Peter's Tower Project [Archive] - English Amiga Board

Peter

16 June 2007, 14:35

I thought I would start a new thread for my Z4 Tower Project... See Picture 1...

Mainly because I think I am going to have lots of questions to ask...

At the Moment it is very early days in the project, I have the Z4 Tower, a 1D.1 A1200 Motherboard, Fast ATA MKIII Controller, 3.1 Rom Chips, Right Angle PCMCIA Adaptor, Lyra Keyboard Adaptor, Mediator SX version, various PCI cards to be fitted (when I get a decent Accelerator for this project...) a CD Rom and 3.5 Hard drive...

I got nearly all the bits and pieces from Amigakit and once again I was really impressed by their service and friendly advice - thanks Amigakit.

The first problem I had was with the Fast ATA Mark III Controller - because I am using a 1D.1 Motherboard the clockpins are on the side that meant that the controller would not sit flush - I have solved this by sitting two additional rom chip risers... see picture 2 ...

I am still waiting to receive an LED adaptor from Amigakit but in the meantime I do have a couple of questions about the Z4 Power connections to the Mediator...

1. I have the SX Mediator and there are two power inputs - the Z4 tower has an ATX power supply so plugging in the top power supply on the Mediator seems straight forward enough however there is an additional power cable coming from the towers power supply that looks as if it should be plugged into either P8 or P9 on the lower Mediator power input... what should I do here? See Picture 3...

2. I need to plug the Power SW small pink and white cable into the Mediator Power SW input - but which way up does it go... pink to the top, white to the bottom or the other way round?

As you can imagine this is going to be a challenge for me but it has been fun so far - going to post a few pics along the way and I will keep picking your brains out there if that is ok... :spin

Picture 1.

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/7990/imgp0279ag7.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp0279ag7.jpg)

Picture 2.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3329/imgp0278ad4.th.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp0278ad4.jpg)

Picture 3.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5749/imgp0280eb5.th.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp0280eb5.jpg)

Zetr0

16 June 2007, 14:48

@peter

its shaping up to be a fine looking build my friend, and i await with much anticipation !!!!

The psu connector is a p8 connector, wich if memory serves me correctly is nothing more than
P8 Connector

red +5v
orange +3.3v
orange +3.3v
black COM
black COM
black COM

I am not to sure so please check your manual, but I believe you only need one OR the other (ATX or AT)

hope it helps :)

Peter

16 June 2007, 14:58

I have asked Amigakit to confirm as there is not much in the Mediator manual to suggest what to do - also the Z4 Tower did not come with any documentation so I will sit tight until I hear as I dont want to damage anything so early on in the project!!

Peter

16 June 2007, 16:28

Zetr0 - you are right - only one connection required - it is important here not to connect the P8/P9!

The power cable can go either way.

Thanks Amigakit.

amigakit.com

16 June 2007, 16:28

The two pin power switch plug goes over the two prong header on the right side of the Mediator any orientation - it does not matter- it simply makes a connection to tell the Mediator to power on the computer.

Do not connect to P8 and P9- Only connect the ATX connector.

Hope this helps.

BTW: If anyone else wants a Z4 tower - we have built 10 more this week (brand new)

amigakit.com

16 June 2007, 16:35

Before you cable tie the FastATA into place, it may be good to put a few blobs from a hot-glue gun to stabalise it to the ROM socket extenders. Finally test it independently out of the tower to ensure it works before adding the Mediator.

Zetr0

16 June 2007, 16:47

you know guys, i am begining to see the real future of Amiga...

Powered by AmigaKit!

well done AK :)

twizzle

16 June 2007, 22:16

you will also need to put installer v 43.3 in your C: drawer first
before you can install the fast ata111 software
also when you fit your PC1 cards in the mediator
1st slot ethernet card as this uses the main chips from the mediator
2nd slot sound card
5th slot graphics card
i got amigakit to make me up some custom cables to go from the fast ata to my 2x cdrw & dvdrw drives, as the std cables are rather tight

and if you brake my arms and legs i might sell you my BL060/50mhz +32 meg ram in mint cond 100% working its in a BLPPC 603e 060 box though.
have you strained enough money yet :D

Peter

16 June 2007, 23:01

PM me the details of the card please twizzle - I am considering a few options accelerator wise at the moment and I would be interested in seeing some pictures and finding out some more details of what you have there...

