Amiga A590 - what drive to replace the original?

Merlin · 17 July 2008, 22:49

Hi all,

After examining the A590 that DuneInfo kindly donated, it appears that the original XT20Mb (wow!) hard drive is an ex-drive, it has the clunk of death.

The rest of the A590 is in good condition after a quick clean up, the voltage rails appear to be good when powered up so there's hope yet for the beast.

Anyway, a question for the hardware gurus....

Since there is also a 50-pin SCSI connection as well as the original 40-pin XT-IDE header in the A590, what is the best option to go for to be able to interface with more modern hardware? Is there a good SCSI-->IDE bridge that I should be looking for? I have plenty of 10Gb IDE drives lying around here going spare...

I can't believe that people want £70

for an ancient 20Mb XT IDE drive on a certain site

, I could get at least a 250Gb modern AT-IDE drive at that price!!

Thanks

Zetr0 · 17 July 2008, 23:48

Ahhh Merlicious my friend,

now if we had our morning chat I could tell you that;- Its all about them ROMS!

There are several versions of the ROMs for the A590,

Alas version 6 ROMs will only allow hard drives up to 512MB in capacity.

looking on amiga-hardware, it states that version 6.6 and 7.0 ROMs are reported to work successfully with drive sizes up to 9GB but, as you know my old-skool com padre you will need at least OS3.5 to use drives over 4GB.

the XT side, i think maxes out at 60 or 80MB though...

Zetr0 · 17 July 2008, 23:57

just had a little ponder around

Click image to look at this ebay item

Postage Price might be sucky but you can always message them OR perhaps talk about combined postage for two of them (as i want one LOL)

rkauer · 18 July 2008, 01:15

Z man, there is no limitation for real SCSI hard drives (not related with IDE), only from the boot ROM on the controller itself. Even old OFS can handle SCSI drives with no patch at all.

alexh · 18 July 2008, 01:35

SCSI->IDE->CF is my recommendation.

rkauer · 18 July 2008, 01:56

The truth is: CF is absurdly fast, even compared to a real, modern, SCSI-III-UW SCA HD spinning at 15k RPM.

It have low power requirement, silent and a lot cheaper, compared to old 2.5" IDE drives.

The Acard board is a must-have. It eases the life of everyone (but you need one for every IDE device you want to attach).

coze · 18 July 2008, 02:08

first of all, forget about XT. they are ancient relics which will byte the dust as soon as you feed them power.

good old scsi drives are your safest and cheapest bet. a scsi->ide bridge is the best solution but they're kind of expensive.

as for the size, there IS a limit depending on your SCSI roms on the A590 and the kickstart/workbench you're using. try to get the latest (7.0) SCSI roms and 3.1 roms for yer A500.

I could burn the 7.0 roms for you alas my life is in shambles at the moment and there is a 40 page master thesis I have to submit in two weeks of which I've written only a single page so far

rkauer · 18 July 2008, 03:19

BTW: does anyone know the theoretical limit of the Addhard SCSI controller(A500 version?). I didn't found anything around the 'net...

I have a 9.1Gb SCSI-II HD waiting here.

rkauer · 18 July 2008, 04:11

Oh, and the obligatory pr0n...

The drive is a Quantum Viking (SCSI-II). Was working perfectly on mine, erm..., peecee with an Adaptec SCSI-II controller.

alexh · 18 July 2008, 09:32

Most SCSI controllers (and ROM's) were better than IDE ones for disk size. SCSI(10) has 32-bit LBA which is 2.2TB.

The prequal SCSI(6) has a 21-bit LBA so the max will be 1Gbyte.

I have no idea which the Addhard uses. A590 with ROM7.0 will use SCSI(10)

Paul_s · 18 July 2008, 21:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zetr0

just had a little ponder around

Click image to look at this ebay item

Postage Price might be sucky but you can always message them OR perhaps talk about combined postage for two of them (as i want one LOL)

I mailed the seller of those Acard's last night. He'll only ship to the states though. I even offered him a hooker and a 4 pack of fosters and he told me to stick it

alexh · 18 July 2008, 23:16

If you could get enough orders I could get them shipped to my work address in US and arrange someone to bring them over next time.

I'm not going to do it for just one board but perhaps 5 would be worth doing.

Paul_s · 19 July 2008, 00:23

Well I'd be in for a group buy... I've been wanting to CF my A530 for a bit now...

hang on...

http://www.span.com/catalog/product_...k&currency=GBP

I've found them slightly cheaper than Vesalia on that link - plus they're in the UK! I'll mail them and see what kind of discount they can offer for multiple purchases...

edit: mailed them regarding bulk purchase on a possible 10 - 15 adapters... (I hope there are 10 of us who'd be interested

)

alexh · 19 July 2008, 00:49

Still 2x the price in the US though

Zetr0 · 19 July 2008, 01:05

@Alexh

If you want to organise a group but I would be interested in 2 of them

DDNI · 19 July 2008, 01:13

50 pin SCSI > IDE adapter card?

I would buy one... My SCSI HDD is from an old server - it sounds like a busted Tank...

/mind wanders...

Tanx now there was a great game.... "All guns commnce firing"

Zetr0 · 19 July 2008, 01:18

they should make one net play, up to 4/8 players

DDNI · 19 July 2008, 01:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zetr0

they should make one net play, up to 4/8 players

Oh yes! now your talkin....

THere must be something like it on t'internet

Paul_s · 21 July 2008, 14:01

I've had a reply back from span.com regarding the AEC-7720U adapter

Quote:

Originally Posted by span.com

Hi,

There is not alot of room to move on the price of acard items. But can reduce the price to £30 per item if 15-20 are bought.

