compatible hds for a1200

[dear1700]

I have heard that some brands won't fit in the caddy, so what brands are known to fit and what sizes (9.5, 12mm, ect).

I don't know since I haven't owned an amiga in about 7 years and recently bought a stripped down own with no hd. (running an A1200 from floppy sucks).

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[TjLaZer]

Well all 2.5" HDs will fit the caddy just fine even the thicker ones.  But the newer ones will not screw in place.  Only the older ones have the holes lined up to screw on.  AFAIK all drives 2GB up are the newer type that will not have the holes that line up.  No problem as you can use tape to secure the drive on the metal bracket.  I use electrical tape and it works great.  Don't use a rubber band as it will eventually break and your HD will be loose.

[oleimann]

In my case I had several issues:
1) I needed to get a cable, since there was none in the A1200.
At the time I expected a really short cable, and the line-up
of the holes looked wrong, so I taped it.

2) Once I got the cable, the holes where in the right place
with respect to the cable length, but the RAM metal cover
was in the way - so I removed it.
I could screw the 40Gb 2.5i HD into place.  :roll:

3) Trying to partition the 8Gb the OS sees into two 4Gb partitions appeared to work (including formatting), but
it couldn't recognize the partitions afterwards. :-?

From another Forum entry I found out it was a validation
issue: not enough RAM (only the 2Gb Chip RAM until my
Elbox 4Mb FastRAM arrives).  :idea:

So I partitioned the first two partitions: 150Mb for
Workbench and 250Mb for Data - the rest will wait until
I need the space

I also have the 64bit IDE Controller package from Elbox
on order -> should give me the entire 40Gb (but how many
partitions is that ?   :-D )

Now it boots really, really fast - and noiseless as well.
Next project: rebuilding the power supply for more Wattage.

[amigakit]

We have 4GB 2.5" HDDs here that can be used on the A1200 & A600

[adolescent]

Or you can just drill new holes in the drive cradle.  I used two holes at opposite corners and it worked fine.

[Gavilan]

@amigakit: you have 2.5´´ cables?? I mean, 44 pin cable so i could connect any 2.5´´ hdd inside my A1200 & A600??

Cheers

Sebastian

[amigakit]

@Gavilan

Yes, please have a look here for the 2.5" IDE cables, prices start from £2.99:

http://amigakit.co.uk/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=2.5+cable&page=1&sort=3a

[dear1700]

But I thought that some of the newer, higher capacity drives use a different form of IDE (ata maybe?) that the A1200 hardware does not work with. Is this true??

Also, I have a home network at home and couldn't I get by with a small HD, and use a PC on the network for the bulk of storage??

[adonay]

But I thought that some of the newer, higher capacity drives use a different form of IDE (ata maybe?) that the A1200 hardware does not work with. Is this true??

no its quite possible to use a large drive the only problem is the amiga os that is limited to 4gb hd partitions. with that sayed you need to have partitions at maximum 4gb each if you dont use a newer filesystem or mount a ide controller such as the elbox fast ata(power flyer) that have in built support for large drives.The connections them selfs are the same on new 2,5" as the old ones.

Also, I have a home network at home and couldn't I get by with a small HD, and use a PC on the network for the bulk of storage??

yes you can there is a program called samba that lets you do this.

adonay :-D

*edit* also note that the standard ffs (fastfilesystem) dont like drives\partitions larger than 2Gb Tho it works with larger disks, but some apps might not

[dear1700]

So, would this HD work just fine in a A1200 without any mods??

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-2-1GB-HARDDRIVE-2-5-12-5MM-Compatible-any-Laptop_W0QQitemZ6823964207QQcategoryZ64480QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[adonay]

yes no problem as long as you have a cable for it.

adonay :-D

[TjLaZer]

I installed a new HD in my A600 yesterday.  It has Kickstart 37.350.  I was able to get any HD to work up to 4000MB but any partition over that size would get an error when formatting.  I installed a IBM 4.86GB HD and simply partitioned it upto 4000MB and left the rest untouched.  I used a strip of electrical tape to hold the drive on the bracket.  Works a treat.

I did verify that even older 1.2GB drives did not have the same holes as the original 60/80MB Conner drives, so you are either going to have to drill holes or secure it with something else.  I prefer electrical tape as it will hold it for a long time with little risk of it breaking or snapping off.