Amiga 2000 Storage upgrade questions...

[abbub]

A continuation of this thread (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=35091) ...

Storage questions -

Right now the system has one 3.5" floppy and a 3.5" 40 MB MFM drive. Both appear to be working without issues.

The Rodime MFM drive is controlled by a 2090A MFM/SCSI controller with the boot roms. It's VERY noisy. I'd like to swap it out for something quieter and with a LITTLE bit more room. I've got an 80 MB Quantum Prodrive 80S that is both bigger and (a bit) quieter), but I was unable to get the drive PREPd witht he 2090 software. The more I read about the 2090A, the more I realize I need to find a new controller card! Initially I was leaning towads a 2091 card, with a slightly more modern drive around 1 GB or so?

Any suggestions? (Also...should I add a second floppy?!)

Thanks in advance for your help...!

As I mentioned before, the primary use of the system is for retro gaming, but I've found that even the little 40 MB drive has been indispensible when it comes to swapping image files back and forth between teh

[alexh]

With the right setup you'll not need 1 floppy drive, let alone 2. WHDload means all your floppy disk games can be stored on and run from the hard drive.

If you've not already installed WHDload (http://www.whdload.de) and googled for KGWHD (http://www.google.com/search?q=kgwhd) you need to do so NOW!

To get the files to the Amiga from the PC, maybe a external SCSI Zip drive (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250221763323) would be suitable? These are available very cheap second hand and should work with your existing A2090a.

If you dont have a SCSI card in your PC then you can get a second hand IDE Zip drive (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180220639480) for next to nothing.

If you use Fat95 (http://aminet.net/package/disk/misc/fat95) filesystem you should be able to use PC formatted zip disks which will make it easier to transfer files.

There are lots (http://aminet.net/docs/help/ZIP_Install.txt) and lots (http://groups.google.co.uk/group/comp.sys.amiga.misc/msg/a0a5b44c9add6947) of info on using Zip drives with the Amiga.

[alexh]

I just remembered you are running Kickstart 1.3 and Workbench 1.3!

You should get a kickstart 3.1 v40.63 chip (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220209675315) first. WHDload needs KS2+

Also try to get some Workbench 3.1 disks (or make your own).

[abbub]

Yeah. I have a 3.1 kickstart on the way here. I guess what I need to get sorted out is the ROM version in the 2630. Do you know of any software that will tell me that? If the ROMs in the 2630 work, I'll be able to move to the new kickstart next week.

At this point, I'm just thinking that a SCSI card that will support a 1-2 GB drive and the plextor CD-ROM that I already have will be a good addition. Once I get the neobitz installed and have it hooked up to the flat panel, I should be good to go for a while.

(Apologies for making 2 different threads...in retrospect, this probably could have all gone in the same thread...)

[Rabbi]

If you ever get your hands on a cheap (E)IDE drive with bigger storage (in the gigabytes), you might want to check out the Budda "Phoenix Edition" (http://www.vesalia.de/e_buddha.htm) Zorro II card from Individual Computers.

[motrucker]

What ever you decide, take that 2090 out, and shoot it. If you want too stay with SCSI, get a 2091 with 7.0 ROMs. They are cheap, even on eBay ($20.00 or less)