Amiga 1200 with SSD.

[IrY100Fan]

Hi Everyone,

I could use a little help...

I have an A1200 whose hard drive just took a dump. My intention was to replace it with a Transcend 64GB IDE SSD I had sitting around. So far I have been unsuccessful in my endeavor.

I installed the SSD in the A1200 (3.1 ROM's & Workbench 3.1). When I run HDToolBox, it sees the SSD without any problems. I can partition the SSD (2x2GB partitions) but it never shows up on the desktop for me to format it. When I go back into HDToolBox (even after a reboot), it remembers the partitions I created.

Any thoughts on why HDToolBox sees the partitions but Workbench does not?

Thanks.
-Brian

[eXeler0]

Do you use a CF card at the same time?
Not saying this is the case, but I had to get buffered IDE ports (from Amigakit) to get a DVD ROM working. In the old days when I used a HDD, a DVD/CD ROM would work just fine.

[IrY100Fan]

Hi eXeler0,

I do not have a CF card yet. The only device attached to the IDE is the Transcend SSD. I wanted to see if I could get it working before spending money on a IDE-to-CF adapter and a CF card.

[Smakar]

Originally Posted by IrY100Fan

Hi Everyone,

I could use a little help...

I have an A1200 whose hard drive just took a dump. My intention was to replace it with a Transcend 64GB IDE SSD I had sitting around. So far I have been unsuccessful in my endeavor.

I installed the SSD in the A1200 (3.1 ROM's & Workbench 3.1). When I run HDToolBox, it sees the SSD without any problems. I can partition the SSD (2x2GB partitions) but it never shows up on the desktop for me to format it. When I go back into HDToolBox (even after a reboot), it remembers the partitions I created.

Any thoughts on why HDToolBox sees the partitions but Workbench does not?

Thanks.
-Brian

When this happens, I use the FORMAT tool in the SYSTEM folder, after which the formatted device appears on the desktop.

[IrY100Fan]

Hi Smakar,

I completely forgot about the Format utility. (A side effect of stepping away from the Amiga for 15 years.) Unfortunately, the SSD partitions do not show up under the Format utility. I only see CC0: and DF0:.

[Smakar]

Shoot - I was hoping that would do it. I will let you know if anything comes to mind (I'm running an A500, but I just bought an A1200 on eBay which should be arriving tomorrow. I like the idea of the SSD but thus far only have experience with regular HDs and, thanks to the ACA500, CFs).

[Smakar]

Hey there.
A couple of things: a) do you have AutoMount checked for all partitions?
And two, others have had similar issues - it is recommended that you first create only one partition, format it, and then modify it deleting/defining all of the partitions - here is the thread.
http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/...024&forum=25&1
Good luck!

[BigFan]

@Smakar
No this can't work. Original scsi.device shipped with standard ROMs on A600/A1200 is limited to 4GB. Without patching it (e.g. using loadmodule in s-s ) you don't see or access any data behind the 4GB barrier. Same for the filesystem.

@Iry
If drive status in HDToolbox always states "changed" no matter how often you saved the config, then RDB is not written and re-read properly.
If this drive has been used in a PC it may still contain the partition scheme, thus the RDB is not written to the first block of the device. Attach the drive to pc and clean the partitions. (Windows has "DiskMgmt.msc" and "diskpart", linux has similar tools)
Be careful with this, selecting the wrong disk is dangerous. If you accidentally kill the partition scheme of your current working drive, all data is lost.

[voyager_1701e]

I just went through a somewhat similar situation. Setup an 8GB SD card on a 1200 with updated SCSI.device (I put it in ROM so the 1st partition can be 4gb). Worked fine on the real hardware, 2 partitions of 4gb using PFS. Onto the PC, using WinUAE simply couldn't see it in Workbench, but showed up fine in HDT with correct partitions as setup on the A1200. Finally in desperation, I updated the filesystem on the card in WinUAE, bingo it worked - and still perfectly usable on the real hardware!

I would tend to agree also with BigFan....you need to clean the drive of Windows partitions before starting setting up in any Amiga.

Keep us updated

[Jope]

Originally Posted by BigFan

@Smakar
No this can't work. Original scsi.device shipped with standard ROMs on A600/A1200 is limited to 4GB. Without patching it (e.g. using loadmodule in s-s ) you don't see or access any data behind the 4GB barrier. Same for the filesystem.

The stock IDE scsi.device goes up to 7.8GB with a DirectSCSI capable filesystem.

[IrY100Fan]

@Smakar
Congrats on your acquisition of the A1200. Yes, automount is checked for the partition. At this point I have only been trying to create one 250MB partition.

