is (very) low power, it's not a good idea to hook it up to the floppy power - which reportedly doesn't tolerate somewhat higher power HDDs. So, general advice is "don't do it unless you know what you're doing". Enforcing the feeble line is a very good idea though.

Yes, that 1200 of mine is dead now. It caught fire...and I have no idea why.
Still, 6 years isn't bad is it? LOL.

...Only joking :biglaugh: