my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

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part12studios
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my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by part12studios »

Hi there, so I made this video attempting to show how things are setup. Is this even going to work? Am I going to blow up my computer? how the heck would an amiga even know how to talk to the IDE CDROM?



I have not powered this on for fear of blowing something up.. especially about the CF Card.. but yea i would love to have either an IDE Zip or CDROM drive in the bay. I have one of each ready to install.

Thanks!
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by alenppc »

You are correct in assuming that the original scsi.device will not see an ATAPI IDE CD-ROM, however in the more recent versions of the OS, such as 3.1.4 or 3.2, this should be solved.

On 3.1 you had to use an (A1200) atapi.device that came in many versions. Some were included with IDEFix software, some were not bundled, and were instead included with various CD-ROM drives sold by Amiga retailers back in the day. The package normally came with the FindCD utility that was able to scan for ATAPI devices and report if they were found.

I recommend you try IdeFix97.lha archive from Aminet. I am not sure if this is a demo or a full version, but it can get you started. (I also noticed a new AtapiMagic software on Aminet but I have no idea how this works and if it solves anything, it seems mainly geared toward 4-port IDE adapters.)

If you are able to boot from the CF card and the FindCD utility is able to see the CD ROM, then that's a good start and all you need is the appropriate DOS Driver, normally the IDEFix installer script will create this for you.

Now for power, you should power the CD-ROM using a molex connector directly from the power supply, and not through the 536.
Lynxman
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by Lynxman »

I've tried using a CD-ROM (Actually DVD-ROM) in my A2000 with TF534 and TF536. Worked fine after software setup and with the optical drive set as slave on the IDE chain. Powered by a molex off course.
part12studios
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by part12studios »

OK so nothing about this screams NO!? :) regarding the cabling.

As for your other points yea i'm sticking with 3.1 so I'll try that fix first and see how it goes.

how would i find the drive? is it that once i install the fix and reboot.. a cdrom will just spin up and appear on desktop like a removeable floppy or is this something from opus? and with opus, how would i address a CD Rrom. CD0: ?

what is the FindCD utility? is this something that's with the idefix97? or maybe a standard system utility?

I am powering the CDROM with the PSU.. one molex connection is going to the ribbon which powers the CF Card.
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supaduper
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by supaduper »

I used IDEfix97 years ago and got a master/slave working on my A1200 and A600, remember not all CF adapters or Cd rom drives are equal as they may not be compatible hardware wise as mine used the ATAPI.device to work there are other devices in the IDEfix97 package which may work with your set up .
the FINDDEVICE is included in the IDefix97 so you can test it to see if it see your two drives

IDEfix97 is available on Aminet and is unregistered ( Fully functional but you will get Nag requesters with unregistered version), it is probably the best way to go as it has a installer script to help you set it up

link below
https://aminet.net/package/driver/media/IDEfix97
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by alenppc »

part12studios wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:09 pm OK so nothing about this screams NO!? :) regarding the cabling.
Eh just make sure Pin1 matches the red wire on both devices. Pin1 on the 536 is in the corner next to the oscillator.
how would i find the drive? is it that once i install the fix and reboot.. a cdrom will just spin up and appear on desktop like a removeable floppy or is this something from opus? and with opus, how would i address a CD Rrom. CD0: ?
No, because you don't have a DOS Driver installed in DEVS:DOSDrivers. Remember 3.1 was released before CD-ROMs were mainstream.
what is the FindCD utility? is this something that's with the idefix97? or maybe a standard system utility?
Yes, it should be part of IDEFix'97 and similar packages.

You essentially need the following:

atapi.device (A1200 version) in DEVS:
CD0 Icon with relative mountlist in DEVS:DOSDrivers

and a CD file system (CacheCDFS? If I remember correctly) in the L: directory.

All this should be installed by a CD-ROM driver package, I *think* IDEFix has all this but it's been a long time, I am not 100% sure.
part12studios
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by part12studios »

OK looks like i have a good plan of action. I'll double double check the IDE cabling but i think it's all right.. the TF536 has a guide.. the only true unknown is the CF card which doesn't have any guide to know which way is the right way. its just 44pins with no guide.. but i followed the orientation of the original cable that came with the TF536.. but again.. will absolutely look again as i imagine reversing that could zorch something..

I will try the ifix thing tonight.. the cd rom i have is a fairly old one so i'm hoping it's generic enough to work.. it's not DVD.. might be one of the later high speed CDROMs.. i do need to be 100% sure it's set to secondary.. i know the CF card is set to primary.
part12studios
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by part12studios »

i'm surprised this isn't a common thing. do most A2000 users not use their bay? I mean I know SCSI is a thing but from what I can tell it's pretty much a myth that SCSI and TF536 can coexist..

I'm going to try and see if I can get a zip drive into the second floppy bay as well IF I can get IDE CDROM to work first. I'm going to need the bay I'm afraid for the HDD for the PAR card.. and now that i have the serial2sd adapter That should rid my need of a CDROM for larger archives of data..
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by alexh »

It's just so much easier to transfer files on A2000 using a CF Card attached to IDE than use a CD-ROM. You can make CF cards removable either with a PC slot adapter on the rear. or a 3.5" bay adapter to a spare floppy drive bay. On the front

Optical media is dead for anything except consoles and even they are being replaced with ODDE

I can't remember the last time I burned a disc
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Re: my dry run of adding IDE CDROM to A2000 with TF536

Post by alenppc »

part12studios wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 8:27 pm i'm surprised this isn't a common thing. do most A2000 users not use their bay? I mean I know SCSI is a thing but from what I can tell it's pretty much a myth that SCSI and TF536 can coexist..
The scsi will be fine if you can make it run in non-DMA mode, or you can get a non-DMA controller such as Oktagon 2008.
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