A500+ Other Mem / RAM and LEDs

craggus2000 · 02 November 2010, 09:22

Hi,
As some may have been reading, I have been slightly and slowly upgrading my stock A500+. So far its got a Kickstart switcher with 1.3 and 2.05 roms, a cfide68k with a 4gb transcend (possibly going to add another cf to the ide connector via adapter so it has an external card too) and a 1mb chip ram upgrade in the trapdoor. So its got a total of 2mb chip ram but 0mb 'other'!

What options do I have to add some 'other' ram to it? I'm trying to keep everything internal to the main case, not really wanting to use a sidecar if possible...

Also, I've got myself a set of A1200 LEDS that I'm looking to hack in to the case, to move the LEDS for KS switcher and also CF/IDE activity lights to the case instead of leaving internal (so they can be seen!

). Where would people suggest be the best place on the a500+ case to locate them?

Does anyone know if the resistors on the cfide68k (I think they are 4K7 ???) for the leds will be all I need to run with an a1200 led (removing the 33ohm from the a1200 led board)? And same goes for the KS switcher (its the one from amigakit.com)??

Thanks

rkauer · 02 November 2010, 21:33

A Supra RAM RX is very thin and can be powered directly from the Amiga. Its low profile is indicated for your case.

It adds up to 8Mb RAM using 16 1Mx4 ZIP chips.

______________________

My personal advice regarding the HD is: don't cut holes on the top case, you'll regret it. If you really want a HD led, cut the trace under the floppy activity LED and use one half for the HD and the other for the floppy.

craggus2000 · 04 November 2010, 13:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

A Supra RAM RX is very thin and can be powered directly from the Amiga. Its low profile is indicated for your case.

Do you know of any other way to make it, or get other ram to have it completely internal? That one looks like its still a (small) sidecar? I know it might be asking too much, but hey, if you don't ask, you definitely don't get!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

My personal advice regarding the HD is: don't cut holes on the top case, you'll regret it. If you really want a HD led, cut the trace under the floppy activity LED and use one half for the HD and the other for the floppy.

Decided I definately want the lights, but I'm going to locate them under the grill on the top of the case, just with hot glue (see attached pic).

That way, no holes need to be cut in the top, and you'll still be able to see them thru the vent slots

Will post some pics when I've done it.

Still not sure where to mount the second CF slot though..... Any ideas? I've half thought about removing the floppy drive and putting it there...

rkauer · 05 November 2010, 03:22

How about glueing the second CF over the expansion port shield? Simply opening the cover and ready for plugging/unplugging.

craggus2000 · 05 November 2010, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

How about glueing the second CF over the expansion port shield? Simply opening the cover and ready for plugging/unplugging.

I did think about that too, but don't think there's enough space, as the cfide68k plugs into the cpu socket and it's right next to the port cover.

Zetr0 · 05 November 2010, 08:59

@craggus2000

heres some inspiration for you -

The bottom right (left in picture) corner (underneath the FDD)

The top right blank area (could easily get two CF cards in there - even side by side)

If you were bing "cheeky" you could mount them on the underside of the keyboard

Or the undeside of the FDD (mind the hybrid IC though)

there that should get your creative juices going =)

craggus2000 · 05 November 2010, 12:59

Thanks Zetr0, quite liking the idea of under the FDD or under the keyboard... Will see how much clearance I have when the cf slot arrives, hopefully in the next few days! Will have to do some interesting routing with the ide cable methinks

craggus2000 · 09 November 2010, 15:00

Ok,
I decided to take the plunge and cut the baby up...
The LEDS are going to get desoldered from the A1200 PCB and put on to stripboard then hot-glued under the vent so you can see them thru the vent (Pics to follow)...

After looking at the internal placements of the various bits of hardware, I decided the best place for the second CF slot was on the top left (just under the air vent)...

This is the IDE-CF adapter that's going in...

Marking for the hole...

Second installment to follow.............

Zetr0 · 09 November 2010, 15:34

Now, this is exciting =)

looking forward to updates

craggus2000 · 09 November 2010, 21:44

She's currently scrubbed and in the dishwasher... I've cut the hole and will post pics when its out and aired.

Just hoping I don't pull out a ball of plastic.........

craggus2000 · 10 November 2010, 22:51

And now for the second installment!

She came out of the dishwasher nice and sparkly, just got the keys in the airing cupboard drying off...

