A1200 PATA EIDE hard drive?

[Retro_71]

Hi Franko/All when i get home i will try out 10,20,40,60,120,160,320GB and 1TB 2.5" on my A1200 but its a Rev 2 board, i know from previous times that the 10,20 and 40 worked without any problems. I am using a ATX to Amiga 1200 connector (from Amigakit) and the psu is a 300 watt one.

The drives are a mix of IBM, Toshiba, WD and Hitachi will post the model number as i test them.

[Mizar]

I'm going to be installing a new 2.5" WD3200BEVE 298GB drive in my A1200 shortly.  I know that model should work, the 32.5 W PSU should be plenty, so if there's problems with this one too it must be the IDE cable or otherwise the master/slave business.  I should be able to get another cable locally, so if there's still issues does anyone happen to know on what position I should put a jumper on those 4 extra pins on the HD connector?

[Franko]

Be very interested to know if it works...

PS:the WD3200BEVE is 320GB not 298GB, how did you arrive at that figure

[Mizar]

Be very interested to know if it works...

PS:the WD3200BEVE is 320GB not 298GB, how did you arrive at that figure

Actually, it is 298GB.  They do the usual marketing ploy of calling it 320GB, but they are actually using the definition of 1GB=1 billion bytes.  They say this in the fine print on the box.  So, they call 320GB 320,000,000,000 bytes, which is the actual size.  But it's not 320GB, because 1 kilobyte is 1024 bytes, 1 megabyte is 1024 KB, 1 gigabyte is 1024 MB, and 1 terabyte is 1024 GB.  So 320,000,000,000 / 1024^3 (cubed) is 298.02 GB.  However, ironically they use the true definition for a MB for the cache (1,048,576 bytes), which is 8MB, so that is the real value.  But if they use the 1 billion byte definition, they get to use a larger number for the capacity.  Kind of like how things always seem to cost $99.99, or $49.99, or $9.99, instead of $100, $50, or $10, because it looks like a lower amount, though there's no significant difference (nobody cares about one cent).  That's capitalism for you, heh.

[Franko]

@ Mizar

True, if you read the definitions on WIKI about how drive sizes are calculated you soon realise that it's all pretty misleading as you explained above...

It even points out that Apple and Microsoft use two different ways to calculate the space on your HD so that even if you used identical drives in each manufacturers machines the Windows one will always show it has more space...

Ruddy stupid if you ask me I have always used values of 1024 for calculating such things in computer terms as it makes sense to do so in hex but as you say it's like the old under £100 thing (ie: £99.99) somehow makes some folk think they're getting a bargain... :lol:

[Claw22000]

I'm trying to replace my HD in my A1200, and would appreciate some advice.  I tried installing an EIDE Western Digital 80GB one, but the system wouldn't recognize it in HDToolBox, and I didn't hear it power up with the system like it should.  I read an A1200 hardware FAQ that said most IDE drives will work with the A1200, including EIDE.  It described them as Fast ATA.  The drive I tried was a Parallel ATA one, though EIDE.  Is this a different kind of drive that won't ever work, or do I just need to try a different brand?

I've heard about the Compact Flash drives that can be used in lieu of an actual hard drive, and those sound advantageous.  I don't need a gigantic 80 to 320GB drive like the Western Digital ones, so maybe that would be a better option.  My A1200 has 68030/68882, 32 MB fast RAM, Surf Squirrel SCSI, and OS3.9 BB1.  What all hard drive types are going to be compatible with the A1200?

Western Digital is all I use when I purchase drives There resiliant and Fast!  

Thomas can correct me if I'm wrong but I think the easiest way to get a big drive working is prepareing it on WinUAE or other Emu if you have a MAC.  Even though its not for the same OS your looking to use you may want to check this forum out on the second page about 1/2 way down Thomas has a tutorial that really helped me!

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40748&page=2

I use this to connect the drive up to my PC for prep.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189169&cm_re=USB_to_IDE-_-12-189-169-_-Product

This works with all types of drives and can be a very usefull tool when trying to recover files from another computer.  

Hope this helps.  

I have a 60Gig I used in my Amiga.  And I'm making a 30Gig one for my CD32 Right now.

[Franko]

@ Claw22000

It's not the formatting or partitioning that's the problem folk are having in this thread, it's the fact that the drives wont even spin up... ie:the HD's motor won't even start to spin at all ...

[Claw22000]

Oh thats easy your are plugging it in upside down.

[Franko]

Oh thats easy your are plugging it in upside down.

If only that were the case...

[Claw22000]

I'm going to be installing a new 2.5" WD3200BEVE 298GB drive in my A1200 shortly.  I know that model should work, the 32.5 W PSU should be plenty, so if there's problems with this one too it must be the IDE cable or otherwise the master/slave business.  I should be able to get another cable locally, so if there's still issues does anyone happen to know on what position I should put a jumper on those 4 extra pins on the HD connector?

Amikit sells cables.  On Western Digitial drives "NO Jumper" Means Cable select.  If you have one drive and a cable with One plug then it will auto to master.  If you have 2 plugs on the cable use the one closes to the MB as that is the master plug.  Also if you have 2 drives make sure you have the second one set to Cable select as forcing to slave won't work they both need to be Cable select for this setup to work.

I really hope you get this working as I love my A1200 with a huge drive in it!  Its like unlimited space!

[Mizar]

Claw22000:

It wasn't installed upside down.  I was careful to note how it was oriented and plugged in.  Besides, if it was upside down, you couldn't even secure it to the drive cradle because your screw holes would be facing up.

