A1200 hardware upgrades

[rattus]

Hi all, i'm afraid it's me again :D

I was just wondering what you nice folks would recommend as essential hardware upgrades for an A1200? Y'know, How big a harddrive, how much fastmem, what processor upgrade, that type of thing (no ugly tower conversions tho, coz I love the original design to much;)).

My new A1200 will probably be used mainly for WHDLoad games (that program looks ace!) and some messing about with DPaint/Tracker.

I'm a poor student at the moment and probably won't be able to afford your suggestions at the moment unless a) I get lucky on ebay.co.uk or b) I win the lottery ;) as amiga stuff seems v.expensive here in the UK :(

I already have plans for a squirrel SCSI/Zip drive to transfer stuff from my G4, but I'm just curious as to what else I can add to my A1200...once I have cash, that is :)

What would you recommend?

[Akira]

Hey rattus :)

My recommendations

- 68030 accelerator at 50 Mhz. If you can, one of Blizzard brand.
- Hard drive? 4 GB if you can, but 1GB is cool. not any bigger so you dont have problems with the system.
- If you ge ta Squirrel, get a CDROM drive for it. As I said, the old, mega cheap Apple 300 SCSI drive is awesome.
- Memory for the accelerator. you will need a 72pin SIMM. 32 or 64 at the very least.

I think that would make a great WHDLoad/Dpaint/Tracking system! :) Trackers work a treat with such a setup. MusicLine Editor rocks on it :)

[RetroMan]

Hmmm, the Squirrel Interface fits into PCMCIA, does it ?? Better get an IDEfix for the internal IDE Port and stick an IDE CDRom on it, PCMCIA is SOOOOO SLOOOOOOOW :( Also you can use the PCMCIA Slot for a NIC then :D

[rattus]

wow, Akira that sounds like an excellent setup idea! Thanks for the info, I will begin bargain hunting for those items :) btw what other tracker programs do you recommend? I use PlayerPro on my Mac (excellent), and I have Octamed for my Amiga, I haven't heard of MusicLine til now (I will try it out if I find it ;)), are there any other good meega trackers out there which I haven't heard of?

RetroMan - What is an NIC? I've never come across that term before :confused can you please explain what it is? thanks for your input :)

[Daz]

Network Interface Card :)

[rattus]

ah, I see now, thanks Daz <feels a bit stupid for not figuring it out myself>

I don't think I want to network my meega coz it's in my bedroom and everything else (G4, broadband router, phone socket, etc) is downstairs in the study (and wireless network cards are expensive :() besides, I'm happy transfering stuff using CD's ;)

So to summarise....
* a 1GB hard drive minimum (but no larger than 4GB coz WB can't handle it)
* a 68030 accelerator card at 50Mhz, preferably a Blizzard make.
* 32-64MB fastram for the accelerator (I thought I could only use a max of 8MB...does this seem a bit overkill to anyone?)
* either a Squirrel SCSI+Apple 300 CD drive or an IDEfix+IDE CD drive (which one is the cheaper/easier option? And how do you connect an external IDE drive to an internal IDE connector :confused ?)

cool :D
Also what joysticks? My A1200 came with a mouse/joystick splitter and 2 megadrive (aka genesis for you yanks;)) pads. I would really prefer a couple of 'sticks tho. Those CompProMini's at www.amigajoysticks.co.uk look good but I want to hear it from the pros first ;)

[Daz]

Thats pretty much my system actually! A1200 blizzard 030 and a 1gig drive oh, and 32mb ram.

Does just what I want it to - Run's my old faves on WHDLoad! :)

I have an IDE CDRom Drive that I use via the internal ide interface, coupled with a 2.5-3.5" ide adaptor, and a scuzz Network card.

As for joysticks I've never used one! my megadrive pad is all i need!

By the way the pad is one of those megaPC pads - remeber those? a pc with a built in megadrive :)

[blackcornflake]

rattus! Thanks for the link! :) I did not know of this place before now. I need to source some new controllers, as Sensi is taking its toll on my existing ones.

This thread contains opinions on the joysticks available to you, as well as many more: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2972

From the selection available, I would recommend the Cruiser. Wonderful. No complaints. And £5 less than the 5000.

The Zipstick is a big favourite of many folks. I never liked it much myself. :p

[RetroMan]

Originally posted by rattus
* either a Squirrel SCSI+Apple 300 CD drive or an IDEfix+IDE CD drive (which one is the cheaper/easier option? And how do you connect an external IDE drive to an internal IDE connector :confused ?)
Easy :D Just open the case and have a look at the bottom plastic edge ! Use a cutter or something and cut off a bit of the plastic (only from the bottom of the case and just as wide as the IDE cable is) ! Now put the IDEfix in the case, put an IDE cable on it and let it come out through that little "hole" ;)

Even if you remove the cable later and close the case you will not see anything from outside :D

Btw. an IDE Solution is far less expensive than an PCMCIA Squirrel Interface :)

[RetroMan]

Hups, forgot the pic :rolleyes

[Daz]

Hey RetroMan I know a lot o people use that way, but I was wondering how many people use my solution...

Just above the floppy drive on the a1200 there's some sort of expansion slot that I could never be bothered finding out what it was for! All i do is take the little door off and feed the ide cable through that - hey presto! no need to damage your case! :)

Everybody probably uses this method anyway - heh, but I never heard anyone recommend this :D

[RetroMan]

@Daz

The problem is, that most people got their Monitor right there :p Also the ide cable would be very long if you want the CD and HD somewhere safe on the left or right side of your desktop case ! I tried your solution before, but had no luck (cable too long, transfer errors from/to hd etc.) ....

btw. the hole on the back is for soldering various items, for example the VGA Output of an internal flickerfixer would fit there (guess it was Scan Magic)

[Daz]

Ahhh thanks for the solution :) Hate not knowing what something is, As for the IDE lead yes it does get a bit long admittedly but I have the space to use it without any problems - each to their own solutions :D

Although I would like a flickerfixer, so bugger I might have to rethink my soultion - Might use yours heh :laughing

[rattus]

wow guys, thanks for your input! :)

Not so sure about cutting a hole in the case tho...I'm afraid I would screw up but I'll think about it and it does sound alot cheaper than a squirrel...hmm....<thinks> I think if i did it I would need some pretty idiot-proof step-by-step instructions ;)

Always wondered what that funny port above the floppy was for, now I know! You say too long an IDE ribbon cable is bad for data tranfer, what is the max safe length? No problem with monitor for me coz I have my miggy hooked up to my TV/Hi-fi via stereo/av cable!

And thanks for the joystick thread blackcornflake! I'm glad that link was useful but I have never bought anything from www.amigajoysticks.co.uk so I don't know how good their service is (the site looks suspisiously similar to www.amigastuff.co.uk). I like the look of the mini CompPros coz they would suit my small girly hands ;) and they're only a fiver....

Keep the useful tips coming :)

[Guest]

Found this is might help you, going for £31 atm :)

Blizzard 68030 CPU accelerator card for Amiga 1200, features the following:

* 68MC030 50MHz CPU with full MMU
* 68882 50MHz external FPU
* One SIMM Slot with 8Mb
* Installation Disk


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2073378223

[front243]

Also take a look at Amibench (http://www.amibench.org/) . Sometimes you are lucky to find a very good priced 040/060 card.