Back to the hole cutting

After marking the location of where I wanted the CF slot to go, I got the dremel out in the kitchen

and cut a rough hole before the wife's ears started bleeding (dremel cutting Amiga makes a nice resonating screech!), then filed a nice clean hole for the edge of the slot to sit in.

Here's some views (click to see larger version)

Next I needed to find some way of securing the adapter to the upper side of the Amiga's case, since it could potentially take quite a bit of force when pushing in a CF card, so I found some acrylic rod, drilled and cut it to length (about 5 mm) and superglued in to the case.

The holes are just the right size for PC hard disk screws

Then hey presto! Two screws later and the adapter is nice and tight.

And a view from the outside lookin' in...

Right, now off to clean the keyboard before replacing the keys and back for Part 3!

craggus2000 · 11 November 2010, 15:27

Brought some ethanol and cotton buds home from work to clean the keyboard properly... Will do that when I get home and then reassemble and test the LEDS

orange · 11 November 2010, 17:40

think you should dilute it with some water.
(tooth)brush is an excellent tool for cleaning, use it with alcohol.

Zetr0 · 11 November 2010, 17:43

@craggus

its looking like a great start!

craggus2000 · 12 November 2010, 08:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zetr0

@craggus

its looking like a great start!

Thanks Zetr0!
Any now for part 3...

I desoldered the set of A1200 LEDs I had and put them on a new piece of stripboard, as they needed to be closer together to fit between the vent grill of the top part of the case.

Added cables and header sockets (cannibalised from an old PC

):

With the case all dry and clean, and the keys back on the keyboard, I proceeded to put everything back together.

First the board, along with home-made Y cable for power to FDD and CF slot...

Then the keyboard along with cables for secondary CF slot...
See how much cleaner the keyboard is compared to before shot!
(after)

(before)

Plugged in the LED board I made and turned on to test........

They work!

The next bit of 'fun' was locating the LEDS in the correct position and holding them long enough for the hot glue to set (difficult because numnuts made the cables a little short

)

But after it set, I re-tested again and they still came on so I thought it can't be all that bad!

I've got the green LED for the internal CF, the middle orange for the external/side CF, and the bottom orange split in to 2 - one for each kickstart!

Finally I reassembled the case and inserted the second CF card...

Et voila, one working A500+ with 2 CF slots and booting in to Workbench! (shown on my PC capture card, as still waiting for video-vga convert from HongKong!)

What do you think? Have I done OK?

Zetr0 · 14 November 2010, 01:39

I love it -

And it can only get better from here!

I am especially pleased with the cut-in for the CF card - very straight and smooth - pro infact, especially when the subtly of the LED's are factored in too =D

now we want more =D

rkauer · 14 November 2010, 07:52

Greatly done, indeed.

craggus2000 · 15 November 2010, 08:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zetr0

now we want more =D

Got a (supposedly) faulty A600 arriving this week, so we'll see what happens there! Will keep you posted...

Matt020 · 18 November 2010, 10:45

Looks GREAT!!

Now time to upgrade to Kickstart 3.1

cosmicfrog · 20 November 2010, 23:13

some dam fine hackery there

02 November 2010, 09:22	#1
craggus2000 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Braintree, Essex, UK Age: 38 Posts: 126	A500+ Other Mem / RAM and LEDs Hi, As some may have been reading, I have been slightly and slowly upgrading my stock A500+. So far its got a Kickstart switcher with 1.3 and 2.05 roms, a cfide68k with a 4gb transcend (possibly going to add another cf to the ide connector via adapter so it has an external card too) and a 1mb chip ram upgrade in the trapdoor. So its got a total of 2mb chip ram but 0mb 'other'! What options do I have to add some 'other' ram to it? I'm trying to keep everything internal to the main case, not really wanting to use a sidecar if possible... Also, I've got myself a set of A1200 LEDS that I'm looking to hack in to the case, to move the LEDS for KS switcher and also CF/IDE activity lights to the case instead of leaving internal (so they can be seen! ). Where would people suggest be the best place on the a500+ case to locate them? Does anyone know if the resistors on the cfide68k (I think they are 4K7 ???) for the leds will be all I need to run with an a1200 led (removing the 33ohm from the a1200 led board)? And same goes for the KS switcher (its the one from amigakit.com)?? Thanks Last edited by craggus2000; 02 November 2010 at 11:29.

