Troubleshooting - FastATA with Indivision

[diablothe2nd]

Lets continue the discussion and problem solving here

as i've said on the indivision thread, I think the solution is to angle your FastATA in such a way that it clears the indi and it's connector but still misses the keyboard.

pics attached:








my solution is to remove conflicting pins of the ATA around the indi connector and to use rom sockets with an extra "row" of sockets to the rear.

other potential solutions involve long legged sockets but it's been discovered that these are square pins and too big for the mainboard rom sockets. EDIT i've discovered that square pin sockets do fit, they are just a tight squeeze. the tight squeeze has the benefit of not needing zip-ties and making a better connection for higher PIO modes. read on for further info

when i get mine (should arrive today) i shall see what's needed to make them fit.

[diablothe2nd]

OK package from Spiratronics on ebay recieved.

I've just tested the long legged sockets in the mainboard and they do actually fit. it's snug but that's great for contact. they literally just need cutting to size. obviously if you've changed your mainboard sockets to round pin, this wont work

Diablo 3 also just arrived so i'm not sure i'll be around for a while

[diablothe2nd]

OK i decided to cut the pins and test before delving into Diablo 3 as i know some of you are relying on my results.

the results are, it's PERFECT! and the connection is so solid there's no need for zip ties.

i'll take some pics and measurements so you can duplicate my results if you wish.

[roy bates]

have you got a link to the sockets you used?

[diablothe2nd]

yes but they've only got one left, you'll have to add the seller to your watchlist to see when they come back in stock as the link wont update when this ones expired:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISA...E:L:OU:GB:1123

uploading piccies now

[diablothe2nd]

here's the piccies

Installed and tested working:



view of the angle






Shortest leg measurement:





Longest leg measurement:

[johnim]

great mate will have a proper look when at home

thanks for sharing

[diablothe2nd]

one thing to note, you MUST attach the sockets to the ata FIRST when installing this mod. i broke one of the supporting cross brackets of the long legged socket when pushing it into the mainboard first. superglue fixed the break but i thought i'd save others the headache.

So basically, after cutting the pins, mount the sockets on the ATA... then to insert the ATA into the mainboard push the longest pins in first, making sure they go into the mainboard correctly (one pin tried to go the wrong side of the clips in the socket first time around for me), then work your way back to the shortest pins, checking and double checking as you go.

it will require some force so make sure you've got lots of firm support under the mainboard.

once you get this baby in and seated, you wont be getting it out in a hurry LOL i bent a few pins while prising it from the mainboard for the photos after testing the ata first.

the great news is, a CF card that refused to run in anything faster than PIO3 (would crash the whole system on anything higher just by opening a folder) now works in PIO4... it worked also in PIO5 without a crash until i tried to copy a large file... so i think the square pins actually give WAY better contact than the round pins.

as a side note it's sort of ironic that the square pins are better, having fried my last mainboard when trying to change to roundpin. i'd have only have had to change back again for this mod. LOL

[roy bates]

you could try bending the pins on the socket (at an angle from the base of the socket)as well as shortening them,only a suggestion mind you.

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by roy bates

you could try bending the pins on the socket (at an angle from the base of the socket)as well as shortening them,only a suggestion mind you.

sort of.

if you bend the pins so they all point down, they are effectively closer together because of the angle which makes fitting the unit a little more troublesome.

you can see where the middle two rows bent outwards because they are slightly closer together from the angle they come from.

[roy bates]

ah yes,i see

[Retrofan]

I've tried with my pair of sockets and it wasn't working, so I'm going to cut the square ones.

So, the measures to cut the files of pins are 5mm, 6,5mm, 7,5mm and 9mm ?

[johnim]

hi guys my square ones do fit but need extra force

[Retrofan]

Do fit? I'm with mines right now and it seems toooo much force. I think I'm going to file them a little.

[johnim]

just a pain to get each row level

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by Retrofan

So, the measures to cut the files of pins are 5mm, 6,5mm, 7,5mm and 9mm ?

just cut the 5mm and 9mm and then draw a line with a marker pen between the two points for the middle two rows to cut... much more accurate

[DonAmiga]

Well seen as we're close to a solution I ordered my first FastATA from Amigakit so hopefully will be here soon

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by DonAmiga

Well seen as we're close to a solution I ordered my first FastATA from Amigakit so hopefully will be here soon

they are tempramental buggers with the media you feed them, but once you hit the butter zone they are awesome

[DonAmiga]

Cheers, looking forward to it and your thread will be great for support

[johnim]

yay got mine working but slightly to high a few mm will do adjustment tmoz