Future plans for stock A600

So, my A600 is back from the dark corners of the attic.

I am a fresh member here and just posted a thread in the "new members intro" section. Quick summary; I have rediscovered my A600 (MB rev. 1.5) which I bought in 1992 and used a few years before making the swith to PC. I was very young then, and only used the Amiga for games from floppy.

The warranty seal was only broken last week, when I tried my newly aquired Gotek. Fantastic device, especially as only 10% of my floppies are still working.

I have been doing A LOT of googling and forum reading lately, but I still have some questions. I will appreciate your inputs!

My future plans for the machine is to clean it up, but I will not go further than the Gotek with regards to upgrading. My memories with Amiga is gaming, and I don`t think I have even seen the workbench... so I don`t think I will go there.

So, my questions:

1) As mentioned my A600 is completely stock. Will there be any benefits from ram upgrade (trap door) if I only use Gotek and ADF files?

2) I have seen some guides for switching between Gotek and floppy (df0), however they were all for A500/A1200. The trick was to power both units, and route the floppy cable to both - but with a switch on the no. 10 wire. Is this mod possible on A600 as well? Will there be any issues with the power supply (25 watts)?

3) What is the best way to clean the case and pcb? I have read some opinions, from gentle brushing to dishwasher, but still wondering.

4) Recapping.. are most of the sets offered good quality, or is there a particular place to buy?

5) I know that purists say that to paint/cut the case is a crime, and I completely understand that view.. however my Amiga is terribly yellowed, and I don`t have any faith in retr0bright`ing. So.. I believe I will paint (vinyl dye) both case and keyboard, and if I will be able to switch floppy and gotek, I think I will integrate the Gotek buttons, display and usb port in the case. Any guides for A600 on this? Is there a good place for the Gotek inside when floppy is installed?

I am sure I will have more questions, but for now this is the things I have not been able to decide on. I have not touched a soldering iron for 10 years, but I used to work with electronics production (soldering, assembly etc.), so I believe the skills are somewhere in the back of my mind

[AwoLStill]

If you wish to retain an original case, you can usually find them on ebay for a relatively low cost and in reasonable condition, if you want to paint / dye yours, why not!

for the stock hardware questions, you may be better asking the question in here:
http://eab.abime.net/forumdisplay.php?f=20

and for the Gotek Question perhaps in here:
http://eab.abime.net/forumdisplay.php?f=105

If you want to see Open Source hardware projects, the links above will help. There's some very interesting open source hardware projects for the A600, from the simple, to the more difficult.

As for workbench, it is useful. If you fit a hdd, and have your games on hdd, workbench can help you get to your games, and your games can load faster than from floppy.
But, fitting a HDD and running workbench will use a little RAM for that, and some games may need extra, so a trapdoor ram expansion could help, but there are other options.

IMHO, loading games from HDD (or with an adapter, compact flash, sd card, msata, or ssd) makes life easier and better, for little cost.

Thanks for replying.

You are right, I will post my questions in the subforums.
As for now, I am just collecting equipment. Not too much directly Amiga related, so far I have ordered RGB-Scart cable and a Scart-HDMI converter. Also I have some key stickers and replacement capacitors on its way.

But what is more, my Amiga project gave me an excuse to stock up on some tools and equipment for electronics repair. I have some experience from working with this in the past, but I never had much tools at home. Now I have ordered a solder rework station and a lot of various soldering/electronic DYI equipment.

Maybe I will get a HDD in time, who knows. But for now I am enjoying the Gotek!

[deicidal]

Considering how cheap it is to do i would recommend fitting as CF/SD card as a HDD.

[LuMan]

Originally Posted by Reb

however my Amiga is terribly yellowed, and I don`t have any faith in retr0bright`ing.

Why do you have no faith in Retr0briting? There are loads of examples of this working well, when done properly, and it's much better than painting if you want that full, original Amiga look

I did an A600 rebuild some years ago and shoved it on my (very old) website, here: http://www.luweb.co.uk/Amiga/a600rebuild.htm

I also used 'BBlonde' hair dye straight out the bottle and it worked brilliantly - even in our UK sunshine!!

Of course, you need to before and after pics, even if you paint it

Best wishes and hope you have loads of fun

[Amiga1992]

Hi Reb,

Originally Posted by Reb

1) As mentioned my A600 is completely stock. Will there be any benefits from ram upgrade (trap door) if I only use Gotek and ADF files?

Yes. Many games take advantage of extra Chip RAM.
I think it's a rule of thumb to try to put as much RAM in an Amiga as it is possible.

Whenever you get into WHDLoad games, you will appreciate the extra RAM too. Even with just 2MB Chip RAM you can load a lot of WHDLoad games.

Is this mod possible on A600 as well? Will there be any issues with the power supply (25 watts)?

The mod for the A600 is not as easy and it involves messing with tiny surface mount components. If you are not confident in being able to work with those, I would avoid.
Look here at this video of the procedure being made: [ Show youtube player ]

Power supply should be fine.

3) What is the best way to clean the case and pcb? I have read some opinions, from gentle brushing to dishwasher, but still wondering.

Dismantle it all, and wash all plastic pieces on your sink with dishwasher soap and a scrubby brush. Be careful but firm.
I would be wary of the dishwasher melting it, personally.

4) Recapping.. are most of the sets offered good quality, or is there a particular place to buy?

Buying a set "for Amiga" usually means you are paying through the nose just for being "lazy" and searching for that specific term. The caps are standard and the lists are available online everywhere, you can source them on your own and it'd be much cheaper and you can choose your preferred brand of caps.

5) I know that purists say that to paint/cut the case is a crime, and I completely understand that view.. however my Amiga is terribly yellowed

Yeah I would leave it as is. Not as much as a crime, the painting solutions just don't look good enough. Dye might be OK, but then you have the keys, which you cant really sort out, or you have to put nasty stickers on them... to me it all creates more trouble than it is worth.

Retrobright DOES WORK though, if all you want to achieve is the original color, you might as well do that first, there's nothing to lose.

I think I will integrate the Gotek buttons, display and usb port in the case. Any guides for A600 on this? Is there a good place for the Gotek inside when floppy is installed?

Not really, but there's plenty of people that have done it and you can peep at their pictures around here in the Hardware/Mods subforum.

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by Akira

The mod for the A600 is not as easy and it involves messing with tiny surface mount components. If you are not confident in being able to work with those, I would avoid.
Look here at this video of the procedure being made:

Disclaimer: I had had a few beers by that stage, and had never done that mod before

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

Disclaimer: I had had a few beers by that stage, and had never done that mod before

Wait is that you? I didn't know! Haha.
Good job on the mod mate

[Daedalus]

Yep that's me Cheers!

Nice to see some activity on my thread!

Thanks for all the inputs, appreciate it.
When it comes to the DF0 switch mod, maybe I was not clear enough.. I meant switching just the DF0 between FDD and Gotek - one at a time. I know that switching DF0 and DF1 is a bit more complicated.

The story so far is that I picked up another A600 for small money. It did not boot initially, but a cap change sorted that. This one is almost in mint condition, nice and white. I intent to keep it like that, with any mods being non-destructive - while I will allow myself to be a little more liberal with the mods on my old yellow machine

Have not done much so far, still collecting parts both Amiga specific and general soldering/electronics stuff. Finding time is also an issue as I have 3 small kids at home.
Have been enjoying some Amiga gaming with my eldest one, though