09 November 2010, 15:00	#8
craggus2000 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Braintree, Essex, UK Age: 38 Posts: 126	Ok, I decided to take the plunge and cut the baby up... The LEDS are going to get desoldered from the A1200 PCB and put on to stripboard then hot-glued under the vent so you can see them thru the vent (Pics to follow)... After looking at the internal placements of the various bits of hardware, I decided the best place for the second CF slot was on the top left (just under the air vent)... This is the IDE-CF adapter that's going in... Marking for the hole... Second installment to follow............. Last edited by craggus2000; 20 July 2017 at 12:03. Reason: re-linked images

10 November 2010, 22:51	#11
craggus2000 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Braintree, Essex, UK Age: 38 Posts: 126	And now for the second installment! She came out of the dishwasher nice and sparkly, just got the keys in the airing cupboard drying off... Back to the hole cutting After marking the location of where I wanted the CF slot to go, I got the dremel out in the kitchen and cut a rough hole before the wife's ears started bleeding (dremel cutting Amiga makes a nice resonating screech!), then filed a nice clean hole for the edge of the slot to sit in. Here's some views (click to see larger version) Next I needed to find some way of securing the adapter to the upper side of the Amiga's case, since it could potentially take quite a bit of force when pushing in a CF card, so I found some acrylic rod, drilled and cut it to length (about 5 mm) and superglued in to the case. The holes are just the right size for PC hard disk screws Then hey presto! Two screws later and the adapter is nice and tight. And a view from the outside lookin' in... Right, now off to clean the keyboard before replacing the keys and back for Part 3! Last edited by craggus2000; 20 July 2017 at 12:09. Reason: re-linked images

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02 November 2010, 21:33	#2
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 57 Posts: 3,482	A Supra RAM RX is very thin and can be powered directly from the Amiga. Its low profile is indicated for your case. It adds up to 8Mb RAM using 16 1Mx4 ZIP chips. ______________________ My personal advice regarding the HD is: don't cut holes on the top case, you'll regret it. If you really want a HD led, cut the trace under the floppy activity LED and use one half for the HD and the other for the floppy.

05 November 2010, 03:22	#4
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 57 Posts: 3,482	How about glueing the second CF over the expansion port shield? Simply opening the cover and ready for plugging/unplugging.

05 November 2010, 08:59	#6
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 48 Posts: 9,768	@craggus2000 heres some inspiration for you - The bottom right (left in picture) corner (underneath the FDD) The top right blank area (could easily get two CF cards in there - even side by side) If you were bing "cheeky" you could mount them on the underside of the keyboard Or the undeside of the FDD (mind the hybrid IC though) there that should get your creative juices going =)

05 November 2010, 12:59	#7
craggus2000 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Braintree, Essex, UK Age: 38 Posts: 126	Thanks Zetr0, quite liking the idea of under the FDD or under the keyboard... Will see how much clearance I have when the cf slot arrives, hopefully in the next few days! Will have to do some interesting routing with the ide cable methinks

09 November 2010, 15:34	#9
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 48 Posts: 9,768	Now, this is exciting =) looking forward to updates

09 November 2010, 21:44	#10
craggus2000 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Braintree, Essex, UK Age: 38 Posts: 126	She's currently scrubbed and in the dishwasher... I've cut the hole and will post pics when its out and aired. Just hoping I don't pull out a ball of plastic.........

11 November 2010, 15:27	#12
craggus2000 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Braintree, Essex, UK Age: 38 Posts: 126	Brought some ethanol and cotton buds home from work to clean the keyboard properly... Will do that when I get home and then reassemble and test the LEDS

11 November 2010, 17:40	#13
orange Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Belgrade Posts: 567	think you should dilute it with some water. (tooth)brush is an excellent tool for cleaning, use it with alcohol.

11 November 2010, 17:43	#14
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 48 Posts: 9,768	@craggus its looking like a great start!

14 November 2010, 01:39	#16
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 48 Posts: 9,768	I love it - And it can only get better from here! I am especially pleased with the cut-in for the CF card - very straight and smooth - pro infact, especially when the subtly of the LED's are factored in too =D now we want more =D

14 November 2010, 07:52	#17
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 57 Posts: 3,482	Greatly done, indeed.

18 November 2010, 10:45	#19
Matt020 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: West Australia Age: 46 Posts: 210	Looks GREAT!! Now time to upgrade to Kickstart 3.1

20 November 2010, 23:13	#20
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 55 Posts: 3,556	some dam fine hackery there

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