harddisk for a500
Chaoz
Can I use IDE or just SCSI drives?
Can I use PC drives (I have some old 500MB and 1.2GB IDE disks lying around
so ...)?
How do I connect the drive to the Amiga? I noticed the connector on the back
of my amiga ... but when I looked at the specifications for this connector I
think there needs to be some extra logic between Amiga and the drive?
Are there any internal drives for A500?
And last but not least ... where can I buy internal/external drives for my
Amiga? (in Germany, UK, Austria maybe?)
I don't need much ... a 40 or 100 MB harddisk would do ... just to put the
wb on and some programes and a game or two ...
Is it maybe more wise for me to buy a new(er) Amiga? Like A1200?
Oh and some other things I don't know where to find some info on:
- I currently have A500 with Kickstart 1.3. Can i upgrade kickstart and is
it wise to do that?
- I installed additional 512kB of RAM in my Amiga (took it from an old
graphics card :) Can I install more (I didn't find any more place on the
pcb) or do I have to buy an expantion board or something?
- Which wb can I use? 1.3? 3.1? Newer maybe?
Any help would be very very appreciated!
Thanks in advance ... Chaoz
nameless
>
>I want to know what kind of harddisks can I use with my A500...
>
>Can I use IDE or just SCSI drives?
>Can I use PC drives (I have some old 500MB and 1.2GB IDE disks lying around
>so ...)?
>
>How do I connect the drive to the Amiga? I noticed the connector on the back
>of my amiga ... but when I looked at the specifications for this connector I
>think there needs to be some extra logic between Amiga and the drive?
Your last guess is closest, there are side car had drives in both SCSI and IDE
model for the A500. They attach to the side oppisite the disk drive (there's a
spot where the plastic detaches revealing a connector.)
>Are there any internal drives for A500?
There are a few acceleartor boards which will allow 2.5 IDE drives inside the
computer. The "Viper" is one.
>And last but not least ... where can I buy internal/external drives for my
>Amiga? (in Germany, UK, Austria maybe?)
go to: www.amiga.com/products/dealers.php
You may have to hit the search button, there's probably more not on the list.
(Not from those contries can't tell you much more)
>Is it maybe more wise for me to buy a new(er) Amiga? Like A1200?
Mabey/Possibly. There may be incompatibility problems if you want to play old
A500 games (different graphics and sound chips).
There are also a few newer Amiga planed. The Amiga-One (www.eyetech.co.uk) which
works alone or attaches to A1200 in a tower case giving reverse compatibility.
And another whose name slips my mind. These will likely set you back some bucks
since they are new systems.
>Oh and some other things I don't know where to find some info on:
>- I currently have A500 with Kickstart 1.3. Can i upgrade kickstart and is
>it wise to do that?
Yes you can. Depending on your A500 revision (written on the MB by the disk
drive) you ROM upgrade may require soldering of a wire though. The current
version is 3.1, but there's also a 2.0 version. If you upgrade the rom you'll
likely want to upgrade the Workbench software to the same level. There are a few
ROM hacking games also. You can get software at Aminet that will copy your ROM
to a file and boot your machine from this file. The trick is matching the rom
grabber to the booter. (I'll take a look at the pairing I'm using)
>- I installed additional 512kB of RAM in my Amiga (took it from an old
>graphics card :) Can I install more (I didn't find any more place on the
>pcb) or do I have to buy an expantion board or something?
There are both memory cards and accellerator cards that go in the belly of the
A500 (turn it over you'll see another spot where the case opens). The
accelerator cards will take memory and speed up your computer. The fastest I've
seen is the "Viper 520" with an 020/33MHZ chip and 8MB of ram. This is one that
takes internal IDE hard drives, it also upgrades your ROM to version 3.0. I have
no idea if the Viper is 3.1 Rom capable. This will give you the speed of a base
A1200 (plus ram) but with the A500 graphics and sound chips.
>- Which wb can I use? 1.3? 3.1? Newer maybe?
Just match your ROM and the Workbench version up.
