Guru-ROM in a GVP sidecar?

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Bought one of that new run of Guru-ROM's over on Amibay.  The product itself works great, but I didn't think this through very well and it doesn't quite fit inside a GVP sidecar, LOL.  Oh well, it's crammed in there for now and working perfectly, just curious if anyone else has ever installed one of these before, how'd you do it?

Off-hand I can think of a couple ways... use a ribbon cable to relocate the socket, or try to solder the PCB directly to the GVP board.  Or I suppose I could dremel through the drive mounting plate and try to give it a little vertical clearance...

Not a big deal at all, just fishing for ideas how other folks might've done this in the past.  :lol:

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Finally decided to solve my own problem, here.  Wasn't having any luck getting a SCSI2SD to work in the sidecar (even though they fit great, all it did was crash... lack of instructions probably didn't help)...  So went back to the drawing board and completely removed the Mechware card reader from its frame.  In hindsight it seems pretty obvious.  Now she fits with the sidecar case closed.  I just couldn't stand looking at that being crooked anymore!  

[giZmo350]

Brilliant! Looks native like that too.  Nice job! Did you add that little heat sink on top?

I wish I'd got 2 Mechware card readers as now my A590 is void of an HDD. But the Mechware card reader now installed in my A2K is simply awesome.

Your Mechware card reader being a different model than mine is quit interesting. Mine has a PCMCIA slot and a CF card slot. However, your PCMCIA adapter slides in nearly flush with the front of main circuit board where mine sticks out about 1.5 inches.

Which got me to thinking... I wonder if a wireless card (which would stick out of the slot on my model) would work in the PCMCIA slot? Now that I think about it, maybe even a 32bit card might work - have to check the specs on the slot. I think I'll try it!

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Brilliant! Looks native like that too.  Nice job! Did you add that little heat sink on top?

Thanks!  And yup.  Added heatsinks everywhere inside my Miggy's.  Even though they don't get that hot, why not preserve them for as long as possible, you know?

Your Mechware card reader being a different model than mine is quit interesting. Mine has a PCMCIA slot and a CF card slot. However, your PCMCIA adapter slides in nearly flush with the front of main circuit board where mine sticks out about 1.5 inches.

Mine are PCD-60b's.  I think yours is a 50.

Which got me to thinking... I wonder if a wireless card (which would stick out of the slot on my model) would work in the PCMCIA slot? Now that I think about it, maybe even a 32bit card might work - have to check the specs on the slot. I think I'll try it!

That's a negatory on that.  Even if it does physically fit, there's no drivers or software support.  Of course someone could try to write drivers...  :lol:

[mechy]

Brilliant! Looks native like that too.  Nice job! Did you add that little heat sink on top?

I wish I'd got 2 Mechware card readers as now my A590 is void of an HDD. But the Mechware card reader now installed in my A2K is simply awesome.

Your Mechware card reader being a different model than mine is quit interesting. Mine has a PCMCIA slot and a CF card slot. However, your PCMCIA adapter slides in nearly flush with the front of main circuit board where mine sticks out about 1.5 inches.

Which got me to thinking... I wonder if a wireless card (which would stick out of the slot on my model) would work in the PCMCIA slot? Now that I think about it, maybe even a 32bit card might work - have to check the specs on the slot. I think I'll try it!

The pcd series will not work with any wireless cards etc. believe me, i thought of it

[giZmo350]

Ahhhhh, we think alike!

[guest11527]

Finally decided to solve my own problem, here.  Wasn't having any luck getting a SCSI2SD to work in the sidecar (even though they fit great, all it did was crash...

The V5 or the V6 version? The V5 version is actually quite stable, even though it is a bit slow. The V6 version works, though need to be configured with some care, in particular, the speed on the SCSI bus needs to be limited or otherwise the SCSI bus hangs.

[kirk_m]

Reviving this old thread...Mike, if you are ever wanting to try the SCSI2SD in the sidecar again, try this.  I have a v5 card, and, it too Guru'd every time I'd turn the computer on, then, it would reset and boot normally.  After I changed the SCSI ID of the SCSI2SD to ID 0, the same as what the hard disk was, it stopped doing this.  Also, I updated the bootloader and firmware to the most recent versions prior to changing the IDs and, it still would Guru before a successful boot.  I am planning on adding a GURUROM to my sidecar soon, if I can find one, so that I can use a larger virtual HD than 4GB.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

if you are ever wanting to try the SCSI2SD in the sidecar again, try this.

Thanks!  I think my SCSI2SD is a lemon.  Probably just going to toss it into my box of other Amiga bits to sell and let it be someone else's problem to figure out.  :lol: