My A1200

[Charlie]

While rebuilding one of my A1200s for the umpteenth time (still can't fit all the upgrades in the case, let alone the planned ones) it occurred to me that peeps may be a bit tired of my bleating on about Acorn stuff...
...oops, there I go again.

So here's a few teaser shots:

-My '060 A1200-

Subtle Logo changes

-The End-

Is that a USB port?

-More Ports-

USB, Slot-Loader, S-Video
VGA, the usual suspects
Maybe more..?

-A1200 Logo-

Mmm, tasteful

-Amiga Logo-

Mmm, sparkles

-No Room!-

AND there's more

I'm currently really struggling with room for the Fast bit of my Fast-ATA. As it happens I'm not hugely bothered (though there's now a huge hole in the bottom of my DVD drive) as it's about time I plumbed-in my SCSI card...
...but there's the other stuff I've made (a proper RJ45 port for instance) that is proving hard to find homes for...

...enough teasing?

Well, there's also project: Pimp My Miggie
An exploration of truly bad taste...

*Edit*
No, the S-Video wasn't in place for the piccies

[s2325]

Please, pink sparkles on Amiga, profanity

[Djay]

nice....

but the sparkles isnt to my taste

[Zetr0]

Love IT!!


I truly thinks theres some good work in this build, did you make a log of it? - nice slot loader too..

I really love the case badge, what did you use to make it?


One thing that perplexes me though...

you have a SCSI modue.... why not just sell on the Fast ATA - thus giving you room for the much faster (and CPU free-up) of SCSI, you can get 2.5" SCSI drives, or as you have the SCSI-IDE bride, just convert it down to 2.5" IDE =D easy... peasy.... lemon squezzy =D


I look forward to much more pictures =D

=D

[Charlie]

Thanks for the kind words Zetr0.

There's more yummyness to come...

Case badge done in Pant Shop Pro, printed onto photo paper & laminated by my mother-in-law.
(Sparkly AMIGA logo courtesy of a raid on the wife's stuff - could have been more tasteless)

Yes, I bought the Fast-ATA before I did any measurements / thinking.

The 'plan' as you suggest is to out that, plug the DVD Slot-loader into the motherboard IDE and SCSI->SCSI-IDE bridge->IDE-CF(SD)->CF(SD)...
...my 'issues' being:
a) Just about my only remaining space is under the FDD - enough room?
b) Currently feeling too lazy to solder up a 25-50 way SCSI adaptor
(anybody know the pin-out for the Blizzi SCSI..?)
c) I have amazingly little experience with SCSI...

I may as well spill the beans - it could be a very long time before plans are finished:
-Replace the LED's with a more funky colour scheme
-Find a spare bit of plastic real-estate for that RJ45 port
(wish I'd thought before putting VGA bang in the middle...)
-Jam a C=64 DTV in there just for the hell of it
(hmm, DTV - Amiga keyboard wiring...)
-And finally set up that x86 SBC Keropi sent me a couple of years ago - sneaky plan to use in combination with Siamese RTG for a kind-of RTG+extra functions breakout box...

-Given up on the idea of a newer '060 to overclock as my Blizzi SCSI doesn't seem to like the '060 faster than 60mhz

BTW: Zetr0, how's things..?

[Charlie]

P.S.
Yes, the sparkly AMIGA logo is a bit much but if it starts to burn my retinas it will just lift out...
...FWIW: It looks much better than the photos suggest - nearest colour match is in the photo showing the rear ports.

Some day project 'Pimp My Miggie' may actually get an airing, if ever finished...
...a full-on attempt at Huggy-Bear meets A1200: Gold over metallic back case with padded pink snake-skin keyboard - yummy!'

[8bitbubsy]

Where's the pics of the inside?

[DJBase]

Yeah, we want to see her naked!

[mfilos]

Nice piece of you done there mate! Congratz :P
The slot-in solution is very elegant and the logo kicks some serious a$$.
I have to agree with Zetr0 for FastATA but I think we're on the same spot here...
... We have FastATA (that just works), and on the other hand we have SCSI module, we have SCSI to IDE module and we just need to make the next step...
The irritating part is the $hity long and thick 50pin ribbon cables (and the connectors from 50 to SCSI adaptor then a 40pin ribbon for HD... or even worse... to another CF to IDE adaptor hehe.

I'm going for that move soon to just check it out... If it works... I'll have to check and see if I can squeeze all these inside with best airflow method available... (Getting rid of FastATA if it works though... will be such a relief!)
--- Don't you just love hackery though? ---

Well done again mate

Cheers

[Charlie]

Ok, internal shots a-coming...

[rkauer]

Charlie: first, congrats on this A1200. Well done, indeed.

Now some few hints: space, the final frontier... To help things a little, just ask Vesalia or Amigakit to crimp a short enough SCSI cable for your Blizz. Then route it up to the back of the floppy (there is available space in that place, right?).

There you can use an angled IDE to CF adapter (I think they exists for 40pin IDE, too).

Problem solved.

[mfilos]

Yeah that's what I thought for mine too Rkauer. Under the floppy there is a great deal of space (I putted a UMON with cabling + Power Switch + Power input and there is still some minor space left), and Amigakit/Vesalia can make this cable.

The only bad thing is that Acard/R-IDGC has Male connector, the Blizzard's/BPPC's SCSI cable also has Male connector (at least the one that Amigakit sells) so you have to tell Amigakit/Vesalia to also make you a 50female-50female ... 3cm (this is the shortest they make - I asked) to be able to connect it to your Acard/R-IDGC.
Dunno how sort of a mess that will make but I think it's controllable.
You think that splitting SCSI 50pin wires (as they do for making round IDE ones) would create issues in data transfer? If not, I think we can make a round-ish flexible 50pin cable to route whenever we want without loosing precious airflow...
... soon to be checked...

