Installing a Blizzard 1230 IV

AmigaFan · 12 January 2009, 21:47

Hey there fellow Amiga fans!

I recently started to rediscover the awesomeness that is Amiga. I used to have an Amiga 500 in my childhood, but decided to go for a 1200 now (because of whdload, pcmcia, etc). I got an IDE-CF adapter, sucessfully installed Workbench on CF and bought a copy of whdload and a PCMCIA-CF adapter. All went well, but soon I noticed that 2MB is not enough for many of the games. So after doing some research I decided to buy a Blizzard 1230 IV by Phase 5, as that seems to be the best way to go (more RAM, more speed for Workbench).

Since I'm completely new to Amiga accelerator cards, I'd like to ask if there is anything I need to know before installing the 1230 IV? For instance, do I need to install a specific patch on my HDD?

Thanks!

PS.
Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

meega · 12 January 2009, 22:00

Just plug it onto the expansion slot, job done.

thgill · 12 January 2009, 22:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmigaFan

Since I'm completely new to Amiga accelerator cards, I'd like to ask if there is anything I need to know before installing the 1230 IV? For instance, do I need to install a specific patch on my HDD?

No real need to install any other software for it to work. Plug it in and thats that.

But, you might find it easier to install it in the machine with the top off the Amiga and the keyboard out of the way. Simply trying to install it only through the trap door on the bottom of the machine can sometimes be frustrating as you can't fully see the connector and how its positioned.

JACK98 · 12 January 2009, 22:32

thinking of getting one of them myself.whats an average price for blizzard?.sounds great that i can plug it in.thought i would had to leave the trapdoor off the A1200 or tower it up cause of heat problems.

thgill · 12 January 2009, 22:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by JACK98

thinking of getting one of them myself,whats an average price for blizzard?,sounds great that i can plug it in,thaught i would had to leave the trapdoor off the A1200 or tower it up cause of heat problems

I am no authority on them, but generally the Blizzard cards are among the most expensive of the accelerators.

You can probably expect to pay between $150 to $250 depending on which cpu/fpu/ram amount and if it has the optional scsi addon.

Generally there is no need to put your A1200 in a tower unless you go with an 040 or some 060 cards. Though some of those run cool enough that you get away with just the stock desktop configuration.

JACK98 · 12 January 2009, 22:43

ive seen that price too on ebay.made me wonder would it be worth it.i seen some on analgoic uk website too.they are cheaper,they mightn't be as good.but its a start i think.link here

http://www.analogic.co.uk/Amiga_Addons&Upgrades.html

prowler · 12 January 2009, 23:00

Hi Jack,
I wouldn't recommend buying from Analogic. I bought an A1200 8MB Memory Upgrade from them some years ago and I had nothing but intermittent errors with it due to dry joints. In the end I had to resolder nearly every joint on the board. But if you're good with a soldering iron, then go right ahead, and good luck, mate!

Graham Humphrey · 12 January 2009, 23:02

I bought a memory expansion from Analogic years ago and never had any problems with it, it worked fine. Guess we all have different experiences with different companies.

AmigaFan · 12 January 2009, 23:03

Thanks for the replies. I haven't received the card yet, I just wanted to make sure before.

Yeah, those Blizzard accelerators are quite expensive; and prices seem to be going up as far as i can tell. I actually paid less for my Amiga 1200 (complete with monitor, external fdd, mouse, joystick, floppies, pcmcia-CF adapter and CF card) than for the accelerator.

prowler · 12 January 2009, 23:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham Humphrey

I bought a memory expansion from Analogic years ago and never had any problems with it, it worked fine. Guess we all have different experiences with different companies.

It's good to hear that, Graham. Maybe my memory card was made/refurbished by their trainee/apprentice. Who knows?

JACK98 · 12 January 2009, 23:10

im sure not their fault really.probably just left over stock.that's been sitting there for years.

JACK98 · 12 January 2009, 23:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmigaFan

Thanks for the replies. I haven't received the card yet, I just wanted to make sure before.

Yeah, those Blizzard accelerators are quite expensive; and prices seem to be going up as far as i can tell. I actually paid less for my Amiga 1200 (complete with monitor, external fdd, mouse, joystick, floppies, pcmcia-CF adapter and CF card) than for the accelerator.

Was in that situation myself.bought a cd32,looking at sx1 expansion.then i consider would be cheaper just buying an A1200 and upgrading that myself.

NovaCoder · 12 January 2009, 23:18

Yep it's best to remove the top-case and keyboard as they can be a real bitch to get in, always give your motherboard contacts a quick clean with PCB cleaner before insertion and then you're good to go

You can expand the Blizz Mk4 up to 64mb RAM and still fit it into the standard case but you'll need to lose the trap-door which is prob a good idea anyway as this helps with cooling. It's also a good idea to use a dab of non-caustic silicon to stop the card moving about after you lose that door. After you get some more RAM you can start moving things into FAST RAM which will really speed up your system and free up your CHIP RAM.

DoogUK · 12 January 2009, 23:45

Might be a good idea to mention copying KS into fast ram for faster operations on the blizz...

meega · 12 January 2009, 23:49

I believe that's the default action (MapROM), you have to stop it doing that if you don't want 0.5MB pinched out of your RAM simm.

NovaCoder · 13 January 2009, 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoogUK

Might be a good idea to mention copying KS into fast ram for faster operations on the blizz...

Good point, apparently BlizzKick is better than just using the MAP-ROM jumper (something I've yet to try myself). It sounds like you get the benefit of BlizzKick over the jumper when you start patching the standard ROMS as the jumper just copies the contents of the ROM chips into memory and would overwrite any patches.

