A1200 HD upgraded advice sought

Hi all,

I am new to EAB and have only recently become an Amiga owner. I always wanted one as a child but was unable to afford it and, by the time I'd finished my education and got a job, Commodore went out of business and the dream faded.
However I have now been fortunate enough to have been given an A1200 and my interest has been resurrected and the dream fulfilled.

As far as I can tell it is a standard A1200 with 2Mb RAM, a 42Mb HD and nothing in the trapdoor (...yet ). It came with the suite of Workbench 3.0 disks and from that I assume it is also on Kickstart 3.0...although, to be honest, I wouldn't know where to look to find out for sure.

Anyway, to get to the point of this thread...

I have bought an Hitachi 4.3Gb HD to replace the old and noisy 42Mb Connor one in there at the moment and have also bought the suite of Workbench 3.1 disks, mainly because I didn't have the 3.0 HD Install disk.

I've searched the forum for information on the A1200 and HD and understand there is a 4Gb limit and also that any individual partition must be less than 2Gb. I've also read about creating a boot partition but, to be honest, from there it all starts to go over my head a bit.

(Please correct me if any of my understanding up to this point in wrong)

It may be worth mentioning that I intend to get as much of the software that I have (...and will continue to accumulate ) onto the HD as I possibly can. This includes games (via WHDLoad I assume at this stage), productivity stuff (word processor, graphics, animation, etc.) and programming (Basic, AMOS, etc.) which I want to learn.

The questions I have are:

How many partitions should I create and how big should they be?
Should I create one partition for each area of interest, e.g. games, productivity, programming, etc.?
Is a boot partition necessary and if so, how big should it be and what should go into it?
Are there any limitations that I need to consider?

So basically, if you were in my position with a blank 4.3Gb HD to install, what would you do?

Novice level (idiot-proof ) answers and advice welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

(Sorry for having so many questions and such a long post)

[DH]

Welcome to EAB
1. Create as many as you want, although my experience of partitions on a real Amiga weren't too good, caused a few crashes. But it's up to you.

2. No not really, just create folders for these interests if you want. The more partitions you have the greater the loss if these partitions fail.

3. The boot partition is necessary, this is where workbench is installed 'n' needs to boot from and load in. Without this you'll have to boot from a floppy disk to access the HDD. You can put everything you own into this partition, that's if you don't create any others.

4. I'll let the experts advise you on this one. My Amiga days are very rusty

[klx300r]

Originally Posted by ScoobyM

So basically, if you were in my position with a blank 4.3Gb HD to install, what would you do?

Hi and welcome back to the Amiga days I too used to dream of owning an Amiga back in the day but alas the pocket book took me from my beloved 64 straight to the cheapest possible peecee clone um uhh ok back to the question at hand! I would break it up into 2 partitions of 2 GB.....create drawers for your games (you'll want to load and register WHDLoad for sure), music, art etc. The other 2GB partition I would keep for installing yet another operating system such 3.5 or 3.9 or maybe AmigaSYS..

to set up your partitions is quite easy...install your setup disk into the floppy drive...at the startup screen go to 'HDTool Box' and choose the create partition option...use the mouse to slide the bar pointer to the size of each partition and click on the empty box and then click partition....oh also make sure to click on the 'bootable' box
one this is done then you must format the partition...reboot the miggy then you will see an drive icon on the workbench for the nelwy fomatted partition....left click once on the icon to hilight it..then go to the top of the workbench screen ..right click on the pull down menu anc hoose 'format'...once formatted you can continue with installing the OS....
have fun

[amigakit.com]

Welcome!

[tonyyeb]

Welcome to EAB!

[twizzle]

welcome to eab
the first thing you need do is to change/define your new hd
in hdtoolbox partioning screen
you will see that your new hd is unknown type?

go into change hd screen, at the top right read hd configuration box

type ram: in front, then press read configeration button, OK exit then save reboot then partion your hd, reboot then quick format your new icons

keep your disc`s write protected so it doesnt try to write to the install disc

50mb is enough for your wb
partion the rest as you like ie, work - games - apps etc

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by ScoobyM

Hi all,

I am new to EAB and have only recently become an Amiga owner. I always wanted one as a child but was unable to afford it and, by the time I'd finished my education and got a job, Commodore went out of business and the dream faded.
However I have now been fortunate enough to have been given an A1200 and my interest has been resurrected and the dream fulfilled.