[rkauer]

IIRC, there is some rounded 50-pin SCSI cables around. One with just two connectors may ought be sufficient.

Just tells ACARD to terminates the chain. Blizzard SCSI is active terminated, right?

[Charlie]

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions chaps. As promised, further piccies:

-It's a Floppy Drive-

Poss CF/SD Location?

I'm properly running out of internal and external real-estate to fit my various and planned additions. There's an RJ45 port to find room for too!
I want to keep additions to the upper plastic to a minimum as dangling cables are already an issue.

-Custom Trapdoor-

Holy Plastic Batman!

Needs a bit of tidying but the whole thing took about 5mins to do:
-Take one PC with a suitable grid of holes on the cover
-Tape trapdoor to it.
-Go bananas with a drill from the other side
-Cut hole for the heat-sink by eye: Join the dots
Oh, bigger feet for better air-flow.

-060 Blizzard-

Ooo, Heat-Sink

Currently it's got the standard crystal, socketed of course.
The CPU's an older one so won't do more than 64mhz. The plan was to replace it with a newer version and shoot for 100mhz, but as my SCSI falls over above 60mhz and I'm now intending to use it the old CPU will have to stay put - ho, hum.
The heat-sink is attached by my usual method:
-Good thermal goop - Arctic Silver in this case
-Tiny blob of Super Glue on two opposite corners of the chip-package
-Push firmly down
Better heat transfer than thermal pads or glues AND the heat-sink will come off again without too much hassle if necessary.

-Lid Off-

Ooo-err, Stuff

Yep, the slot-loader sees to be suspended in space, and there's still a good-ol' 2.5" drive in there - it will stay if I can't find room for a CF/SD card to poke out of the case.
Not as yet done, but I have a cunning plan for changing the colour of those non-standard C= LED's

-Rat's Nest-

Cables, cables, cables

Don't you love the precision and care I've taken over fitting the upgrades? Until I've got it all sussed, I really can't be bothered to make it neater.

-Indivision-

It had to be you...

Well, it would be rude not to...
IDE-splitter folded out of the way with a suspicious lack of 'Fast bit' sitting over the Gayle chip. Despite cutting holes in the bottom of my DVD drive there just isn't room...
...well actually I could re-locate the headers to the underside of the board but the chip on the top can't be moved.

-S-Video-

Overkill? Never!

Actually this photo is from one of my dead motherboards () as I've not gotten round to transferring it. Do I really need VGA and S-Video..? Hell-Yes!
As it happens the S-Video quality is really good, the only 'issue' is a maximum resolution of 800x600 when I usually run WB in 1024x768. I've no idea how but rather than giving garbled output @ 1024x768 when S-Video is plugged in, the Amiga auto-magically selects an 800x600 mode - how cool is that?

-SCSI-

Mmm, Mowar Memory

Yep, that's a fair plop of RAM in this machine. You can also see one of the USB ports. The (current) plan is to make up a custom cable from the SCSI to go under the floppy drive, where A-Card + IDE-CF/SD will live

-Floating DVD-

Ah, so that's how

The left-most arrow shows the big wedge I took out of the DVD drive in an attempt to make room between it an Gayle - epic fail! I originally had a Fast-ATA prior to the out-going IDE 'solution' but trying to set it up properly was driving me mad - The Fast-ATA Gayle attachment did fit with this layout...

The right-arrow is pointing to where I intend to glue a C= DTV for 'stupidity value'. The 'plan' is to replace the A1200 keyboard with an A500 one to be soldered direct to the motherboard (better anyway?)...
...while I'm at it I may either wire the DTV direct to the keyboard using a butchered PS2 keyboard encoder chip.
or
If I'm very lucky and the A500 keyboard signals also get presented to the A1200 motherboard interface then I can pick up using a Lyra - sneaky, no..?
Oh, yes. Maybe the DTV plan has something to do with me wanting S-Video in this machine...
(Pardon me while I do the standard evil genius cackle, possibly just before it all goes up in flames)

Oh, mounting the DVD drive?
-Remove a couple of screws from the keyboard where the drive will be
-Place keyboard in it's normal position
-Place drive in far corner of the upper shell where it will go over the keyboard
-Mark DVD drive and keyboard for accurate positioning
-Glue DVD drive to keyboard with fish-tank sealant
Everything's then beautifully lined-up without any need to get out a tape-measure.
Why fish-tank sealant?
-It's non-reactive so won't corrode anything
-It's a bloody strong glue while being removable later
-It sets fairly slowly giving time for adjustments
-It's goopy, so glued surfaces don't have to be an exact match
-It's rubbery, giving the DVD drive a degree of shock-resistance while isolating mechanism sounds for peace and quiet
Better than hot-glue all round.

How about the slot?
No measuring there, either!
-Place DVD drive in position and mark the edges of the slot on the plastic
-Take on Dremmel with a thick cutting disc attached
-Take one PCI blanking plate (metal ruler will do)
-Place bit of metal on the inside of the louvres along side where the slot is to be cut
-Place the screw-head holding the cutting disc against the metal whatever...
...the metal will protect the plastic while it's width + the hight of the screw-head will bring the cutting disc to the exact position you want the slot to be. Also this will give you a nice straight guide for the cutting - genius..?
-On with Dremmel and do a beautiful slot in one.
-From the outside run the thin side of a pair of scissors up and down the slot to give it a nice, neat bevel...
...the cutting edge can be used more at the top or bottom of the slot if you need to massage the height to match the position of the drive.

D*mn, I'm giving all my bodging tricks away here - well, one or two.