@BigFan
When I make changes to the SSD, HDToolBox says "Changed". Then when I click on Save Changes to Drive the status says 'Not Changed". Also, since the modifications I make are remembered after rebooting, it appears to me that the information is being recorded on the SSD. I had read in a different thread about the RDB issue so I hooked this SSD up to my Linux system and used the "dd" command to zero the entire drive. It seemed to make no difference.

@Voyager_1701e
I read about the updated scsi.device but didn't worry about it too much. Even though the SSD if 64GB, I am okay with only using the first 4GB of it so I was planning on running stock OS 3.1 device drivers. Currently I'm booting from my "Install 3.1" disk that came with the computer to try and configure everything. I'll have to see if I can get WinUAE (or the Linux equivalent) running on my PC to try and setup the partitions.

[IrY100Fan]

Do you think my problem is related to the SSD being 64GB. I figured that wouldn't be a issue as long as I didn't try to use any area beyond the 4GB mark. I even tried defining the drive parameters in HDToolBox to make the OS think it was a 4GB and then a 2GB drive, but that seemed to make no difference.

[BigFan]

Originally Posted by IrY100Fan

When I make changes to the SSD, HDToolBox says "Changed". Then when I click on Save Changes to Drive the status says 'Not Changed". Also, since the modifications I make are remembered after rebooting, it appears to me that the information is being recorded on the SSD. .

My posting was misleading, sorry. Saving changes almost always changes the text in HDToolbox to "not changed". What i meant was the state after a reboot. As you say that these changes are remembered, my assumption might be wrong.

[BigFan]

Originally Posted by Jope

The stock IDE scsi.device goes up to 7.8GB with a DirectSCSI capable filesystem.

yes. and if you use pfs or sfs you get even more. but this is not the case if you are using a stock a1200 with os3.1. and you can't boot from a partition bigger 4Gb.

[thomas]

Originally Posted by BigFan

but this is not the case if you are using a stock a1200 with os3.1.

You are wrong. With a stock os 3.1 without any patch you can have up to 7.8 GB if you use PFS3DS or PFS3AIO. You can make one partition which covers the entire 7.8 GB and you can boot from it.

[BigFan]

Originally Posted by thomas

You are wrong. With a stock os 3.1 without any patch you can have up to 7.8 GB if you use PFS3DS or PFS3AIO. You can make one partition which covers the entire 7.8 GB and you can boot from it.

I wrote about stock A1200 with standard OS3.1. Since when has this been sold including alternative filesystems like pfs?

But it seems this is not the problem Iry was talking about. He can't access any partitions he creates, no matter what size they are.

Any idea on this?

[Arnie]

To be fair, when has a 64gb HD been stock. The biggest drive I had back in the day was 512mb.

The problem here could be the make of SSD 'Transcend'. They don't seem to work well with Amigas.

[daxb]

Maybe it is time to use another scsi.device and/or fifesystem. The latest FFS for OS3.1 was 43.20 but you may try a newer/better one. At least it is worth the try.

What if you type "info" in a shell, do you see all partitions there?

[thomas]

Originally Posted by Arnie

The problem here could be the make of SSD 'Transcend'. They don't seem to work well with Amigas.

Well, SSDs are mainly made for speed. That's why most of them are built with SATA interface. On IDE you need UDMA-6 to get anywhere near SATA speed. It's understandable that manufacturers simply don't bother to make them work with PIO-0, the slowest protocol which exists.

[IrY100Fan]

Maybe I wasn't clear with all of my details. The Amiga came with Workbench 3.1 and 3.1 ROMs. It originally had a 120MB mechanical hard drive which died. The Transcend 64GB SSD is something I had laying around the house and I am attempting to use in place of the failed 120MB hard drive.

I will agree that the name "Transcend" isn't exactly top of the line, but it is what I have available. I found the datasheet online and it claims to support all ATA/ATAPI modes plus up to UDMA5. I would think any IDE device that doesn't support all PIO modes would be quite useless in any system. Besides, the fact that when HDToolBox does a Read Configuration it shows me the correct model and revision of the drive and coupled with the fact that the partition information seems to be getting written to the drive kind of rules out an interface compatibility problem.

@daxb
The "info" command reports only two partitions: RAM: and DF0:.

Maybe it's time to just wave the white flag and get one of those AmigaKit 4GB CF packages. This issue probably isn't really worth taking up too much more of everyone's valuable time.

I would like to extend my appreciation to everyone who made suggestions. I WILL continue to troubleshoot until the CF arrives. (And them maybe still try and figure this out. I hate admitting defeat.) I will post any findings I have and will still monitor this thread for any suggestions.

Thanks.