The questions I have are:

How many partitions should I create and how big should they be?
Should I create one partition for each area of interest, e.g. games, productivity, programming, etc.?
Is a boot partition necessary and if so, how big should it be and what should go into it?
Are there any limitations that I need to consider?

So basically, if you were in my position with a blank 4.3Gb HD to install, what would you do?

Novice level (idiot-proof ) answers and advice welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

(Sorry for having so many questions and such a long post)

Hiya,

I was in your exact same position about 6 months ago

Anyway, this is a great time to get a 1200 for the first time

If you've got 4 GB to play with then something like 300mb for the Wb (OS) files (name the partition 'System'), then divide the rest up for games/programs/demos. The only partition which should be bootable is the 'System' partition.

Now I hate to say this after you've just brought your new HD but you're probably better off with a compact flash card instead. The reason for this is that it will be less of drain on your power supply (the 1200 came with a very weak power supply) and also because it will leave room for your most important upgrade...an IndivisionAGA

Another good reason to use a CF is that it makes it really easy to setup your hd using your PC running WinUAE.

You might also want to ditch 3.1 and go to the newest version of the OS that can be run on a 1200 without an expensive PPC card...OS 3.9, you will need more memory to run 3.9 though so an expansion card is a must.

I'm now running 3.9 with my Blizz 030 & 32 mb and it's nice and fast (after you disable the menu bar anyway).

Have you seen The Green Guide yet, very helpful?

These 'pre-configured' WB installs are also very helpful

Classic WB
AmigaSys

Thanks for all the welcomes and replies.
You're all a very friendly, helpful and knowledgable bunch.

Originally Posted by DemonHellraiser

1. Create as many as you want, although my experience of partitions on a real Amiga weren't too good, caused a few crashes. But it's up to you.

GULP!
Has anyone else on here had a similar experience?

Originally Posted by klx300r

The other 2GB partition I would keep for installing yet another operating system such 3.5 or 3.9 or maybe AmigaSYS..

Would any of those run on a standard A1200?
And how would it cope with two operating systems in different partitions?
I'm guess only one of them could be bootable.

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

Now I hate to say this after you've just brought your new HD but you're probably better of with a compact flash card instead. The reason for this is that it will be less of drain on your power supply (the 1200 came with a very weak power supply) and also because it will leave room for your most important upgrade...an IndivisionAGA

Not really a problem because it wasn't expensive so if I have to go the CF route it's only £7 wasted.

Regarding the power supply, are the A500, A500+ or A600 supplies any beefier?

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

Have you seen The Green Guide yet, very helpful?

Nope but I'll certainly take a look and have a good read.

Thanks again to all of you for all your help and advice.

M.

OK. Now I know I must be doing something stupid!

The drive is in the A1200 and I'm in HDToolBox. I click on 'Change Drive Type' and the Set Drive Type screen appears. So far so good. I then click on 'Define New...' and the Define/Edit Drive Type screen appears and there's a 'Read Configuration' button at the top right so I click it and click 'Continue' on the pop-up that appears. The software reads the drive information and conveniently fills in all the fields on the Define/Edit Drive Type screen. Happy days!

...or not!
On closer inspection have gone a bit wrong and left me more than a little confused.

It correctly picks up the Manufacturers Name (Hitachi), Drive Name (DK238A-43), Cylinders (8944), Heads (15) and Blocks Per Track (63) - which is pretty much all that the label on the HD tells me. The problem? It tells me it's a 30Meg HD!! (31263K)

Now I've never considered myself much of a magician, but managing to get 99.3% of the HD space to disappear I feel is quite some feat!!

As I said at the start of this reply, I just know I must be doing something stupid, and I'm hoping that you clever people can advise what has gone so horribly wrong so soon.

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by ScoobyM

Regarding the power supply, are the A500, A500+ or A600 supplies any beefier?
M.

I think the 600 was the same as the 1200, but the 500's were better.

I've not had any trouble with my 1200's supply with a CF, Indivision, IdeExpress and Blizz 030.

[Cammy]

ScoobyM, I am sure DemonHellraiser is the only one who has had problems with multiple partitions, I'm sure you won't experience crashes caused by partitions on your hard drive.

Your problem with the drive showing up as only 30mb is a bit odd, though. Is it an old drive? It's possible it's just been ruined by someone in the past.

