A1200 Tower project - finally complete!

Vypr · 04 March 2017, 20:41

Ever since the first mediator was announced I've always wanted to put my old A1200 into a tower but never had the cash for it. Recently I got a decent job that paid enough for me to splash out a bit so I decided to make my passion a reality.

First Steps

First step was to work out what I needed.
I already had the following:

Amiga 1200 with Kickstart 3.1
M-Tech 1230/28 RTC with 8mb RAM and FPU
Indivision AGA MKIIcr
PCMCIA reset fix board. I'm not using PCMCIA cards but it was useful for the reset button.
Rhys MKII USB mouse adaptor
SCSI CD-ROM Drive
Realtek 8139 Fast Ethernet card
700W ATX PSU

I procured the following parts:
From Amigakit

Mediator 1200TX board
Lyra 2 Keyboard adaptor

From eBay

ATX Case
Voodoo3 2000 PCI card
SoundBlaster Live CT4810
Adaptec 2940UW SCSI card
Radeon 9250 256Mb PCI video card (This was an afterthought, I had already bought the Voodoo card but I heard the Mediator could use the RAM as system memory (albeit a bit slower than normal RAM)

The Mediator and Voodoo card arrived first so I put the A1200 board on a bench and hooked them up to test.

First problem
The Mediator and the M-tech card were not compatible. The memory spaces conflicted, same as the PCMICA issue.

More money was spent and an ACA1233n card duly arrived.

Second problem
The ACA card and the Mediator had issues in OS3.9. Basically the whole system would freeze up on Workbench load, although oddly enough everything worked fine in OS3.1. eventually this got sorted. You can see the journey in this thread - http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=85813

Next to arrive was the case and backplate. The backplate was slightly too big for the case, and the hole for the PSU was the wrong shape. I broke a dremel cutting the plate to size and making the PSU hole the right shape and size.
The backplate of the ATX case was removed and the new backplate riveted on.

Third problem
The hole for the PSU was located in such a position that it overhung the connector for the ATX plug on the mediator. With the PSU in place, it was putting pressure on the Power connector. This worried me a bit but everything worked. Also, the PCI backplate I had cut off the original backplate and riveted onto the new backplate was a couple of millimetres to far to the side so PCI cards were sitting at an angle.

However, they fit, the system powered on and I had a glorious 1280x720 Truecolour display.

Fourth Problem
I had pre-ordered the Lyra 2 keyboard adaptor from Amigakit but it since disappeared from the site, it was now in permanent TBA status.
Fortunately, on my sweep of eBay, I found a user selling an old Elbox Power Tower which had the old AT keyboard adaptor. Managed to sccop this up and dug out an old AT keyboard from my junk pile.
This was a relief as I was worried about the mechanical strain put on the components in my hacked together tower. having a purpose built tower was much better.
The Power Tower arrived and the old 120W ATX PSU was removed and thrown in the junk pile. The 700W ATX was transferred across and the power switch in the tower replaced.

Fifth Problem
The system would only boot up properly once in every five or six boots. The rest of the time it would hang at a black screen. After much disassembly and reassembly it was discovered the Radeon card was at issue. With the Radeon removed, every boot was perfect. Since the Radeon card was only used for extra memory and the ACA1233n came with 128Mb RAM, this was not an issue.

Pictures of the system:
External

Internal

indigolemon · 04 March 2017, 22:03

That's excellent work man, I'm finding myself in an incredibly similar position at the moment and am building a stash ready for an incredibly similar plan to be put into effect

I've also got a power tower, and it's going rather yellow too. I found this site, and think I'm going to give it a go: https://www.vinyldye.co.uk/

Vypr · 04 March 2017, 23:31

If you're going to put an ATX PSU in the case, I recommend getting some of this to hold the power switch in place.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multimorph-...ds=THERMOMORPH

indigolemon · 05 March 2017, 00:11

That stuff looks great!

Cheers

XsamX1987 · 19 March 2017, 19:48

That is fantastic, a lot of hard work, great pics.