I will be back on line later...

Peter

18 June 2007, 02:14

The rom risers did not turn out quite as I expected as once the mediator was installed the new height of the Fast ATA Controller made it sit too tightly to the back of the mediator... out with the rom risers...in with the old problem - that is the fact that the 1D.1 motherboard I have has the clockport pins on the left hand side... and they were not allowing the Fast ATA Controller to sit comfortably flush.

The clockport pins had to go, I have only ever used a clockport for a silver surfer for dial up and now it is easy enough to get Amigas networked onto broadband I dont think I would have used the clockport here... They were a bit stubborn to remove and needed a bit of heat from the soldering iron and a bit of Dremmel work to get them out - I can always re-seat a new set on the right if there should ever be a need I guess...

See Picture 1... Offending pins on the left removed...

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1913/minuspinsrr9.th.jpg (http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=minuspinsrr9.jpg)

The Rom Risers and clockport pins removed allowed the Fast ATA to sit almost flush but because it is now sitting at it's correct height it won't allow the Lyra keyboard adaptor to sit in place - the two clash for space - that will have to go back in exchange for an alternative - it's a shame as the Lyra is a nice item.

See picture 2 ... Lyra Adaptor and Fast ATA Controller clash for space...

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/1788/lyrate2.th.jpg (http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lyrate2.jpg)

The ATA Fast Controller is back in place and the motherboard booted up fine which was a relief as removing the Clockport pins was a bit of a challenge!

See Picure 3... ATA Controller...

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/3774/fastatamkiiiqi4.th.jpg (http://img157.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fastatamkiiiqi4.jpg)

There is a fair bit of trial and error here as I go along and I dont seem to have made much progress TBH but it is coming together slowly - it's great to have a spare room where you can just shut the door on this lot though!

See Picture 4... !

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/3102/towersofarbn4.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=towersofarbn4.jpg)

Thanks AmigaKit for advice this week and Zetr0!
Twizzle - Must talk to you about the cable situation this week...

Peter

30 June 2007, 01:30

Just a quick update...

Made some progess this week - added a Blizzard 060 so that has made all the re-installs I have had to do a bit quicker - started configuring this Tower with only an old 8 Meg Ram expansion...

Really pleased with the look of the Z4 - it is a smart Tower IMO.

The 3.5 IDE 80 GIG HD was a real pain to install as a single disk so I have installed a 3.5 IDE 4 GIG HD to accomodate the boot partition - I may add the 80 GIG as at a later date - but dont know if it really warrants all the space.

I have found that dealing with large HD's a real nightmare - very unstable and a pig to configure - probably just my inexperience however I think something 4 GIG or under for a "System" Disk makes life so much easier.

OS3.9 installed with BB 1+2 - no errors so far... Mediator installed and Voodoo 3 card is producing a nice picture via an HP1520 Flat Screen monitor.
I have to be honest - I made so many school boy errors while trying to set this card up but I guess it is trial and error... my best mistake was having the Mediator memory jumper incorrectly set thus disabling the card!! - I must have smoked about five fags while scratching my head before I realised!

Going to configure the sound and network cards next - then start to slowly build up the application and software installs.

It has taken me hours so far and I have got a bit p*ssed off with it along the way - the clockport Pins saga and the Fast ATA settings were a bit frustrating - (Thanks Zetr0, Twizzle and Amigakit for the help along the way!)

Here are a couple of pictures...

Pic 1.

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/5046/imgp0371cg0.th.jpg (http://img524.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp0371cg0.jpg)

Pic 2.

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/1506/imgp0372gh6.th.jpg (http://img524.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgp0372gh6.jpg)

Peter

Zetr0

30 June 2007, 02:33

Its looking great peter!

keep up the good work :D

jimbob005

30 June 2007, 09:54

looking good mate

Peter

11 July 2007, 00:31

I haven't had much time to update this thread lately but the Tower is nearly finished.
I have added the Blizzard SCSI module and the Tower now has 256 MB of memory.
I opted for a 4 GB Maxtor 3.5 IDE Hard Drive for the System partition and have installed the 80 GB 3.5 IDE HD as a slave - I intend to build up a serious collection of MODs on it - it has the room!

