Some tech questions about an apparently modified A1200 board and a Zorro board

[eLowar]

Greetings,

Firstly, please take a look at this (it's a REV 1D.1 Amiga 1200 board):



Does anybody know what that little wire (marked with a pointing finger) could be good for?

Secondly, I have this Zorro board (Mikronik) here and I'd like to know what the two marked connectors are good for:



Thanks in advance for any hints,
-- Markus

[Enverex]

In the bottom picture, the middle connector is either a P8 or P9 AT power supply connector, whichever fits (they are slightly different). On the bottom the connector is either a floppy connector or an IDE connector, again, whichever fits. It COULD be a 50 pin SCSI connector, so if a floppy and IDE cable don't fit, thats what it is.

[redblade]

*drool* pics of Amiga hardware =]]].

[Enverex]

Right, got it sorted by some experienced people. Turns out the early 1D4 boards all had a track fault and this was the way around it. These modifications were made at the factories so it isn't a home user alteration.

[eLowar]

Ah yes, thanks. I sort of expected it to be something like that after a few people told me they have the same wire.

One more thing about that Zorro board I forgot to ask. That power supply, will it only be for the board itself or for the whole computer (amiga board + zorro board I mean)?

In the same context, the A1200 board I have is still built into a part of an Infinitiv tower system (the part with the keyboard interface) and has a similar (or identical, too lazy to check right now) looking power connector going to the inside. What do you figure is that good for? Can I maybe use it instead of the external one?

[Enverex]

No, they ALL need to be plugged in, they don't replace the normal power connectors. Basically they normally need their own power and thus if something has a power connector, it needs plugging in aswell.

[eLowar]

But what does that internal connector on the A1200 board supply with power then? It hasn't ever been connected (since I've had it) and everything seems to be working fine.

It does look like it's part of the tower btw, not of the board itself, I can't really tell cause I can't really see where it's going (covered by plastic I can't seem to move easily and I don't want to break anything). But I don't see what the tower would need much power for, I can't imagine that keyboard interface using up much. Also I haven't had any problems with the external keyboard I'm using either.

(please excuse all the edits)

[Enverex]

Can you get a picture of it because I can't really visualise what you are talking about...

[eLowar]

The plastic you see goes all the way across the board. Above the VGA connector it has a PS/2 keyboard connector to the outside (and a very short ribbon cable going to the board's keyboard connector I assume) and above the Amiga's power connector it has a connector looking like that of a ribbon cable with 10 holes (if that might mean anything). It's hard to tell if there's any connection to the Amiga board in that area, it doesn't really look like it though.

Excuse all the dirt, this is a board I only just got and haven't cleaned yet. My other A1200 board is embedded in the same kind of tower part.

[ant512]

Originally posted by Enverex
No, they ALL need to be plugged in, they don't replace the normal power connectors. Basically they normally need their own power and thus if something has a power connector, it needs plugging in aswell.

Not sure exactly what you're saying here, so forgive me if I've got the wrong idea.

If eLowar is asking if he needs to power the A1200 motherboard via its own PSU socket, and the Zorro IV board via its AT/ATX socket at the same time, the answer is no. The Zorro board power connector will power the ZIV, the A1200, and any peripherals (clock port, Zorro, PCMCIA, accelerator, etc). The power is transferred through the A1200's trapdoor expansion slot.

I don't know what will happen if you try to plug two PSUs in at the same time, but I don't think it can be good.

I think the mysterious power connector in the photo above is to power the 1200's motherboard if you haven't got a ZIV busboard. You plug the standard AT/ATX power connector from the PSU into that socket, which is connected to the A1200's power connector on the left of the motherboard. My Power Tower does not have the white plastic plate attached - I must have an older version, as it just came with an AT PSU -> Amiga cable, which I had to shove between the back of the tower and the blanking plate.

[eLowar]

Yeah, thank you for your reply. I meanwhile found the manual of this tower system (online, I didn't get it with the tower) and it suggests the same thing. It even warns that there might be system malfunctions if both get connected at the same time.

As for that mysterious connector, it ends in that little black connector I described before right above the external power connector of the amiga board. The tower normally comes with a little white double-plug that connects those two. Simple and pretty solution. Unfortunately I don't have that plug. But that's no problem now that I have that zorro board.