#A1200 HD form factor
30 messages in this thread
A friend of mine has an A1200 and has suggested that it will take a 3.5"
HD. It was my understanding that the 1200 wanted a 2.5" drive.
Is it possible to put in a 3.5? If so, are there any "gotchas" lying in
wait for the unsuspecting user?
Malcolm
IMPOSSIBLE to fit a 3.5" drive in a A1200…but EMC does offer external
set ups
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Dave,
Thanks for the reply. My friend seems to think he can get the 3.5 in by
removing the mounting hardware and not fixing the drive in place. Not
something _I'd_ want to do.
Malcolm
You can, but your keyboard won't fit with the cover on…..
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Dave,
I'll tell him. Thanks a lot.
Malcolm
If you want you can connect a 5.25" drive to your 1200 but you'll have to
hook it up externally. As for connecting a 3.5" disk… you could just
remove the floppy and put the hard drive there and then use an external
floppy. That is if the 3.5" disk is the right height!
Say "on ara!"
Sean
But a 3.5" HD is to long….the floppy in a 1200 is reduced in length, and
is made specifly for the A1200.
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Well there goes that idea!
🙂 maybe C= will deliver reduced length harddrives????
Sean
Does that mean that even regular 2.5" internal drives can't be used? Are
there any 3d party 2.5" drives that would fit?
Paul
ANY 2.5" form factor drive will fit.
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Does that include any height? I've heard about different _height_ 2.5"
drives – 1.5", 1", and so on and so on.
Paul
1.5" will fit fine.
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Dave,
Thanks for that follow-up. IMHO, the thing to do is to just use a 2.5"
drive. But he's got a good deal on the 3.5 so he's trying.
Malcolm
As I said we offer 3.5" adapters and enclosures for the A1200.
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Malcolm, I hope your friend has some electrical know-how, because the
electrical requirements of a 3.5" drive are somewhat different from that of a
2.5" unit–the bigger unit draws more current, needs 5V AND 12V (the 2.5" units
need only 5V and this is supplied via the data cable, as opposed to the 3.5"
drive, which has separate power and data cables) and the data cable is
configured differently.
Jeff,
Well, I guess he does cause I just got email from him saying that he got
the drive, got it installed and it's working fine.
Malcolm
Jeff,
Yeah, I'm the guy Malcolm has been asking about.
Finding the infor I needed to get this done was a pain.
I've read all of the caveats that have been talked about and they all
apply.
The data cable was much easier than I imagined. The power suply that
comes with the 1200 is such a wimp – I'm surprised the mavhine runs as it comes
out of the box! I have "Frankenstien's Amiga" right now with extra wires
running out of the case to a seperate ps dedicated to the HD. Closing the case
again is a nightmare. I have removed the small RF shield 'door' over the chip
RAM/clock area so that the drive can sit in there at an angle.
Amazingly, the bigges impediment to a properly closed shell is not the
RF shield, but the keyboard ribbon cable! If it was an inch longer it would no
problem.
Then again, if the drive was maybe 1/8 inch shallower, the same result
would be achieved.
So now I have a Maxtor 7213 IDE drive installed. Very nice.
Joe
Wow, sounds like you did quite a bit of hacking to your system! My A1200 has
what looks like an A500 power supply with revised cooling slots on the top
(less safe, but better ventilation). I had suspected that it was marginal,
because on mine, any use of the external floppy drive caused some moderate
flickering on the screen–maybe sagging voltages, I thought. Since I like to
run most of my computing devices from solar power, I did not wish to use a
larger power supply or multiple ones, preferring the energy efficient route
instead. My main gripe was that I could not readily use a 2.5" SCSI drive,
which would've been really convenient for me, since I had one onhand, but as it
turned out, it was cheaper for me to simply buy a new IDE drive than to buy a
SCSI adaptor at this time.
You mentioned a door over the clock area–I didn't know that there were
provisions for a (battery backed with calendar?) clock on the motherboard,
though I *did* notice the empty area for a 68882. Maybe I'll look into that $30
Microbotics clock–I never did take a close look at it, figuring that it went
into the expansion bay, precluding the installation of fast RAM. Or do you know
of a better, cheaper alternative?
Jeff,
The way I understand it, the 1200 was originally intended to have only
1MB of RAM. A second MB could be added via a small daughter board. This was
also intended to have a clock/calendar on it.
By the time they geared up for production, they decided to go for a 2MB
system and leave the clock out.
This may have been part of the reason for the connector screw-up in the
Phillipenes. The pins needed for the RAM expansion were deadweight so they
supposedly went to just arranging for the clock pins. Then they mounted the
connector wrong (like on my machine)!
This is only a guess, but I don't think its an unreasonable guess.
Actually, the only hacking I needed to do was on the HD cable. For
that all I needed was to buy a second CBM 2.5" HD cable (who wants to hack
their ONLY cable?) and get a standard sized IDE cable connector.
