A1200 Question

Steve · 23 February 2003, 15:36

Quick Question:

Does tha Amiga 1200 come with a hard drive cradle as standard? For example the A1200 Desktop Dynamite Pack.

CHiEF · 23 February 2003, 15:56

all my A1200s did

Steve · 23 February 2003, 16:04

Quote:

Originally posted by CHiEF
all my A1200s did

Right I'm gonna open mine up. I've just bought a cradle off eBay so I hope I've not wasted my money.

Steve · 23 February 2003, 16:15

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve
Right I'm gonna open mine up. I've just bought a cradle off eBay so I hope I've not wasted my money.

Ah shite!

It has a cradle!

They don't come with the hard drive cable though do they? Well I can't see one.

I had to break the warranty seal to open up me miggy. It's probably run out now anyway.

RetroMan · 23 February 2003, 16:24

Some were sold WITH HD, some weren´t

CHiEF · 23 February 2003, 18:21

be careful though, my first HD burnt one of my a1200s out inside!

but no, they don't come with the IDE cable - the HDs sometimes do though

Steve · 25 February 2003, 01:45

Quote:

Originally posted by CHiEF
be careful though, my first HD burnt one of my a1200s out inside!

but no, they don't come with the IDE cable - the HDs sometimes do though

I've had a hard drive in my old Amiga that I had in 1994. Thankfully it didn't burn out the insides of my A1200. It was one of those huge 3.5 inch hard drives and made a bit of a bump in the A1200 case. It wasn't very big though. It was only about 170MB although when I bought it the damn thing was supposed to be something like 240MB! I'm after a 2.5 inch hard drive this time round. Something that won't leave a bump in me miggy.

So the next question is this. What is the actual limit of the OS3.0 version of the Amiga 1200? I remember the limit being somewhere around the 4Gig mark. What if I bought a hard drive that is right on the 4Gig limit. Would the Amiga accept this or not?

25 February 2003, 02:28

OS3 will accept any HD if you don't want to mess with different filesystems and if you use just the first 4GB of it.

Amiga1992 · 25 February 2003, 02:53

I've got a Seagate slimline 3.5" inside the 1200... it doesn't make a bump or anything, it fits just tight. You could try and catch one of those if you want.

I am looking forward to put it in an external case, though. How long can an IDE cable be? I am thinking about running the cable to the outside through the unused slot on the back (I have no Blizzard or GVP accel, so no SCSI interface for me :/) but I feel the cable I can use might be a bit short and I won't be able to do this.

25 February 2003, 03:06

My seagate 3.5" drive is dead because I used it upside down inside the case. It might also be a bad turn-off. And no jokes about it Akira!

CHiEF · 25 February 2003, 03:19

Quote:

Originally posted by Akira
How long can an IDE cable be?

I believe the data transfer becomes unreliable if the length of the IDE cable exceeds 30cm. Having said that, I once read about some kind of "booster" device, which allowed longer cables. Where you get that kind of thing from I do not know!

25 February 2003, 03:45

I've got an ide cable that goes outside the desktop 1200 and it's at least 40cm, might even be 50 and it works.

CHiEF · 25 February 2003, 03:52

interesting.... do you ever get any read/write errors or other unreliable data? i know there's some settings that you can change if you are using a longer cable, something like MAXDATATRANS or summit. been a while since i played about with the HD though so I can't remember

25 February 2003, 04:31

It came with the 1200 when I got it second hand. My Amigas never remain the way they are bought. I might even call them refurbished for all except a few keys on the keyboard are changed

My point is, the cable used to work on a different motherboard than the current one for years and I'm running it for half a year without problems. Previous owner even used a CD rewriter with that cable without any type of ide adapter. I wouldn't belive him if he hadn't backed up his data in fron of my eyes with MakeCD

CHiEF · 25 February 2003, 04:40

heh i believe you

i bet it would be unreliable if it was any greater than 60cm though! in fact, i challenge someone to run a 1 metre IDE cable from their a1200 to a HD and see if that works.

Amiga1992 · 25 February 2003, 05:35

Quote:

Originally posted by Burseg
My seagate 3.5" drive is dead because I used it upside down inside the case. It might also be a bad turn-off. And no jokes about it Akira!

I am not using it upside down, that's for sure. Thanks for the cable reports, I suppose I'll have to give it a shot. Perhaps there are special cables for such a task? I'll ask around.

Steve · 25 February 2003, 11:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Burseg
OS3 will accept any HD if you don't want to mess with different filesystems and if you use just the first 4GB of it.

Interesting discussion guys. So let me get this straight. If I bought a 15GB 2.5inch IDE hard drive the Amiga would still accept it. But it would only be able to use the 4GB and no more. It would still work though with no problems.

This IDE cable discussion has got me interested as this is the last thing I'll be requiring after I get my hard drive. Can I use any standard PC IDE cable or does it have to be a specific type or a specific Amiga type of cable? Surely the cable must be a standard one.

blackcornflake · 25 February 2003, 12:05

Any 44-pin IDE cable should be suitable, Steve.

