ACA500 plus?

[Schoenfeld]

Did anyone recognize how truly authentic these pictures are? Not only the cases are self-made, but the table is also self-made. The screw in the middle of the table surface couldn't make a description of the maker.

Jens

[Rockwater]

Hi Jens,

Actually, the MDF isn't the final surface of that bench, which I built into a closet as a crafting table. It's going to have 3/4 ply with oak veneer and oak trim on the exposed faces, but winter hit before I could get to that. And, really, it was built for my significant other for their crafting work, but it's got great light in it due to the LED lighting I installed in that space.

I'm currently working on a refit of my space to accommodate the vagaries of resin printing and then mold-making and casting with proper lighting and ventilation. It might be vastly more efficient to go for broke and contract with someone to do a run of injection molded plastic, but I've got so many other projects that I'd like to work on as well that having the tools to fabricate ad hoc solutions seems a worthwhile investment.

For example, the sole C64 PSU I had laying around blew itself up like 10 years ago. So I decided the best thing to do would be to buy a switching 5W PSU and a brick of a 9VAC transformer and build my own case that included the AV cable break-outs.

The result:



And those old C64's needed clean-up and recapping, so I went a bit off the deep end there:







I've got a few more ideas for mods for Amiga 500 modernizations as well. For example, I'm going to work on a frame and external case for gotek USB boards that put the LCD matrix display, LEDs, and contact switches into a top mounted unit that is an arm that comes from the floppy disk slot.

It's all just very fun to think about. Anyhow, I appreciate the commentary on my efforts. Any word on when the next batch of Indivision ECS boards will come along?

[Photon]

ACA500/+ case looks good, might buy one (or three) when it's finished.

[softiron]

I was just wondering...
is there a CF to IDE adapter to plug real HDD to ACA? there is IDE to CF adapter, yes, but I'm talking about one backwards.

[pgovotsos]

Originally Posted by softiron

I was just wondering...
is there a CF to IDE adapter to plug real HDD to ACA? there is IDE to CF adapter, yes, but I'm talking about one backwards.

There are several here https://m.newegg.com/productlist?keyword=cf%20ide%20adapter and there's always Microdrive. I don't know why you'd want to replace a fast CF card with a slower physical drive though and you'd need to have a messy power connector hanging out as well but it's possible.

[matburton]

Does anyone know if the new ACA500plus installer, the F7 option, installs PFS3 to the RDB?

If so does this allow an install of Workbench 1.3 (in the 3rd partition created) with Kickstart 1.3 (Mainboard ROM) to use the second large partition?

[Jasmin68k]

Quickly tested this for you.

The F7 installer installs in the RDB:

0x444f5303 44.6 26526 bytes International (FFS)
0x50465303 18.5 69388 bytes Custom File System {This should be PFS3}

I don't know about using PFS3 with Kick/WB 1.3.

If the installer does not install what you need you can always manually mount the WB 3.1 virtual disks from the ACA500plus and do the install the way you want/need it.

[matburton]

So I updated my ACA500Plus' firmware and used their new installer. Amazingly quick and easy!
I then just copied the files from a previous workbench 1.3 install to the 3rd partition it made.

Then I rebooted with the '1.x boot' IDE option (Mainboard ROM which is a KS 1.3) and yes workbench 1.3 mounted the PFS3 filesystem!

Well that couldn't have been more trivial!

Since I didn't want to see the Workbench3.1 partition I just opened HDToolbox (the 1.3 version from an A590 install disk) and set that partition to not auto-mount.
I also changed the device names and re-named the partitions, which worked fine.

If you choose the '1.x only' IDE option then the PFS3 partition doesn't get mounted.
I don't know whether this is because the filesystem hasn't loaded from the RDB though or whether that option is actually intended to hide the 2nd partition as well as the 1st Workbench 3.1 partition.

Thanks Individual Computers if you're reading this!
I now have a setup that's much better than the corrupted mess I made with HDToolbox previously!

[appiah4]

Is there an inexpensive casing option for this yet?

[demolition]

Originally Posted by appiah4

Is there an inexpensive casing option for this yet?

