My A1200D Project

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by phipscube

I've got OS 4.1 Classic loaded on the machine now and can get all hardware working except the Delfina. I got it to work with scratchy sound output when I blacklisted certain files in the JIT emulation but the whole system was so flakey and crashtastic that I decided to roll back to an earlier backup and just quit trying and hope that one day a proper official driver will be made.

I sold my Delfina as it was a pain in the bottom. I only got the thing to work once, then I changed a few things in my setup and could never get it to work again

I wish Jens would bring out a decent 16bit AHI card for the 1200 desktop but I guess that will never happen. Maybe a USB sound card is an option but I guess that would need an AHI driver to be written first?

[phipscube]

It would be nice to have a few more options for soundcards for the A1200D. The Delfina is definately a nice card on paper, but it is quite a pain to get working. To be fair, the big problems in OS4.1 are the fact that the JIT emulation isn't compatible with the Delfina Driver. Hopefully one day Jens or someone will try and get it working. Until then, i'll just concentrate on OS3.9.

[mfilos]

Delfina works awesomely on OS3.9 and that's why I haven't sold when I split my A1200D PPC setup. Now she resides peacefully in my A4000D and everything's good.
Haven't tried much on OS4.1 anywayz

USB Sound Card is a no-no on A1200 since USB Audio only works on Deneb and not on slow Clockport Subways

Awesome work as always Les my friend. Keep us posted when you have time

[phipscube]

Thanks for the info Marios, I was wondering about USB sound in OS 4.1... But in all honesty, after the "Wow it looks nice" i've kinda become a bit fed up with 4.1, which is a shame. It seems to be a nice OS, but has virtually no drivers and not much software that actually runs at a decent speed on an old Classic Amiga like mine If you have the right hardware I could imagine it being very useable (eg a true next gen Amiga such as A1). OS 3.9 is alot harder to get running right off the bat, but I think once its working right, its gonna be fast efficient and awesome on my ol' 12

[phipscube]

This is a reply for Ramparts as I can't PM him (Zero posts). He asked what model DVD drive I have.

Its aTEAC DV-W28SL. It is commonly found in G4 macbooks and Dell XPS. You can find lots on ebay for around 20 to 40 EURO. Avoid the reconditioned units, spend a bit more and get the New ones. I bought a recon and it broke after 2 weeks. I then bought a new one and its still good now after over a year

[Synthesize Me]

I just discovered this thread and read every single post. You could turn this thread into a novel, that's how much I got sucked into it!
This is some truly amazing work mate! I love the attention to detail and the fine tunning/little optimizations you have done here, literally everything is custom and improved or even self made (I.e. video switcher, fan regulator, and so on)!!

I happened to stumble upon this while searching through some posts about the delfina since I have recently bought one and wanted to see if anyone actually figured out how to properly set the damn thing up! So I might have some questions about that for you later...
But right now I just wanted to commend you on your absolutely f**king spectacular work!

[Exit]

Amazing stuff guys, you are quite inventif and not afraid to try a new approach on amiga moddingvery cool stuff

[phipscube]

@synthesise Me and Exit, thanks guys BTW, I've been having alot of trouble getting my Delfina working on anything but a vanilla AmigaSys4 setup. I've been trying to setup a completely new OS3.9 with custom 3.9 roms but the thing wont have it. I'm currently reverting back to 3.1 kickstart and the AmigaSys4 setup I had earlier on this year to see if I can get the Delfina back working and see what I can do to keep it going whilst I add all the goodies like Warp OS etc. Its proving to be a ball ache that's for sure!

Anyway, Small tweak time.

My System started showing the wrong date and time at boot up so I suspected the Lithium battery on the BPPC. Lo and behold it was only 2.5V, which isn't quite enough for reliable operation.

So I needed to replace it.... but I decided to mod it a little at the same time: -

Here's the offender




Its soldered in so I removed it




Whats this? A use for the big hole the original fan left!




I added a few small drops of super glue to hold it in, then wired into the original battery holes




Ignore the CR2032, it should be a VL2030/ML2032 (rechargeable type) I don't have one yet.



There ya go!

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by Synthesize Me

I happened to stumble upon this while searching through some posts about the delfina since I have recently bought one and wanted to see if anyone actually figured out how to properly set the damn thing up! So I might have some questions about that for you later...

Originally Posted by phipscube

I've got OS 4.1 Classic loaded on the machine now and can get all hardware working except the Delfina. I got it to work with scratchy sound output when I blacklisted certain files in the JIT emulation but the whole system was so flakey and crashtastic that I decided to roll back to an earlier backup and just quit trying and hope that one day a proper official driver will be made.

I have to tell you that it has been very easy to setup the Delfina to work right in OS4.1 http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?p=791843#post791843 and in OS3.9 http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...hlight=delfina

[Synthesize Me]

Originally Posted by Retrofan

I have to tell you that it has been very easy to setup the Delfina to work right in OS4.1 http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?p=791843#post791843 and in OS3.9 http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...hlight=delfina

Thanks retrofan! I'm trying to set it up in OS 3.1 (Classic WB) just so I can make 8+ channel mods. For some reason when I added the AHI drivers and devices and so on I just got a bunch of blank spaces in AHI which I could select but then it would crash...
Who knows, it's all a big mess. But thanks for the links, for one thing i wasn't aware that you HAVE to pass through the native audio!

