19 June 2017, 17:30 | #1 |
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A4000 with Mediator
Updated Oct 2023
Hi all, I bought an A4000 last year to satisfy an itch I've had for a big box Amiga which has plagued me for about 25 years. I've had an A500 and A1200 since I was a teenager but have decided it's time to expand the collection. The current set up is: A4000D 64MB motherboard fast ram BFG 9060 100Mhz Warp Engine 96Mhz Rev 6 68060, 128MB ram Mediator 4000Di V3 Radeon 9200 128bit / Voodoo 3 3000 Ragnarok G3 750FX 950Mhz PowerPC PMC/PCI card Deneb USB ICY V2 i2c Indivision AGA Soundblaster 128 Prisma Megamix A314-CP (mounted on Prisma Megamix) Ratte Switch Realtek 8139 Ethernet NIC Acard AEC 7720UW SCSI to IDE bridge 16GB IDE SD card 32 GB USB Drive DVD-RW Corsair SF600 SFX PSU EPROM emulators with Workbench 3.9 BB 1 and 2 and Diagrom Motherboard has been recapped, battery removed. Cyberstorm Mk2 Zorro and PCI slots Silent PCI and Cyberstorm cooling fans Last edited by trixster; 03 October 2023 at 09:03. Reason: updates |
19 June 2017, 17:31 | #2 |
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Sonnet Crescendo 7200 G3 400Mhz PPC accelerator
PCI cards - from top to bottom: Soundblaster, Sonnet, Voodoo, Ethernet/Ratte switch Indivision AGA. There is 'just' enough clearance between it and the Mediator bus board. Rear of the machine. The voodoo and sonnet brackets now have holes drilled for cooling. The cable goes from the voodoo to the Ratte switch. The switch is also connected internally to the Indi. The VGA is the output of the Ratte to the monitor. On the same PCI bracket as the Ratte VGA port is the Ethernet port (obscured by the cable). Sonnet with 192MB (3x64MB dimms). This has been modded to work on 5V only Mediators however it still runs ok on my 4000Di V3 3DFX Voodoo 3 3000 Last edited by trixster; 01 June 2018 at 00:15. |
19 June 2017, 17:42 | #3 |
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Beautiful photos of a beautiful machine! Almost brings a tear to my eye.
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19 June 2017, 19:16 | #4 |
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Awesome machine, similar to what I am aiming for, when my repaired mediator is back. I'm still in doubt whether to use a soundblaster or not. What type of show is that, it's nicely compact. Smart mod of the fan mount too, I may steal that idea.
BTW what exact sonnet memory did you order in the end and where? |
20 June 2017, 00:59 | #5 |
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I'm hoping for similar however I'm interested in finding some sort of tower kit for my a4000. I don't have room for a horizontal computer, but a vertical tower I do. I'd also like to use more PCI cards
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20 June 2017, 10:55 | #6 | |
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Quote:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:437678 I found it would not fit in the position shown on thingiverse with both sonnet and voodoo in place. So I sawed off the arm and mounted it further back. A slim 10mm fan is recommended. The ram I ordered is this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182527862320 Until it arrives I do not know if it is 2k refresh, but someone who ordered it before said that it was and the seller had said the batch was 2k. But it might not be. Caveat emptor. Same goes for this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350479061155 Last edited by trixster; 20 June 2017 at 11:02. |
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20 June 2017, 11:06 | #7 |
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Great, thanks, I'll await your results then before ordering.
Yes I already have the fan mount lying around, but cutting it and positioning it elsewhere is a very good idea. Maybe I even put 2 in there, since so far for my config the mount fitted. I guess you already (or was it someone else here) pointed out the fan is suck air from the back over the cards and not blowing towards the cards, correct? What exact (small sized) soundcard are you using? Last edited by spudje; 20 June 2017 at 11:41. |
20 June 2017, 12:39 | #8 |
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I'm not convinced about the idea of sucking air from the PCI cards, round the daughter board, over the cpu and then out through the psu. Instead I have a fan over the Cyberstorm ram to blow air over the cpu and then out the psu and the expansion slot. And then a fan to blow air over the cards and out the back (both sonnet and voodoo PCI brackets now have holes drilled).
