#Hard drives
5 messages in this thread
I have an A2000 with two disk drives and my OS is 2.1. I know I
should have done this sooner, but I don't have a hard drive. I am in
the market for one now and I have a few questions: Correct me if I am
wrong, but I understand that a hard drive is a hard drive, I don't
have to purchase one specifically for the Amiga. If this is the case,
then if I purchase one at, say an IBM store, will the installation
instructions cover the Amiga, or are the instructions the same for
all computers? Are hard drives and hard cards one in the same, or
completely different? I know that you need a controller for SCSI, but
is that true for IDE as well? I realize these questions sound basic,
but I'm very new to the hard drive "genre" and I appreciate any
help. Thanks in advance.
Mike,
While it's true that a hard drive is a hard drive (with a few minor
exceptions)…the hard drive has to be interfaced (hooked up) to the Amiga
via a compatible interface card. For the Amiga…that means for the most
part, SCSI drives.
So yes, you can buy a SCSI HD sold in an IBM store and use it on the
Amiga. That presumes you have bought an Amiga SCSI interface card for
your Amiga also.
As to installation instructions…only part of them are of any value to
you…how to set the jumpers for SCSI ID.
If you can, I'd check out an Amiga dealer or mail order house that
deals with the Amiga.
Don
Mike,
The first thing you need to understand about hard drives in
the Amiga is that you will need a controller card. You can buy
controller cards which support only IDE, only SCSI, and at least one
which supports both. The Amiga standard, until the AGA machines, has
always been SCSI. SCSI drives are only slightly more expensive than
IDE drives and SCSI controllers are more expensive than IDE
controllers. SCSI has pretty much been de rigour for the A2000 and
A3000. My bias is toward SCSI because it is a well supported
industry standard, is capable of handling very large drives, and the
newer controllers are very fast. You can buy something for under
$200 as a controller only, and under $300 for a controller which also
has expansion RAM capability. For instance, the IVS GrandSlam is $229
and can accomodate up to 8 meg of RAM. The IVS Trumpcard Pro is
essentially the Grandslam without memory and sells for around $170.
There are a few other competitors including GVP.
Second, once you decide on the controller, the drive itself
can be any drive which supports the controller. That is any SCSI
drive can be used on any SCSI controller. All you need is a bare
drive of the size and price you want. The best around include
Quantum, Maxtor, and Conner. Quantums are usually more expensive
than Conner, and Conner slightly more expensive than Maxtor. You can
buy a Maxtor 120 meg drive for $229 mail order. The Quantum LPS105 is
close to $289 mail order, sometimes a little cheaper. Read specs
about drives carefully. Usually the cheaper the drive the less you
get for your money. That "less" can include such things as a shorter
warranty, slower speed, lack of on-drive cache, etc. For instance
Quantum makes both an LPS series and an ELS series. Both are pretty
similar but the ELS series is cheaper. The ELS series lack on-drive
cache, are a tad slower, and carry shorter warranty.
Steven –
Even if Mike doesn't find your comments helpful, there are many others who
will!! (Yours truly, specifically)
I've been wondering about these questions for a while, without knowing how
to voice them.
Since you're on such a roll, ma I trouble you further?
1) I have an A2000 w/derringer 68030, and a 52Mb SCSI hard drive, C= 2091
controller card (factory installed). I want to add more hard drive space
to my machine. Since I already have the 2091, can I purchase another bare
drive only (I assume some sort of mounting kit will be necessary)?
2) Where have you seen the Maxtor 120Mb bare drive for $229?
Thanks again for your clear descriptions of these (sometimes puzzling)
issues.
/7
//\ob …on Amiga via Autopilot from Northeastern PA…
Robert,
1. You can purchase a bare drive to replace the one you have,
or you can add a second drive in the chain. To add a second drive
takes a bit more care than replacement. If you add a second drive
you will need to do a few things in preparation. First, you need to
decide which drive will be your boot drive. Second, each drive must
have its SCSI ID set to a unique number between 0 and 6. The SCSI ID
is set by changing some jumpers located on the drive's circuit
board. The drive should come with a booklet which will tell you
where the jumpers are located. For instance, if the drive you have
is set to ID 6, then the second drive must be jumpered to something
other than 6. You can't use 7 because the 2091 is set as device 7,
if I remember correctly.
Next, you will need to buy or make a cable which has
connectors on it to connect to the 2091, the drive mounted on the
2091 card, and then to your second drive. Most drives come with a
cable for only one device. You will likely have to buy a cable with
three connectors on it rather than two. Also the cable will have to
have the connectors positioned in the right place to connect to each
of your drives.
Last, you need to have the termination set properly. Normally, the
first and last devices on the SCSI chain require termination. The drive's
termination is done by a set of three resistor packs socketed right behind the
50 pin ribbon connector on the back of the drive. If you have two drives on
your system, then both will probably need the termination. If the drive you
have doesn't have terminator resistors installed, then that means the 2091 card
is terminated, so you need to leave the terminators in the second drive.
As you can tell, there's a bit to know. However, installing a second
drive may be more economical than buying a new drive. You can buy a smaller
drive and save some cash. However, if you don't want to mess with all of this,
then buy a replacement drive. Be sure to get one that's at least 50% bigger
than you think you need, preferably twice as big. You'll use it up
eventually!!
2. Computability advertises in AmigaWorld. Latest price on the Maxtor
7120S was $219. The IDE version was $205. If I were you I'd plan for the
future. The Maxtor 7213S is less than $400 and has 200+ meg.
Right now I have a 240 meg drive on the Amiga, a 120 meg drive with
autocompression software on the 2386 bridgeboard (212 meg effective), and a 100
meg drive for Amax II. The 240 on the Amiga is more than 50% filled. The
compressed drive on the BB is 50% filled, and the 100 meg drive on the Mac
emulator is 70% filled. As you can see, you can't have enough real estate!!