ROM 1.3 WB 1.3
ROM 2.0 WB 2.0 or 2.1 -> 2.0 can run without a hard disk, not sure about 2.1
ROM 3.0 WB 3.0 -> probably requires hard disk, (see **)
Rom 3.1 WB 3.1 -> probably requires hard disk
ROM 3.1 WB 3.5 or 3.9 -> require CD-Rom, 020 Acceleration, 6 MB expation ram,
and a hard drive at the minimum (details at www.amiga.com)
Some of the old WB version will work with the newer roms, but your best bet is
to match them up.
** 3.0 rom is only available via the Viper board there is no 3.0 ROM for the
A500 motherboad itself.
I've likely made more questions for you, so feel free to ask again.
Chaoz
pointed me in the right direction.
The Viper520 acc. card is just what I'm looking for. Unfortunately, I think
it's not manufactured anymore (I looked on the manufacturer's website, and
they have no info on it).
Well ... maybe it's even too much.
What I basically want is just a plain old Amiga500 for playing games.
I already have an ibm/pc that cost(s) me enough. But the games just suck on
PC. Even the newest ones. Sure they have excellent 3D graphics, but that
just isn't enough. You play them once (loose your nerves playing them) and
you can throw them out the window.
What happened to good old games like superFrog or LupoAlberto or
Ruff'n'Rumble or...? I could play them for months, years ...
Well ... the PC just sucks at games. And it costs alot. And you have to
upgrade it every two months. End it fucks up all the time. Did I mention it
costs a lot?
Sometimes I just want to sell it and buy a nice Amiga4000 for all my
not-games-related work.
I went a little off the track here ... sorry ...
To continue ...
Maybe I don't even need an accelerator card.
I only want to have a disk for my amiga so I could put wb on and maybe some
programes and games.
It seems to me that all hardware for A500 is not manufactured anymore ...
I have my PC connected to the internet, so I would like to transfer files I
download from aminet or commodore-ale
from PC to amiga. I think there are two ways for this (correct me if I'm
wrong):
one way is with nullmodem cable and some file transfer software
the other way is to read PC diskettes in amiga.
Anyway ... I need wb and I need a disk, right?
ADF images and some lha archives are quite big and I don't think they'll fit
in 1MB memory of my Amiga.
So - if I get myself an IDE controller and a disk, is there any way to
install wb 1.3 on the disk?
I don't have original wb1.3 diskettes (I bought an used amiga, and the
previous owner didn't have them).
Can I read PC formatted disks in my Amiga 500? I read somewhere that it is
possible, if you have a newer wb or a program called MessyDos.
There's probably no way to buy wb1.3, right? Can I (legaly) download it
somewhere or buy diskettes with wb1.3?
I read on eyetech webpage that thay sell harddisks with wb3.1 preinstalled.
Will wb3.1 work on my amiga500 (1MB ram, kick 1.3) ?
If I somehow get Viper520 (with kick3.0), can I use wb3.1 with it?
Chaoz
nameless
>pointed me in the right direction.
No prob
>The Viper520 acc. card is just what I'm looking for. Unfortunately, I think
>it's not manufactured anymore (I looked on the manufacturer's website, and
>they have no info on it).
You'll probably have to look around alot, some A500 stuff is hard to find, you
may have to get used one. A clarification on my post I said that "020 processor
is the fastest I've seen for the A500", I was wrong there are faster out there,
I don't know what I was thinking.
>Well ... maybe it's even too much.
>What I basically want is just a plain old Amiga500 for playing games.
Old games, then you likley don't need an accelerator. If you get one see if it
has a disable switch (this will disable the whole card likely loosing any RAM
and disks on it), this way you keep your compatibility. If you get OS upgrades
you'll want a rom-kicker (Skick, ReolKick) to boot up with old roms.
>I went a little off the track here ... sorry ...
That's OK
>I have my PC connected to the internet, so I would like to transfer files I
>download from aminet or commodore-ale
>from PC to amiga. I think there are two ways for this (correct me if I'm
>wrong):
>one way is with nullmodem cable and some file transfer software
>the other way is to read PC diskettes in amiga.
There is also Parnet Cable, and via modem. All require you to get some software
on the amiga first to make the transfer possible. This means you'll have to have
the software, have someone send it to you, or get your amiga on the net or bbs's
(also needs software)
>Anyway ... I need wb and I need a disk, right?
