Using Iomega Zip drive with A500 Plus

[AmigaBruno]

After looking at various options of mass storage devices for my Amiga A500 Plus, I think an Iomega Zip drive may be the answer. This is due to the rarity and prices of anything else.

I'm not sure which Iomega Zip drives would be compatible, or how to connect and get them working.

I've read about the possibilities or using parallel or SCSI Zip drives and that the capacity must be limited to either 100Mb or 250Mb.

I've recently started studying electronics again, by getting an electronic projects starter kit with breadboard, so I hope this will help me.

It may be that I won't even be able to fit an Iomega Zip drive to my Amiga A500 Plus, so then I'll just have to carry on using floppies.

I hope someone can give me a definitive answer on this.

[LoadWB]

I used SCSI Zip 100s with my Amiga 500s using a GVP A500+ HD8 and a GVP A530 Turbo.  I had to set up a MountList, but other than that I had no problems.  Later I used an internal Zip 100 SCSI in my Amiga 4000 with the WarpEngine 4040 and then CyberStorm MK-III.  Now I have USB on my 4000, I can use Zip 100, 250, and 750, all tested and working.

In theory, I would suspect you can use an internal Zip IDE in your A500 with the appropriate IDE interface (like an AdIDE.)

[AmigaBruno]

I used SCSI Zip 100s with my Amiga 500s using a GVP A500+ HD8 and a GVP A530 Turbo.  I had to set up a MountList, but other than that I had no problems.  Later I used an internal Zip 100 SCSI in my Amiga 4000 with the WarpEngine 4040 and then CyberStorm MK-III.  Now I have USB on my 4000, I can use Zip 100, 250, and 750, all tested and working.

In theory, I would suspect you can use an internal Zip IDE in your A500 with the appropriate IDE interface (like an AdIDE.)

OK, thanks. I've already worked out that I can't afford to buy a SCSI controller and this information is for the A500 Plus, which is quite a different computer from the A1200, so I only want advice for the A500 Plus. Of course, I may get charged by Customs for any devices like an AdIDE which I may buy from the USA or Canada. Can anyone tell me how much extra that could be?

[LoadWB]

I don't know how hack-ish you want to get, but over on your side of the Pond you might be able to find a Subway USB and an A500 clock port adapter.

[danbeaver]

The parallel port device works on the Amiga.  It can't be that fast, but there are files on Aminet as I recall -- ppazip.lha.  It will need a change to the Amiga parallel port (http://netti.nic.fi/~some-e/amiga/amizip/)

[klapdeur]

If you want a simpel answer  go find yourself a Zip drive parallel one and you can use that on your A500 plus.
software is on aminet so that no problem just install en mount dosdrivers and ready to use

myself im using a iomega Jazz 2GB drive scsi on my amiga 500 plus connected on scsi

works great

[spirantho]

To make one thing clear:
You cannot just plug a parallel port Zip drive into an Amiga - you need to carry out a hardware modification to allow parallel port Zip drives to work.

Simplest way is to get a SCSI version (I said simplest, maybe not the cheapest!)

[ChaosLord]

FYI: A500 won't drive the parallel port over 40K bytes per second.  40K is what my 25Mhz A3000 used to get.  A plain A500 might be only 25 or 30K I just can't remember.  A floppy drive gets 11K / sec when reading or writing whole tracks (like when copying a disk).

My 060 based Amigas get 60K/s Parallel port speeds.

All PAR: speeds measured with ParNet.  One of the grooviest networking solutions ever made for the Amiga!  1980s technology rulez forever!


A lousy SCSI controller will get 1000K / sec

A decent one will get 2000K / sec

A great one will get more.

I can't remember what speeds I used to get on my A500 SCSI or A2000 SCSI.  Anyway it depends entirely on specifically which controller you used.

[AmigaBruno]

I don't know how hack-ish you want to get, but over on your side of the Pond you might be able to find a Subway USB and an A500 clock port adapter.

I can afford the A500 clock port adapter, but NOT the Subway USB (£100), so that's out, I'm afraid.

[AmigaBruno]

The parallel port device works on the Amiga.  It can't be that fast, but there are files on Aminet as I recall -- ppazip.lha.  It will need a change to the Amiga parallel port (http://netti.nic.fi/~some-e/amiga/amizip/)

So, basically I need the interface which is pictured and described here http://netti.nic.fi/~some-e/amiga/amizip/#hard . Where can I buy it and how much is it? I'm just starting to study electronics again, after never getting very far in the past, and I don't know if I'd ever be able to make anything like that.

[AmigaBruno]

FYI: A500 won't drive the parallel port over 40K bytes per second.  40K is what my 25Mhz A3000 used to get.  A plain A500 might be only 25 or 30K I just can't remember.  A floppy drive gets 11K / sec when reading or writing whole tracks (like when copying a disk).

My 060 based Amigas get 60K/s Parallel port speeds.