Severin · 25 February 2003, 14:35

Don't forget the partition limit for OS3.0 is about 1 Gig, the manual says 2 gig but the FFS has a bug in it, they used a signed variable instead of unsigned, so the second Gig is actually negative

Syko · 25 February 2003, 15:15

Hey steve

I set up a 1200 with a similar spec for a client, so here's what I did:

120MB partition for WorkBench

880MB partition for programmes

1GB partition for data

2GB partition for backing up the other 3 (create compressed file of each partition).

It's unlikly you'll run out of space with that lot, and if you do you can always pinch a new 1GB partition off the backup

The 44way IDE lead (used in laptops if your buying from a PC place) should be as short as possible, as the shorter it is the fewer data collissions and errors you'll get (less than 4" is fine, less than 2" and you run out of manovering room) - according to the official IDE spec, maximum lenth for a 40way is 440mm, but I've seen 1m ones that have worked fine @ ATA66.

One good reason for upgrading to OS3.9 is that you'll be able to use the whole drive, but you'll need to have a CDROM drive available to do that, which wont fit in the A1200 case.

23 February 2003, 15:36	#1
Steve I Identify as an Ewok Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: North Lincolnshire Age: 45 Posts: 2,356	A1200 Question Quick Question: Does tha Amiga 1200 come with a hard drive cradle as standard? For example the A1200 Desktop Dynamite Pack.

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23 February 2003, 15:56	#2
CHiEF Captain Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Sheffield / England Age: 43 Posts: 205	all my A1200s did

23 February 2003, 16:24	#5
RetroMan Registered User Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Germany Age: 51 Posts: 3,704	Some were sold WITH HD, some weren´t

23 February 2003, 18:21	#6
CHiEF Captain Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Sheffield / England Age: 43 Posts: 205	be careful though, my first HD burnt one of my a1200s out inside! but no, they don't come with the IDE cable - the HDs sometimes do though

25 February 2003, 02:28	#8
oldpx Posts: n/a	OS3 will accept any HD if you don't want to mess with different filesystems and if you use just the first 4GB of it.

25 February 2003, 02:53	#9
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	I've got a Seagate slimline 3.5" inside the 1200... it doesn't make a bump or anything, it fits just tight. You could try and catch one of those if you want. I am looking forward to put it in an external case, though. How long can an IDE cable be? I am thinking about running the cable to the outside through the unused slot on the back (I have no Blizzard or GVP accel, so no SCSI interface for me :/) but I feel the cable I can use might be a bit short and I won't be able to do this.

25 February 2003, 03:06	#10
oldpx Posts: n/a	My seagate 3.5" drive is dead because I used it upside down inside the case. It might also be a bad turn-off. And no jokes about it Akira!

25 February 2003, 03:45	#12
oldpx Posts: n/a	I've got an ide cable that goes outside the desktop 1200 and it's at least 40cm, might even be 50 and it works.

25 February 2003, 03:52	#13
CHiEF Captain Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Sheffield / England Age: 43 Posts: 205	interesting.... do you ever get any read/write errors or other unreliable data? i know there's some settings that you can change if you are using a longer cable, something like MAXDATATRANS or summit. been a while since i played about with the HD though so I can't remember

25 February 2003, 04:31	#14
oldpx Posts: n/a	It came with the 1200 when I got it second hand. My Amigas never remain the way they are bought. I might even call them refurbished for all except a few keys on the keyboard are changed My point is, the cable used to work on a different motherboard than the current one for years and I'm running it for half a year without problems. Previous owner even used a CD rewriter with that cable without any type of ide adapter. I wouldn't belive him if he hadn't backed up his data in fron of my eyes with MakeCD

25 February 2003, 04:40	#15
CHiEF Captain Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Sheffield / England Age: 43 Posts: 205	heh i believe you i bet it would be unreliable if it was any greater than 60cm though! in fact, i challenge someone to run a 1 metre IDE cable from their a1200 to a HD and see if that works.

25 February 2003, 12:05	#18
blackcornflake Moderator Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Cereal box Posts: 794	Any 44-pin IDE cable should be suitable, Steve.

25 February 2003, 14:35	#19
Severin Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Gloucester / UK Posts: 700	Don't forget the partition limit for OS3.0 is about 1 Gig, the manual says 2 gig but the FFS has a bug in it, they used a signed variable instead of unsigned, so the second Gig is actually negative

25 February 2003, 15:15	#20
Syko Now got GSX750F :)) Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Halifax UK Age: 59 Posts: 584	Hey steve I set up a 1200 with a similar spec for a client, so here's what I did: 120MB partition for WorkBench 880MB partition for programmes 1GB partition for data 2GB partition for backing up the other 3 (create compressed file of each partition). It's unlikly you'll run out of space with that lot, and if you do you can always pinch a new 1GB partition off the backup The 44way IDE lead (used in laptops if your buying from a PC place) should be as short as possible, as the shorter it is the fewer data collissions and errors you'll get (less than 4" is fine, less than 2" and you run out of manovering room) - according to the official IDE spec, maximum lenth for a 40way is 440mm, but I've seen 1m ones that have worked fine @ ATA66. One good reason for upgrading to OS3.9 is that you'll be able to use the whole drive, but you'll need to have a CDROM drive available to do that, which wont fit in the A1200 case.

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