CompuServe Thread

#BRIDGECARD PROBLEM

12 messages in this thread
#49884From: DesignTechMay 23, 1989 1:27 AM
That is interesting, because my 1010 will not show up on the BridgeBoard. Mind you, I've got one of the original Developer's models from years gone by. Sincerely, Brian R. Niessen
#49890From: Don Curtis/SYSOPMay 23, 1989 2:57 AM
Bri, So do I (original developer's A1010 from years ago) and it works fine on my bridge…either as a 360 or 720K drive. Don
#49917From: DesignTechMay 23, 1989 10:38 AM
Hmmm, maybe time to try it again. I got four of the original systems, and maybe a mix and match will help. Not that I really want to use it. I have set up my 2000 so that my DF1: is actually my A: MS-DOS drive and my A1020 is the PC's 5.25 drive. That way I still have room for my Hard Drive in the 5.25 inch slot and the computer is semi-portable. Sincerely, Brian R. Niessen DesignTech Business Systems Inc.
#49974From: Daniel WeinerMay 23, 1989 7:03 PM
Brian, How do you do that?? (set up an internal drive as a MS-DOS drive??) That's exactly what I want to do!!! Daniel
#50063From: DesignTechMay 23, 1989 11:36 PM
Daniel, I used the standard DF1: drive, but you have to change the drive number under the drive itself from drive #1 to drive #0. BUT the key is a little interface board that I picked up from the local computer store out of their extra parts basket. It is the size of the connector on the back of the drive, and was included with 3.5 inch drives that were meant to work with PC's in place of 5.25's. I don't know what it is called, or how much it is worth, but like I did, you might be able to dig one up somewhere. Sincerely, Brian R. Niessen DesignTech Business Systems Inc.
#50154From: Daniel WeinerMay 24, 1989 8:17 PM
Brian, Could you please elaborate a little bit? This is something I might really want to do. I don't understand exactly what's involved. Thanks, Daniel
#50225From: DesignTechMay 25, 1989 1:52 AM
Daniel, To use the DF1: as your A: drive on the BridgeCard, you need to… 1) Disconnect the DF1: drive from the Amiga's ribbon cable. (And also remove the DF1: jumper on the motherboard) 2) Remove the drive and on the bottom there is a switch of jumber that denotes the drive number. For DF1: it is set to Drive #1. Change this to Drive #0. 3) Obtain from an IBM dealer a small interface card that plugs into the 3.5 inch connecter that makes it look like a 5.25 inch drive to the BridgeCard. Plug this into the 3.5 Drive. 4) Using the cable that originally went from the BridgeCard to the 5.25 inch drive, connect it to the interface board on the back of the 3.5. 5) Put it all back together and you should have a 3.5 inch A: drive on the BridgeCard. You will need to make a 3.5 inch MS-DOS System Disk or get one copied from your 5.25 inch MS-DOS system disk onto a 3.5 inch at your local MS-DOS store (Or you could plug in a 1010 Amiga drive into the bridgecard, set it up as a B: drive, do a DiskCopy (MS-DOS command) from the 5.25 inch system disk onto the 3.5 inch drive. Once you have it all set up, you can format the 3.5 inch disk as a 720 K drive because it is a double sided drive. Sincerely, Brian R. Niessen DesignTech Business Systems Inc.
#50703From: Daniel WeinerMay 27, 1989 7:28 PM
Brian – Thanks for the info. I bought the connector at Radio Shack for $2.49, and had a friend at work install it. He crimped it onto the cable that was running from the Bridgecard to my DF1. A couple of questions – the connector for the 5.25" drive is still there. We connected that to the 5.25" drive, but I can't seem to make it work right. Any ideas? Also, what jumper for DF1 on the motherboard?? Incidentally, I added a DRIVPARM /D:0 /F:2 to my config.sys file to let it know that drive a was now a 720K disk. I tried adding DRIVPARM /D:1 /F:1 (I think) to the config.sys to tell it that B: was the 5.25" drive, but when I said DIR B:, it looked at the internal 3.5" drive again! I'd like to have 'em both if possible! Daniel
#50823From: DesignTechMay 28, 1989 2:56 PM
Daniel, You misinterpreted what I said… You need MORE than just a connector. This is a small interface that plugs between the 3.5 inch drive and the BridgeCard 5.25 drive connector. IE: BridgeBoard=====>CABLE=======>INTERFACE======>3.5" Drive The jumper for DF1: is NOT on the motherboard, but UNDER the drive (Like on the bottom side of the drive). It will have a little header connector that is over a set of pins labeled 0-1-2-3 Move it from the 1 pins to the 0 pins to make it act like the 0th Drive, or the A: drive. As for using the standard 5.25, I don't know how you would go about setting that up. I am not using the included drive, but the external A1020 drive that came with the Transformer software. Sincerely, Brian R. Niessen, DesignTech Business Systems Inc.
#51012From: Daniel WeinerMay 29, 1989 11:20 AM
Brian – All I added was a $2.49 connector (34 pin) to the cable, and it worked fine. But the connection to the 5.25" drive doesn't seem to work right. Daniel
#51028From: DesignTechMay 29, 1989 1:56 PM
Hmmm, strange, Daniel. So, your 3.5 drive IS working (By what you said), but you can't get the 5.25 to work. As I don't know whether PC Drives are daisy-chained or need separate cables, I can't be of much help. Other people??? We want to know how to use both the 5.25 Internal AND df1: as a: and b: drives on a BridgeBoard. Sincerely, Brian R. Niessen, DesignTech Business Systems Inc.
#49891From: Don Curtis/SYSOPMay 23, 1989 2:58 AM
Bri, Whoops…further in the thread, someone said the pins on the back of the bridgeboard were the problem…one (or so) of them had been pushed back in the plug to the point where they no longer made contact. You might want to check that out on your machine. Don