Regards

Possible group buy? That's around £20 less than Vesalia if you include their postage. If you got them from the states you'd only look at saving around £6...

Merlin · 21 July 2008, 14:28

I may have a cheaper alternative, what about adding an SCA hard drive and an SCA to SCSI adapter? These seem to be a lot cheaper than the Acard stuff and apparently SCA drives can talk to SCSI I interfaces.

17 July 2008, 22:49	#1
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	Amiga A590 - what drive to replace the original? Hi all, After examining the A590 that DuneInfo kindly donated, it appears that the original XT20Mb (wow!) hard drive is an ex-drive, it has the clunk of death. The rest of the A590 is in good condition after a quick clean up, the voltage rails appear to be good when powered up so there's hope yet for the beast. Anyway, a question for the hardware gurus.... Since there is also a 50-pin SCSI connection as well as the original 40-pin XT-IDE header in the A590, what is the best option to go for to be able to interface with more modern hardware? Is there a good SCSI-->IDE bridge that I should be looking for? I have plenty of 10Gb IDE drives lying around here going spare... I can't believe that people want £70 for an ancient 20Mb XT IDE drive on a certain site , I could get at least a 250Gb modern AT-IDE drive at that price!! Thanks

18 July 2008, 09:32	#10
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	Most SCSI controllers (and ROM's) were better than IDE ones for disk size. SCSI(10) has 32-bit LBA which is 2.2TB. The prequal SCSI(6) has a 21-bit LBA so the max will be 1Gbyte. I have no idea which the Addhard uses. A590 with ROM7.0 will use SCSI(10) Last edited by alexh; 18 July 2008 at 09:45.

19 July 2008, 00:23	#13
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,334	Well I'd be in for a group buy... I've been wanting to CF my A530 for a bit now... hang on... http://www.span.com/catalog/product_...k&currency=GBP I've found them slightly cheaper than Vesalia on that link - plus they're in the UK! I'll mail them and see what kind of discount they can offer for multiple purchases... edit: mailed them regarding bulk purchase on a possible 10 - 15 adapters... (I hope there are 10 of us who'd be interested ) Last edited by Paul_s; 19 July 2008 at 00:31.

19 July 2008, 01:13	#16
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	50 pin SCSI > IDE adapter card? I would buy one... My SCSI HDD is from an old server - it sounds like a busted Tank... /mind wanders... Tanx now there was a great game.... "All guns commnce firing" Last edited by DDNI; 19 July 2008 at 01:22.

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17 July 2008, 23:48	#2
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	Ahhh Merlicious my friend, now if we had our morning chat I could tell you that;- Its all about them ROMS! There are several versions of the ROMs for the A590, Alas version 6 ROMs will only allow hard drives up to 512MB in capacity. looking on amiga-hardware, it states that version 6.6 and 7.0 ROMs are reported to work successfully with drive sizes up to 9GB but, as you know my old-skool com padre you will need at least OS3.5 to use drives over 4GB. the XT side, i think maxes out at 60 or 80MB though...

17 July 2008, 23:57	#3
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	just had a little ponder around Click image to look at this ebay item Postage Price might be sucky but you can always message them OR perhaps talk about combined postage for two of them (as i want one LOL)

18 July 2008, 01:15	#4
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	Z man, there is no limitation for real SCSI hard drives (not related with IDE), only from the boot ROM on the controller itself. Even old OFS can handle SCSI drives with no patch at all.

18 July 2008, 01:35	#5
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	SCSI->IDE->CF is my recommendation.

18 July 2008, 01:56	#6
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	The truth is: CF is absurdly fast, even compared to a real, modern, SCSI-III-UW SCA HD spinning at 15k RPM. It have low power requirement, silent and a lot cheaper, compared to old 2.5" IDE drives. The Acard board is a must-have. It eases the life of everyone (but you need one for every IDE device you want to attach).

18 July 2008, 02:08	#7
coze hastala vista winny vista Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: mt fuji Age: 46 Posts: 1,335	first of all, forget about XT. they are ancient relics which will byte the dust as soon as you feed them power. good old scsi drives are your safest and cheapest bet. a scsi->ide bridge is the best solution but they're kind of expensive. as for the size, there IS a limit depending on your SCSI roms on the A590 and the kickstart/workbench you're using. try to get the latest (7.0) SCSI roms and 3.1 roms for yer A500. I could burn the 7.0 roms for you alas my life is in shambles at the moment and there is a 40 page master thesis I have to submit in two weeks of which I've written only a single page so far

18 July 2008, 03:19	#8
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	BTW: does anyone know the theoretical limit of the Addhard SCSI controller(A500 version?). I didn't found anything around the 'net... I have a 9.1Gb SCSI-II HD waiting here.

18 July 2008, 04:11	#9
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	Oh, and the obligatory pr0n... The drive is a Quantum Viking (SCSI-II). Was working perfectly on mine, erm..., peecee with an Adaptec SCSI-II controller.

18 July 2008, 23:16	#12
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	If you could get enough orders I could get them shipped to my work address in US and arrange someone to bring them over next time. I'm not going to do it for just one board but perhaps 5 would be worth doing.

19 July 2008, 00:49	#14
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	Still 2x the price in the US though

19 July 2008, 01:05	#15
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	@Alexh If you want to organise a group but I would be interested in 2 of them

19 July 2008, 01:18	#17
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	they should make one net play, up to 4/8 players

21 July 2008, 14:28	#20
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	I may have a cheaper alternative, what about adding an SCA hard drive and an SCA to SCSI adapter? These seem to be a lot cheaper than the Acard stuff and apparently SCA drives can talk to SCSI I interfaces.

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