What's the best way to remove the hard drive from my A600?

jt5566 · 25 August 2011, 19:52

Hi Ive carefully opened up my Amiga and removed the top (unplugged keyboard & LED coonections, Keyboard v simply attached btw...)
Now i had hoped that i could just unclip the hard drive but it seems stiffer than expected, is there a trick? a hidden screw or something. Im been v careful as dont want to damage anything , maybe i just need to pull the damn thing out?!
Any help/advice thanks

fitzsteve · 25 August 2011, 20:07

Hi!

The hard drive is probably secured to the cradle with screws however the cradle its self is not secured to the Motherboard therefore you should be able to gently lift it away.

The HDD Cable may be a little tough to remove if its the first time you've opened the machine, just be gentle and try not to bend any of the pins when you pull it.

I'm sure everything will be fine if you take your time

Steve.

jt5566 · 25 August 2011, 20:56

That was easy, i was worried might knacker the board due to the HD was stuck solid but the metal cradle wobbled a bit.
Yeah the whole cradle came away nicely, ive left the ribbon attached to the board as was. Can i re-use that same ribbon to attach a 44pin IDE CF adapter card. So i can then plug a 4GB compact flash card (Hard drive) into the adapter?
I guess then i will have more questions regarding partitions etc, thats for another day.
Thanks again

fitzsteve · 25 August 2011, 21:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by jt5566

That was easy, i was worried might knacker the board due to the HD was stuck solid but the metal cradle wobbled a bit.
Yeah the whole cradle came away nicely, ive left the ribbon attached to the board as was. Can i re-use that same ribbon to attach a 44pin IDE CF adapter card. So i can then plug a 4GB compact flash card (Hard drive) into the adapter?
I guess then i will have more questions regarding partitions etc, thats for another day.
Thanks again

Indeed, you should be able to re-use the cable

prowler · 25 August 2011, 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by jt5566

Can i re-use that same ribbon to attach a 44pin IDE CF adapter card. So i can then plug a 4GB compact flash card (Hard drive) into the adapter?

Yes, as long as the CF-IDE adapter you use is of the 44-pin type and the cable is of sufficient length, then it can be used again.

Alternatively, you could use a right-angled 44-pin CF-IDE adapter, which will connect staight over the motherboard IDE header so that no cable is required.

jt5566 · 26 August 2011, 11:21

More simple questions: Ive seen lots of different CF cards and am considering getting a 4GB Kingston card (£7.05 delivered) from my Memory uk. I see Sandisk ones there also for around £13 but they have ultra 133x & 200x on them are these also suitable for the Amiga? Bit unsure if all <4GB CF cards are suitable or just a select few?
Also when i search for PCMCIA cards through Ebay there are only a couple of expensive 4MB fast RAM cards available (£70) but also lots of other 4MB flash memory PCMCIA cards for sale for $10-20 etc. What are these? Are they also useful for my memory requirements of not?
thanks, just a bit confused?

jt5566 · 26 August 2011, 11:24

Ahh, Just read some more about those PCMCIA flash cards and they state Memory NOT RAM or SRAM... any use to my Amiga? Just trying to figure out what the differing terms relate to and there use to me & my Amiga.

FOL · 26 August 2011, 12:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by jt5566

Ahh, Just read some more about those PCMCIA flash cards and they state Memory NOT RAM or SRAM... any use to my Amiga? Just trying to figure out what the differing terms relate to and there use to me & my Amiga.

PCMCIA Adapter with Flash memory is used as storage for transfering filesback and fore.

SRAM is used as FAST RAM (Extra computer memory).

So instead of having 1MB CHIP you will have 1MB CHIP and 2MB FAST (Depending on SRAM size).

jt5566 · 26 August 2011, 13:17

So chip ram is the 1mb on my amigas board and the 1mb on the expansion card (fitted in 93) and the SRAM is a faster RAM? will my Amiga utilize all the different RAM in different ways?
what kind of RAM is on the A604 compared to my existing RAM and the A630 accellerator/32mb fast ram add on you mentioned in another post?
and what kind of benefits do you get with differing RAM etc?
I think im getting the differences now, a bit...
ta

roy bates · 26 August 2011, 13:38

@jt5566

i think what fol is trying to say is that adding a pcmcia card i.e sram adds more fastram.
the a600 will gain a small amount of speed with fastram onboard you can use sysinfo to check this out.
the memory built int the a600 is called chipram and is used by the custom chips , sound,graphics, etc.
all other memory will be pooled together and shown as fastram in the title bar.