All PAR: speeds measured with ParNet.  One of the grooviest networking solutions ever made for the Amiga!  1980s technology rulez forever!


A lousy SCSI controller will get 1000K / sec

A decent one will get 2000K / sec

A great one will get more.

I can't remember what speeds I used to get on my A500 SCSI or A2000 SCSI.  Anyway it depends entirely on specifically which controller you used.

I'm not really concerned with the speed at all. I'm trying to avoid accumulating a stack of floppy disks, as well as having to search through them all to find certain files.

At the moment, I'm doing some graphics in Deluxe Paint, as well as studying Logo, but I plan to do some AmigaBASIC programming soon, as well as get a copy of Photon Paint, which is what I started with years ago. This would mean I could fit everything on to 3 Zip disks (graphics, Logo, and AmigaBASIC), for at least a few months before managing to fill any of them.

[danbeaver]

Not to be contrary the the esteemed learned gentlemen of the forum, but you could breadboard that in an afternoon for about $6 USD with parts from Jameco.com -- or not.  SCSI solutions will run >$100, a 40 Euro bootable IDE device (http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?p=76035#post76035), a $120 USD 4 MB RAM/IDE device (http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=12037), a Clock Port to USB device + a Subway USB controller (really expensive), a ParNet to PC cable, a Null Modem cable to PC via Amiga Forever, or a Modem to bulletin board transfer.

Pick your poison and check your wallet.

[LoadWB]

Bah!  A do-it-yourselfer!  Away with ye!

[AmigaBruno]

Not to be contrary the the esteemed learned gentlemen of the forum, but you could breadboard that in an afternoon for about $6 USD with parts from Jameco.com -- or not.  SCSI solutions will run >$100, a 40 Euro bootable IDE device (http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?p=76035#post76035), a $120 USD 4 MB RAM/IDE device (http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=12037), a Clock Port to USB device + a Subway USB controller (really expensive), a ParNet to PC cable, a Null Modem cable to PC via Amiga Forever, or a Modem to bulletin board transfer.

Pick your poison and check your wallet.

I haven't done anything with breadboards yet, only read the 11 page manual that came with the kit. I'd get the parts from http://www.maplin.co.uk/ or from eBay. Can you tell me the names of the components? Unfortunately, the first circuit in the manual is a dimmer switch circuit, but I can't see any sign of a control which is used to dim the LED. I think I'll have to contact the seller on eBay to find out. A timer circuit clearly shows that you have to touch two wires together instead of a switch to start the timer running. I'm not sure if that EUR40 bootable IDE device is currently available. The thread started in 2010 and said they were being made to order. I couldn't view the last page of the thread. Are you saying that I could use a Parnet to PC cable to connect an Iomega Zip drive properly? Would this http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_73&products_id=247  one do?

[Ral-Clan]

I don't mean to be blunt, but if you are just figuring out things like how to light up an LED as your first potential breadboard project, and can't yet identify the names of electronic components or the symbols for a dimmer switch on a circuit diagram, then the idea of assembling a DIY IDE or SCSI interface for your Amiga in the near future is pretty much unrealistic at this stage.

Again - I don't mean to sound harsh - but I think any other assessment would be doing you a dis-service.  I do commend you for learning electronics, but it will take months or years for you to get to the stage you can assemble a complicated digital circuit like a hard drive controller.

As for the ZIP drive solution for your Amiga - yes, it's possible. But if you are going to try and find a SCSI or IDE solution to drive the ZIP drive, then you might as well be using hard drives or CF cards on that SCSI controller instead.

I have heard about the parallel port solution for ZIP drives, but I'm sure it won't be pleasant (i.e. slow).

ZIP drives, in their own right, were always semi reliable it seemed (google ZIP DRIVE and CLICK OF DEATH together).

Really, your best solution for mass storage on that Amiga500, is probably the clockport interface and a USB Subway card.

I know it's expensive, but it's much more reliable in the long run.

There is a cheap way for you to get a SCSI controller for the A500.  You would need to pick up a cheap Zorro II SCSI controller card for an A2000 (A2091 or something) and attach it to the side port of the A500 with a "slingshot" connector or gender converter connector.  The A2000 card will then hang off the side of your A500 and look fairly ugly (it will also be exposed and need to be supported with some DIY arrangement), but then, with a cheap SCSI hard drive from eBay you could have a SCSI hard drive setup for less than $50.

(see halfway down this page for picture)
http://paulq.org/amiga/a500tribute.html

Oh, you would also need to power the hard drive.  An external SCSI enclosure or spare PC power supply might work for that.  Again, pretty ugly solution but it would work.

The absolute cheapest way would be to pick up a cheap 486 or pentium I laptop from somewhere (don't pay more than $30) and use it via a parallel port cable or null modem cable to act as a file server for your A500.  I'm thinking of something like Amiga Explorer or the old Siamese system.  Essentially, the laptop would be like an external hard drive for your A500.