Absolute cheapest way to have a hdd on amiga 500+

[Grumpygamer]

Hello again,
I have an A500 and am hoping to do music on it (piloting 32 midi channels).
Now I would like to have an HDD attached to it, but don't really want to spend a fortune on it.

What is the cheapest way?
Apologies if this has been already asked a million times, I did search, but it's there's quite a rigmarole of topics and different links to lead to different products. Some have been abandoned, some are only just one post...

Thank you

P.S. Maybe it would be nice to have like a sticky updated excel sheet post with all prices models and links!

[drHirudo]

Cheapest way to have modern storage is to just buy Gotek. I use it on my A1000 and it is great to have 1000 floppies available with single click. There was some hacks to use Gotek as HDD, but it was terribly slow (Floppy drive slow).

[alexh]

Yeah Gotek would be cheapest and a good option, but it is not a HDD if that is what you need.

The best value board which adds a HDD is probably a PiSTorm. About £80 including adapter board, RPi, uSD card and USB Key. (These are effectively a 68040 accelerator + 128MB RAM + USB HDD + RTG Graphics Card)

http://amigakit.amiga.store/pistorm-...l?currency=GBP

Lower if you can find a cheaper supplier of the adapter board.

It is WIP (e.g. not finished) but it is the most actively developed device for the Amiga today bar none.

---------------------------------

Absolutely cheapest would be a Mr.MKL IDE68k or CFIDE68k (£45)

http://www.mklboards.fi/ide/index.html

But it doesn't look like he's selling any at the moment

https://www.amibay.com/showthread.ph...600-CF-adapter

[Retro1234]

it's a shame they never wrote software to make it act as a hard drive although it might be slow, I thought I read once that one of the floppy emulators on the Atari allowed you to use it as a hard drive - I.e you could browse and use the files stored on the USB.

[Grumpygamer]

Originally Posted by alexh

Yeah Gotek would be cheapest and a good option, but it is not a HDD if that is what you need.

The best value board which adds a HDD is probably a PiSTorm. About £80 including adapter board, RPi, uSD card and USB Key. (These are effectively a 68040 accelerator + 128MB RAM + USB HDD + RTG Graphics Card)

http://amigakit.amiga.store/pistorm-...l?currency=GBP

Lower if you can find a cheaper supplier of the adapter board.

It is WIP (e.g. not finished) but it is the most actively developed device for the Amiga today bar none.

---------------------------------

Absolutely cheapest would be a Mr.MKL IDE68k or CFIDE68k (£45)

http://www.mklboards.fi/ide/index.html

But it doesn't look like he's selling any at the moment

https://www.amibay.com/showthread.ph...600-CF-adapter

This is super interesting. So I can use the PiStorm to also accelerate the Amiga AND use a hdd all for 80? I already have a Pi4 and a Pi3b, so that's a bonus!
Does that mean that computational power is increased? I can then write complex music?

I will have a look at some videos for PiStorm this evening

[Promilus]

cheapest way is to built Mika's interface by hand (with PCB from e.g. PCBWAY - there's open design there). If you do not have soldering skills well then, good luck, all you can have is things you can buy. BTW don't buy IDE without at least few megs of FAST RAM as you both won't be able to utilize it fully and also apps you run from it.

As for PiStorm - yes, design allows you to use RPI on-board devices as kind of virtual devices for amiga. Which means mass storage in RPI can hold image of virtual amiga disk. RPI videocore can works as virtual RTG. Computing power is greater than regular A500, kind of like greatly accelerated, but still way below what Vampire offers (not that I'm particularly fan of it).
PiStorm is basically app on top of RaspbianOS wrapping devices handled by linux drivers to match amiga OS requirements. Downside is - it won't work until RPi boots fully which takes (quite) a few seconds. But it's dirty cheap. And that can be a greatest advantage. I think in the future it can gain quite a lot of power and also handle more things (like more USB devices or WiFi or video codecs) so quite a safe choice.

[Tajmaster]

Not sure if this helps but Retro Ready One have an 8MB RAM expansion with built in IDE:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164341844258

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Grumpygamer

Does that mean that computational power is increased? I can then write complex music?

Yes. And I believe it supports things like a virtual MT32 midi device. With the upcoming Denise camera adapter it's also a scandoubler and flickerfixer with automatic RTG pass through (allows you to connect the Amiga direct to TV via HDMI.

[Grumpygamer]

Originally Posted by Tajmaster

Not sure if this helps but Retro Ready One have an 8MB RAM expansion with built in IDE:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164341844258

That looks good, though it's already a bit expensive!

Originally Posted by Promilus

cheapest way is to built Mika's interface by hand (with PCB from e.g. PCBWAY - there's open design there). If you do not have soldering skills well then, good luck, all you can have is things you can buy. BTW don't buy IDE without at least few megs of FAST RAM as you both won't be able to utilize it fully and also apps you run from it.

As for PiStorm - yes, design allows you to use RPI on-board devices as kind of virtual devices for amiga. Which means mass storage in RPI can hold image of virtual amiga disk. RPI videocore can works as virtual RTG. Computing power is greater than regular A500, kind of like greatly accelerated, but still way below what Vampire offers (not that I'm particularly fan of it).
PiStorm is basically app on top of RaspbianOS wrapping devices handled by linux drivers to match amiga OS requirements. Downside is - it won't work until RPi boots fully which takes (quite) a few seconds. But it's dirty cheap. And that can be a greatest advantage. I think in the future it can gain quite a lot of power and also handle more things (like more USB devices or WiFi or video codecs) so quite a safe choice.