I'd highly recommend forgetting about using a hard drive at all. They're noisy, slow, generate heat and draw a lot of power. A Compact Flash card, on the other hand, doesn't! You can get a IDE CF adapter for a buck on eBay, pick yourself up a 4GB CF card from your local shop, and use that instead of a hard drive. It will boot up Workbench and your games in half the time a hard drive takes, and it's completely silent and low-power. My boyfriend and I have replaced the hard drives in all our A1200s, A600s and CD32 with these. You can also get a PCMCIA CF adapter which can be used for quick and easy swappable storage... I use one all the time, I download games and stuff on the PC, stick them on a CF card, then slot it in the side of my A1200. If it's a good game, I'll copy it over permanently to my internal CF card.

We got our CF-IDE converters from this eBay Store. They all worked flawlessly, were delivered quickly, and were really cheap. - http://stores.ebay.com/EUNION-SHOP

[NewDeli]

I am sure the advice on using CF cards instead of HDDs is valuable, however the fact that OUR Amiga Princess has a boyfriend is a bit disappointing .

At least, if you get a new boyfriend, I am sure many EAB members would appreciate if you keep the secret next time you grant us a glimpse at your intimate life.

[DH]

Originally Posted by Cammy

I am sure DemonHellraiser is the only one who has had problems with multiple partitions

The problem was probably caused by the faulty HDD that was shipped with my A1200 when it eventually died it was then replaced with a brand spanking new one. From that point on I don't think I bothered creating anymore partitions, I seemed to of lost faith in multiple partitions thereafter, mind you, it was only a whopping 200Mb 'n' wasn't worth doing. My faith in multiple partitions is back now, unfortunately not on an A1200

[twizzle]

Originally Posted by ScoobyM

OK. Now I know I must be doing something stupid!

The drive is in the A1200 and I'm in HDToolBox. I click on 'Change Drive Type' and the Set Drive Type screen appears. So far so good. I then click on 'Define New...' and the Define/Edit Drive Type screen appears and there's a 'Read Configuration' button at the top right so I click it and click 'Continue' on the pop-up that appears. The software reads the drive information and conveniently fills in all the fields on the Define/Edit Drive Type screen. Happy days!

...or not!
On closer inspection have gone a bit wrong and left me more than a little confused.

It correctly picks up the Manufacturers Name (Hitachi), Drive Name (DK238A-43), Cylinders (8944), Heads (15) and Blocks Per Track (63) - which is pretty much all that the label on the HD tells me. The problem? It tells me it's a 30Meg HD!! (31263K)

Now I've never considered myself much of a magician, but managing to get 99.3% of the HD space to disappear I feel is quite some feat!!

As I said at the start of this reply, I just know I must be doing something stupid, and I'm hoping that you clever people can advise what has gone so horribly wrong so soon.

as you have now bought OS 3.1. it would be in your best interest to get the 3.1 roms to go with them
this could be where your problem lies ?
possible incompatability with 0S3.1 and the OS3.0 roms ?

someone hear might be able to shed more light on this.

[meega]

WB3.1 works fine with KS3.0.

[cosmicfrog]

i would go with 2 partions 1 called system and 1 called work

have no idea whats up with the drive only seeing 30mb

would stick with ks3.0 and wb 3.1 till you have a better understanding of what to do

and welcome to your new home here on EAB

[meega]

"I have bought an Hitachi 4.3Gb HD"

You are restricted to 4.0GB (binary GB, not manufacturers decimal GB). It might be that your drive is in fact 4.0GB + 30MB in size... so check the *actual* size of the drive.

I would split it either into two equal parts of 2.00GB each (Workbench and Work), or three parts of say 500MB, 1.5GB, 1.5GB (Workbench, Work, somethingelse). In either case, you might have to discard (in other words, not use) the last 30MB of "available" drive space.

I could never understand why anyone would want to call the boot part "System" - it actually contains Workbench and it already has a drawer inside that is called System anyway.

[DH]

Originally Posted by meega

I could never understand why anyone would want to call the boot part "System"

Maybe the damned PC has influenced cosmicfrog's Amiga intelligence too much

[cosmicfrog]

I agree always called my sys: workbench and hated calling the other work, its just that`s how its seemed to have evovled and i was going for easy names, would`t have more than 2 partions though, for a couple of reasons 1, they use memory and 2 directorys are just as good as there is no repartitioning on the fly as it where well non that I`m a ware off

[Retro1234]

Another good thing about using CF is if youve got a CF adater for your PC it can be set up under WinUae ready for your Amiga.