>ADF images and some lha archives are quite big and I don't think they'll fit
>in 1MB memory of my Amiga.
ADF images fit on a PC disk, which can be read via MessyDos on the Amiga. These
are then expanded (likely to disk) on your Amiga with an Amiga formatted disk.
This makes for alot of disk swapping especially with 1MB of memory, workbench
loaded, and the ADF expantion program. Try it once if you've got some transfer
software.
Adding a hard disk would eliminate disk swapping, adding RAM would decrease or
eliminate swapping.
>So - if I get myself an IDE controller and a disk, is there any way to
>install wb 1.3 on the disk?
>I don't have original wb1.3 diskettes (I bought an used amiga, and the
>previous owner didn't have them).
Yep, just format the drive so it is bootable, and copy the disk into the hard
drive...you'll need some shell (dos) commands to do this (format, copy)
>Can I read PC formatted disks in my Amiga 500? I read somewhere that it is
>possible, if you have a newer wb or a program called MessyDos.
Messydos reads PC disks on the amiga, it is at aminet us.aminet.net/~aminet, but
how to get it to the amiga??? . (Crossdos is the newer once supplied on OS 3.x
disks)
>There's probably no way to buy wb1.3, right? Can I (legaly) download it
>somewhere or buy diskettes with wb1.3?
Possibly used? comp.sys.marketplace
If your lucky a store might have an old copy
There is also Colonto's "Amiga Forever" emulator, I *think* this comes with OS
1.3, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 (and rom images for you IBM)
AFIAK there is no "legal" wb1.3 download.
>I read on eyetech webpage that thay sell harddisks with wb3.1 preinstalled.
>Will wb3.1 work on my amiga500 (1MB ram, kick 1.3) ?
You also need the 3.1 rom. And you may have to attach a wire on it.
>If I somehow get Viper520 (with kick3.0), can I use wb3.1 with it?
Not a clue, try a seperate posting on the topic. There is wb3.0 available
Patrick Ford
> Just match your ROM and the Workbench version up.
> ROM 1.3 WB 1.3
> ROM 2.0 WB 2.0 or 2.1 -> 2.0 can run without a hard disk, not sure about 2.1
> ROM 3.0 WB 3.0 -> probably requires hard disk, (see **)
> Rom 3.1 WB 3.1 -> probably requires hard disk
No HD required for any of these.
--
--
My domain contains .co, not .com as appears in the header.
Patrick Ford Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Patrick Ford
> I want to know what kind of harddisks can I use with my A500...
>
> Can I use IDE or just SCSI drives?
> Can I use PC drives (I have some old 500MB and 1.2GB IDE disks lying around
> so ...)?
There were IDE controllers but you would be more liukely to find a SCSI
one. Most likely would be Commodore A590 or GVP HD+8. Three were also
acccelerators with HD. POssible the best was GVP A530
>
> How do I connect the drive to the Amiga? I noticed the connector on the back
> of my amiga ... but when I looked at the specifications for this connector I
> think there needs to be some extra logic between Amiga and the drive?
Nothing on the back. The expansion bus is behind a pop-out cover on the LH
end
> Are there any internal drives for A500?
There were but I doubt if you would find one.
> And last but not least ... where can I buy internal/external drives for my
> Amiga? (in Germany, UK, Austria maybe?)
Second hand only.
> I don't need much ... a 40 or 100 MB harddisk would do ... just to put the
> wb on and some programes and a game or two ...
Don't waste your time with anything under 500MB. Even that size will be
dirt cheap since they have to be seven or eight years old now.
>
> Is it maybe more wise for me to buy a new(er) Amiga? Like A1200?
Absolutely. Expansion is far simpler and there are hundreds more options.
> Oh and some other things I don't know where to find some info on:
> - I currently have A500 with Kickstart 1.3. Can i upgrade kickstart and is
> it wise to do that?
That would be a bare minimum to make it useful, IMO. HOwever some old games
may fail to work with KS2..04.
> - I installed additional 512kB of RAM in my Amiga (took it from an old
> graphics card :) Can I install more (I didn't find any more place on the
> pcb) or do I have to buy an expantion board or something?
