A1200 Hard drive dead?

22 January 2009, 15:12

Hiya! I got my A1200 down out of the loft for the first time in years last night only to find that the hard drive seems to be knackered. The light comes on and it whirrs a bit but doesn't do much else. I was able to boot stuff off floppy disc and get the "insert disc" screen up but no amount of resetting did anything to get the hard drive working.

I opened the machine up and it looked like one of the connectors might be a bit loose but pushing it in further didn't seem to make any difference at all.

It seems to be getting power to it but apart from spinning up about every 10 seconds it doesn't seem to want to do much else.

I don't know much about hard drives but it seems pretty stuffed to me!

Is there anything relatively simple that I could do to confirm that it is definitely dead or even try and reformat it? By relatively simple I mean not involving other machines or installing Linux or anything like that!

If it is dead or even just "maybe dead" is it safe to just take it out and use the A1200 without?

Sorry for all the questions but it's been so long since I used it I'm amazed I could even remember how to do the soft reset on the keyboard let alone anything else!

TIA

Rich

DH · 22 January 2009, 15:17

Welcome to EAB

Yep! Sure does sound like it's knackered mate. Yes you can remove it and continue to use your miggy with just the floppy's.

If you're wanting a replacement I'm sure you'll find using a CF IDE adapter with a 4 Gb CF card enough, for now

22 January 2009, 18:16

Thanks for your quick reply. I thought it might be a goner.

Oh well, I can't imagine there were any undiscovered experimental Octamed gems or works of art in Deluxe Paint on there but it would have been nice to see what I'd saved on it all those years ago. Other than Monkey Island 2 and Beneath A Steel Sky I have't got a clue what what was on it. And I don't think I ever quite finished Monkey Island 2 either. Arse.

DH · 22 January 2009, 18:34

You could always see if a PC can retrieve the data, but I'm aware you don't want to try this, or failing that send it away for a specialist to remove all the data from it, though this can cost quite a bit depending on what's wrong with the drive + if it's worth doing it.

btw. What size HDD was it?

prowler · 22 January 2009, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by rich

Oh well, I can't imagine there were any undiscovered experimental Octamed gems or works of art in Deluxe Paint on there but it would have been nice to see what I'd saved on it all those years ago. Other than Monkey Island 2 and Beneath A Steel Sky I have't got a clue what what was on it. And I don't think I ever quite finished Monkey Island 2 either. Arse.

Hi rich, and welcome to EAB!

What type of hard drive is it? (It may be possible to rescue the data it contains if the fault is only on the attached drive electronics board.

)

prowler

DH · 22 January 2009, 18:40

Another question I forgot to ask, does the drive make any funny whirring noises, grinding noises or loud-ish knocking noises. If it doesn't the problem probably lies somewhere else and possibly the drive itself may be recoverable

22 January 2009, 18:55

OK... it's only a 80mb (wow! It seems miniscule nowadays) and it seemed to be whirring but not doing much else. To be honest, the cable I mentioned earlier was actually the floppy drive - oops! I realised my mistake when I tried to take it out and then realised what I was doing.

I would be right in assuming that the hard drive ought to be somewhere on the left hand side, probably sitting in a metal "tray" thing with about four legs holding it in place?

I hope so 'cos I've taken it out now and the Amiga seemed to load up and play a game without any problems!

Now the drive's out, how complex would it be to try it on a PC? I was under the impression that it wouldn't be easy to read as it uses a different file format or something?? If there's some way of dumping the contents off then I might have a go at that as I've got an old PC knocking about somewhere which I've opened up a few times and plugged various PC hard drives into so it oughtn't to be too complicated for someone like me (who apparently can't tell an Amiga floppy drive from a hard drive!) to plug this one in.

I can post a picture of it if that's going to help at all? Is it likely to have the same edge connector (or whatever it's called) as on a PC?

Cheers..

DH · 22 January 2009, 19:09

I would certainly think you would need some kind of IDE adapter of some sorts, and I don't think you would be able to get one of those, but I'm not sure.

Maybe if you took a photo of the mobo (hiRes) 'n' posted it here someone may be able to see if there is a problem on that. Leaky caps are usually the main problems and the acid eats away at the track and other components, but we'll have to wait and see

prowler · 22 January 2009, 19:09

If the drive is a 2½-inch IDE (which is standard), then it will have a 44-pin connector and no separate power connection.

To interface this with the IDE controller of a PC you will need a 2½-inch to 3½-inch IDE hard drive adapter, available from any good PC or electronics outlet.

DH · 22 January 2009, 19:11

Cheers prowler, I knew someone would be able to prove me wrong

22 January 2009, 19:27

Hmmm.. ok. It's beginning to sound like it's going to cost me now! I might just abandon the idea.

I've just tried plugging it back in again and it doesn't seem to do anything now as well.