the memmory on accelorators are accessed by the cpu plus its faster and there is more of it.simply put.

regards roy

FOL · 26 August 2011, 13:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by roy bates

@jt5566

i think what fol is trying to say is

Indeed I was, ta,

.

roy bates · 26 August 2011, 13:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOL

Indeed I was, ta,

.

no probs fol its a pleasure.

jt5566 · 26 August 2011, 13:47

Thanks roy and thanks to FOL for ALL your help also
much appreciated
From my point of view ive openened a Amiga pandoras box, everything I ask brings up another 3 questions for me.
cheers guys

25 August 2011, 19:52	#1
jt5566 jt Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Macclesfield UK Posts: 34	What's the best way to remove the hard drive from my A600? Hi Ive carefully opened up my Amiga and removed the top (unplugged keyboard & LED coonections, Keyboard v simply attached btw...) Now i had hoped that i could just unclip the hard drive but it seems stiffer than expected, is there a trick? a hidden screw or something. Im been v careful as dont want to damage anything , maybe i just need to pull the damn thing out?! Any help/advice thanks

26 August 2011, 11:24	#7
jt5566 jt Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Macclesfield UK Posts: 34	Ahh, Just read some more about those PCMCIA flash cards and they state Memory NOT RAM or SRAM... any use to my Amiga? Just trying to figure out what the differing terms relate to and there use to me & my Amiga. Last edited by jt5566; 26 August 2011 at 11:31.

26 August 2011, 13:17	#9
jt5566 jt Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Macclesfield UK Posts: 34	So chip ram is the 1mb on my amigas board and the 1mb on the expansion card (fitted in 93) and the SRAM is a faster RAM? will my Amiga utilize all the different RAM in different ways? what kind of RAM is on the A604 compared to my existing RAM and the A630 accellerator/32mb fast ram add on you mentioned in another post? and what kind of benefits do you get with differing RAM etc? I think im getting the differences now, a bit... ta Last edited by jt5566; 26 August 2011 at 13:22.

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25 August 2011, 20:07	#2
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,685	Hi! The hard drive is probably secured to the cradle with screws however the cradle its self is not secured to the Motherboard therefore you should be able to gently lift it away. The HDD Cable may be a little tough to remove if its the first time you've opened the machine, just be gentle and try not to bend any of the pins when you pull it. I'm sure everything will be fine if you take your time Steve.

25 August 2011, 20:56	#3
jt5566 jt Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Macclesfield UK Posts: 34	That was easy, i was worried might knacker the board due to the HD was stuck solid but the metal cradle wobbled a bit. Yeah the whole cradle came away nicely, ive left the ribbon attached to the board as was. Can i re-use that same ribbon to attach a 44pin IDE CF adapter card. So i can then plug a 4GB compact flash card (Hard drive) into the adapter? I guess then i will have more questions regarding partitions etc, thats for another day. Thanks again

26 August 2011, 11:21	#6
jt5566 jt Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Macclesfield UK Posts: 34	More simple questions: Ive seen lots of different CF cards and am considering getting a 4GB Kingston card (£7.05 delivered) from my Memory uk. I see Sandisk ones there also for around £13 but they have ultra 133x & 200x on them are these also suitable for the Amiga? Bit unsure if all <4GB CF cards are suitable or just a select few? Also when i search for PCMCIA cards through Ebay there are only a couple of expensive 4MB fast RAM cards available (£70) but also lots of other 4MB flash memory PCMCIA cards for sale for $10-20 etc. What are these? Are they also useful for my memory requirements of not? thanks, just a bit confused?

26 August 2011, 13:38	#10
roy bates Registered User Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: birmingham Age: 55 Posts: 2,827	@jt5566 i think what fol is trying to say is that adding a pcmcia card i.e sram adds more fastram. the a600 will gain a small amount of speed with fastram onboard you can use sysinfo to check this out. the memory built int the a600 is called chipram and is used by the custom chips , sound,graphics, etc. all other memory will be pooled together and shown as fastram in the title bar. the memmory on accelorators are accessed by the cpu plus its faster and there is more of it.simply put. regards roy

26 August 2011, 13:47	#13
jt5566 jt Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Macclesfield UK Posts: 34	Thanks roy and thanks to FOL for ALL your help also much appreciated From my point of view ive openened a Amiga pandoras box, everything I ask brings up another 3 questions for me. cheers guys

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