My uber-basic A1200T Project

Fingerlickin_B · 21 December 2007, 14:13

Just got a little bored and thought I’d share my A1200T project with you all.

As seen by positioning of the motherboard, there has been no consideration for the later addition of a PCI bus board, as I don’t really need one for my purposes.

The rear of the case still needs to be closed off & external connectors added, but to date I’ve been more concerned with getting various OS & internal wiring sorted out…so the rest of the hardware “fixings” can wait until the new year.

Unseen/hiding under all the ribbon cables are also a PS2 keyboard adaptor & an automatic joystick-to-mouse switcher leading to a PS2 mouse adaptor.

The top of the case pops off after undoing a couple of thumbscrews, making it easy to access the PCMCIA port.

When adding the final rear connectors there will be a switch soldered by wires to the DKB 1202 memory jumper pins to enable the PCMCIA by lowering RAM capability of the DKB when needed for PCMCIA access.

Nothing special, but perfect for my needs…& sharing is caring, right?

PZ.

Peter · 21 December 2007, 14:48

Nice one... having slaved over a tower project recently I know how much time and effort go into these projects... keep up the good work - it's fun - I would like to do another Tower in the new year... oh yeah, when I get a job and some more money!

s2325 · 21 December 2007, 14:54

What is that black "keyboard" to the right on first photo?

Shoonay · 21 December 2007, 15:12

Cool, love the "artistic mess" style!

Needs a HD with KG's WHDLoad and maybe a USB to showoff.

Fingerlickin_B · 21 December 2007, 15:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by s2325

What is that black "keyboard" to the right on first photo?

You might just be seeing a shadow.

There are arcade buttons in the table behind it and the bases/microswitches of them are hanging out the bottom uncovered.

Is that what you were asking about?

Thanks to the others also, but as I said, it's basic & I was not expecting any kudos

PZ.

cv643d · 23 December 2007, 16:01

Classic example of 90'ies style Amiga tower:

Big tower but only about 30% space used inside.

Nice initiative though

_ThEcRoW · 23 December 2007, 16:04

You can boot from a cf card sitting in the pcmcia port?

Bamiga2002 · 23 December 2007, 17:50

@Fingerlickin_B:
You have exactly the same tower as i have! Excluding the Boing-sticker on it

.

cv643d · 24 December 2007, 01:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by _ThEcRoW

You can boot from a cf card sitting in the pcmcia port?

no

(piru style answer)

Fingerlickin_B · 24 December 2007, 12:10

Crow, cv643d is correct, I have tried to boot from the CF card in PCMCIA slot, but have since come to the conclusion that it is not possible

cv643d, the reason I used such a large tower was so I could still access the PCMCIA slot without the need for a 90 degree adapter...plus we have the same ones at work & I liked the way the top pops off

Bamiga2002, they are a cool tower hey?

PZ.

Zetr0 · 24 December 2007, 13:59

at present the only way to boot using the pcmcia card is to have a modified workbench disk that hands over the booting process to the cf card in the pcmcia port.

ppill has done some good work in this area allowing for a classic workbench to be installed and executed from the pcmcia cf card by booting from floppy initially first.

its a mute point but it show the "technically possible" aspect of it.

after discussing this with Alexh and Jope, the possibility of "modified" kickstart roms is a possibility allowing the amiga to load up the pcmcia controller at boot.

alas i haven't looked much further into this, but there are a few packaged to look at for kickrom modification.

to state a point, there are some "modified" kickroms that allow you to boot from CDROM an an a1200

Pyromania · 24 December 2007, 22:29

Fingerlickin_B, that is pretty cool system. Love the button for CF or HD.

Bamiga2002 · 07 January 2008, 11:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fingerlickin_B

Bamiga2002, they are a cool tower hey?

Yep and i chose the tower for it's spacy size. Do you have the "legs" under the tower? Did you manage to wire the power & hd LED's to work? I just have the power led working, don't know why the hd-led refuses to work...maybe it needs replacing?

Jope · 09 January 2008, 20:07

Probably it's just reversed? The A1200 has only one ground in the led connector, I guess you figured out that much. :-)

Fingerlickin_B · 11 January 2008, 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamiga2002

Yep and i chose the tower for it's spacy size. Do you have the "legs" under the tower? Did you manage to wire the power & hd LED's to work? I just have the power led working, don't know why the hd-led refuses to work...maybe it needs replacing?

The original "legs" were too tall, so I took them out and just put in some regular rubber press-in feet.

I had both those original LEDs working at first, but then they blew in no time...it's a common problem I've found after putting Amiga mobos into various PC cases, so they get replaced with higher rated ones pretty fast.

PZ.

Zetr0 · 11 January 2008, 13:42

*pssst*

*whispers to Fingerz* solder a 20k resistor to the led + leg then solder the line from the miggy to it.... (then it wont blow)

Fingerlickin_B · 13 April 2008, 09:50

Finally got around to replacing the LEDs today.

Took a pic at start-up...blue for power & red for HDD activity...heaps better than the old (not very bright) orange & green combination

PZ.