Can I just ask how long it should be before the "insert disc" screen comes up on screen? Obviously before it always used to boot up off the hard drive so I've nothing to compare it with. I basically get a grey screen then about 8 seconds later the screen comes up. I'm assuming this is normal?

Thanks for your help, guys. I really appreciate it.

prowler · 22 January 2009, 19:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by rich

Can I just ask how long it should be before the "insert disc" screen comes up on screen? Obviously before it always used to boot up off the hard drive so I've nothing to compare it with. I basically get a grey screen then about 8 seconds later the screen comes up. I'm assuming this is normal?

Yep, this is normal. The delay is caused by the Amiga searching for a hard drive to boot from and not finding one. There's nothing you can do about this, short of fitting a new hard drive, or CF card and CF to IDE adapter instead, so don't worry about it.

DH · 22 January 2009, 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by rich

Hmmm.. ok. It's beginning to sound like it's going to cost me now! I might just abandon the idea

Don't abandon the miggy, keep trying mate 'n' it'll give you hours/days/weeks/months/years/decades etc of enjoyment getting the poor little miggy working fully again.

CF to IDE controller and a CF card don't cost that much + the bonus, is the extra read/write speed that you don't get with the HDD.

Check out all the stuff from Amigakit http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...p?currency=GBP

22 January 2009, 20:22

I loved my Amiga but I just really don't have any spare cash to throw at *anything* at the moment so I think I might just put it on the backburner for a bit. Now the drive's out at least I can always try fiddling with it when I'm a little more flush for cash

Thanks once again for all your help guys. I've got plenty to go on now but I think I'll call it day for the time being as I don't want to waste your time - cheers!

DH · 22 January 2009, 20:38

OK, but you arent wasting anyones time, we are all here to help 'n' that's what makes this board so great

twizzle · 22 January 2009, 20:57

@rich

i have a spare 2.5" hd 80 mbs that you have i think it has wb 3.0 installed

pm me your details and i`ll pop it in the post

Fingerlickin_B · 23 January 2009, 08:10

See that Rich...that's the EAB spirit Twizzle!

PZ.

24 January 2009, 18:21

Hi guys!

I feel really bad now as I've had two offers of a drive (thanks very much!) but after my last post I decided to just put the A1200 up for sale (without its drive) as I didn't think I'd realistically be able to fix it easily or cheaply any time soon.

It's a shame but I haven't really got much spare time or money and have had to be ruthless with a few other items recently as well. I think it'll have to be Amiga via emulation for me from now on

Cheers,

Rich

DH · 24 January 2009, 19:01

too bad mate! Maybe someone could offer you one for free, just so you can check the miggy out properly to rule out any other possible problems.

I wish I could help you so you could keep the A1200. You'll regret it mate, like I have, but one day I'll get another, don't know when but hopefully soon.

22 January 2009, 15:12	#1
rich Posts: n/a	A1200 Hard drive dead? Hiya! I got my A1200 down out of the loft for the first time in years last night only to find that the hard drive seems to be knackered. The light comes on and it whirrs a bit but doesn't do much else. I was able to boot stuff off floppy disc and get the "insert disc" screen up but no amount of resetting did anything to get the hard drive working. I opened the machine up and it looked like one of the connectors might be a bit loose but pushing it in further didn't seem to make any difference at all. It seems to be getting power to it but apart from spinning up about every 10 seconds it doesn't seem to want to do much else. I don't know much about hard drives but it seems pretty stuffed to me! Is there anything relatively simple that I could do to confirm that it is definitely dead or even try and reformat it? By relatively simple I mean not involving other machines or installing Linux or anything like that! If it is dead or even just "maybe dead" is it safe to just take it out and use the A1200 without? Sorry for all the questions but it's been so long since I used it I'm amazed I could even remember how to do the soft reset on the keyboard let alone anything else! TIA Rich

22 January 2009, 20:57	#16
twizzle Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: taunton.som.uk Age: 73 Posts: 681	@rich i have a spare 2.5" hd 80 mbs that you have i think it has wb 3.0 installed pm me your details and i`ll pop it in the post Last edited by twizzle; 22 January 2009 at 21:02.

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22 January 2009, 15:17	#2
DH Global Moderator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Might as well be WORK :( Age: 57 Posts: 4,110	Welcome to EAB Yep! Sure does sound like it's knackered mate. Yes you can remove it and continue to use your miggy with just the floppy's. If you're wanting a replacement I'm sure you'll find using a CF IDE adapter with a 4 Gb CF card enough, for now

22 January 2009, 18:16	#3
rich Posts: n/a	Thanks for your quick reply. I thought it might be a goner. Oh well, I can't imagine there were any undiscovered experimental Octamed gems or works of art in Deluxe Paint on there but it would have been nice to see what I'd saved on it all those years ago. Other than Monkey Island 2 and Beneath A Steel Sky I have't got a clue what what was on it. And I don't think I ever quite finished Monkey Island 2 either. Arse.

