New products for C64 and Amiga from Individual Computers

[MagerValp]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

The Euro is a good 25% weaker today compared to a year ago when the project was planned.

It doesn't help that the Swedish krona has dropped a further 10% vs the Euro...

Since I pay all of the material in USD, but my main accounting is in EUR, I'd be suffering quite some damage if I keep the originally-planned price of 149,- EUR per board. It'll be 159,- EUR per board.

Alright, that's a little more reasonable than €200. Chips I have a-plenty, and I have no need for ZIF sockets.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by shuttlepilot

What's different (if anything) about these boards up for auction?

These come fully equipped with new-old-stock chips, and you have a choice of "ZIF sockets or not".

The boards that go on sale after that will have ZIF sockets only, and three of the four ZIF sockets will be empty (CPU, SID and PLA). Further, the CIA chips are used, not new-old-stock. The timing generator may or may not be a replacement circuit - depends on what's left after the auction.

For the boards "with empty sockets", I don't have any choice but to only sell them with ZIF sockets. European customer protection laws would make returns an expensive endeavour for me - many people don't have the skills to put a chip into a non-ZIF socket, so what would happen is roughly this:

- customer gets a lower price because of non-ZIF sockets
- customer installs chips, breaks something
- sends all stuff back, I need to spend time&money on the board
- I need to pay for the repair, maybe even replace a dead chip that the customer claims to have worked fine, then pay for return shipping

In numbers: I lose on each and every step along the way. That's not why I'm doing this, so I keep chances for customers to break things to a minimum.

Jens

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

As a result of the discussion on a1k.org, I'll look into designing a DC-DC converter that lets you use a standard 19V laptop supply for an A500/A1200.
Jens

Just to comment that I am VERY interested in this. I've got the highest request for a Psu in my desktop amiga (BPPC/BVision/CD rom/Subway/4way-Clockportexpander/Delfina/ACard/IDEFix/5 fans...).

I really need to try your solution.

[Higgy]

Originally Posted by Retrofan

Just to comment that I am VERY interested on this. I've got the highest request for a Psu in my desktop amiga (BPPC/BVision/CD rom/Subway/4way-Clockportexpander/Delfina/ACard/IDEFix/5 fans...).

I really need to try your solution.

Certainly sounds like a lot of people would be interested in this. We probably all have an old 19V laptop charger hanging around from an old laptop !

[lurch]

Jens the DC-DC converter is that a lot like a pico psu and adapter? I would be interested in something that can be cleanly mounted inside the A500 and A1200.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by lurch

Jens the DC-DC converter is that a lot like a pico psu and adapter? I would be interested in something that can be cleanly mounted inside the A500 and A1200.

To be user-friendly and not require soldering, it should probably be external and use the standard Amiga power connector. Otherwise, as you write, people can just use a PicoPSU. But I don't know what Jens has in mind.

[lurch]

Originally Posted by demolition

To be user-friendly and not require soldering, it should probably be external and use the standard Amiga power connector. Otherwise, as you write, people can just use a PicoPSU. But I don't know what Jens has in mind.

Hmm, a slim or small enclosed power brick would also be a good option :-) I use to use a pico with the 1200 before it was towered.

I'm currently using an external ATX PSU with the A500, but would be nice to have a tidier solution.

Looking forward to some pictures :-)

[xboxown]

Hey Schoenfeld,

I need your help in couple of things. Is this compatible with ACA 500 http://www.sandisk.com/products/memo...apacity=256GB? The reason I am asking is because today I just received my ACA1233 card and hooked it into my ACA 500 on my miggy 500 and I was able to watch the full episode of duckman at 28 fps with good quality sound and images and I loved it. My dream of watching movies on an Amiga 500 have finally become reality. I want to convert all the movies and cartoon shows from my PC HD to run on my Amiga 500 and I wish to watch them on my miggy 500. With a 256 GB capacity I will be able to store 64 movies if each movie is 4 GB in file size. That is why the larger the capacity of the CF the better for me, I want to turn my miggy 500 into a multimedia center. I also wish to put lots of mp3s in there as well, so it is very important for me to have HUGE, HUGE, and I mean HUGE disk space. The CF will be formatted as PC FAT32 so my Amiga should be able to see 500 GB if the situation arises.

Anyways, can you please tell me if that CF card is compatible with my ACA 500? Second question, which firm update do I need to fix a bug in my ACA500? Every time my Amiga 500 gurus for whatever reason instead of instantly seeing the guru screen and restarting immediately I get black screen and power LED turns off. I have to reboot my Amiga 500 again to see the guru then the Amiga resets again to boot and I find that annoying.

Plus another bug I noticed, if I switch to kickstart 1.3 mode I don't see the kickstart 1.3 insert disk screen...I just see the white scree or whatever color screen and the disk must be already in disk drive after reset in order for it to boot. Otherwise, if I put the disk later nothing happens and I have to soft reboot it. Is there a bug fix for this? What patch do I need to fix this?

