A4000 Ide

Heavyweight7t6 · 19 March 2006, 20:29

Having just replaced the knackered motherboard in my A4000 - im wondering about the onboard IDE. I know about the sizing problem and have sourced a Liteon CDRW which is about 7inches long...(the DVDRW is the same size too!)

The onboard IDE interface, will it support the drive? If not what should I be looking for?. Also I see there are some PC ISA(16bit) slots on the daughter board, could I fit a 16bit ISA NIC into the slot and would it work??.

thomas · 19 March 2006, 22:23

Quote:

The onboard IDE interface, will it support the drive?

The hardware does, but the driver doesn't. You need IDEfix97 or AmigaOS 3.5 or 3.9 (i.e. a driver which supports ATAPI drives on the IDE bus).

Quote:

Also I see there are some PC ISA(16bit) slots on the daughter board, could I fit a 16bit ISA NIC into the slot and would it work?

No, it won't work. The ISA slots are not connected to the Amiga (except power). You need a PC bridge board to access them.

Calgor · 22 March 2006, 09:26

I have a Liteon DVDRW, bought for its small size! It works (at least read-only, have not yet got up to writing yet) with OS3.9. But am sure it will write also CDs with OS3.9 drivers as they are ATAPI compatible.

keropi · 22 March 2006, 10:20

isn't there a way with specific ISA NIC and a bridgeboard to make the NIC available on the amiga??? I think I have read it somewhere, didn't pay much attention though, neither do I know how good is this...

Heavyweight7t6 · 22 March 2006, 14:55

Calgor - I was thinking of using os 3.5 to start off with. I am reluctant atm because I have just swapped the motherboard over and the A4K when cold booted doesnt pick up the HDD untill three soft resets later.

Anyone got any ideas on this?

thomas · 22 March 2006, 16:27

Does it have Kick 3.0 or 3.1 ? With 3.0 this is normal, it's just too quick for the HDD to initialise. Although it should boot at the first soft reset.

alexh · 22 March 2006, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomas

No, it won't work. The ISA slots are not connected to the Amiga (except power). You need a PC bridge board to access them.

If you have a PC bridge board, could it run a program to simply route the Network data via the Zorro bus to a driver running on the Amiga?

I bet you could get a 286 Bridgeboard and an ISA network card cheaper than a Zorro II network card.

a_petri · 22 March 2006, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

If you have a PC bridge board, could it run a program to simply route the Network data via the Zorro bus to a driver running on the Amiga?

There is a program on Aminet, called 'Etherbridge', in the "hard/drivr" section, that does just this.

It uses a small MS-DOS program, constantly running on the Bridgeboard's emulated PC, to relay Ethernet data frames between the PC and the Amiga side. Therefore its performance is quite limited, and its stability is somewhat questionable, but there are Amiga owners who claim that it works for them

Heavyweight7t6 · 23 March 2006, 00:19

Thomas : It's 3.0 but I swapped the previous motherboard didnt have this problem!.

thomas · 23 March 2006, 08:34

Get some 3.1 chips. You need them for OS 3.5 anyway.

Heavyweight7t6 · 23 March 2006, 18:50

I've just order some 3.1 chips from Italy. The O'S 3.5 on ebay seem alittle pricey! (or is it me!).

Heavyweight7t6 · 28 March 2006, 14:06

Ok Added the 3.1Roms and an A3200/A3400 with FPU! No probs so far with those parts, I also added the CDRW. Checked the drives list (holding down the mouse buttons on boot) and cannot see the CDRW at all. Am I missing something here??? should'nt it even list the drive there?.

Also upgraded the OS from 3.0 to 3.1

thomas · 28 March 2006, 14:13

CD drives are not recognised automatically, you have to create a mount list (see CD0 in Storage/DosDrivers for an example).

But even worse, Kickstart 3.1 and below does not recognise CD drives at all, even not with a mount list. You need an additional ATAPI driver. OS 3.5 comes with an updated IDE driver which recognises ATAPI drives, but reading the driver from CD without already having it installed is not possible

A temporary solution is to install IDEfix97 demo from Aminet, then install OS3.5 and finally uninstall IDEfix. When the OS 3.5 installer asks you if you use IDEfix, reply with no.

Heavyweight7t6 · 28 March 2006, 19:42

Thanks Thomas!

I was looking all over the net for a the said O.S software...

Well I didn't find it so I've just bought it off Ebay! plus some A1200 3.1roms too lol. I did read on a website that Amiga International had release a beta copy of scsi.device (http://wonkity.com/~wblock/a4000hard/comquest.html) but I followed the links and there dead!

bugga

Heavyweight7t6 · 04 April 2006, 16:14

Ok I have O.S 3.5 now - got the IDEFIX97, problem - when I tried to use opus to unpack it, it lists the contents and doesnt unpack!!

HELP!

update ! I have unpacked and installed idefix97 ... under the find devices - atapi - doesnt show any cdrom drive! I think I may have wired it up incorrectly.

Any ideas?

04 April 2006, 18:04

Check connection again
Check right Master/Slave jumpers
On find devices try to select scsi.device or try another one

I used it some years ago and fint out the right way after experimentations

Hope this help

ciao

Heavyweight7t6 · 04 April 2006, 22:09

Ok ive connected up a maxtor 6.4gig and installed 3.1 onto that. How do I increase the size of the partition?. I understand 3.1 doesnt support partitions? or drives larger than 4gb - but shouldnt I have at least gotten to set size of the HD0 (workbench) and HD1 (work) before it installed 3.1?.

thomas · 05 April 2006, 11:13

You first create an OS3.9 emergency disk with your old setup, then you connect the new HDD and boot from the emergency disk. This way you don't have to bother with 3.1 again.