Amikit sells cables.  On Western Digitial drives "NO Jumper" Means Cable select.  If you have one drive and a cable with One plug then it will auto to master.  If you have 2 plugs on the cable use the one closes to the MB as that is the master plug.  Also if you have 2 drives make sure you have the second one set to Cable select as forcing to slave won't work they both need to be Cable select for this setup to work.

I really hope you get this working as I love my A1200 with a huge drive in it!  Its like unlimited space!

Yeah I know, it turns out if I needed an IDE cable, I couldn't find one locally, so I would've had to order one through AmigaKit.  But there wasn't anything wrong with my cable.  I've only been trying to install 1 HD in there.  From what some other members had said, it sounded like there could be a chance of a master/slave issue, even though like you say it should normally default to master with one drive and no jumper.  So that's why I asked about that, just in case.  But, I noticed now that my IDE cable is already cut on line 1 (if the line furthest towards the front of the machine on the cable is #1)- must've been the dealer who installed a previous HD, presumably.  So, that's supposed to take care of any potential master/slave issue right there.

The WD3200BEVE 2.5" 298GB drive installed successfully!!!  The WD800BEVE 74.5GB one I tried must've been DOA, because I did everything the same when I tried that installation.  And that was also a brand new drive.  They get destroyed so easily if someone mishandles them somewhere along the line, apparently.

The only problem with it now is, despite having AmigaOS3.9, it only recognizes 7GB of space.  Also, it doesn't have an inactivity time shut it down... not sure if it's supposed to do that- stay on whenever the computer has power.  Actually, in one spot HDToolBox shows "127.9G", but only 7GB is available for use.  Pretty odd.  That's still 4 & 2/3 times the size of my last drive, LOL!  But, it'd be nice to get it to recognize the rest.  Like you say, with a huge drive in there it's like unlimited space, alright!  And 298GB is particularly gargantuan!!!  UNLIMITED- indeed!

Franko:

So the drive works!  You must've had back luck too with the large drives being the DOA ones.  Order this 298GB WD model brand new, and with a little luck this time your drive will be intact and will work for your A1200.  Then if you compress some of that enormous data, such as the CD and DVD images, perhaps that'd be ample size for you too.  I think they are discontinuing this model, however, as I got it at clearance half-price.  But there are probably some available still.  I saw it on Vesalia recently.

[magnetic]

mizar

fyi I've never had a problem powering a 2.5 in drive in any a1200 i've ever owned with stock psu even. I've had about 6 a1200s.. I have a cf card now..

[Franko]

Franko:

So the drive works!  You must've had back luck too with the large drives being the DOA ones.  Order this 298GB WD model brand new, and with a little luck this time your drive will be intact and will work for your A1200.  Then if you compress some of that enormous data, such as the CD and DVD images, perhaps that'd be ample size for you too.  I think they are discontinuing this model, however, as I got it at clearance half-price.  But there are probably some available still.  I saw it on Vesalia recently.

Cheers Mizar, I'll try and order one today, kinda came to the conclusion that those two disks were DOA after checking through all the specs & technical details there is no real reason that they shouldn't have worked...

298GB will be plenty for my other A1200s as I only need the towered one with it's two 500GB HDs to backup my DVDs and CD ISO files. All my other miggies only contain Amiga specific stuff so 298GB will more than do...

[magnetic]

As clawws brought up make sure the the drive is assigned as "MASTER"  "CS" or cable select doesnt work with amigas!

[Daedalus]

Actually, it is 298GB.  They do the usual marketing ploy of calling it 320GB, but they are actually using the definition of 1GB=1 billion bytes.  They say this in the fine print on the box.  So, they call 320GB 320,000,000,000 bytes, which is the actual size.  But it's not 320GB, because 1 kilobyte is 1024 bytes, 1 megabyte is 1024 KB, 1 gigabyte is 1024 MB, and 1 terabyte is 1024 GB.  So 320,000,000,000 / 1024^3 (cubed) is 298.02 GB.  However, ironically they use the true definition for a MB for the cache (1,048,576 bytes), which is 8MB, so that is the real value.  But if they use the 1 billion byte definition, they get to use a larger number for the capacity.  Kind of like how things always seem to cost $99.99, or $49.99, or $9.99, instead of $100, $50, or $10, because it looks like a lower amount, though there's no significant difference (nobody cares about one cent).  That's capitalism for you, heh.

Well, since this has only in the past few years made an appreciable difference, the SI unit people have clarified the whole GB=1,000,000,000 bytes thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibibyte

And so officially, a Gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 (10^9) bytes, just like a Gigahertz is 1,000,000,000 hertz. A Gibibyte is the binary version (2^30), or 1,073,741,824 bytes. So that hard drive is actually 320 Gigabytes, or 298 Gibibytes.

As an aside, I don't like this system, I have the binary system too well ingrained in my mind from >20 years working with it... But it's something I need to be aware of, as with increasing sizes of storage it's only gonna become a bigger issue.

Back on topic: I also tried a WD Scorpio 60GB in 2 A1200s - no issues with the standard PSU, CD-ROM and Blizzard 1230...

[Daedalus]

As clawws brought up make sure the the drive is assigned as "MASTER"  "CS" or cable select doesnt work with amigas!

If it's a 2.5" HD, it should default to master and you shouldn't need to add any jumpers at all - in fact, some drives don't even support CS or slave connection...