Workbench 3 hard drive install

[hayashi]

(I know this is probably the wrong forum, but it's both hardware and software related)

Well, the Install disk I've been given for Workbench 3.0 is corrupted, so while I wait for a replacement I might as well ask some questions about the process. I'm going to be trying to install to a 2GB IDE drive on an Amiga 1200.

1) (This is more of a hardware question, but) Is the IDE cable supposed to be inserted so that the red cable is towards the number 1 on the motherboard and to the right-hand side of the connector on the drive?

2) I had to secure the hard drive to the cradle with copious amounts of electrical tape because the screw holes didn't line up. Will this impair drive performance (heat dissipation etc) in any way?

3) Are there any benefits to using Workbench 3.1? I heard that you can use it with 3.0 roms (which is what I have), and I'm thinking of getting a set of original 3.1 disks instead.

4) Recommended system and secondary partition sizes?

4) Do I install software to the system partition or the secondary partition?

[swift240]

The RED line goes to No1 on the IDE port.
It wont help with heat, but if its needed then ok, I suppose. to bo honest I cant see why you need so much tape.
Benefits well.......... really you need the 3.1 ROM's to see any real benefit.
Sizes well I have my main as 1gig, others well you can please your self that will depend on the total size of the HD any way.
Software? hmmmm what exactly arer you on about here?
OS3.0/OS3.1 or even OS3.5/OS3.9 to the main (Primary)
Any other to letts say Work:
And any way you can have as an example:-

OS3.1, 1 gig or 512mb.
Work: 512mg
Grafix: 512mb
MP3: 512mb
Backup: 512mb

Like I say the above is just an example, it does depend on the total size of your HD to start with.
Do you intend to expand your Amiga?

Such as 4way IDE'99 bufferd IDE board?
Then if so you got Primary (master), (slave
Secondary, Master, slave.

Primary HD any size, slave ZIP drive
Secondary, CD rom, DVD rom

again above is an example.

[ZeBeeDee]

1) (This is more of a hardware question, but) Is the IDE cable supposed to be inserted so that the red cable is towards the number 1 on the motherboard and to the right-hand side of the connector on the drive?

The red or blue stripe on the cable always goes to pin 1 on both the drive and the mainboard.

2) I had to secure the hard drive to the cradle with copious amounts of electrical tape because the screw holes didn't line up. Will this impair drive performance (heat dissipation etc) in any way?

No, but you can always drill some new holes in the HD cradle so they line up

3) Are there any benefits to using Workbench 3.1? I heard that you can use it with 3.0 roms (which is what I have), and I'm thinking of getting a set of original 3.1 disks instead.

Yes, it's a lot better as there were improvements to the software

4) Recommended system and secondary partition sizes?

Personally, on my old 2gb HD (before I went to CF cards and then onto Solid State) I had a 100mb Workbench: then a 200mb partition for Work: and the rest was allocated as my WHDLoad partition. Ultimately, it all depends on the size of drive you intend to use and how much YOU feel you will need in each partition.

4) Do I install software to the system partition or the secondary partition?

^^^ Psst ... 5 not 4 :laughing:
It's better to keep Workbench and installed programs seperate

[motrucker]

The only thing I can add is, get the 3.1 ROMs and software. You would really be better off with 3.9 - why not use the newest you can get?

[tone007]

Two screws is plenty to hold the hard drive in, just offset it on the bracket a bit.

..or for some real fun, eliminate the drive and bracket completely and go with CF storage.

[hayashi]

I had a look at the boot menu last night, and it shows DF0 and CC0, but no DH0. On boot-up, the hard drive light flickers very quickly and I can't hear any hard drive-type noises. Since the hard drive has not yet been formatted yet, is this normal?

[tone007]

Yes, you'll need to make partitions for them to show up, though the drive should be spinning.  Maybe it's just a very quiet drive?