CSA Derringer / A500 / Indivision ECS won't fit

[zombie10k]

I have a little clash of the add-on devices. It's 1992's CSA Derringer vs. 2010 Indivision ECS flicker fixer. The only way I can see this working is some kind of 40 pin CPU riser. I did a bit of looking around, but didn't find much.

Do you folks have any suggestions on how to possibly get this combo to work? If there's no chance it will fit, I'll use the GVP A530 for the A500.

I was hoping there was some chance the Derringer could fit into my A1000, but considering the large size, I'm not sure that's possible, or recall anyone attempting it through various searches.

any hints / tips are appreciated!!

[mfilos]

You won't find easily an 68000 Amiga socket (I might be wrong) to raise Derringer but you can find easily 1 row sockets that can be put next to each other at the desired length for you to be ok.

[T_hairy_bootson]

You can buy the pin headers in strips. So you can just cut them to length provided the pin spacing is correct.

I am not sure pin header is the correct term.

edit: Which is exactly what mfilos just said above...

[Zetr0]

@Zombie10k

you need socket strips $10 + $2 postage for 200 pins... thats a job done there =D

although I will say that derringer would work much better in my A500+ without any phyiscal issues, as would that GVP A530 LOL!!!

anyway - good luck and remember to take LOTS of high-res drool worthy hardware pr0n pics please...

.... dreaming of an A530 for christmas......

[zombie10k]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

@Zombie10k

you need socket strips $10 + $2 postage for 200 pins... thats a job done there =D

@ Zetr0 - thanks for the link, I just ordered them. I am guessing I will need to stack at least 2 sets, I really need a bit of clearance with the indivision ECS in there.

The goal was to also stack Mika's CF68k->CF adapter, but I am guessing I wouldn't be able to fit the keyboard or close the case at that point.

I really purchased the CSA to upgrade my A1000, but it's not looking like it will fit just based on the large size and the floppy drive placement in the A1000.

I just installed the latest 4.15 rom in the A530 and currently using it with a SCSI->IDE-CF Adapter with a 4GB card. It works perfect, including the HDD light. This A530 has the 68030EC and no FPU. I just sourced a 50mhz 68030 and a matching 68882, so I might swap the crystal out and try to run it @ 50mhz. With the 8 meg limitation aside, the GVP A530 was definately the sought after A500 add-on in the 90's!! My Liightwave 4.0 and Imagine rendering times were significantly better than suffering with the stock 7mhz 68k.

[coze]

zombie, did you manage to get your A530 boot off a flash drive thru r/idsc adapter ? (somehow I couldn't manage ...)

[zombie10k]

http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showha....cgi?HARDID=63

"The Derringer plugs into the CPU socket of the A500 and A2000 and also works with the A1000 providing you have a socket extender to provide the board with enough clearance. "

this is giving me some hope I can use the extender sockets to try and wedge this into the A1000.

[zombie10k]

Originally Posted by coze

zombie, did you manage to get your A530 boot off a flash drive thru r/idsc adapter ? (somehow I couldn't manage ...)

Coze - Hi, thanks for the GVP simms, they work great as you can see in the photos. I have 3.1 in the A500 and the 4.15 rom in the GVP. The SCSI-IDE converter is not the acard, it's one of the cheap models you see on ebay US all the time.

I didn't have to do much, just plug it all together, install the 4 GB card, and installed 3.1 from disk. It auto-boots quite quick, although sysinfo says i'm only getting around 1mb / per second which is slower than my A600/1200 with their CF cards. There are a couple of settings to play with (PIO mode, etc) i might try to extract some extra performance, but overall quite satisfied with it. The only real issue is, it's WIDE. Wider than the case will allow, so I have to find a way to mount it lengthwise in the A530 case and opposed to the width as I've seen others do with the shorter acard scsi converters.

what scsi converter were you using?

[coze]

ah I'm really pleased to see you put the RAM into good use

I have the same converter as you, it works fine in a A508HD, but somehow the A530 doesn't 'see' it ... I wonder if it's the CF brand ? What are you using ? (I'm using a 4gb SanDisk Ultra)

[cv643d]

On a1k.org some have sawed off a bit of the board to fit it in the A1000 (the part where the logo is), then I think they are using some kind of adapter, but it is easy make such adapter with pin-headers and old IDE cable.

