#IDE Drives
2 messages in this thread
Sysop,
I have just been offered a Seagate 545MB HDD for a very good price. However
upon opening my A600 I found that the connectors on the hard drive are the
wrong ones, they are too big. Instead of a small clip for power the Seagate
drive has a larger 4-pin 'plug', also on the controller connection the pins are
set too widely apart. Is there an adaptor available to allow me to use this
drive, or is the drive just not compatible with the Amiga? Does the A1200 have
the 'small' or the 'large' connector? I thought that the IDE standard WAS a
standard, is it not?
TIA
Steve Bradley – UK
Steve,
The IDE interface is indeed standard, but there are different connectors for
the 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" drives. The small connector (2 1/2") has 44 pins, and
supplies its own power, whereas the large connector has 40 pins + the 4
separate power pins which you saw.
There is an inexpensive 44->40 pin adaptor available; it is usually supplied
with cabling to draw power from the floppy drive (in parallel). Note that
your A600 box will probably not close *quite* properly with a large IDE drive!
If you live in the UK, I think there are several stores that can supply the
cable – check the Amiga Mags. I got mine from "First Choice", but that was two
years ago, and I'd have to search for the address (and whether they are still
in business).
The A1200 has the same connector as the A600.
Good luck,
Alex.