ACA1233n & RapidRoad Case issue

[Spann3r]

I am after some ideas on how to fit a ACA1233n with RapidRoad into my Amiga 1200.

The issue I am having is when the RapidRoad is connected to the ACA1233n clockport the Amiga will not boot, I believe this is due to the cable pushing against the Amiga case and causing the ACA1233n to lose contact with the edge connector on some pins.

Things I have tried to prove my theory:

1. ACA1233n on its own. Amiga boots
2. ACA1233n with realtime clock module. Amiga boots.
3. ACA1233n with just cable connected, no RapidRoad. Amiga fails to boot.

One test I will be doing tonight is taking the motherboard out of the case and seeing if the machine boots with all connected.

I am unable to use the Amiga's internal clockport as my A1200 is a 1B with the full clockport header and the connector that came with the RapidRoad will not fit, also the clockport on the ACA1233n gives the RapidRoad a 55% speed increase.

What I am in need of doing is either:

1. Solder the ribbon cable to the ACA1233n in place of the pins
2. Move the pins to the opposite side of the card
3. Get a low profile connector, unable to find one.
4. Remove the extra pin headers on the A1200 internal clockport, prefer not to.

Does anyone have any other ideas? and cutting a hole in the bottom of the case is not an option

[Daedalus]

It's possible that it's not actually losing connection with the trapdoor connector, but is shorting out against the upper shield. This is a known issue with some A1200s, and either removing the upper shield completely, or bending the part above the trapdoor connector up inside the shield and out of the way, should solve the issue.

[Spann3r]

Upper shield is long gone.

Additional modifications that have already been done to my A1200:

• Recap
• RF Modulator removed
• Power supply replaced with a Pico, and once I get the RapidRoad working I will be taking power direct from the Pico
• CF adapter that puts the card above the PCMICA slot
• Indivision AGA MK2cr
• Upper RF shield removed

[Dynamic_Computi]

What is odd is that you say it does not boot when you have the cable connected, but no Rapid Road... I know you have quadruple checked the direction of the cable so you know that is right - But could it be a bad cable? Something is shorting out here, and with just the cable connected and no additional hardware this issue should not exist.
Do you have the tools to test the continuity of the cable and see if maybe there is an internal break and it is shorting? It would have to be a really tiny probe.

[Spann3r]

When I power the Amiga up with all the RaidRoad connected the white LED lights straight away, from the short manual

"After about one second, the white LED will light up, showing that the power- and clockport interface connection is correct"

But tonight I will double check the cable and will also try it out the case.

Also one other thing I could try is I am running Kickstart 3.x, I will try my 3.1 ROMS.

[Spann3r]

I did some more testing tonight with the motherboard out of the case and what I have found is that if the ACA1233n is at a slight angle the Amiga will fail to boot, by making sure it is straight it will boot, and also boot with the RapidRoad. So it is differentially the connection between the Amiga trapdoor edge connector and the ACA1233n.

So tonight I have cleaned up the edge connector with a Terminal cleaning brush and some alcohol.

Have not been able to test it back in the case as want to make a modification to the Pico power cables.