Heavyweight7t6 · 05 April 2006, 14:29

Ok I tried that!. The installer comes up with a message about not finding the screenmode.prefs file or drawer! - unable to locate!!! arghhh

06 April 2006, 05:29

Watch in:

SYS:/Prefs/env-archive/sys/screenmode.prefs

or RAM:ENV/sys/screenmode.prefs

19 March 2006, 20:29	#1
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	A4000 Ide Having just replaced the knackered motherboard in my A4000 - im wondering about the onboard IDE. I know about the sizing problem and have sourced a Liteon CDRW which is about 7inches long...(the DVDRW is the same size too!) The onboard IDE interface, will it support the drive? If not what should I be looking for?. Also I see there are some PC ISA(16bit) slots on the daughter board, could I fit a 16bit ISA NIC into the slot and would it work??.

04 April 2006, 16:14	#15
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	Ok I have O.S 3.5 now - got the IDEFIX97, problem - when I tried to use opus to unpack it, it lists the contents and doesnt unpack!! HELP! update ! I have unpacked and installed idefix97 ... under the find devices - atapi - doesnt show any cdrom drive! I think I may have wired it up incorrectly. Any ideas? Last edited by Heavyweight7t6; 04 April 2006 at 17:02.

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22 March 2006, 09:26	#3
Calgor (Amigas && Amigos)++ Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Anrea Posts: 999	I have a Liteon DVDRW, bought for its small size! It works (at least read-only, have not yet got up to writing yet) with OS3.9. But am sure it will write also CDs with OS3.9 drivers as they are ATAPI compatible.

22 March 2006, 10:20	#4
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	isn't there a way with specific ISA NIC and a bridgeboard to make the NIC available on the amiga??? I think I have read it somewhere, didn't pay much attention though, neither do I know how good is this...

22 March 2006, 14:55	#5
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	Calgor - I was thinking of using os 3.5 to start off with. I am reluctant atm because I have just swapped the motherboard over and the A4K when cold booted doesnt pick up the HDD untill three soft resets later. Anyone got any ideas on this?

22 March 2006, 16:27	#6
thomas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 7,001	Does it have Kick 3.0 or 3.1 ? With 3.0 this is normal, it's just too quick for the HDD to initialise. Although it should boot at the first soft reset.

23 March 2006, 00:19	#9
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	Thomas : It's 3.0 but I swapped the previous motherboard didnt have this problem!.

23 March 2006, 08:34	#10
thomas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 7,001	Get some 3.1 chips. You need them for OS 3.5 anyway.

23 March 2006, 18:50	#11
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	I've just order some 3.1 chips from Italy. The O'S 3.5 on ebay seem alittle pricey! (or is it me!).

28 March 2006, 14:06	#12
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	Ok Added the 3.1Roms and an A3200/A3400 with FPU! No probs so far with those parts, I also added the CDRW. Checked the drives list (holding down the mouse buttons on boot) and cannot see the CDRW at all. Am I missing something here??? should'nt it even list the drive there?. Also upgraded the OS from 3.0 to 3.1

28 March 2006, 14:13	#13
thomas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 7,001	CD drives are not recognised automatically, you have to create a mount list (see CD0 in Storage/DosDrivers for an example). But even worse, Kickstart 3.1 and below does not recognise CD drives at all, even not with a mount list. You need an additional ATAPI driver. OS 3.5 comes with an updated IDE driver which recognises ATAPI drives, but reading the driver from CD without already having it installed is not possible A temporary solution is to install IDEfix97 demo from Aminet, then install OS3.5 and finally uninstall IDEfix. When the OS 3.5 installer asks you if you use IDEfix, reply with no.

28 March 2006, 19:42	#14
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	Thanks Thomas! I was looking all over the net for a the said O.S software... Well I didn't find it so I've just bought it off Ebay! plus some A1200 3.1roms too lol. I did read on a website that Amiga International had release a beta copy of scsi.device (http://wonkity.com/~wblock/a4000hard/comquest.html) but I followed the links and there dead! bugga

04 April 2006, 18:04	#16
Zefiro Posts: n/a	Check connection again Check right Master/Slave jumpers On find devices try to select scsi.device or try another one I used it some years ago and fint out the right way after experimentations Hope this help ciao

04 April 2006, 22:09	#17
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	Ok ive connected up a maxtor 6.4gig and installed 3.1 onto that. How do I increase the size of the partition?. I understand 3.1 doesnt support partitions? or drives larger than 4gb - but shouldnt I have at least gotten to set size of the HD0 (workbench) and HD1 (work) before it installed 3.1?.

05 April 2006, 11:13	#18
thomas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 7,001	You first create an OS3.9 emergency disk with your old setup, then you connect the new HDD and boot from the emergency disk. This way you don't have to bother with 3.1 again.

05 April 2006, 14:29	#19
Heavyweight7t6 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Cardiff / Wales Age: 47 Posts: 161	Ok I tried that!. The installer comes up with a message about not finding the screenmode.prefs file or drawer! - unable to locate!!! arghhh

06 April 2006, 05:29	#20
Zefiro Posts: n/a	Watch in: SYS:/Prefs/env-archive/sys/screenmode.prefs or RAM:ENV/sys/screenmode.prefs

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