Amiga HDD Cable setup

[wolfie53]

Hi guys.
Just a quick question regarding my Amiga 1200.
At the moment i have a std A1200.
Very recently and about 15 years too late i decided to give it a spruce up.
On advice from another forum, they advised that it will take any 2.5" Laptop IDE drive. so i bought one.Then i learn't that i needed a 3.5" to 2.5" IDE cable. To go with that a 3.5" back to 2.5" adaptor with both power cables linking through a 3amp terminal block.
This is where i get stuck.
Now bare in mind this is the first ever HDD i have owned for an amiga.
When it's all setup cable-wise and the amiga is first powered up all i ever get is a combination of either a solid black screen a black and white halfed screen or a green screen and nothing else more.
I was told this drive was formatted but i don't know if that enough for the amiga to go on. and also i assume it was formatted on the PC.

Can you guys tell me where im going wrong?

Thanks

Wolfie

[Karlos]

Hmm.

If you have a 2.5 inch drive, a standard 44-way (for 2.5" drives) IDE cable should be all you need. The IDE header on the 1200 motherboard has all 44 pins. Make sure you connect the ribbon the right way around though, it's possible to get it the wrong way around.

You only need a 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch cable and molex connectors for power if you intend to fit a 3.5 inch drive.

[wolfie53]

Thanks for the reply

I do have a 2.5" HDD but the shops where i go only sell a 2.5-3.5 cable and a 3.5-2.5 reducer with the red and black cables on both. I have linked these cables up now though.
There is only one combination a ways that the HDD light comes on and that  permanently stays on but goes no further.

Thanks

[Karlos]

Can you hear if the drive is powering upp? Does it still boot from floppy when the HD is attached?

Assuning you've not got an OS installed yet, I wouldn't expect the drive to be useable. It'll need partitioning and installing.

[Matt_H]

An Amiga dealer can probably set you up with a real 44pin cable. AmigaKit has loads of them. A few users here even have Compact Flash adapters that plug directly onto the motherboard header - no cable required. But since you've already bought a regular drive, I assume that's not your preferred option.

Beware the infamous 4GB problem while partitioning/formatting if you have a modern drive.

[wolfie53]

Thanks for the replies fellas

I actually have a Flash adaptor for the amiga and soon a CF to go with it.
I bought the 2.5" HDD before this so i figured i'd just use that to transport the stuff i need on the amiga from the pc.

Your right about the floppy, it's inactive when the HDD light is on.

I have no idea how to format a drive on the Amiga when i can't go past that bit.

I did have the brain wave to format it on the PC but the IDE/Power cable arrangement don't seem to make it visable to the pc.

Just one thing that maybe an issue, there are two jumpers in the back that would knida look like this I:I:. if you can imagine the I is a jumper.
 

Thanks

[Karlos]

What you ideally need is a bootable floppy that you can run the HDToolbox from. Then you can make an initial partition in the lowest 4GB of the drive and make it bootable, quick format it and see about installing an OS on it.

You could do that from the PC with UAE with the right cable, I expect.