04 March 2017, 20:41	#1
Vypr Registered User Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: East Kilbride, Scotland Posts: 451	A1200 Tower project - finally complete! Ever since the first mediator was announced I've always wanted to put my old A1200 into a tower but never had the cash for it. Recently I got a decent job that paid enough for me to splash out a bit so I decided to make my passion a reality. First Steps First step was to work out what I needed. I already had the following: Amiga 1200 with Kickstart 3.1 M-Tech 1230/28 RTC with 8mb RAM and FPU Indivision AGA MKIIcr PCMCIA reset fix board. I'm not using PCMCIA cards but it was useful for the reset button. Rhys MKII USB mouse adaptor SCSI CD-ROM Drive Realtek 8139 Fast Ethernet card 700W ATX PSU I procured the following parts: From Amigakit Mediator 1200TX board Lyra 2 Keyboard adaptor From eBay ATX Case Voodoo3 2000 PCI card SoundBlaster Live CT4810 Adaptec 2940UW SCSI card Radeon 9250 256Mb PCI video card (This was an afterthought, I had already bought the Voodoo card but I heard the Mediator could use the RAM as system memory (albeit a bit slower than normal RAM) The Mediator and Voodoo card arrived first so I put the A1200 board on a bench and hooked them up to test. First problem The Mediator and the M-tech card were not compatible. The memory spaces conflicted, same as the PCMICA issue. More money was spent and an ACA1233n card duly arrived. Second problem The ACA card and the Mediator had issues in OS3.9. Basically the whole system would freeze up on Workbench load, although oddly enough everything worked fine in OS3.1. eventually this got sorted. You can see the journey in this thread - http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=85813 Next to arrive was the case and backplate. The backplate was slightly too big for the case, and the hole for the PSU was the wrong shape. I broke a dremel cutting the plate to size and making the PSU hole the right shape and size. The backplate of the ATX case was removed and the new backplate riveted on. Third problem The hole for the PSU was located in such a position that it overhung the connector for the ATX plug on the mediator. With the PSU in place, it was putting pressure on the Power connector. This worried me a bit but everything worked. Also, the PCI backplate I had cut off the original backplate and riveted onto the new backplate was a couple of millimetres to far to the side so PCI cards were sitting at an angle. However, they fit, the system powered on and I had a glorious 1280x720 Truecolour display. Fourth Problem I had pre-ordered the Lyra 2 keyboard adaptor from Amigakit but it since disappeared from the site, it was now in permanent TBA status. Fortunately, on my sweep of eBay, I found a user selling an old Elbox Power Tower which had the old AT keyboard adaptor. Managed to sccop this up and dug out an old AT keyboard from my junk pile. This was a relief as I was worried about the mechanical strain put on the components in my hacked together tower. having a purpose built tower was much better. The Power Tower arrived and the old 120W ATX PSU was removed and thrown in the junk pile. The 700W ATX was transferred across and the power switch in the tower replaced. Fifth Problem The system would only boot up properly once in every five or six boots. The rest of the time it would hang at a black screen. After much disassembly and reassembly it was discovered the Radeon card was at issue. With the Radeon removed, every boot was perfect. Since the Radeon card was only used for extra memory and the ACA1233n came with 128Mb RAM, this was not an issue. Pictures of the system: External Internal

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
My 1st A1200 PC Mid Tower Project 2017	iowtheme	Hardware mods	4	24 February 2017 19:28
Amiga A1200 Tower Project HELP	iowtheme	support.Hardware	1	15 January 2017 21:50
Project Amigall: My creation is complete!	alkis21	Retrogaming General Discussion	9	12 August 2010 01:35
Akira's A1200 tower project	Amiga1992	Hardware mods	4	19 April 2009 09:21
A1200 Tower project	Heavyweight7t6	MarketPlace	7	29 May 2006 20:22

04 March 2017, 22:03	#2
indigolemon Bit Copying Bard Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Kelty, Fife, Scotland Age: 41 Posts: 1,293	That's excellent work man, I'm finding myself in an incredibly similar position at the moment and am building a stash ready for an incredibly similar plan to be put into effect I've also got a power tower, and it's going rather yellow too. I found this site, and think I'm going to give it a go: https://www.vinyldye.co.uk/

04 March 2017, 23:31	#3
Vypr Registered User Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: East Kilbride, Scotland Posts: 451	If you're going to put an ATX PSU in the case, I recommend getting some of this to hold the power switch in place. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multimorph-...ds=THERMOMORPH

05 March 2017, 00:11	#4
indigolemon Bit Copying Bard Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Kelty, Fife, Scotland Age: 41 Posts: 1,293	That stuff looks great! Cheers

19 March 2017, 19:48	#5
XsamX1987 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 212	That is fantastic, a lot of hard work, great pics.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)