Fingerlickin_B · 25 July 2008, 11:06

Now with Blizzard 1230 MkIV & 32mb RAM fitted today...much faster!

Thanks to Cerberus73!

PZ.

Zetr0 · 25 July 2008, 11:07

@Fingerz

Blue / Red LED Pimp'age!!!!

Lovin' it!

Fingerlickin_B · 25 July 2008, 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zetr0

@Fingerz

Blue / Red LED Pimp'age!!!!

Lovin' it!

Thanks Z!

More pr0n to come once the internal multicard reader arrives...hooked up to Subway, I can't wait!!!!

PZ.

*edit* - I just realised that 5h00n4y suggested USB late last year...well I'll finally be doing it man, maybe your suggestion stuck in my head?

21 December 2007, 14:13	#1
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	My uber-basic A1200T Project Just got a little bored and thought I’d share my A1200T project with you all. As seen by positioning of the motherboard, there has been no consideration for the later addition of a PCI bus board, as I don’t really need one for my purposes. The rear of the case still needs to be closed off & external connectors added, but to date I’ve been more concerned with getting various OS & internal wiring sorted out…so the rest of the hardware “fixings” can wait until the new year. Unseen/hiding under all the ribbon cables are also a PS2 keyboard adaptor & an automatic joystick-to-mouse switcher leading to a PS2 mouse adaptor. The top of the case pops off after undoing a couple of thumbscrews, making it easy to access the PCMCIA port. When adding the final rear connectors there will be a switch soldered by wires to the DKB 1202 memory jumper pins to enable the PCMCIA by lowering RAM capability of the DKB when needed for PCMCIA access. Nothing special, but perfect for my needs…& sharing is caring, right? PZ.

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21 December 2007, 14:48	#2
Peter Still an Amiga user Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Kent Age: 55 Posts: 2,715	Nice one... having slaved over a tower project recently I know how much time and effort go into these projects... keep up the good work - it's fun - I would like to do another Tower in the new year... oh yeah, when I get a job and some more money!

21 December 2007, 14:54	#3
s2325 Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Gargore Age: 43 Posts: 17,789	What is that black "keyboard" to the right on first photo?

21 December 2007, 15:12	#4
Shoonay Global Caturator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Porando Age: 43 Posts: 6,105	Cool, love the "artistic mess" style! Needs a HD with KG's WHDLoad and maybe a USB to showoff.

23 December 2007, 16:01	#6
cv643d Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 762	Classic example of 90'ies style Amiga tower: Big tower but only about 30% space used inside. Nice initiative though

23 December 2007, 16:04	#7
_ThEcRoW Amiga NetRunner Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Spain Age: 45 Posts: 941	You can boot from a cf card sitting in the pcmcia port?

23 December 2007, 17:50	#8
Bamiga2002 BlizzardPPC'less Join Date: May 2004 Location: Finland Age: 46 Posts: 3,210	@Fingerlickin_B: You have exactly the same tower as i have! Excluding the Boing-sticker on it .

24 December 2007, 12:10	#10
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Crow, cv643d is correct, I have tried to boot from the CF card in PCMCIA slot, but have since come to the conclusion that it is not possible cv643d, the reason I used such a large tower was so I could still access the PCMCIA slot without the need for a 90 degree adapter...plus we have the same ones at work & I liked the way the top pops off Bamiga2002, they are a cool tower hey? PZ.

24 December 2007, 13:59	#11
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	at present the only way to boot using the pcmcia card is to have a modified workbench disk that hands over the booting process to the cf card in the pcmcia port. ppill has done some good work in this area allowing for a classic workbench to be installed and executed from the pcmcia cf card by booting from floppy initially first. its a mute point but it show the "technically possible" aspect of it. after discussing this with Alexh and Jope, the possibility of "modified" kickstart roms is a possibility allowing the amiga to load up the pcmcia controller at boot. alas i haven't looked much further into this, but there are a few packaged to look at for kickrom modification. to state a point, there are some "modified" kickroms that allow you to boot from CDROM an an a1200

24 December 2007, 22:29	#12
Pyromania Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 3,375	Fingerlickin_B, that is pretty cool system. Love the button for CF or HD.

09 January 2008, 20:07	#14
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,861	Probably it's just reversed? The A1200 has only one ground in the led connector, I guess you figured out that much. :-)

11 January 2008, 13:42	#16
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	pssst whispers to Fingerz solder a 20k resistor to the led + leg then solder the line from the miggy to it.... (then it wont blow)

13 April 2008, 09:50	#17
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Finally got around to replacing the LEDs today. Took a pic at start-up...blue for power & red for HDD activity...heaps better than the old (not very bright) orange & green combination PZ.

25 July 2008, 11:06	#18
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Now with Blizzard 1230 MkIV & 32mb RAM fitted today...much faster! Thanks to Cerberus73! PZ.

25 July 2008, 11:07	#19
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	@Fingerz Blue / Red LED Pimp'age!!!! Lovin' it!

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