I would really like a Derringer, I wonder how much they sell for these days :-)

[rkauer]

A more "subtle" option: you can grab a kickstart switcher and hook the Indy on it. Just don't use the second ROM option, of course.

Prefer a switcher with a real switch and just use a jumper instead the switch itself. I pretty much doubt the video signal will suffer.

[edit]

OK, discard this idea: not enough pins on the ROM to suit a Denise requirement (on the number of pins matter). You must create your own extension cable.

BTW: levelling up the CSA with two more rows of pins will make the A500 case never be able to be closed again.

[zombie10k]

@Coze - this is odd, I am using a Sandisk 4GB Ultra 30mb/sec cardl. I have tested the combo in an A590 with the latest 7.0 rom and also the GVP with the 4.15. have you tried other CF cards or a real IDE HD?

btw, how were you planning on mounting it? I'm guessing you're seeing the same problem I am, it's too wide to fit.

@ cv643d - Any chance you recall the thread on the site so I can check it out? I hate the thought of putting it under the knife, they are hard to come by and this one was in the original box.

@rkauer - I see the potential issue with closing the case. It's a shame, because the indivision works so well, i'd rather not take it out. I'll wait until the pins arrive to see if there is any chance this will work.

hmm, might not fit the A1000 without cutting, might not fit the A500 with the indivision, waste to use it in my A2000 which already has a GVP card.

Maybe a way to rewire the CPU pins and use it in my A600?

[zombie10k]

http://www.a1k.org/forum/showthread....=csa+derringer

wow! that is cutting off quite a bit of the board to fit the A1000. I think i'd rather use the A530 on the A1000 and find a way to fit the CSA into the A500.

I don't know if i'd have the heart to start cutting up a derringer.

[Zetr0]

@Zombie10k

I would look at desiging a small PCB that connected to the 68k socket and moved it a smidge over 2 inches (say 6cm's) to the right and up (at a diagaonal)

this way you should get it in the A500, however I am sure you could easily build somthing similar for the A1000.

I have to admit, hard hacking like that link is bother awesome and awesomely scairy!!!

[zombie10k]

@ Zetro - check this out a1000 / derringer

http://www.a1k.org/forum/attachment....4&d=1216229933

it's either they found a way to run the A1000 without the daughtercard or it's the version that doesn't have a daughtercard. I wouldn't mind doing it this way if possible. I could even stack mika's 68k->CF Adapter on top and replace the floppy with the SD Floppy emulator project.

my A1000 does indeed have the daughtercard. it looks to mainly have memory on it, not sure what else.

[rkauer]

In your version I doubt you'll find enough space inside to hook anything more than you already have.

[Zetr0]

@Zomie10k

you could get the CSA D040 in that easy =)

it would require you to build a small PCB but looking at the pictures you could make it fit - offsetting the card to the rear and left of the strut over the RAM.

if you could measure up I might be able to put a small PCB schematic for you. you can then get it built quite cheap *around $30, or have ago yourself...

looks good indeed!

[zombie10k]

@ rkauer - sorry I should have been more specific, I have several A1000's. The one in the photo in the photo is in mint condition with the DKB Insider 1.5MB addition. I dare not start hacking away at this one. This isn't the A1000 I will be using for the Derringer.

@ Zetro - That sounds great! I am going to take apart my other A1000 this weekend. I might try removing the daughter card and see if the system even boots. I am guessing it's the 256k ram and the front add-on has another 256k. It appears the PAL version in that photo I posted above has the memory on the main board.

If the derringer is supplying 16MB ram, I don't think i'd miss the bit of memory. Since the floppy would have to be removed, I could replace it with the SD Floppy emulator project that I ordered recently.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

stay tuned for some photos & measurements.

[rkauer]

The Derringer will give you FAST RAM, the daughterboard provides the precious CHIP RAM.

You need chip RAM to Amiga run. The frontal memory is used to provide the WOM memory (to load the kickstart). Only if you have a real ROM in the A1000 the WOM will be changed to Chip using a little program from Aminet.

Oh, don't forget to use the FAST RAM FIRST icon dragged to the WBStart drawer to make the Amiga run faster and with less consume of the scarce chip RAM of the A1000.

[Zetr0]

here my thoughts looking at the pics, it looks possible