840445m@aucs.UUCP (Alan W. McKay) (04/16/89)
Is there any way I can take my external 3.5" floppy and use it as the second interal 3.5" floppy in a B2000. I am planning on buying a B2000 and would like to do this with my current A1000 external floppy. -- % Alan W. McKay % % % Acadia University % " The world needs more Socrates % % Wolfville N.S. % walking the streets today " % % CANADA % - S. Corbett %
mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) (04/18/89)
840445m@aucs.UUCP (Alan W. McKay) writes: > Is there any way I can take my external 3.5" floppy and use it as the > second interal 3.5" floppy in a B2000. I am planning on buying a B2000 > and would like to do this with my current A1000 external floppy. After going in the other direction (placing an A2000 internal floppy in an A1000) I can give you a few words of advice: There is a form-factor difference between the A1000-style drives (internal and external) and the A2000 internal drives. Basically, the placement and size of the eject button are such that an A2000 drive cannot be mounted in an A1000 without leaving the front cover off. Mounting an A1000 external drive inside an A2000 should be possible. Electrically the drives are equivalent, and you can use the same connectors. The A2000 also has an open "hole" for the drive to appear, so you shouldn't have any problems with the eject button. But you won't have a pretty front bezel on your drive like the one which is supplied with the A2000. You'll have the ugly raw guts of a floppy drive staring you in the face every time you use your Amiga (which grows to be pretty tiring after a while, let me assure you). Also, when mounting an extra internal drive in the A2000, you have to set the jumpers on the drive unit so that it will respond as DF1:. Depending upon who made the drive, the location and settings of the jumpers are different. You also need to place a jumper on the A2000 motherboard nearest the point where the floppy disk controller cable is connected (center of board, under the left edge of the power supply). This will configure the system to recognize two internally-mounted drives. Side comment (mainly to the folks at Commodore): The interior of the A2000 is very service-hostile. Major components such as the power supply and disk drive units need to be moved to perform simple tasks such as changing the ROMs. It would be nice if Commodore designs the next Amiga using modular, easy-to-remove/replace parts (ala the PS/2 and the Mac IIx line). Not only would it be more convenient for people who need to service and maintain the machine, it would be easier for Commodore to manufacture. -- Michael Portuesi * Information Technology Center * Carnegie Mellon University INET: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu * BITNET: mp1u+@andrew UUCP: ...harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!mp1u+ MAIL: Carnegie Mellon University, P.O. Box 259, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 "Why do I live the way I do ain't it obvious I'm just a man like you" --Boy George