Got a couple of fans doing their thing in there - didn't realise the Voodoo got quite so hot...

OS3.9 is running very well and I have connected into my ADSL - the PCI network card goes into my ADSL router and Genesis seems prettty quick together with IBrowse and Yam...

Great picture from the Voodoo - but of course there is always the temptation to run a program that just wont display and of course games are very limited with this screen mode... anyone for slow Quake?
Does anyone know any Games, Demo's that will run in this screen mode??

I need to get some sound from the DVD Rom - I have the SB128 but haven't configured AHI as yet - bit puzzled about this.... may have to start another thread with some questions about setting this up becuase I want to get sound from both the Amiga and the DVD Rom...

Never got the time save option sorted but hey it's not a perfect Amiga World.
I have a neat program that pops up on bootup and asks me very politely if I want to set the time - if not I just cancel...

The Tower has been fun to build and configure - it has given me some headaches but I am pleased with the end result... I will add some final pictures when it is all in place...

I cant make up my mind whether it is more fun doing a tower or butchering up a desktop case and cramming as many things as possible inside - both fun I guess...

I'm just waiting on an LED adaptor from Amigakit and the sides can go on... then... another project, of course.

Amigakit have been very helpful throughout this little project of mine as indeed have been a number of EAB members, Cheers All...

Zetr0

11 July 2007, 00:48

@Peter

my friend, that indeed is a fantastic build, and i am glad that you have persisted to where you are now! its indeed great.

~Quake060

Ahhh even at 320*200 on my cybervision643dMk2 ..... poor..... 12-18 fps max lol... still managed to game across the internet via dialup with my m8 LidlessEyE in France... ahhh good times....

~Audio Mixer
I have built a simple stereo mixer for my A600 and DVDRom it works quite well, if you want i can postie the mixer :D. on the other hand I do believe that Amigakit also sell CD and amiga Audio mixers.

~AHI
I had some issues and a bit of lag with this using my prelude *clockport* (but this was in the very early days of AHI btw) I noticed this mainly when using MedSS / Rombler or tracker. strange i never got round to testing with bars and pipes.

I am actualy building a midi synthesizer that uses the serial port and a Korg 4MB card (should be quite nice building a full mixer with a front pannel for the amiga when i get round to it LOL)

anyways imma rambling... great work m8, please posty more and more pics :D

Zetr0

11 July 2007, 00:48

Zetr0

11 July 2007, 00:48

eh!? how the hell did i post twice?!

Retro-Nerd

11 July 2007, 01:01

eh!? how the hell did i post twice?!

Delete one, Zetr0. ;)

Zetr0

11 July 2007, 01:04

I can only edit or quote, and as i said it twice hardly need quote it again LOL

:(

Retro-Nerd

11 July 2007, 01:07

Really? Very strange, matey. Edit --> Delete ---> Delete Message works fine here. :confused

Peter

11 July 2007, 01:14

It took me two goes to read that post anyway... ;)

I saw the audio mixers on Amigkit - I think that might be what I need... (More money!)
The sound coming from the Amiga is just going from the standard audio left and right straight into my speakers - the sound is excellent but if I want sound from the DVD as well I am going to have to mix... I wonder why I bought the SB128?

If I configure AHI to use the SB128 and plug the speakers into that will I get both sound from the DVD (which is plugged into the SB128) and normal native Amiga sound - bearing in mind the speakers will then be plugged into the SB128 and not the usual left and right audio... (pause for breath...) Does this make sense...??

Peter

11 July 2007, 01:17

If the answer is no - then the mixer from Amigakit seems like the best option and it does kind of make the SB128 a bit... well pointless being there... unless I am missing some real use for it??

Zetr0

11 July 2007, 01:50

You can add the Amiga Audio as "AUX in" / "Audio In", from this you can add the Optical Drives Stereo output as "CD IN", as i am yet to setup a sound blaster on a mediator I am curious, would this device mix and output the signals without needing to be told to do so?,

Thing is, my prelude used to, so would the sb128? hmmm.

twizzle

11 July 2007, 22:01

the audio lead came with my dvd player and plugs into my s128 card,
i use a 5mtr std audio lead to connect from the s128 to my suround sound amp :D
as i am having trouble with AHI, i now use MCDplayer that comes with amicdfs,
it works a treat.

i forgot to mention you will need 1 of these std phone to 3.5mm adaptor.
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=42&products_id=603&osCsid=371808ebdb03e04a104d57f1192df002

amigarobbo

11 July 2007, 22:28

Mad-Matt

11 July 2007, 22:28

the paula audio wontbe mixed internaly and sent to the card. youll have to make a cable that takes the audio out and connect it to the sb128 aux port. (hack up a internal cdaudio cable). then the dvd can go to the lineIn on the back of the card.

