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From: northrup@wpi.wpi.edu (Jim Northrup)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: A Tale of Three Hard Drives ---- Amiga 500/Subsystem Woes
Keywords: SubSystem
Message-ID: <13912@wpi.wpi.edu>
Date: 8 Jul 90 01:59:46 GMT
Reply-To: northrup@wpi.wpi.edu (Jim Northrup)
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester ,MA
Lines: 47

Just in case anybody else out there finds themselves in a similar situation,
especially if they're considering buying the SubSystem expansion chassis...

I have an Amiga 500 and some months ago I wanted to expand the ram.  Thinking
that I would someday be upgrading to a 2000, I went out and bought a 
SubSystem expansion chassis, and a ram card for it.

My first ram card was a Supra card; it didn't work.  I took it back (to
The Software Shop) and they (cheerfully) replaced it with a Microbotics 8-Up 
card.  It worked fine and has been working fine ever since.

Today I went shopping for a hard card.  My first attempt was a Microbotics
Hard Frame with a GVP hard drive mounted on it.  Two basic problems arose:
(1) It doesn't fit in the chassis.  I don't know why Progressive Peripherals
was so cheap with their sheet metal; they should have made the chassis bigger.
(2) The Subsystem and the Hard Frame didn't get along: I got system lock ups.

I took the Hard Frame/GVP back to the Software Shop.  They charged me a
restocking fee, and I decided to try out a Xetec controller/GVP hard drive
instead.  This part isn't the fault of the subsytem: it turns out that the
Xetec was defective.  The Software Shop exhanged it for Supra controller
instead.  No restocking fee.

Now here's where things REALLY got to be a pisser.  It turns out that
the Subsystem/8-Up doesn't get along with the Supra controller either!
It doesn't make any difference which order they go on the bus: they just
don't work together.  The easiest symptom to spot is that the system
won't warm boot; you can type Ctrl-Am-Am and the system will start the
resest, the hard drive light will flash on for a second, but no booting
takes place.  So, Monday morning I get to take the Supra-setup back
and pay another restocking fee.  

Here's why IMHO this is a real pisser: I can understand how hard it is
to make the SubSystem be 100% A2000 compatible; the fact that the Hard
Frame didn't work with the SubSystem didn't piss me off.  But the fact
that the SubSystem can't even be on the bus...that's annoying.  I mean,
all it should have to do is pass-thru cleanly, no?

So, here's the bottom line.  After months of being a fan of the SubSystem,
I have to recommend against it now.  For me, it was a very expensive way
to just add a couple of meg to the 500.  If I had to do it all over again,
I'd just go with an A590-type setup in the first place, and to hell with
an A2000 upgrade path.  It sounds good in theory, but it's just not robust
enough.
-- 
Jim Northrup                                               northrup@wpi.wpi.edu
Assistant Professor, Mathematical Sciences             WPI, Worcester MA  01609