DoogUK · 13 January 2009, 00:37

It's a shame those apollo's never had a maprom jumper feature.....remapollo was a pain to work with.

meega · 13 January 2009, 01:04

As a Blizzard MkIV should have a full 030 with working mmu, you can disable the MapROM by setting the jumper and use "CPU FastROM" instead, if you prefer (or do the same function with MCP or the like). That way you can toggle it on and off.

NovaCoder · 13 January 2009, 01:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by meega

As a Blizzard MkIV should have a full 030 with working mmu, you can disable the MapROM by setting the jumper and use "CPU FastROM" instead, if you prefer (or do the same function with MCP or the like). That way you can toggle it on and off.

I assume Blizzkick is still better than using 'CPU FastROM' though?

AmigaFan · 15 January 2009, 15:08

I got the card, but it doesn't seem to fit. When I plug it it, it's very loose (hangs downwards as you can see in the second picture), and the cover won't fit, however, i can't seem to push it further to the left. Is the connector on the left of the Amiga's trap door slot supposed to be that close to the bottom or did the previous owner screw it up somehow?

12 January 2009, 21:47	#1
AmigaFan Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 62	Installing a Blizzard 1230 IV Hey there fellow Amiga fans! I recently started to rediscover the awesomeness that is Amiga. I used to have an Amiga 500 in my childhood, but decided to go for a 1200 now (because of whdload, pcmcia, etc). I got an IDE-CF adapter, sucessfully installed Workbench on CF and bought a copy of whdload and a PCMCIA-CF adapter. All went well, but soon I noticed that 2MB is not enough for many of the games. So after doing some research I decided to buy a Blizzard 1230 IV by Phase 5, as that seems to be the best way to go (more RAM, more speed for Workbench). Since I'm completely new to Amiga accelerator cards, I'd like to ask if there is anything I need to know before installing the 1230 IV? For instance, do I need to install a specific patch on my HDD? Thanks! PS. Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

12 January 2009, 22:32	#4
JACK98 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: N/A Posts: 420	thinking of getting one of them myself.whats an average price for blizzard?.sounds great that i can plug it in.thought i would had to leave the trapdoor off the A1200 or tower it up cause of heat problems. Last edited by JACK98; 19 November 2015 at 23:46.

12 January 2009, 22:43	#6
JACK98 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: N/A Posts: 420	ive seen that price too on ebay.made me wonder would it be worth it.i seen some on analgoic uk website too.they are cheaper,they mightn't be as good.but its a start i think.link here http://www.analogic.co.uk/Amiga_Addons&Upgrades.html Last edited by JACK98; 15 November 2013 at 20:02.

12 January 2009, 23:10	#11
JACK98 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: N/A Posts: 420	im sure not their fault really.probably just left over stock.that's been sitting there for years. Last edited by JACK98; 15 November 2013 at 20:01.

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12 January 2009, 22:00	#2
meega Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Oooh what a feeling yeaaah dancing on the ceiling Posts: 314	Just plug it onto the expansion slot, job done.

12 January 2009, 23:00	#7
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hi Jack, I wouldn't recommend buying from Analogic. I bought an A1200 8MB Memory Upgrade from them some years ago and I had nothing but intermittent errors with it due to dry joints. In the end I had to resolder nearly every joint on the board. But if you're good with a soldering iron, then go right ahead, and good luck, mate!

12 January 2009, 23:02	#8
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	I bought a memory expansion from Analogic years ago and never had any problems with it, it worked fine. Guess we all have different experiences with different companies.

12 January 2009, 23:03	#9
AmigaFan Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 62	Thanks for the replies. I haven't received the card yet, I just wanted to make sure before. Yeah, those Blizzard accelerators are quite expensive; and prices seem to be going up as far as i can tell. I actually paid less for my Amiga 1200 (complete with monitor, external fdd, mouse, joystick, floppies, pcmcia-CF adapter and CF card) than for the accelerator.

12 January 2009, 23:18	#13
NovaCoder Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne/Australia Posts: 4,405	Yep it's best to remove the top-case and keyboard as they can be a real bitch to get in, always give your motherboard contacts a quick clean with PCB cleaner before insertion and then you're good to go You can expand the Blizz Mk4 up to 64mb RAM and still fit it into the standard case but you'll need to lose the trap-door which is prob a good idea anyway as this helps with cooling. It's also a good idea to use a dab of non-caustic silicon to stop the card moving about after you lose that door. After you get some more RAM you can start moving things into FAST RAM which will really speed up your system and free up your CHIP RAM.

12 January 2009, 23:45	#14
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	Might be a good idea to mention copying KS into fast ram for faster operations on the blizz...

12 January 2009, 23:49	#15
meega Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Oooh what a feeling yeaaah dancing on the ceiling Posts: 314	I believe that's the default action (MapROM), you have to stop it doing that if you don't want 0.5MB pinched out of your RAM simm.

13 January 2009, 00:37	#17
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	It's a shame those apollo's never had a maprom jumper feature.....remapollo was a pain to work with.

13 January 2009, 01:04	#18
meega Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Oooh what a feeling yeaaah dancing on the ceiling Posts: 314	As a Blizzard MkIV should have a full 030 with working mmu, you can disable the MapROM by setting the jumper and use "CPU FastROM" instead, if you prefer (or do the same function with MCP or the like). That way you can toggle it on and off.

15 January 2009, 15:08	#20
AmigaFan Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 62	I got the card, but it doesn't seem to fit. When I plug it it, it's very loose (hangs downwards as you can see in the second picture), and the cover won't fit, however, i can't seem to push it further to the left. Is the connector on the left of the Amiga's trap door slot supposed to be that close to the bottom or did the previous owner screw it up somehow?

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