Hi,

Anyone who visits my classic Amiga IRC channel, #amiga68k on irc.amigaworld.net might have caught me talking about using Disk-on-Modules (DOM) for my Amiga's Hard Drive.

I have been using PQI for years as I found them by chance some years ago and have not had a single failure since buying them for my own Amigas and the ones I refurbish and sell on. I am not sure where they are price-wise but they are not expensive so I buy them each time.

Before I used to use the 2.5" Flash Drives: Link.

But lately, as I have not required so much storage space, I have been using the Disk on Module types: Link. these have the advantage of plugging straight onto the Amigas' motherboard with no cable (the "socket" is on the drive) and if you are missing a cradle, you don't need it (although I would always try and keep the HDD cradle present to offer more support for the keyboard if you have it).

OK, so why am I telling you this, when there are like lots of solid state hard drive options for the Amiga 600 and 1200, CF to IDE adaptors and the like?

Well the reason is, since using the Disk on Modules, I have noticed that they don't partition too well with more than one partition when you buy them, the 2nd and concurrent partitions are simply not seen by workbench. And running Sys:System/Format and trying to format DH1 for example you get the message "No disk in Drive", but after some experimentation I discovered it is easy to get them working just like a normal drive:

THE ADVICE:
Partition the drive to begin with as one partition, occupying the entire space of the disk. When rebooted, do a full format (doesn't take long the biggest DOM is only 512MB) then partition as you see fit, reboot and it works like a dream - Workbench can now see the other partition(s) and you can format/write to the drive with no problems.

I am not sure if this is the case with all drives of this type, as I said, I have only used the PQI ones, but hopefully this will help people who choose this storage route for their Amiga.

Last of all, I have been using the same supplier since using flash hard disk drives on the Amiga, and again, whilst I am not sure where they sit price wise, their service and despatch time are exemplary - the only time they has a stock issue and they sent me a "wide temp" version of the same drive at no extra cost to avoid delays. Link.

Mike (A1200)

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Amiga A1200, 3.1 ROMs, Blizzard 1230 MKIV 64MB & FPU, 4GB DoM SSD, Workbench 3.1

Some photos of the DOM installed:

Pic1
Pic2

I replaced the HDD caddy before putting the Amiga's case back together to give the keyboard better support.

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Amiga A1200, 3.1 ROMs, Blizzard 1230 MKIV 64MB & FPU, 4GB DoM SSD, Workbench 3.1

Has anyone else got any good solid state storage solutions for the Amiga?

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Amiga A1200, 3.1 ROMs, Blizzard 1230 MKIV 64MB & FPU, 4GB DoM SSD, Workbench 3.1

@A1200

someone was asking the same thing within the french community but made by delock !

link to amigaimpact.com forum

thanks for the info

Still using these drives in my machines - they are grrrreeat!

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Amiga A1200, 3.1 ROMs, Blizzard 1230 MKIV 64MB & FPU, 4GB DoM SSD, Workbench 3.1

@A1200

Last month i was given 4 of the 16Gig Kingspec DOMs i use 1 in my A1200 and 2 in my AROS Box,i had no problems with Partitions the A1200 has a 50meg boot partition then 4 other 4gig ish partitions i,ve had no problems since it was setup.I did have a 256meg PQI DOM some years ago but never got it to work not even on a PC if i can find it i will give it another try following your advice.

@J'Bar

Thanks J'Bar - let us know how you get on!

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Amiga A1200, 3.1 ROMs, Blizzard 1230 MKIV 64MB & FPU, 4GB DoM SSD, Workbench 3.1

This looks like a good option for those who wants to replace their old HDD in their A1200.

Just a few questions.

1. How are drives like this compared to real HDDs, when it comes to number of read/writes before the drive becomes unrealiable?
(is the difference of any importance for this use?)

2. For the A1200 you will need the 44pin version right?

3. It looks like on the pictures that the DOM will be a little higher than a drive in the bay when inserted. Will this in any way make any conflict with the keyboard or any other components when the A1200 is put together?

@amyren

Hi amyren in answer to your questions...

1: The R/W Cycles used to be poor in early versions of these devices, how they are more mature and you can expect something like 5 million read write cycles on a given block. With a classic Amiga which isn't generally running swap files (although I have seen programs that can do this if you have an MMU!), the 5m r/w's is a long, long time coming.

2: Yes, the 44 pin vertical option

3: It is small enough not to conflict or get in the way of any component in the A1200. The HDD caddy (that I leave in to support the keyboard) is higher than the DOM. The DOM obviously is nice and secure not having cables to worry about - it goes straight onto the board.

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Amiga A1200, 3.1 ROMs, Blizzard 1230 MKIV 64MB & FPU, 4GB DoM SSD, Workbench 3.1

The ones that I use: link.

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Amiga A1200, 3.1 ROMs, Blizzard 1230 MKIV 64MB & FPU, 4GB DoM SSD, Workbench 3.1

@J'Bar

Just quick note i do have a spare 44pin 16gig DOM going for £15 payment by paypal sent 1st class signed for.Same as this just msg me

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Kingspec-44PIN-16GB-16G-IDE-PATA-DOM-Module-MLC-SSD-/180669179023?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a10b8e48f