Yes so I read quite a bit yesterday, got into a group buy list and now really excited about this.
Unfortunately there seems to be a chip shortage, which leaves me waiting or victim of scalpers.

I do have soldering skills, but I have a massive backlog to solder for my YT Channel, and this was a music experiment more than a soldering experiment so I'd rather buy in this case, though scalpers have doubled the cost!

[Grumpygamer]

After digging and digging I am close to getting an ACA500 plus as it will probably be enough for my needs. I hoped I wouldn't have to fork so much cash out but it seems it can't be helped.
PiStorm is still way behind and has lots of glitches (seen on youtube) and requires quite a bit of time to set up.
ACA500 plus is literally plug and play and I do need to get my project moving.

What do you guys think?

[dreadnought]

ACA500+ is a about as complete & compatible solution for A500 as you can find. Yes, it's literally plug'n play'n run WB install. IMO well worth paying a bit extra, especially for electronically illiterate folks such as myself.

There's the thing about full Chip RAM not working on all Amiga motherboard revisions, but I think it only affects some WHDLoad games.

[roondar]

ACA500+ is a good board, I have one and am super pleased with it. Has some great features outside of just HDD stuff and is really quite compatible.

Added bonus is that you get two CF slots so you can even have a day-to-day drive and a 'transfer stuff to/from PC' drive.

[happymondays]

I have this one for years now. I wouldn't say it's cheap, but it is a perfect solution. http://irixlabs.com/hc508

[manossg]

Originally Posted by Grumpygamer

After digging and digging I am close to getting an ACA500 plus as it will probably be enough for my needs. I hoped I wouldn't have to fork so much cash out but it seems it can't be helped.
PiStorm is still way behind and has lots of glitches (seen on youtube) and requires quite a bit of time to set up.
ACA500 plus is literally plug and play and I do need to get my project moving.

What do you guys think?

A great choice. Super easy to set up, very compatible, it has lots of goodies and nice options. I use it 99% of the time in the maximum 42Mhz setting without problems and I think this nice acceleration will provide some welcome oomph for your project.

[Grumpygamer]

Originally Posted by manossg

A great choice. Super easy to set up, very compatible, it has lots of goodies and nice options. I use it 99% of the time in the maximum 42Mhz setting without problems and I think this nice acceleration will provide some welcome oomph for your project.

Thanks! Can you samba share with PC some how with this unit?

Originally Posted by happymondays

I have this one for years now. I wouldn't say it's cheap, but it is a perfect solution. http://irixlabs.com/hc508

This is also interesting, but I have also bumped into this
https://retroready.one/products/m68e...000-amiga-2000

And the cost is pretty much similar...
What do you think is the best cost-performance one?

Though my heart is closer to the ACA500+ because I don't have to open the Amiga up, still it's sooooo hard to make a choice!

[RivrRunr]

ACA500+ I just got a month or so back. I really like it, haven't even scratched the surface of what I can do with it, but it will do what you need and more. My problem started with a crashed SupraDrive that I still haven't repaired. I am getting more CF cards, using them for hard drives sure makes experimenting easier! I think I could, but won't, have just one A500 now. Personally, I would like to play with one of those PiStorms too, though.

[jotd]

"With 020 onboard you will gain the ability to quit any WHDLoad game without rebooting your Amiga."

haha, that's soooo 1999 and WRONG. Nowadays most whdload slaves can be quit from a 68000 because the game keyboard routine is manually patched.

A 68020 isn't going to add anything. Better have a speedy 68000 than a slow 68020 for games.

All those cheap solutions, that's really amazing... I have an unused A500 I'm almost tempted to dig it up and get some adapter to relive it.

[turrican9]

Another benefit with the ACA 500 Plus is also that whdload games will not suffer from slowdowns. Using 020 or anything higher than 68000 CPUs on A500/A600 16 bit bus will cause slowdowns in many whdload games. Can be fixed by putting 'Cache' in tooltip sometimes. But sometimes 'Cache' will cause graphics corruption or other unwanted effects.

Since the ACA500 Plus is based on a 68000 CPU this will not be a problem. And when it's overclocked to 42MHz it's as fast as most 68020 CPUs.

Having a 68000 CPU also means that you can make a profile that replicates a stock A500 with slow RAM. So if you want to play floppy games or load demos from floppies you don't need to remove the ACA 500 Plus for compatability.

The ACA 500 Plus is simply a must have for A500 lovers. For whdload the only requirement is that you have an A500 with at least an Agnus 8372A or newer so the ACA 500 Plus can configure it to at least 1MB chip RAM. Even older Rev 5. boards can easily be upgraded to 1MB Agnus.

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by Grumpygamer

This is super interesting. So I can use the PiStorm to also accelerate the Amiga AND use a hdd all for 80? I already have a Pi4 and a Pi3b, so that's a bonus!
Does that mean that computational power is increased? I can then write complex music?

I will have a look at some videos for PiStorm this evening

I agree; the PiStorm is very good value for your money. I've just installed on in my CDTV; it's faster than the A4000/25 listed now, and I have as much as 256 MB Fast RAM as well as RTG through HDMI, wi-fi, etc... and it cost me around 50 pounds or something like that.
I haven't had any imcompatibility issues, lock-ups or anything, except the usual CDTV problem with accelerators and CD-ROM drive/SCSI card.
That issue should be possible to fix with a firmware/extended ROM update, however.
Anyway, it's about the same price as a Gotek or perhaps a little more expensive, but it's definitely worth the investment! :-D