In order for any sound to get to the speakers though, the miggy will have to be on and the mixer initialized and configed to unmute the aux/linein on bootup .

as for ahi, id only use Ahi4 as 5,6 are abit too slow on poor ole 68k cpu ;)

twizzle

11 July 2007, 22:51

How did you get the Mediator on with the fast ATA?

I've got a G-rex, and I can't for the life of me work out how to get the 2 in together, well, not with everything screwed in the correct place anyway.

hi
i got mathew at amigakit to make me up some custom cables so they come off the fast ata RH & LH,so the mediator will sit down on the MB properly.also using 2 rom risers so the ata fits in the mb sockets correctly.
i have the drawing for the cables if you want a copy?
this is for my power tower.with a mediator 1200sx.

Peter

11 July 2007, 23:01

Hmmm, sounds like quite a bit of hassle... basically I want to leave the speakeres plugged in and get all usual sounds that come from the Amiga... program noises, mods played through Hippo etc... but I want to be able to throw a CD in the tray load up play CD and hear the results... without having to unplug the speakers and replug them into the soundcard... what about this item from Amigakit...

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=46&products_id=485&osCsid=767c1a3037cc7468c032c56e3481c90b

Do you think this would do what I want - perhaps if Amigakit is online and reading this - you could confirm or drop me a line...

Peter

11 July 2007, 23:08

amigarobbo, I used rom risers (they do make the ATA sit much more flush) but removed them because it made the ATA to high and even with different cables it would not sit under the mediator...
The cables Twizzle got worked for him - I got some from Amigakit as well that had pretty flat tops - not like the IDE cable that comes with the ATA itself... that is too bulky - with the flat top cables the two devices co-exist with a little space to breath...

Zetr0

11 July 2007, 23:11

@Peter

I had some problems with your link, but i did find this, i belive its what you posted ? ;-

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=46&products_id=485&osCsid=5c6ad4c1535fcc1fb22f683fd2923a20

you could however build a very small and simple internal mixer from the Optical drive output and the amiga output. from this you can lump this mixed output to the cd-in on the sound-blaster. wich should play all out :D

I will make a little diagram based on what i put together on the A600+ project.

brb :D

Peter

11 July 2007, 23:17

I have corected the above link... but your right, it is that item - just wondering if this would do the trick... I love an easy way out... sometimes.

I would appreciate the diagram - I would still have to configure AHI for the total sound from the SB128 I guess - AHI confuses the sh*t out of me TBH...

Cheers Zetr0...

Mad-Matt

11 July 2007, 23:22

theres 3 audio ports on the card, so could have the miggy and cd connected seperatly to the card. then any external equipment connected to the linein on rear of card.

the miggy would have to be booted though to unmute the line in for that external equipment to get audioout from it. the card can mix all the inputs at the same time.

twizzle

11 July 2007, 23:22

i use a rgb scart lead with audio leads,tower to my tv then connect the audio leads to my amp on the vid 1 channel.

my s128 card via 4.5mm > 3.5mm adaptor std audio lead to my amp on the vid 2 channel, so i just switch the amp over,speakers permanatly connected, the only problem is if you start playing a cd, then start playing a game,when the cd has finished you have to stop your game to get at the on screen player.

Zetr0

12 July 2007, 01:34

@peter

heys m8y, heres a simple (feel good) mod, a little soldering and about 20pence worth of components. hell if ya can`t find any local ones i stick some in a jiffy bag and you can build it at home :D

heres the schematic

http://www.guildserver.co.uk/projects/schematics/thumbs/audiomixer-thumb.jpg (http://www.guildserver.co.uk/projects/main.php?g2_itemId=737)

with this design you could use the 'mixed' audio out into the CD IN on the Soundblaster.