The pin outs for both cables is the same from pins 1 to 40. The four
extra pins on the 2.5" cable are for power (5V motor, 5V logic, ground, and one
reserved pin) which is on a different cable for the 3.5" unit.
If you ever pull the shell apart and look at the RF shield, to the
right of the HD (if the unit is oriented normally) is a small (about 2"x3")
raised area of the RF shield which is held to the main shield by folding metal
tabs. Just ben them up and slip off the door. Underneath is the unit's chip
RAM and the connector for the clock/RAM card (similar to the connector for the
HD cable).
Unless you know of something really cheap and don't want any other type
of expansion, I'd say the Microbotics clock is probably about as cheap as it
gets. Due to the connector on my mother board, I can't use that card.
(Besides,
I want to add more RAM anyway.)
I can have my 1200 smelling factory fresh in under three minutes, so
returning it to its natural state is no concern for me.
Joe
Now things begin to make sense: While removing my A1200's hard drive last
night, I did take a look at that trap door in the RF shielding. Where yours has
a connector of sorts, mine has only a vacant set of holes in the PC board.
Suppose that if it's a common sort of item, it could be installed easily enough
(common=something with larger pin spacings than that 2.5" IDE connector, which
I could NOT purchase separately). Suppose maybe it would be easiest for me to
actually have the clock onhand and THEN see what sort of connector it's
designed around (right angle, straight, or..?) and choose accordingly.
I don't have a schematic handy, but does the A1200's motherboard contain any
power supply components other than RF devices and filter capacitors? If not,
wouldn't it be easy for you to just power everything, including the 3.5" drive
from a beefed-up external power supply like those 200W units on the market? (so
long as you don't exceed the current handling capacity of the PC traces!)
Why my interest in the internal clock? Mostly because I think I might want to
add more RAM, a SCSI port, and in the future, maybe the math chip. But I don't
want to pay $600 for it. Unfortunately, this seems to be an odd combo of
wishes–the Microbotics 1200Z lacks SCSI, and the GVP RAM+SCSI lacks a clock. I
did hear of something from ICD, but it sounded like real overkill for me, since
I didn't want to pay for an 030.
Jeff,
If you look at the area under the shield door, there should be two
areas for headers. One to the top (rear) of the machine and one to the bottom
(front).
I have nothing in the rear connector, just flooded during wave
soldering and the incorrect header in the front connector.
As for power supply components on the mother board? I doubt it.
As it turns out you suggested exactly what I intend to do: I am looking
for any kind of deal I can find on one of those Big Foot PS units on the used
market. If I can't get one used, I'll break down and get one new.
At 200W, it should do VERY nicely since the original ps is rated at
only 23W and the HD lists peak usage at about 17W.
I just wish I could get a nice simple way to add a SIMM to the machine.
I'd try putting an '882 on the motherboard and a clock in the clock/chip RAM
slot. That would only leave me needing more fast RAM.
Joe
Odd. My A1200 came with an A500 PS which, if I did my multiplication correctly,
should be good for around 37VA output. I am glad that Commodore has finally
made a "wedge"-type system in which all upgrades are neat an internal, rather
than requiring pricey and bulky housings and separate power supplies. I agree
about wishing for easier upgrades. I think Commodore should've taken care of
these boring things and left the expansion slot free for real hot-rod sorts of
upgrades for those who want such things. I thought about putting the math chip
on the motherboard, but it occurred to me that, unless I could find a
surface-mount SOCKET, there would be trouble if I ever had to send the
motherboard in for repairs–would I REALLY want to give them this extra chip? I
sure wouldn't want to unsolder it! This assumes of course, that Commodore's
surface-mount chips are not made available and that we'll be unable to do home
repairs. It'd be nice if this turned out not to be the case. Think I could
handle SMD servicing.
When my replacement HD arrives (The 40M Quantum died), I will have another look
behind the door in the RF shielding for that clock connector.
As for fast RAM, is it true that it makes a big diff in overall system
performance? I'm wondering if it'll make for better adventure gaming, with
smoother animation and scrolling.
Jeff,
If you don't need that 2.5" drive I'll take it off your hands.
🙂
Sean… in hope of a drive :-)!
Sean,
It looks like I may have an 80MB (Maxtor 2585AT) for sale, interested?
Joe
You wouldn't have wanted the 2.5" drive in question–it was very dead. But if
you are a confirmed do-it-yourselfer, I may have a 2.5" Apple/Conner
Peripherals 20M SCSI unit for sale. Real good price too. Of course, there's a
catch, which has to do with the fact that it won't always spin up to speed
unless you give it a good whack, and this has been happening rather a lot
lately.
Sean,
Thanks! I'll suggest that IDEa to him. 😉
Malcolm
> gothchas
Power, space, and connector…
You might need a bigger power supply, and there is not much room in a 1200
(you may be able to shoe one in but it'll be close.) You'll also need a
44 pin to 40 pin+power connector for the new drive.
And as always, not all drives work with the 1200 (same problems with PC's
too.)
Bob Comer — Cruising the nets on AutoPilot
Bob,
Thanks for the info.
Malcolm