P.S "Can I request firm update request feature. Can it be possible if the menu of the ACA500 when I disable the ACA500 that it literally 100% shuts off completely and it reverts back to the original CPU and kickstart on the main Amiga 500. That if I want to use the ACA500 again I have to turn off the Amiga and turn it back on. That when I disable ACA500 in the menu it simply shuts down the zorro II port or whatever reason."

Thanks in advance.

One final thing, you mentioned that my ACA500 have an IDE port to be able to use a CD-ROM in it. Where is the port? I cannot see it. Can you please put a picture showing the IDE port? Thanks in advance.

[alexh]

This forum is not the icomp support channel!

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by lurch

Jens the DC-DC converter is that a lot like a pico psu and adapter? I would be interested in something that can be cleanly mounted inside the A500 and A1200.

What I'm thinking of is an external unit that goes between the computer and a laptop PSU. Yes, it's a lot like pico PSU, but comes with the added bonus of the right connectors, the right power on the important rails (no need for 3.3V in an Amiga), so you don't need to solder anything, and you don't need to fear cross-regulation trouble. Further, PicoPSU is an open circuit board, and I will most likely use a C64 cartridge case. Not sure if this can be considered "tidy".

Maybe the C64 version fits in a Micromys V4 case - can't tell at this point.

Jens
(xboxown's question also came in via eMail and was answered there)

[Retrofan]

And what about the rare and bad amiga power connector, did you get them?

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Retrofan

And what about the rare and bad amiga power connector, did you get them?

I have a few hundred of the cable-side connectors in stock - plenty for the Amiga market.

Jens

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

Maybe the C64 version fits in a Micromys V4 case - can't tell at this point.

I was thinking about that too. So instead of a new power supply for the C64 you will then release this same solution also for the C64.

It seems to be simple and easy to make (), but seems a nice solution. I hope it can turn on my very demanding miggy.

I will buy both as soon as possible. Thanks Jens.

[lurch]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

What I'm thinking of is an external unit that goes between the computer and a laptop PSU. Yes, it's a lot like pico PSU, but comes with the added bonus of the right connectors, the right power on the important rails (no need for 3.3V in an Amiga), so you don't need to solder anything, and you don't need to fear cross-regulation trouble. Further, PicoPSU is an open circuit board, and I will most likely use a C64 cartridge case. Not sure if this can be considered "tidy".

Maybe the C64 version fits in a Micromys V4 case - can't tell at this point.

Will be interesting, the bonus is that it is in some sort of case. Looking forward to more updates about it.
With the Pico I ended up mounting it inside the A1200, ran out of room though with all the other mods so it ended up in a tower.

[dJOS]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

What I'm thinking of is an external unit that goes between the computer and a laptop PSU. Yes, it's a lot like pico PSU, but comes with the added bonus of the right connectors, the right power on the important rails (no need for 3.3V in an Amiga), so you don't need to solder anything, and you don't need to fear cross-regulation trouble. Further, PicoPSU is an open circuit board, and I will most likely use a C64 cartridge case. Not sure if this can be considered "tidy".

Maybe the C64 version fits in a Micromys V4 case - can't tell at this point.

Jens
(xboxown's question also came in via eMail and was answered there)

So the on/off switch would be on the cartridge sized case? That could work and I'd certainly be interested in 1 at least.

Edit: another cool option for the switch would be and inline unit close to the Amiga end of the cable, then we could shove the power brick and adaptor under our desks saving a lot of space.

Ps. I do realise that last idea would likely add cost, but if it is minimal it would be well worth it. I always envied the Atari guys with their case mounted on/off switch.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by dJOS

So the on/off switch would be on the cartridge sized case?

Not a switch, but a button that will toggle on/off.

Originally Posted by dJOS

Edit: another cool option for the switch would be and inline unit close to the Amiga end of the cable, then we could shove the power brick and adaptor under our desks saving a lot of space.

For the Amiga, I'm planning an 5V/8amp DC-DC converter. This requires quite a thick cable, and it's stretching the specs of the connector(s).

Length of the cable between the cartridge and the computer is planned to be 50cm, which should be long enough to find a nice space next to/behind the computer. The voltage drop in the cable will be compensated by a "sense" wire that is routed back from the connector to the control circuit, so the voltage is controlled "at the connector" and not at the source of the cable. With modern DC-DC converters, that's easy to do.

Jens

[Retrofan]

Wonderful. That's a fact. I need to use a short cable like AmigaKit's psu or in my ATX convertions I use a thicker than original cable.

[dJOS]

Sounds great Jens!

[CMTX]

Hello Jens, i've recently bought an ACA1233 and I want to upgrade it to the FPU option. I know its drawbacks but it's worth it imho . Sadly, I couldn't find any information about it in the icomp.wiki, so I want to make you a question.

I've read here and there that the fpu on this card can run synchronous and asynchronous (Correct me if i'm wrong). The question is: If I want it to run it synchronous do I need to put a crystal on there or the fpu can share the clock signal of the 030?

Thank you!

PD: I want one of those DC-DC converters badly

[Zippy Zapp]

Can't wait to see the new ACA-500 as the original is one of the best expansions you can own for an A500, IMHO.
Is there any news on the Network/USB module for the ACA-500?

Thanks for the nice products, Jens!