CD Drive Option

[3246251196]

It's been about 5 years since I last visited this page. It is great to see people are still loving Amiga.

Back in '06 I had my A1200 with exp' card + PCMCIA card connected to my PC etc etc. It was a great deal of fun. And, I cannot remember why I stopped using my A1200!

Anyway, it is back p and running. In the last week I have re-ordered some parts that I used to have. One of those parts was a PCMCIA EasyNet card. Ideally, I want my A1200 (now with no expansion and just stock - with the 2.5" IDE) to be networked via the router. Anyway, I ended up installing the necessary drivers via the diskette. However, I then found out that the actual EasyNet software interface is on the sent CD. Back in '06 I know that I did not need to use a CD at all. But, so be it!

Essentially, I need to get a CD Drive hooked into this A1200 and I need to ask what the best option is; I can only imagine how often this question gets asked...

I have a bunch of CD Drives around the house. All of them asking for IDE connection and molex power.

So, what should I do? On amigakit.com I cannot see a CD Drive specifically for an A1200. Furthermore, another problem is supplying power to the CD Drive.

What is the best option?

Thank you,
324.

[danwood]

Can't you just copy the files onto a CF Card or something using your PC?

[3246251196]

Can't you just copy the files onto a CF Card or something using your PC?

There are options like this to get around this issue, such as the one you mention. Also, I was thinking of just using a 3.5"/2.5" converter; I could just transfer the data over that way.

But, I want to have a cd device anyway.

I have been told that the standard A1200 PSU will not be up to the task of supplying power to the CD Drive in addition to the Floppy drive if I use a split there. Is this true?

[CSixx]

Amigakit sells a buffered ide adapter that has 3.5" ide connectors on it. You could get one of those and run an ide cable out of the back of your 1200. For power, you can use the hardware from an external usb harddrive, or splice into the a1200's floppy power connector. Depending on your other hardware (accelerators, etc..) the a1200 PS may or may not be able to keep up.

Other options are:
* subway usb card, then connect any usb cdrom drive
* slimline (laptop) cdrom, and an adapter.

[Khephren]

Are any of your old cd drives SCSI? I used to use a Squirrel PCMCIA adapter to attach my external drive. Or, if you are using a CF card as your HDD, use winUAE to copy it onto the card.

Another thought, LHA the file from UAE to see if it will fit on a 720k PC floppy (assuming you still have one!). Or pass it over a serial or parallel connection.

[3246251196]

Thanks for all your replies.

Firstly, it's a shame. All of the CD Drives I have only have molex power connectors. So there is no way that something like http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1030 would work.

Secondly, I do not have a serial or parallel cable. Even if I did, I would not know where to start by transfering via these methods it has been so long. Of course, google searching would help.

Thirdly, I have reserved a 3.5" 2.5" converter from Maplin. Yup, they charge 10£ but I would rather have it tomorrow than have to wait until next week for an order off of the internet.

So, I will just use the 3.5 2.5 converter tomorrow in order to transfer files across. From there I will install EasyNet - make sure everything is working. Then, I will probably install AOS3.5.

So, I kind of have a plan of action. But, still... I am curious as to what type of CD Drive I would need that takes a 4-pin power connector.

Thanks everyone! You are even more useful and responsive as you were 5 years ago.
324

---
EDIT: Well - Good luck to me trying to install AOS3.5, I forgot I just have the stock system right now. This entire thing is a project / a hobby. Ideally, I want to expand every week/month. One of the things I want to do is to convert the standard desktop plastic into a real PC-Tower.

[3246251196]

Thanks for all your input.

I ended up getting the converter and everything is running okay thus far.

As for my power concerns, I think one of these would solve all of that: http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=866 which will be useful when it comes to converting into a dekstop case.t

I think I will end up using two 3.5" IDE devices: HD + Optical with this additional power supply. Anyway, that is in the works.

[scuzzb494]

What I have always done with my 1200s is either hunt down a Blizzard with the SCSI KIT or the Squirrel. I prefer the Blizzard to be honest. And then I just buy a cheap ezternal case off Ebay. There were plenty made and they can house CD, extra hard drives etc and they have there own power so you can dasiy chain and stack them. I like to keep the PCMCIA free for ethernet anyway. I also then plug in a ZIP drive cus I fitted one to the PC and with 100MB transfer that does everything I need, though I do burn CDs also. Picture below of one of my setups.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0406/car_1606_230.jpg

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/a_scuzz_nov02/a_scuzz_nov02_220.jpg

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/a_scuzz_nov02/a_scuzz_nov02_221.jpg

I have the Amiga on Broadband.

[bbond007]

Thanks for all your input.

I ended up getting the converter and everything is running okay thus far.

As for my power concerns, I think one of these would solve all of that: http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=866 which will be useful when it comes to converting into a dekstop case.t

I think I will end up using two 3.5" IDE devices: HD + Optical with this additional power supply. Anyway, that is in the works.

You can also go with SATA. I use a external eSATA drive when I need it...

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59673