22 January 2009, 18:34	#4
DH Global Moderator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Might as well be WORK :( Age: 57 Posts: 4,110	You could always see if a PC can retrieve the data, but I'm aware you don't want to try this, or failing that send it away for a specialist to remove all the data from it, though this can cost quite a bit depending on what's wrong with the drive + if it's worth doing it. btw. What size HDD was it?

22 January 2009, 18:40	#6
DH Global Moderator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Might as well be WORK :( Age: 57 Posts: 4,110	Another question I forgot to ask, does the drive make any funny whirring noises, grinding noises or loud-ish knocking noises. If it doesn't the problem probably lies somewhere else and possibly the drive itself may be recoverable

22 January 2009, 18:55	#7
rich Posts: n/a	OK... it's only a 80mb (wow! It seems miniscule nowadays) and it seemed to be whirring but not doing much else. To be honest, the cable I mentioned earlier was actually the floppy drive - oops! I realised my mistake when I tried to take it out and then realised what I was doing. I would be right in assuming that the hard drive ought to be somewhere on the left hand side, probably sitting in a metal "tray" thing with about four legs holding it in place? I hope so 'cos I've taken it out now and the Amiga seemed to load up and play a game without any problems! Now the drive's out, how complex would it be to try it on a PC? I was under the impression that it wouldn't be easy to read as it uses a different file format or something?? If there's some way of dumping the contents off then I might have a go at that as I've got an old PC knocking about somewhere which I've opened up a few times and plugged various PC hard drives into so it oughtn't to be too complicated for someone like me (who apparently can't tell an Amiga floppy drive from a hard drive!) to plug this one in. I can post a picture of it if that's going to help at all? Is it likely to have the same edge connector (or whatever it's called) as on a PC? Cheers..

22 January 2009, 19:09	#8
DH Global Moderator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Might as well be WORK :( Age: 57 Posts: 4,110	I would certainly think you would need some kind of IDE adapter of some sorts, and I don't think you would be able to get one of those, but I'm not sure. Maybe if you took a photo of the mobo (hiRes) 'n' posted it here someone may be able to see if there is a problem on that. Leaky caps are usually the main problems and the acid eats away at the track and other components, but we'll have to wait and see

22 January 2009, 19:09	#9
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	If the drive is a 2½-inch IDE (which is standard), then it will have a 44-pin connector and no separate power connection. To interface this with the IDE controller of a PC you will need a 2½-inch to 3½-inch IDE hard drive adapter, available from any good PC or electronics outlet.

22 January 2009, 19:11	#10
DH Global Moderator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Might as well be WORK :( Age: 57 Posts: 4,110	Cheers prowler, I knew someone would be able to prove me wrong

22 January 2009, 19:27	#11
rich Posts: n/a	Hmmm.. ok. It's beginning to sound like it's going to cost me now! I might just abandon the idea. I've just tried plugging it back in again and it doesn't seem to do anything now as well. Can I just ask how long it should be before the "insert disc" screen comes up on screen? Obviously before it always used to boot up off the hard drive so I've nothing to compare it with. I basically get a grey screen then about 8 seconds later the screen comes up. I'm assuming this is normal? Thanks for your help, guys. I really appreciate it.

22 January 2009, 20:22	#14
rich Posts: n/a	I loved my Amiga but I just really don't have any spare cash to throw at anything at the moment so I think I might just put it on the backburner for a bit. Now the drive's out at least I can always try fiddling with it when I'm a little more flush for cash Thanks once again for all your help guys. I've got plenty to go on now but I think I'll call it day for the time being as I don't want to waste your time - cheers!

22 January 2009, 20:38	#15
DH Global Moderator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Might as well be WORK :( Age: 57 Posts: 4,110	OK, but you arent wasting anyones time, we are all here to help 'n' that's what makes this board so great

23 January 2009, 08:10	#17
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	See that Rich...that's the EAB spirit Twizzle! PZ.

24 January 2009, 18:21	#18
rich Posts: n/a	Hi guys! I feel really bad now as I've had two offers of a drive (thanks very much!) but after my last post I decided to just put the A1200 up for sale (without its drive) as I didn't think I'd realistically be able to fix it easily or cheaply any time soon. It's a shame but I haven't really got much spare time or money and have had to be ruthless with a few other items recently as well. I think it'll have to be Amiga via emulation for me from now on Cheers, Rich

24 January 2009, 19:01	#19
DH Global Moderator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Might as well be WORK :( Age: 57 Posts: 4,110	too bad mate! Maybe someone could offer you one for free, just so you can check the miggy out properly to rule out any other possible problems. I wish I could help you so you could keep the A1200. You'll regret it mate, like I have, but one day I'll get another, don't know when but hopefully soon.

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