Aside from playing mp3's, has anyone found another use for the Delphina? Maybe even figured out how to use it to make multi channel mods (more than the 4 channels the Amiga can normally handle)?

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by Synthesize Me

Thanks retrofan! I'm trying to set it up in OS 3.1 (Classic WB) just so I can make 8+ channel mods. For some reason when I added the AHI drivers and devices and so on I just got a bunch of blank spaces in AHI which I could select but then it would crash...

The only key with AHI is to add the Audio modes and drivers JUST for the hardware you've got (Paula and Delfina). Anything else or it won't work.

[phipscube]

Sorry, i've not logged on much lately over Christmas/New Year. But GREAT that you got Delfina working in OS4.1 Retrofan!!!

I got as far as you with scratchy sound but I think I loaded too many unecessary files which made it crash alot. I've since got Delfina working nicely in OS 3.9 so I will use this knowledge so see if I can get it running in OS 4.1.4.

Question though, did you have to blacklist any of the Delfina files?

Anyway, thread update.

For the last month or so i've been doing a few tweaks, here they are: -


It's time to replace the caps on BVPPC. 3 here..




Done!




4 on top




Sorted. 5 106 caps and 2 107 caps to do BV.




I'm Adding 2 fans to BV and ditching my case fans. this is so I can run the machine with the lid off for longer than 10 mins, without fear of frying the Permedia 2 chip.




Fixed on with 2mm screws and a small dollop or super glue at the base of each sat in the heat sink. Cut and routed both wires to a header.




I took off the express mode jumpers as sometimes the machine would boot with an exclaimer saying that express mode was off. I suspected the jumpers, and since I wont ever run in non-express I decided to hard solder. No problems now I also cleaned up the board a bit and applied some lacquer.




I got a new PLCC socket for my Indivision from Cosmos. Sometimes my system would have no screen from cold boot. This better quality connector should hopefully solve this problem.




Taken off the plastic bits with a dremel




here's the old socket (in all its sanded-down-from-new glory)




Out ya come old chap




I added a spacer to help with connecting IDE cables to the IDEFIX. This will stop the Indi popping off when I apply pressure.

[phipscube]

The new socket is on now. You can see how the spacer helps here. (The Ide Fix express is on top).




Finished off with a bit of a clean and laquer



Now to replace the caps on BPPC.




Off they come on one side.




And new ones added.




Fan and heatsink off PPC some are under that. But there is also one under the oscillators.




Oscillators off too. Here's a zoom out view. (Notice I have the correct ML2032 Rechargeable Batt now too)




If you look closely, I have a job with the two caps near the glued on nuts. they are half covered in glue




No probs, here's most of the other side done....




But I looked between the pins of the 060 and saw what looked like more caps, after cosmos confirmed there are 3 more there, I took off the 060 and lo behold!




New ones in As you can see, Oscillators, heatsinks and fan are back on. all in all for non SCSI its 33 106 caps and 5 107 caps. you need 5 more 106 for SCSI.



So there are my tweaks gathered together. I have a few more to do too. Little things i've noticed that are a bit annoying. So hopefully they refine this beast even more

Thanks for looking! :thumbsup:

[Retrofan]

Amazing. So you desoldered all the 060, 'cause it wasn't on a socket, right? Wow that's a lot of pins to desolder and solder again. I hope my caps will last because I never would try to make it; I had enough with the ones of the miggy...

About the Delfina I use the library v14.16 in OS4.1, and it sounds sometimes scratchy depending which player I use (in OS3.9 plays always fine), and... don't ask me why but I did what I think was the same in another Cf HD and it was playing all the time scratchy... Well I use the other that works (more or less right) and that's ok. I should make a video, but I want to change first my cd player, as the one I've got is a bit too thick (like yours, 12,7mm), so I'm waiting to receive a 9,5mm one.

About the spacer in the Indi I did the same with the Clockport expander so it rests better over the mb with a round plastic leg (rubber at the end) under it.

Another thing: Have you thought about using an Acard like Mfilos or will you wait till Jens will make the sata controller?

[DonAmiga]

Excellent work Phipscube This is a master class thread

[mfilos]

Full of win as always bro!!!

Awesome pics and progress. I'd suggest of putting either 2pin headers on the Bvision for the fans to mount, or solder the fans directly to the board so they won't be in the way
It's a clean mod and less cabling inside means better airflow and more viewing pleasure \o/

/respect

[phipscube]

@Retrofan, Aye mate, desoldered the 060. It took about 20 mins with the old Weller Desolder beast I have at work. I didn't really NEED to replace the Caps. Well, I saw some screen bleed on my monitor and thought it could be the BV, so changed the caps on that, then it didn't go, so changed caps on BPPC, still not gone then found its possibly the monitor that's naff! (I bought it cheap second hand and its been WELL used!)

