Last updated 27/6/2000 - JWB
A30x0 Hard Drives & Interface Cards
- I have just seen my new internal hard drive and it seems to have four more pins than the cable does sockets. Do I have the right cable ?
Yes, just ignore the last four (after the gap) as these are not required.
- I have just installed my new internal hard drive and it seems to work fine apart from one thing, my floppy drive icon has disappeared!
Switch off your computer. Just behind where the interface card pushes in, you should see a little blue capacitor. Push this down away from the card so that there is no way it can be touching the interface. Turn your machine back on: you should find your floppy drive icon has returned.
- I have just tried to install the new hard drive interface card in my A3010 but I can't get it to fit, the pins just don't seem long enough!
If you find that your attempt to insert the interface card as described by the instructions is being restricted by a little daughterboard which is located about 1/2 an inch above the main motherboard, what this means is that you have a rare 'Mezanine' A3010. Phone Castle Technology and explain your situation; we will ship you a replacement interface card especially for your machine on receipt of your old one.
- I have just connected up my A30x0 hard drive and all I get on the icon bar is ':4'
Switch off your computer and make certain that the interface card has been completely pushed in and that none of the pins have missed their relevant sockets. Next, if you are fitting a hard drive to a A3010, carefully check that the little blue capacitor located just behind where the interface fits in, is pushed down and away from the card. An awful lot of problems are caused by this capacitor shorting out against one of the pins on the back of the card. Once you have done this, switch your computer back on and when you have arrived at the Desktop, press F12 followed by:
*podules
The second line should read:
Podule 1: Castle Technology IDE Drivers
When you are satisfied that the interface card has been correctly inserted, the next thing the inspect is the cable. It is quite possible to position the cable too low and thus miss an entire row of pins, or, offset it by one pair of pins to the side. Either one of this situations will result in failure of the hard drive working. Make sure that this is not the case and that the cable has been pushed on as far as it will go. If you find that the cable will not easily fit on to the hard drive, do not force it! One of the sockets on both the hard drive and interface ends has been blocked out, this ensures that the cable can only been fitted one way and failure to adhere with this arrangement will cause physical damage to the hard drive.
If you are completely happy that both the interface card and cable have been fitted correctly and you are still getting :4 on the icon bar, give Castle Technology a call and go through to the technical department for extra advise.
- I have just connected up my A30x0 hard drive and all I get on the icon bar is '4'
If you are getting 4 on the icon bar instead of :4, what this is telling you is that the interface card has 'seen' the hard drive, but is not quite sure what to make of it! The most common cause of this is either if the blue capacitor is shorting against one of the pins on the back of the interface card (refer above), or if the cable has been mis-aligned. If you are satisfied that it can no longer be the capacitor or or the cable causing the problem, try reformatting the drive using !HForm which can be found in the Apps2 directory on the Applications disk which came with your A3010.
- How do I stop the hard drive in my A30x0 from spinning while not in use ?
Sorry you can't unless the hard drive itself provides it eg. Maxtor 25252AT (240Mb)
- How do I get my A3010 to boot from my new internal hard drive ?
Press F12 from the Desktop followed by:
*configure boot
*configure drive 4
*dir :4
*opt 4,2
Then reset the computer using <CTRL><BREAK>
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Acorn products are manufactured under licence from Pace Micro Technology plc by Castle Technology Ltd.
Acorn and the Acorn nut device are trade marks of Element 14 Ltd.
Castle is a trading name of Castle Technology Limited.
Registered Office: Ore Trading Estate. Framlingham IP13 9LL. Registered number 2824049
Tel: 01728 723200 Fax: 01728 727427 Email:sales@castle.org.uk