50 Pin SCSI CD Drive?

[Tempest]

Does anyone know of a good brand of SCSI CD Drive to use with a big box Amiga (a 2000 in my case)? I'm looking to add one to my system, but the ones I see on ebay are generally untested and iffy looking.

[Tonyvdb]

What software will you use to mount the CD drive? I know with my Asim CDFS Ive had no issues using three different SCSI CD drives on my A2000. Im currently using a single disc Pioneer drive but I dont know the model number off hand.

[Tempest]

Whatever the SCSI driver that comes with my card is (it's a GVP SCSI/Memory card).

[+OLD CS1]

I have always used Plextors on my Sparc and Amiga boxes for native SCSI. Right now I have an IDE DVD-RW drive in my 4000D with an A-Card SCSI to IDE adapter (the 68-pin to ATAPI model,) and it works perfectly.

[Tempest]

Is there a good place to get a cheap SCSI CD drive? I see them on ebay from time to time but $30+ seems kind of high for an old CD drive.

[+OLD CS1]

That is a little much, but not too unreasonable. If you watch you may find one for $10 or $20, but I do not see those come up often.

 

PM me and I will keep you in mind as I inventory my stuff. I am trying to trim down what I am keeping on-hand, and I am certain I have a SCSI drive or two with which I can part. I might actually have a SCSI CD-RW in my old Solaris workstation.

 

EDIT: Here is a Plextor 40x for $22, but the shipping to me is $18.

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 222043415255

[Tonyvdb]

Anything SCSI has always been pricy. Try finding a 100gb or larger Segate cheetah SCSI drive for under $70

 

$20-$40 for a CD drive is about normal.

[Tempest]

I guess I'm used to those old cheap IDE drives that you can pick up for almost nothing. I don't suppose there are cheap IDE to SCSI adapters?

[Tonyvdb]

Nope, those SCSI to IDE adapters are up in the $200 range

[Tempest]

Bummer. I guess I'll keep looking for a cheap one. Actually the prices on the drives themselves aren't bad, it's just that I have something against paying $20 shipping for one. They're heavy, but they're not THAT heavy.

[towmater]

I keep coming across them at our local Goodwill store, thinking "what would I ever need that for?" Now I know.

[+OLD CS1]

Ha! That reminds me, I found one at a thrift shop in Norfolk a while back. Along with a Commodore Plus-4. I passed on both, though if the +4 had not been $50 I might have grabbed it.

[carlsson]

Generally when I see a CD-ROM in a goodwill store, I don't check on the back side which type of interface it has, even if it is old looking. I would assume 99.9% to be IDE/ATAPI though.

[Tempest]

Well if someone comes across one in a thrift store let me know, but count the pins to make sure it's not a common IDE 40 pin drive. I suppose if I really want to cheap out I can wait for VCF, there's always tons of cheap computer parts like this.

 

I don't even want to think about all the stuff I've passed up at thrift stores in the past thinking 'what on earth would I use this for?'. It's all too painful....

[towmater]

OK, but to temper my efforts, where is Accardi-by-the-sea? Assuming it's a Zork reference, where are you located? (I'm wondering if I could just find one and throw it in a flat-rate box, or would this require international shipping, etc.)

[Tempest]

OK, but to temper my efforts, where is Accardi-by-the-sea? Assuming it's a Zork reference, where are you located? (I'm wondering if I could just find one and throw it in a flat-rate box, or would this require international shipping, etc.)

 

I think you're the first person to catch that.

 

I'm in the USA (Michigan).

[+OLD CS1]

 

I think you're the first person to catch that.

 

I'm in the USA (Michigan).

 

hehehe That is good... I generally ignore the location caption because it is usually just bunk, but now I will be more aware.

[Nebulon]

The old NEC external SCSI CD-ROM drives work well using the AmiCDROM driver set.

http://www.blitter.com/~nebulous/utilities.html

 

 

There should be quite a few floating around out there...

[motrucker]

You really need to find a copy of the Asimware software. It's the best that was made for the Amiga.

 

Besides Goodwill, and thrift shops, Ebay is a fair source for SCSI CD-ROM drives. Some are outrageous, price wise, but there are deals, like this one I just pulled up:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plextor-20X-SCSI-CD-ROM-drive-/222069256297?hash=item33b45bf069:g:ckYAAOSwI-BWLS0p

 

Make sure you get at least an 8X drive. Many Amiga CDs can get away with a 4X, but there are a few games that require the 8X drive.

I have used almost every brand you could name over the years. As long as it's SCSI II, it should work with your GVP card.

Even with an SD card adapter on my A2000, I still use the CD drive a lot. Darned handy things to have.

 

[Tempest]

$18 shipping. Seriously, what's up with that? CD drives are NOT that heavy.

[amiman99]

@Tempest

I have an extra SCSI II drive, you can have it for free, just pay shipping.

 

BUT, I probably need to test it before shipping, just to be sure.

[amiman99]

It works, and even reads CDRs.

[towmater]

Checked Goodwill today, five cd drives were in stock, four ide and one firewire, which I assume contained an ide inside. Saw a SCSI Jazz drive, but couldn't think of a single use for it (which means within a month there will be a moment when I think "I knew I should have bought that Jazz drive.") Also passed on an SGI monitor cable, because if I bought it, I would then need to buy an Indy to go with it. Diminishing returns makes it almost not worth visiting the store at this point.

[rootboy]

I've got a couple of A2000's and I recently went through this. I had luck with the old Quantum Fireballs' and the newer ultrawide drives. What didn't work was the old Seagate Hawks.

[Tempest]

Another thing I plan on doing is trying to use a large Ultra SCSI hard drive (partitioned to a max of 4GB) on my A2000 using one of those cheap adapters you get on ebay. Finding actual 50 pin SCSI drives larger than 1GB is tough and they're always way expensive. This drie was free.