Depends on what your idea is for 'inexpensive'. I am using this:
http://www.plexilaser.de/shop/Acryl-...-Teilesatz-V11

For the quality you get, I think the price is reasonable.

[amiga1260]

What has been changed on the Plexilaser case version 1.1?

Is it more compatible with the PLexilaser A500 case?

[demolition]

I didn't notice that it was v1.1. Not sure which version I have but it looks just like the one on the pictures. Perhaps the hole for the VGA connector in the back was added?

[amiga1260]

I bought two PlexiLaser ACA500 cases and I get one back without cutouts and the other one has two USB and VGA cutouts.

[Photon]

For the latest one of my ACA500Pluses I made a precision case from a roughly-the-right-size stiff,thin cardboard box, then covered it with black adhesive vinyl. Looks quite smart (well better than the transparent ones to me, anyway, and I'm not sure I'd want a wedge(ish)-shaped case either actually) and it snaps into place like a glove Tools used: a pencil, ruler and scissors.

[d4rk3lf]

Ok, so i got my Aca 500+, installed workbench, whdload, and transfered some games...
So far - PERFECT.

However, I have some noob questions (not so much to do with Aca 500+)
How can I mount virtual Adf?
I want to install some apps (dpaint, lightwave 3.5, octamed... ), and also a Dune 2 game (whdload version is very very slow (I've read somewhere that with regular install it works much faster).

I've tried few apps that should do the trick (diskimage(gui),XFS, ADF_device)
1) When I installed diskimage (copied files from c to c, from s to s.. etc), and when i restarted, workbench refused to even start (some error). Luckily, aca 500+ is so easy to reinstall, so I did that.
2) Tried now XFS (same install procedurel, and when I restarted there was a bunch of virtual drives (I only need one), and some small errors. I've tried to mount adf, but couldnt. So I reinstalled again
3) I've tried ADF device, but this time I didnt wanted to copy anything to wb :l and i realised it has no gui, so I rather skip that one.

Sorry for the long post, for a rather simple question:
What app you recommend that will work nicelly with aca 500+, and how I can properly install it, and use it, without making a mess of my workbench (lots of small errors, lots of virtual drives)?

Thanks in advance.

I recently bought a ACA500+ and it worked fine with Workbench and whdLoad, except that I had problems with some games that required 1MB chipram. I later realized that this was because that my A500 had rev 3 board with Agnus 8371 that did not allow me to map the trapdoor expansion as chipram.

I then bought a Agnus 8372A to replace the 8371, but after replacing the chip, the Amiga would not start at all (black screen when powering on).

My question now: did anyone here ever had success replacing a 8371 with a 8372A on a rev 3?

Ps. my Amiga is PAL and I disconnected pin 41 of the new 8372A when I tried to install it.

[Schoenfeld]

d4rk3lf: You don't use ADFs at all - except maybe for installation of a program. Other than that. The ACA500plus is geared towards *avoiding* the mess that you have with ADFs. You have a computer with a solid-state-disk - use it.

jokkemokke: Yes, the 8372A will work in Rev.3. You are most likely facing a contact problem.

Jens

[demolition]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

d4rk3lf: You don't use ADFs at all - except maybe for installation of a program.

And I think he primarily want to install software by mounting ADF files in Workbench since lots of software is still found in ADF format. Booting from ADF images is a completely different matter and you are right that it is generally not necessary with an ACA500plus equipped machine.

Thanks, Jens. I think I will give it another try then. I returned the 8372A because I thought that it had a problem, so I will see if I can find another one.

Just to be sure: The only thing I need to do when installing a 8372A in a rev 3 PAL Amiga is to cover pin 41 on the 8372A, right? Or are other modifications needed?

[d4rk3lf]

Thanks guys... but...
How do I install, for example: Lightwave 3.5 or any other software that dont have preinstaled whdload version?
Should i mount boot card to PC, and then, using winuae, install it?
So far I avoided moving my boot card out of aca 500 plus, just using auxr card to transfer whdload games (and it works great), and kinda just wanted some app on my amiga that can mount adf, so I avoid using real floppy

Still a big nuub in all of this, and grateful for any help.

Cheers