CF in A590?

[Eamoe]

Hi all,

I've got an A590 and I'm sick'n'tired of old SCSI hard drives dying while in use. It's the third drive that dies since I've started using the A590. I'm mad.

So I thought "why, there must be some way to use solid state memory instead of this bunch of damn rusty spinning metal plates", and I came up with

this.

Do you guys think this SCSI emulation stuff could work on the A590 controller?

[Loedown]

Looks like it would be a nice unit, but you are far better off just getting an AEC-7720 SCSI to IDE converter and an IDE to CF adapter.

7720 ~ $20
IDE to CF ~ $2
CF card 4Gb Sandisk ~ $30

All prices in Australian Dollars.

A590 internals are fairly spacious, it will all fit.

[Eamoe]

Thanks, that's the answer I was looking for!

But... do you mean AEC-7720U? They're nowhere cheaper than EUR 155.00!

Went to eBay and amiBay and they didn't list any

I'll have to think on this further...

[whiteb]

Originally Posted by Loedown

Looks like it would be a nice unit, but you are far better off just getting an AEC-7720 SCSI to IDE converter and an IDE to CF adapter.

7720 ~ $20
IDE to CF ~ $2
CF card 4Gb Sandisk ~ $30

7720 for AU$20 ?

I didnt see where from. I had to get one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[Eamoe]

Hey whiteb, thanks for input.

Any good results with this device? And on what hardware? Do you use it in an A590?

[Loedown]

Originally Posted by whiteb

7720 for AU$20 ?

I didnt see where from. I had to get one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Prices vary, what's $20 AUD between friends? I can spell irony yes

[Loedown]

Originally Posted by Eamoe

Hey whiteb, thanks for input.

Any good results with this device? And on what hardware? Do you use it in an A590?

I use two of them on my A2000 SCSI chain both to CF adapters, they work perfectly.

[Eamoe]

OK, adapter ordered. Thanks for the link whiteb!

General question: is a CF card's lifespan significantly long when used as a boot volume? I mean, it can't be shorter than the few weeks left of a 20-year old 3.5'' SCSI drive, or can it?

[Cammy]

It'll last longer than your Amiga will.

[cpiac64]

i can insert in cdtv a solution scsi to cf?

[Eamoe]

@cpiac64
I can't tell you, but these guys seem to believe it would work for any originally SCSI-connected device. They do it on A2000's, I'm about to make it on an A590.

If you wish, I can keep you updated as to what results I get with the adapter, maybe it can give you a hint about how it would work somewhere else (CDTV in your case).

[deicidal]

Please do, will probably give it a go myself when i get chance regardless.

[Toni Wilen]

ACard 7720U is confirmed working in SCSI expanded CDTV (but note that without direct SCSI compatible filesystem like PFS3ds max accessible drive capacity is 1G)

A590, A2091, A3000 and CDTV use exact same WD SCSI controller chip.

[Loedown]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

ACard 7720U is confirmed working in SCSI expanded CDTV (but note that without direct SCSI compatible filesystem like PFS3ds max accessible drive capacity is 1G)

A590, A2091, A3000 and CDTV use exact same WD SCSI controller chip.

There is a ROM upgrade for the A590, V7.0 which allows bigger drives, I know this from experience.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Loedown

There is a ROM upgrade for the A590, V7.0 which allows bigger drives, I know this from experience.

Yes but not for CDTV.

[Loedown]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Yes but not for CDTV.

The original post was about A590, I don't own a CDTV, I would be a fool to doubt your claim Toni

[Eamoe]

Haven't got the SCSI-->IDE controller yet, but one question comes to mind about power.

The A590 comes with a power supply, and I understood that it's mainly used to operate the electro-mechanical part of the HD. As with the new CF solution, there won't be no moving parts anymore, does it still make sense / is it a good idea to power supply it?

I've also read, one or two years ago, that you could plug the A590 without its own PSU (which I never did), so it would take power from the A500's mobo, but that this was highly unrecommended, because if you have an HD in the A590, it would fry your mobo in no time. What about it? Could it be done without danger with a CF?

[alexh]

http://members.iinet.net.au/~davem2/...ck/a500hd.html

[Eamoe]

Ooh that was fast !

Thanks a lot alexh. You mean to say I can make the mod, right? CF uses definitely less power than a mechanical drive.

[Loedown]

Originally Posted by Eamoe

Haven't got the SCSI-->IDE controller yet, but one question comes to mind about power.

The A590 comes with a power supply, and I understood that it's mainly used to operate the electro-mechanical part of the HD. As with the new CF solution, there won't be no moving parts anymore, does it still make sense / is it a good idea to power supply it?

I've also read, one or two years ago, that you could plug the A590 without its own PSU (which I never did), so it would take power from the A500's mobo, but that this was highly unrecommended, because if you have an HD in the A590, it would fry your mobo in no time. What about it? Could it be done without danger with a CF?

Both the CF adapter and the CF - SCSI bridge need powering, you may need a splitter type adapter to give two floppy connections from normal molex pins, but the bridge and the CF together will probably still draw less power than the hard drives of the day.