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20 June 2017, 12:41 | #9 |
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21 June 2017, 02:43 | #10 | |
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Quote:
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21 June 2017, 07:28 | #11 |
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As always, you make a good point! I will experiment with some different fan set ups. It is not ideal at all and the A4000 doesn't seem to lend itself to efficient cooling. I'll try swapping the zorro fan over so it draws a bit of air from the back over the cards. It's a shame the front of the machine would have to be modified to get air in from there. I just don't like the idea of hot air from the two hot pci cards getting moved around to the cpu area but I guess there's not much alternative without modding the case, and I'm not about to do that!
Last edited by trixster; 21 June 2017 at 07:58. |
21 June 2017, 10:23 | #12 |
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This is how I am considering to do it.
I have a 5.25 slimdrive CD + floppy drive bay like this http://www.chenbro.com.tw/en-global/...losure/SK41202 and will cover both 3,5" bays with these grills: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:168309 I have a spare drive mount which I will mod and put a fan, sucking air from the front through the grills via the fan through an opning I'll cut in there towards the CPU board. And I planned the fan mount that trixster modded, either in its original form and position sucking air, or maybe modded in a similar way as trixster but than still sucking air. My biggest challenge is enough air openings at the PCI brackets. I don't like the idea drill holes in them. |
21 June 2017, 23:03 | #13 |
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That's using your noggin Spudje, that looks like a good setup. I had something very similar with a removable SCSI drive cage that pushed air out the 5 1/4" bay. But I switched to a larger SSD and included a DVD-ROM, and I figured all other things being equal, not having a 10,000 RPM SCSI drive it would end up being cooler.
Just be careful when you do part [4] don't you mangle the face of that A4000. I assume you're going to do like MFilos where he cut a slot in the indentation so it's very subtle? |
21 June 2017, 23:18 | #14 |
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I've made a change. I've trimmed down the mount and moved the fan forwards. It now pulls air away from the cards towards the front of the machine
Last edited by trixster; 01 June 2018 at 00:16. |
25 June 2017, 02:00 | #15 |
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My Mediator arrived and it now fully works!!! Yay!
Got everything (apart from Sonnet) back in the A4000 and it all works fine. But my god that voodoo3 3000 get sooo hot :/ Open case, no fans yet. And I discovered I have to mod my fan mount to. Not enough room |
01 July 2017, 00:00 | #16 |
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BTW, still puzzling for the best PCI & zorro card config with the Sonnet. My Sonnet is still in its NOS sealed package and awaiting RAM so I cannot judge myself yet. Do you reckon an X-Surf 100 fits on top of the Sonnet? Or will they be too close or will that capacitor on the Sonnet be in the way?
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01 July 2017, 09:28 | #17 |
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I don't think that capacitor is there on other sonnets. I think the guy who modded my sonnet added it.
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06 October 2017, 18:45 | #18 |
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A quick update: I've added a Prisma Megamix now. Paula audio goes into the Megamix, the Megamix then goes to the SB128 Line-in, the SB128 Line-Out then goes to the speakers. This way Paula audio, CDDA, Prisma and AHI audio are all mixed through the soundblaster.
The sonnet in the photos is off for repairs, the replacement is a 400/1mb version which is unmodified. Last edited by trixster; 08 October 2017 at 12:42. |
08 October 2017, 04:09 | #19 |
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I want something like this at some point!
So far I have: A4000D Cyberstorm MK1 060 Prometheus PCI Voodoo 3 PCI I really want a Mediator and much the same sound and memory setup as yourself! I need to put aside plenty of time to get things running. Big box Amiga's are new to me even though I have been around this stuff since way back, 1988 onwards. You mention the PSU recap, did you get a kit for that? I have a capacitor kit for a liteon psu for an dead 4000 that needs some serious work, but the 4000 I recently acquired has the same psu as yours, all working 100% but I want to re-fresh it. |
08 October 2017, 04:27 | #20 |
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How is the prisma working out for you?
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