Coming Soon, Amiga 500 External IDE Interface.
For those people who prefer not to open their Amiga 500, or who want to use a CD-ROM externally, there is now also an external version of the IDE interface.
The first prototype has been running smoothly here for a few days, has a 40 pin IDE connection, has Power over IDE (Configurable), and this provision is secured by a self-resetting PolyFuse (Fuse).
The interface is equipped with an original 86 pin Edge connector, this is a fairly difficult to obtain and therefore expensive part, so this interface will cost 5 euros more (30 euros) than the other variants.
Power supply External IDE Interface.
This interface has the option to supply power to the connected device via pin 20 of the IDE interface, the advantage of this is that you no longer need a power cable.
Pin 20 is normally the Keying pin, and is often omitted from devices or close to IDE cables.
This option is therefore only intended for devices that support this, eg IDE-2-CF Adapters.
(before you turn this on, make sure the connected card supports this)
The power supply of an Amiga 500 is NOT suitable for powering hard disks and CD-ROM drives, so you want to connect something else to your IDE interface than an IDE-2 CF adapter, make sure you have an external power supply for this.
The Amiga 500 external IDE interface has a self-resetting fuse against overload and short circuit on the pin 20 power supply.
Amiga 500 External IDE Interface details:
- The specifications of the Amiga 500 External IDE Interface are largely the same as the internal Amiga 500 versions, and the version for the amiga 2000.
- The Amiga 500 External IDE Interface is 11 cm long and 5 cm deep, without an IDE-2-CF adapter the card only protrudes 2-3 cm outside the amiga.
- You don't need to open your Amiga 500 / 500+ for this External IDE Interface.
- This External IDE interface works with all revisions of the Amiga 500 / 500+.
- Can (configurable) pass the power supply through the IDE connection (pin 20). (This is only intended for devices that are specially made for this)
(That means if you order an interface with IDE-2-CF adapter from me you do not need a power cable.)
- This interface has a self-resetting overload and short circuit fuse for the IDE pin 20 power supply.
- The interface is NOT Autobootend, you boot from a special boot disk, which after loading the IDE driver switches to the hard disk / CF card and continues the boot from there.
- The average time between the reset and a loaded Workbench 1.3 takes 20-25 seconds under kickstart 1.3.
- Master / Slave combinations of CF / hard disk / CD-ROM *
(CD-ROM / DVD-ROM Support from Kickstart 2.0x) - 400-800 KB Read Speed (Depends on CPU / Filesystem / IDE Device)
* there seem to be drivers for CD-ROM support under kickstart 1.3, support from kickstart 2.0x
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With this interface I was able to successfully connect a CDRom to my Amiga 1000.
(Compared to an A500, to connect the interface to the A1000 side expansion slot you have to rotate the interface 180 degrees on the vertical axis, basically the side that faces back in the A500 faces to the front on the A1000. DON’T insert it upside down, you run the risk to damage the Amiga!!).
My system: Amiga 1000 with PiStorm, AmigaOS 3.2.3, CDRom LG GCE-8526B
Very satisfied, thanks a lot Ed!
Ah so it is not really a rotated vertically , just horizontally, that is nice to know.
I already had one working HD for the Amiga, so I review only the adapter.
Ed warned me, and he was very kind, about preparing a disk by myself, as it's not an easy task.
Anyway I plugged the interface and worked out-of-the-box for me.
Got the external IDE + CF today. Clear instructions were included, and setup was a breeze.
It works perfectly. Also appreciated the CF being stacked with software. Thanks!
First: I'm using it in combination with a PiStorm with Emu68 and OS 3.2.2.1. Some problems I have might be due to the PiStorm.
I'm using it mainly to have a CD-ROM drive and to have a possibility to exchange data with my PC (besides network shares).
The quality of the device is very good, the printed case and the pcb.
Communication and support was very good. Thanks 🙂
I have currently connected a DeLock (91624) CF-Card Reader (as Master) and a Toshiba Samsung SH-S182 DVD-Writer (as Slave).
Whats working: using a CF card with 128 MB (2GB seems to work, 4/8 GB failed for me). I've partitioned one with one partition and FFS and one on my PC with FAT32. Created three mountfiles (DVD / CF(with ffs)/ CF(with FAT95)).
Each one works for itself.
What does currently not work: mounting the CD-Drive AND the CF simultaneously (regardless of FFS / FAT95). It will destroy filesystem on CF-Card. Read errors. Meanwhile reading from CD works without problems. This might be due my PiStorm-Setup or the used CF-Reader.
I'm not intending to boot from CF, so thats not tested. (However, the delivered setup worked for me, also with booting.)
Easy to install, top quality add-on, works flawlessly. The 3D printed housing is superb also. Excellent communications throughout the ordering process and after delivery. 5 stars.
