Fun project: Connecting a Zip Drive to A1000 and booting workbench

intric8 · 30 July 2018, 18:05

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a hardware project I finished recently. It took me several weeks (off and on) and I had a lot of help from others.

But after much effort and education, I learned how to connect an Iomega Zip Drive (100mb, SCSI) to one of my Amiga 1000's. It uses a very specific SCSI controller to get the job done made by Microbotics way back in 1986.

And the really cool part? I still have to use floppy disks to boot the machine, but the WB floppy was converted into more of a partial boot, where it passes control from itself over to the Zip drive. The Zip has an entire version of WB 1.3 on it, and starts to continue the boot process from there.

I recorded a video about it:
[ Show youtube player ]

And wrote down very detailed instructions on how to do it in the very rare event someone else out there happens to have the hardware and wants to give it a try:
https://amigalove.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=691

I have to say that now that it's all working, I just love it. No click of death here (knock on wood) just Amiga good times.

Jope · 30 July 2018, 20:20

Next up, Create a boot disk that makes the smallest possible RAD: drive that can hold the mountlist, driver, mount, assign, execute and then you can reboot without a floppy. ;-)

Oh and a note on the instructions, where you say copy df1: #? all to DH0: you should just omit the #?

intric8 · 31 July 2018, 07:13

@Jope not sure if you're joking or not, but that really is a very cool idea. Trimming it down to it's most basic essentials.

Jope · 31 July 2018, 08:49

Not joking, a suggestion for you to up your game to the next level. :-)

E-Penguin · 04 August 2018, 19:16

Rom disk? I know you'd need to have a ks in the A1000 in the first place somehow, but you could do a minimum WB on that then hand over.

Jope · 06 August 2018, 15:54

ROM mentioned.. Next step: make a rommable autobooting driver with RDB support. "Totally easy"

matburton · 07 August 2018, 13:48

As a random aside I won an ebay auction a while back which unexpectedly contained some SuperDisks (LS-120), one of which was labelled "Workbench 3.1"

I had no clue what it was, but having seen this I guess the original owner could have had a similar setup, presumably with a later Amiga model. I've never even seen a SuperDisk drive so I have no way to check the contents.

Also I love the RAD idea! And it really wouldn't be that hard.

Jope · 07 August 2018, 15:38

I have an LS-120 that I haven't been able to test because I never got around to buying any media. If your LS-120 disks are for sale, drop me a line please. :-)

I can send you HDFs back of course.

matburton · 07 August 2018, 23:52

Hey Jope,

After sifting through what I have I can only find 3 SuperDisks.
They are all used judging from the labels and none have cases.
(I assume they would have comes in plastic cases like Zip 100 disks?

)

They're certainly untested by me but if you want them and you're willing to cover postage from the UK I'm more than willing to send them to a good home!

Jope · 08 August 2018, 07:33

Sometimes they came in individual jewel cases, but very often they just had a cardboard sleeve + shrink wrap.

Let's continue in PM

30 July 2018, 18:05	#1
intric8 AmigaLover Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 75	Fun project: Connecting a Zip Drive to A1000 and booting workbench Hey everyone, I wanted to share a hardware project I finished recently. It took me several weeks (off and on) and I had a lot of help from others. But after much effort and education, I learned how to connect an Iomega Zip Drive (100mb, SCSI) to one of my Amiga 1000's. It uses a very specific SCSI controller to get the job done made by Microbotics way back in 1986. And the really cool part? I still have to use floppy disks to boot the machine, but the WB floppy was converted into more of a partial boot, where it passes control from itself over to the Zip drive. The Zip has an entire version of WB 1.3 on it, and starts to continue the boot process from there. I recorded a video about it: [ Show youtube player ] And wrote down very detailed instructions on how to do it in the very rare event someone else out there happens to have the hardware and wants to give it a try: https://amigalove.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=691 I have to say that now that it's all working, I just love it. No click of death here (knock on wood) just Amiga good times.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Booting more than one ADF/DMS from within ZIP/LHA archive	Foebane	support.WinUAE	2	29 June 2018 18:26
Amiga formatted zip disks via USB zip drive in WinUAE?	planetidiot	New to Emulation or Amiga scene	8	02 February 2018 08:43
Connecting A1000 to Amiga Explorer via serial	Marchie	support.Hardware	2	23 January 2018 19:46
Blowing up expensive things is not fun - Connecting SCSI2SD to A590	IvanEBC	support.Hardware	7	29 November 2016 12:39
Connecting an external zip drive to the amiga	paulo_becas	support.Hardware	17	05 March 2010 10:29

30 July 2018, 20:20	#2
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,864	Next up, Create a boot disk that makes the smallest possible RAD: drive that can hold the mountlist, driver, mount, assign, execute and then you can reboot without a floppy. ;-) Oh and a note on the instructions, where you say copy df1: #? all to DH0: you should just omit the #?

31 July 2018, 07:13	#3
intric8 AmigaLover Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 75	@Jope not sure if you're joking or not, but that really is a very cool idea. Trimming it down to it's most basic essentials.

31 July 2018, 08:49	#4
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,864	Not joking, a suggestion for you to up your game to the next level. :-)

04 August 2018, 19:16	#5
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,214	Rom disk? I know you'd need to have a ks in the A1000 in the first place somehow, but you could do a minimum WB on that then hand over.

06 August 2018, 15:54	#6
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,864	ROM mentioned.. Next step: make a rommable autobooting driver with RDB support. "Totally easy"

07 August 2018, 13:48	#7
matburton Registered User Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Cambridge Posts: 136	As a random aside I won an ebay auction a while back which unexpectedly contained some SuperDisks (LS-120), one of which was labelled "Workbench 3.1" I had no clue what it was, but having seen this I guess the original owner could have had a similar setup, presumably with a later Amiga model. I've never even seen a SuperDisk drive so I have no way to check the contents. Also I love the RAD idea! And it really wouldn't be that hard.

07 August 2018, 15:38	#8
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,864	I have an LS-120 that I haven't been able to test because I never got around to buying any media. If your LS-120 disks are for sale, drop me a line please. :-) I can send you HDFs back of course.

07 August 2018, 23:52	#9
matburton Registered User Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Cambridge Posts: 136	Hey Jope, After sifting through what I have I can only find 3 SuperDisks. They are all used judging from the labels and none have cases. (I assume they would have comes in plastic cases like Zip 100 disks? ) They're certainly untested by me but if you want them and you're willing to cover postage from the UK I'm more than willing to send them to a good home!

08 August 2018, 07:33	#10
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,864	Sometimes they came in individual jewel cases, but very often they just had a cardboard sleeve + shrink wrap. Let's continue in PM

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)