> - Which wb can I use? 1.3? 3.1? Newer maybe?
Many accelerators allow extra RAM, as do some HD controllers. A590 can
take 2MB of DIPS and GVP HD+8 will take 8 1MB SIMMs.
nameless
Amiga-Disk-Files and fit on Amiga Disks. You have to break them up to get them
from PC to Amiga via disk. ADF's are around 880K, with some varition due to
extra sectors on some games. With only 1MB of ram the split -> transfer ->
recombine -> write to disk process could be tricky or impossible. I'd have to
try it.
Angelo Vigliotti
news:Ihl17.9650$Kf3.1...@www.newsranger.com...
> Man I must be loosing it. ADF disks Do *Not* fit on a PC disk. They are
> Amiga-Disk-Files and fit on Amiga Disks. You have to break them up to get
them
> from PC to Amiga via disk. ADF's are around 880K, with some varition due
to
> extra sectors on some games. With only 1MB of ram the split -> transfer ->
> recombine -> write to disk process could be tricky or impossible. I'd
have to
> try it.
Unless you have a HD Amiga floppy drive, they fit nicely on these PC
formatted to 1.44Mb. Conversely, there should be no active use
IBM systems out there without a 1.44Mb floppy drive unless someone
has an old 286 kicking around still with a 720k! ;-)
James Vigliotti
colin
find that many adfs will zip below 720k
Patrick Ford
> Man I must be loosing it. ADF disks Do *Not* fit on a PC disk. They are
> Amiga-Disk-Files and fit on Amiga Disks. You have to break them up to get them
> from PC to Amiga via disk. ADF's are around 880K,
No. ADFs are 901120 bytes and they never vary however much was on the disk.
An ADF of empty disk is still 901120, just as an empty floppy is still 3.5
inches.
They are extrmely convenient in some ways, but it's a real nuisance that
they will not fit on an Amiga 880k disk.
Matthew Garrett
> No. ADFs are 901120 bytes and they never vary however much was on the disk.
> An ADF of empty disk is still 901120, just as an empty floppy is still 3.5
> inches.
No. Most ADFs are 901120 bytes. Those containing extra tracks are
larger.
> They are extrmely convenient in some ways, but it's a real nuisance that
> they will not fit on an Amiga 880k disk.
Unsurprisingly, they fit precisely onto an Amiga 880k disk - just don't
bother using a filesystem.
(Note followup)
--
Matthew Garrett | mjg59-comp.sys...@srcf.ucam.org
Gl...@canit.se
+Patrick Ford <pa...@ihug.com.nz> wrote
>nameless wrote:
>> Man I must be loosing it. ADF disks Do *Not* fit on a PC disk. They are
>> Amiga-Disk-Files and fit on Amiga Disks. You have to break them up to get
>> them from PC to Amiga via disk. ADF's are around 880K,
>No. ADFs are 901120 bytes and they never vary however much was on the disk.
>An ADF of empty disk is still 901120, just as an empty floppy is still 3.5
>inches.
>They are extrmely convenient in some ways, but it's a real nuisance that
>they will not fit on an Amiga 880k disk.
Ofcoz they do, in "unpacked" format..
..And 901120/1024 is.... 880 !
There also are adz images, wich is a gzipped adf image, THEY will wary in size
depending on how full the disk was.
Patrick Ford
> > + On 11-Jul-01 18:43:48
> +Patrick Ford <pa...@ihug.com.nz> wrote
>
> >nameless wrote:
>
> >> Man I must be loosing it. ADF disks Do *Not* fit on a PC disk. They are
> >> Amiga-Disk-Files and fit on Amiga Disks. You have to break them up to get
> >> them from PC to Amiga via disk. ADF's are around 880K,
>
> >No. ADFs are 901120 bytes and they never vary however much was on the disk.
> >An ADF of empty disk is still 901120, just as an empty floppy is still 3.5
> >inches.
>
> >They are extrmely convenient in some ways, but it's a real nuisance that
> >they will not fit on an Amiga 880k disk.
>
> Ofcoz they do, in "unpacked" format..
>
> ...And 901120/1024 is.... 880 !
Doh!
erhem.
I knew that. . . .