Author Topic: Any old SCSI hard drive will do? (Read 551 times)

apsteinmetz · « **on:** June 04, 2016, 10:30:34 PM »

Amiga 2000 restoration project. The GVP 2000-030 accelerator and RAM works but the HD controller apparently does not. (ROMs?). I also have a GVP 2000-HD SCSI card.* It is currently hooked to a Ricoh MO drive. The GVP FaaastPrep utility sees the MO drive but the disk itself seems to be toast. I'm going to say the controller works. The card does have autoboot ROMs. I would like to try to put a different SCSI HD on the controller.

What should I look for in a SCSI drive? What interface? Is 4GB the max capacity? I see some folks have CF SCSI interfaces.Would something like this work?

Microtech PCD-25BH, Internal SCSI PCMCIA Card Reader/Writer

If so, can it be set to be the boot drive?

Thanks for filling in any of the blanks on this (long) list of questions!

*While the Big Book calls the model 2000-HC, my PCB is labeled 2000-HD.

Oldsmobile_Mike · « **Reply #1 on:** June 04, 2016, 11:05:21 PM »

Faaastprep is rubbish. Try HDtoolbox before totally writing off the drive.

QuikSanz · « **Reply #2 on:** June 04, 2016, 11:34:11 PM »

Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;809506

Faaastprep is rubbish. Try HDtoolbox before totally writing off the drive.

Agree and make sure you are using "gvpscsi.device".

utri007 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 05, 2016, 12:50:50 AM »

Tinkering with old scsi drives can be real pain. You will end up have 5-10 old drives and two of them work, but none ot them works with amiga.

Be kind to yourself and buy this :

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1264

icbrkr · « **Reply #4 on:** June 05, 2016, 01:30:40 AM »

^ That right there. The SCSI2SD works good, but requires configuration via USB.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CF-AztecMonster-CF-3-5inc-SCSI-Converter-Card-New-Condition-for-AKAI-E-mu-/301973500054?hash=item464f05f096:g:F3MAAOSw1XdUXEEp also works great, requires no configuration except for SCSI ID, but costs more. I've had better luck with these.

mechy · « **Reply #5 on:** June 05, 2016, 01:27:53 PM »

Quote from: apsteinmetz;809504

Amiga 2000 restoration project. The GVP 2000-030 accelerator and RAM works but the HD controller apparently does not. (ROMs?). I also have a GVP 2000-HD SCSI card.* It is currently hooked to a Ricoh MO drive. The GVP FaaastPrep utility sees the MO drive but the disk itself seems to be toast. I'm going to say the controller works. The card does have autoboot ROMs. I would like to try to put a different SCSI HD on the controller.

What should I look for in a SCSI drive? What interface? Is 4GB the max capacity? I see some folks have CF SCSI interfaces.Would something like this work?

Microtech PCD-25BH, Internal SCSI PCMCIA Card Reader/Writer

If so, can it be set to be the boot drive?

Thanks for filling in any of the blanks on this (long) list of questions!

*While the Big Book calls the model 2000-HC, my PCB is labeled 2000-HD.

you will want 4.15 gvp rom on the scsi card ideally and the pcd-25b will work on it fine.
beware some pcd card readers came with read only rom flashed and may need updated. I would ask if it has read/write capability before buying.
It can be used like a regular hd and will boot. as others have said,don't use the gvp scsi tools, just use hdtoolbox etc.

this may be cheaper: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Microtech-PCD-25BH-PC-Card-Reader-Writer-scsi-CFRW-cf-card-reader-3-5-drive-/141958781616?hash=item210d671ab0:g:sa4AAOSw2GlXDtUy

rockape · « **Reply #6 on:** June 05, 2016, 02:27:54 PM »

Hi apsteinmetz,

See http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/SCSI/SCSIExamples.html

For help on SCSI settings.

Regards, Michael

aka rockape

apsteinmetz · « **Reply #7 on:** June 06, 2016, 07:48:13 PM »

These are tremendous responses and great resources! Thanks!

As to the GVP ROM version I have 3.07, not 4.15 so where does that leave me? Can I still use a card reader?

Photo of card below (don't know why image won't appear inline - is it because https?)

https://goo.gl/photos/UutWJAPeVVUA1HAZA

BTW, I was wrong when I said the model number was 2000-HD. As the PCB shows, it says 2000-HC. I'm sure in 1988 I could read that just fine

Oldsmobile_Mike · « **Reply #8 on:** June 06, 2016, 11:59:00 PM »

From the photo you posted yours appears to be the earlier version, without RAM expansion. IMHO I would definitely reommend trying to seek out one of the newer models, with SIMM sockets.

If I'm reading Ralph Babel's website correctly, the latest ROM for Series-I cards is 3.15. 4.15 is for Series-II:

http://babel.de/amiga.html

He's got the ROM image available there for download, maybe you can burn (or find someone else who can)? IMHO if I'm trying to use modern devices, I'd always want the latest ROM version available for my particular hardware. Good luck!

Edit - nevermind, I looked at your photo again and see it is a Series-II. TJLazer used to sell ROM's for these for very reasonable prices (under $20) on Ebay & Amibay. Maybe try getting in touch with him there?

mechy · « **Reply #9 on:** June 07, 2016, 08:42:13 AM »

Quote from: apsteinmetz;809586

These are tremendous responses and great resources! Thanks!

As to the GVP ROM version I have 3.07, not 4.15 so where does that leave me? Can I still use a card reader?

Photo of card below (don't know why image won't appear inline - is it because https?)

https://goo.gl/photos/UutWJAPeVVUA1HAZA

BTW, I was wrong when I said the model number was 2000-HD. As the PCB shows, it says 2000-HC. I'm sure in 1988 I could read that just fine

I would think the card reader would work with the old rom but may likely have troubles with removable stuff and possibly reselction... The pcd-25b doesn't use LUNS so it shouldn't be a problem(i seem to think it takes 2 device numbers?). try a cf in it and partition it with hdtoolbox,it should show up on workbench. as mentioned above, be sure to edit hdtoolbox for the proper gvp scii device name.

apsteinmetz · « **Reply #10 on:** June 17, 2016, 03:28:13 AM »

Just to close the loop on this thread, I got the Microtech card reader and plugged it in. I just works! Autoboots my 2.04 WB CF just fine. I am using the GVP 3.07 boot ROM.

I will say creating the 4GB CF WB environment in WinUAE was a pain, due to my blundering through any number of false starts. The various online tutorials and YouTube videos were absolutely necessary but no single one had the complete solution for me.

I'll highlight one particular issue. All the guides I saw say to select either IDE or A600/A1200/A4000 as the HD interface for the card reader. The only one that worked for me was "UAE" By "worked" I mean created a SCSI hard disk visible to HDToolBox.

Anyway, all good now. Awaiting 3.1 ROM from AmigaKit and coin battery. I tried to gingerly pry out the barrel battery and the mount just snapped off at both ends. Much corrosion of the mount but no damage elsewhere, obviously (since it runs). But that's a story for another thread.

Thanks for the spot-on help!

Author Topic: Any old SCSI hard drive will do? (Read 551 times)

apsteinmetz

Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

QuikSanz

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

utri007

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

icbrkr

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

mechy

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

rockape

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

apsteinmetz

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

mechy

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?

apsteinmetz

Re: Any old SCSI hard drive will do?