Thanks for the tips with Delfina, once I finish off this round of tweaks i'll have the old girl together again and then I want to completely start OS 4.1 fresh and get the updates on. Then see if I can get it going again. I've been using the latest 4.17b(and 3 numbers I forgot) in OS 3.9, I used the same 4.16 you mentioned in OS4.1, maybe i'll try this newer version.

This actually made it work nicer in OS3.9, spurrious noise at high volume disappeared. The only gripe I had was that it is ALOT more quiet than native sound, so much so that the hardware mixer I made might not have enough range. Even in the software mixer I can't get Delfina audio near native, so I have to turn the volume up and down to cater. CD audio is fine though.

Good Idea with clock port expander! I put mine on a flexible cable so it sits up at 30 degrees. I think I will put a small piece of rubber under it though, just incase it causes problems on the BV RAM.

I would try the Acard... but my BPPC isn't SCSI I'm infact patiently waiting to see if Jens creates a SATA controller of some kind. I would assume that it will have no speed gains though, well unless he has some majik up his sleeve i'd assume its gonna connect to the IDE port and have its limitations. One plus would be bigger HDD! (not that I need one! 320GB is TOO much for Amiga!! I'm just a greedy fek! ).

@Don, thanks mate, glad you are still enjoying following my madness

@Marios, Thanks mate! Good idea with the fan mounting, I think I might mount the connector on the board near the MiniPCI, then use the connector I had running the case fans to it. I'd rather have power to them "externally". But as you mention wires, that's one of my next clean ups. I'm gonna get rid of the doofy wire coming from the PSU connector and route it underneath. I only did it this way originally to test voltage levels with and without it. Now I don't need it this way, but just couldn't be arsed to split the whole girl down and re wire it! that being out the way will help with neatness too

[8bitbubsy]

Don't change caps "just to change them", at least not on such an expensive item! It's actually a very bad idea, also the PCB is almost toasted because of rework heat (the light-green spots you see in the CPU area is what happens just before the PCB starts to semi-melt into black stinking goo).
Tantalum caps are VERY reliable and sturdy, is this some bad advice that you've got from Cosmos? I understand that changing old-batch SMD metal can caps is a better idea, but tantalum caps are rated like +125C and the heat from the accelerator is not abusive for it. Get an ESR+capacitance meter, this way you can test the caps before changing them. Not to mention that ESR is really important in some circuits, changing them with a general capacitor with a mid ESR might stress the circuitry and make unstable usage. This is especially the case for switching power supplies.

I might sound very aggressive, but you're playing with the one of the most expensive Amiga hardware there is. You did a good job, but I can't stress enough how easy it is to do mistakes when desoldering, at least if you do it multiple times so you wear out the PCB and its holes. Think about it, how often do caps really fail? I have caps from the early 80s that still work great, full capacitance and low ESR. One scenario where caps actually fail a lot is the SMD can batch used in the early 90s on Amiga 600/1200/4000, Game Gear, SNES, Mac Classic and the like.
Don't get me wrong, caps can still fail, but it happens mostly in bad design scenarios (a lot of heat, too low voltage padding in cap), like in cheap PSUs, cheap motherboards and so on. Oh, and if the cap has been exposed to humidity over a long time.

I used to "change them all" too, until just recently when I actually got some sense in my head about the case. Leave them alone unless you know they are bad!

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by phipscube

The only gripe I had was that it is ALOT more quiet than native sound, so much so that the hardware mixer I made might not have enough range. Even in the software mixer I can't get Delfina audio near native, so I have to turn the volume up and down to cater. CD audio is fine though.

That's sad. Have you seen Stedy's audio mixer project? http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...d+mixer&page=2

EDIT: Yes, you've seen it. What do you think?

[phipscube]

Thanks for the advice 8bit, not taken aggressively at all I changed the caps because I thought I had screen bleeding issues related to the BVPPC initially, I didn't just do them for the sake of it. I read of similar issues on the CVPPC and wondered if my BVPPC was affected. I didn't get any bad advice from Cosmos either, I chose to do it myself. I know Tantalum Caps are very reliable and I was in two minds, but I decided to do it just incase.

I'm puzzled on what you say of green spots, Do you mind editing the pic you see these and posting it with circles around where you think its damaged? I didn't notice these problems with my own eyes when checking the board. I was also very careful with heat when desoldering, not to blow my own trumpet, but i'd like to say i'm quite skilled in that dept. with many years experience

Retrofan, yeah I was interested in Steady's mixer, i'll pop onto his thread and see how things are there. I expressed interest a while ago and honestly forgot!

Edit: - Looks like he's nearly there! Problem is, its quite big :/ I'd say its good for a tower and external. Not sure it would fit in my case. My own resistive mixer may be ok, I think I might have to just tweak around with it one day. Of course, i'd have to bring down the audio level of the native output and compensate with my amplifier. I just want to be sure I can't possibly adjust it a bit more in software first as i'd like not to have to drive my native audio level so low. Stedys mixer can drive inputs with no volume loss.

Be interesting to know if any of you other Delfina owners have noticed that the output from it is a fair bit quieter than native Paula, or am I doing something wrong with the software mixer?