phg@cl.cam.ac.uk (Philip Gladwin) (09/05/90)
Look, this is a bit of a con, right, but this will be the third time I have posted a similar query, and there just ain't anyone biting. So come on guys, mail me something. My qury is this, and it's short and sweet, and there are a lot of Simple: has anyone any experience of linking up a cheap, say Seagate hard drive to a SCSI Amiga Controller and thence into a simple A500, saving about $300 in the process. There seems to be an assumption that it would be possible, but has any one actually done it? What are the products you used? Does it work? What are the pitfalls? Me and Jay Hoeflinger want to know, so post or email - I'll summarise the email. If I get any. Sigh. Help me, halp me, hlep mi, hlep, hlepp... Thanks Phil Gladwin phg@uk.ac.cam.cl phg@cl.cam.ac.uk
billsey@agora.uucp (Bill Seymour) (09/06/90)
In article <1990Sep5.135318.3247@cl.cam.ac.uk> phg@cl.cam.ac.uk (Philip Gladwin) writes:
:Look, this is a bit of a con, right, but this will be the third time I
:have posted a similar query, and there just ain't anyone biting. So
:come on guys, mail me something.
:
:My qury is this, and it's short and sweet, and there are a lot of
:
:Simple: has anyone any experience of linking up a cheap, say Seagate
:hard drive to a SCSI Amiga Controller and thence into a simple A500,
:saving about $300 in the process. There seems to be an assumption that
:it would be possible, but has any one actually done it? What are the
:products you used? Does it work? What are the pitfalls?
I'm confused... This is a simple one, don't know why you haven't
gotten answers. Pretty much any of the SCSI controller for the 500 have
software support for the Seagate drives. All you need to do is buy or build
a power supply/case to stick the drive in and hook up the cables. I
stuck quite a few systems together for the 1000, way back when, using
Seagate drives, but I doubt if I'd use a Seagate any longer. (12 failures
out of ten drives at one point.)
I don't think I have any drives on my system that were bought from
from the same people who did the controller... But then, I tend to shop
around a lot for my goodies. :-) (Anybody want to buy some Archive 2150S
150/250M tape drives at $450? Refurbished with 90 day warranties...)
The only thing I can think of right off hand to look for in 500
interfaces is where they get their power. If they're transfering power
to the interface from the drive, instead of from the 500, you'll need
to build a different cable than the standard Mac -> SCSI type.
:Me and Jay Hoeflinger want to know, so post or email - I'll summarise
:the email. If I get any. Sigh.
:
:Help me, halp me, hlep mi, hlep, hlepp...
:
:Thanks
:Phil Gladwin
:phg@uk.ac.cam.cl
:phg@cl.cam.ac.uk
--
-Bill Seymour ...tektronix!reed!percival!agora!billsey
=============================================================================
Bejed, Inc. NES, Inc. Northwest Amiga Group At Home Sometimes
(503) 281-8153 (503) 246-9311 (503) 656-7393 BBS (503) 640-0842sd1n+@andrew.cmu.edu (Shawn Delahunty) (09/07/90)
Dunno if this will help, but....
A friend of mine (pv0b+@andrew.cmu.edu) found a company which converted
a Seagate drive for the Mac SCSI controller. They may/may not be able
to do the same for you. I don't know the cost, but I got the impression
it was a CHEAP alternative to buying Mac ready stuff. Send her e-mail
if you're interested, and say that Shawn sent you (otherwise she'd begin
to wonder why she was getting e-mail from people she never heard of).
--S. Delahunty
=======================================
"Can I write a run on sentence or what?" "..Or what."
"In order to understand recursion, you have to understand recursion."
/ /
/ /
/ / "I know I'm poor because my Amiga is beige,
/ / has a keyboard garage, and still has the teensy
\ \ / / checkered ball on the front."
