A2000 CTL Suggestions
17 messages in this thread
I would like to know the name and model of some good SCSI controllers for
the A2000.. I do not need the fastest, but reliabilty and compatiablity
do interest me.. Also, I think I would like the card to be able to handle
some ram…
Are their any CTL's that handle IDE drives for the a2000?? I hear the
A3001 accelerator does but what about something else
–Alan
Alan,
For reliability and compatability…I don't think you could go
wrong with the A2091 from Commodore.
Nope…I know of no controller for the Amiga that handles IDE
drives, doesn't mean there isn't one…just never heard of it.
Don
Alan,
The one I'm using right now is the Impact Series II Card From GVP (Great
Valley products) it is the Fastest I have used out of two other controller
cards. I have had the 2090 from Commadore, Aswell as the Supra Wordsync.
the Impact Series II, It handles to types of Drives SCSI, and will even
handle AT Quantum drives, I haven't tested it with one but that is what the
configuring software says.
James Scott
Great Day to be Alive
Alan,
there was an IDE controller demonstrated at AmiExpo Anaheim by a german
company. Basically all it was was a board that you installed in your 68000
socket and then installed the 68000 CPU chip in. Software took care of the
rest since the IDE controllers are on the actual drive. I can't find my
flyer from them, but perhaps someone else has it on hand, it was all in
german with an english translation inserted. Cost, approx $59 or so.
Just a sidebar, you save on one drive with IDE, but you pay more in the
long run once you start adding drives after the first.
Brian J. Bartlett
Why IDE came along at all is beyond me, considering SCSI was already an
established standard. But that's the klone market for ya.
IDE isn't really a SCSI competitor, it is an ST506/412 or ESDI competitor.
Many AT clones have IDE interfaces on the motherboard, hence the term "AT
interface".
Craig
IDE is an 'intelligent' peripheral buss, no?
I don't see any significant difference in fuctionality between IDE and
SCSI. So, again, why develop IDE in a standards-conscious (or paranoid,
even) MS-DOS market when SCSI was already running on several platforms?
Chris,
No, IDE isn't an intelligent interface…'IDE' stands for
Integrated Drive Electronics. Essentially, it's putting the drive
controller and drive electronics all on the drive…rather than on 2
separate boards as is currently done.
Don
Don,
Putting the controller on the drive is the same practice used with SCSI
drives. That is what makes them 'intelligent', in that the computer sends
track or block-oriented commands and the drive obliges by taking care of
the low-level details.
Chris,
Well..I suppose if you want to call that "intelligence" then ok.
My understanding (which does get fuzzy here) is that IDE doesn't
handle any more details than a ST-506 type controller does. In other
words, the computer must requst cylinder, head and block numbers just as it
does with an ST-506 controller.
Of course, at some point…all that must get translated to a
physical sector on the disk. Doesn't matter what interface or bus
protocol, they all end up translating what the computer wants into a (set
of) physical secotors.
Don
Apparently the needed interface circuitry (at the time, anyway) was much
less for IDE drives. It is a much simpler and less flexible interface,
too. It is easier to include as part of the computer's motherboard. Our
AdIDE was designed to allow mounting a 2" IDE drive _inside_ an Amiga 500.
These little tiny drives don't come in SCSI yet.
So the IDE buss is much simpler than SCSI. Does that mean it can't support
devices like tape drives?
Sounds very promising, putting such a small unit in an A500. Would you know
what capacities those 2" units are available in?
Lotsa questions..
The drive we are using now is 20 megs. Little tiny thing. Two stacked
together would be about the size of a pack of cigarettes. I don't really
have much detail about it myself. Since I will begin writing the manual
for it this week, I think, I expect I will learn all about it in the next
few days. Ask me about IDE again in a week and I should have lots more to
talk about.
Craig
Alan,
GVP makes combo RAM/SCSI controller cards. I got one of the first
(controller + 1 meg) and am trading for the new series II hard card. That
allows 8 meg + controller + hd to be mounted on the card. It autoboots,
supports FFS on all partitions. I've had no compatibilty problems with any
software (and I have a ton) in the 24 months I've had the card.
wmc
Thanks… If I buy a Impact 8+ and later I buy a '030 accellerator card
(one that accepts many meg of 32bit access ram) can I disable the ram
function on the impact +8??
Alan Russell
Alan,
I'm runnign on my new Impact 8+ now (with 2meg on board). As for the 32 bit
memory, I don't think you could disable the 16 bit memory. I think thereare
some utilities that set things up so that 32bit fast ram gets used first
when the accelerator is being used. I haven't accelerated yet soIcant help
you there.
wmc