I tihnk personally AHI was designed to be confusing lol but you shouldn`t need it just to ouput the inputed sound (from the mixer in CD IN or AUX) as mad-matt suggests the moment you turn your miggy on it will initialise the soundblaster so all should be good to pump it striaght out from there :D€

anyway I hope it helps m8.

Peter

12 July 2007, 14:06

Thanks for this Zetr0 - I'll try and work this out over the weekend - job hunting for the next day or so...:sleep

amigarobbo

22 July 2007, 14:40

hi
i got mathew at amigakit to make me up some custom cables so they come off the fast ata RH & LH,so the mediator will sit down on the MB properly.also using 2 rom risers so the ata fits in the mb sockets correctly.
i have the drawing for the cables if you want a copy?
this is for my power tower.with a mediator 1200sx.

Wouln't mind some cables like that, so thanks I would like a butchers at the drawings

Bamiga2002

21 January 2009, 17:24

The Rom Risers and clockport pins removed allowed the Fast ATA to sit almost flush but because it is now sitting at it's correct height it won't allow the Lyra keyboard adaptor to sit in place - the two clash for space - that will have to go back in exchange for an alternative - it's a shame as the Lyra is a nice item.

See picture 2 ... Lyra Adaptor and Fast ATA Controller clash for space...
It seems i don't need to see the picture because i can see the situation at my home. There's no mention about the Lyra not fitting well together with the Fast-ATA MK3 and i'm battling here with this situation. I don't know how to resolve this problem...Peter, how did you manage to solve the problem (if you even solved it :)). I'm dying to get my A1200T project going on, for i have all the parts needed right now. And for the sake of Keropi too ;) !

Peter

21 January 2009, 18:51

I cant remember what I did exactly in the end...? I will check back and see if I have any pictures...

I remember that the Lyra keyboard adaptor did go back to Amigakit - they exchanged it for a different type - one that slotted into the A1200 motherboard - it was a decent enough alternative adaptor - I do remember being a bit disappointed that the Lyra type wouldn't fit with the fast ATA device though...

Maybe someone else has had more success setting them both up together since I did my tower project.

Bamiga2002

21 January 2009, 19:27

I think i've found the solution:

EZKEY-adapter (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=636) replacing the Lyra :) !
It plugs on the U7-socket that won't interrupt the Fast-ATA.

Peter

21 January 2009, 19:59

That wasn't the one I got... but I guess, if it all fits together - it will do the job!
Good luck with getting it all set up and working!
Any pictures??

Mine took ages... but it was great fun!

I don't have an Amiga at the moment, must sort that out soon!

Bamiga2002

21 January 2009, 20:43

Hi Peter. You remember what kind of adapter it was? And does the EZKEY support basic PS/2 PC-keyboards?

EDIT: ok so it seems to be the PC-Key 1200 that you had. I think i go for that instead of EZKEY.

twizzle

21 January 2009, 20:52

I don't have an Amiga at the moment, must sort that out soon![/quote]

@ peter

sounds like you might need my help again :)

Bamiga2002

21 January 2009, 21:34

That wasn't the one I got... but I guess, if it all fits together - it will do the job!
Good luck with getting it all set up and working!
Any pictures??I'll take pictures as the project advances and post them when i'm finished hardware-wise :)
Mine took ages... but it was great fun!

I don't have an Amiga at the moment, must sort that out soon!I'm having fun also putting this all together :), but the keyboard adapter was a let down :(. But i've already ordered the PC-Key so i just have to wait some time.

Btw. where did you lose your Amiga? Get one back and start from scratch it's fun :D

Peter

10 February 2009, 15:10

Just a quick note to say that the pictures from this thread are now back on line...

Peter

rkauer

11 February 2009, 08:09

Also Elbox have a keyboard adaptor who plugs on the ribbon cable socket of the 1200 board.

KatManDEW

27 February 2009, 14:41

What's the best keyboard adapter to use for a tower conversion?

Peter

27 February 2009, 17:13

Depends if you are going to fit a Fast ATA controller - if not then the Lyra 1200 adaptor is very good... it does clash for space with the ATA controller (See pictures on the first page of this thread) so you cant fit both.

Amigakit has another type of keyboard adaptor which slots into the A1200 motherboard keyboard slot and can be used with the ATA controller - I cant remember who makes it but Amigakit could give you more info on it if you email them...