\ \/ /
\ /
\/
jmeissen@ogicse.ogi.edu (John Meissen) (09/29/90)
In article <1990Sep5.135318.3247@cl.cam.ac.uk> phg@cl.cam.ac.uk (Philip Gladwin) writes: >Simple: has anyone any experience of linking up a cheap, say Seagate >hard drive to a SCSI Amiga Controller and thence into a simple A500, >saving about $300 in the process. There seems to be an assumption that >it would be possible, but has any one actually done it? What are the >products you used? Does it work? What are the pitfalls? The method is simple. Adaptec makes a SCSI adapter (the 4000, if memory serves me) which can be found in surplus/outlet store ads in Computer Shopper for about $89. This adapts an existing ST-506 drive to a SCSI interface, such as the Supra. Not all SCSI interfaces will support the Adaptec. I know that Supra specifically does. I know that Microbotics and Commodore don't. How cheap the solution is depends on how cheaply you can get the components. -- John Meissen .............................. Oregon Advanced Computing Institute jmeissen@oacis.org (Internet) | "That's the remarkable thing about life; ..!sequent!oacis!jmeissen (UUCP) | things are never so bad that they can't jmeissen (BIX) | get worse." - Calvin & Hobbes
jmeissen@ogicse.ogi.edu (John Meissen) (09/29/90)
In article <1990Sep6.154350.23405@agora.uucp> billsey@agora.uucp (Bill Seymour) writes: > I'm confused... This is a simple one, don't know why you haven't >gotten answers. Pretty much any of the SCSI controller for the 500 have >software support for the Seagate drives. All you need to do is buy or build >a power supply/case to stick the drive in and hook up the cables. You're overlooking something, Bill. SCSI controllers control SCSI drives. There are non-SCSI Seagate drives, y'know :-). The cheap ones will usually be ST-506, which is what my assumption was. Of course, you are right about a power supply, which I had forgotten about. I got mine from another surplus house for about $15. -- John Meissen .............................. Oregon Advanced Computing Institute jmeissen@oacis.org (Internet) | "That's the remarkable thing about life; ..!sequent!oacis!jmeissen (UUCP) | things are never so bad that they can't jmeissen (BIX) | get worse." - Calvin & Hobbes
billsey@agora.uucp (Bill Seymour) (09/30/90)
In article <12468@ogicse.ogi.edu> jmeissen@ogicse.ogi.edu (John Meissen) writes: :In article <1990Sep5.135318.3247@cl.cam.ac.uk> phg@cl.cam.ac.uk (Philip Gladwin) writes: ::Simple: has anyone any experience of linking up a cheap, say Seagate ::hard drive to a SCSI Amiga Controller and thence into a simple A500, ::saving about $300 in the process. There seems to be an assumption that ::it would be possible, but has any one actually done it? What are the ::products you used? Does it work? What are the pitfalls? : :The method is simple. Adaptec makes a SCSI adapter (the 4000, if memory :serves me) which can be found in surplus/outlet store ads in Computer :Shopper for about $89. This adapts an existing ST-506 drive to a SCSI :interface, such as the Supra. But this isn't nearly as cheap as just buying a scsi drive. Remember that the days when scsi drives cost $100 more than non scsi drives are gone. I see that this months Computer Shopper has a number of ads for the Seagate ST-277N 60M scsi drive for less than $350. :Not all SCSI interfaces will support the Adaptec. I know that Supra :specifically does. I know that Microbotics and Commodore don't. : :How cheap the solution is depends on how cheaply you can get the :components. : : :-- :John Meissen .............................. Oregon Advanced Computing Institute :jmeissen@oacis.org (Internet) | "That's the remarkable thing about life; :..!sequent!oacis!jmeissen (UUCP) | things are never so bad that they can't :jmeissen (BIX) | get worse." - Calvin & Hobbes -- -Bill Seymour ...tektronix!reed!percival!agora!billsey ============================================================================= Bejed, Inc. NES, Inc. Northwest Amiga Group At Home Sometimes (503) 281-8153 (503) 246-9311 (503) 656-7393 BBS (503) 640-0842
jmeissen@oregon.oacis.org ( Staff OACIS) (10/02/90)
In article <1990Sep29.183720.21334@agora.uucp> billsey@agora.uucp (Bill Seymour) writes: [discussion about Adaptec SCSI adapters deleted] > But this isn't nearly as cheap as just buying a scsi drive. >Remember that the days when scsi drives cost $100 more than non scsi >drives are gone. I see that this months Computer Shopper has a number >of ads for the Seagate ST-277N 60M scsi drive for less than $350. > Ah, true. But in the same Computer Shopper you should be able to find ads for drives like a 20MB NEC (forget the model) for about $150. I've seen occasional 20MB ST-506 drives advertised for as low as $100. If you're looking for a cheap solution, picking up a used/refurbished/ discontinued ST-506 drive and using an Adaptec can be cheaper. But to make it worth the headache, the drive should be really inexpensive. -- John Meissen .............................. Oregon Advanced Computing Institute jmeissen@oacis.org (Internet) | "That's the remarkable thing about life; ..!sequent!oacis!jmeissen (UUCP) | things are never so bad that they can't jmeissen (BIX) | get worse." - Calvin & Hobbes