A500 Plus in A500 case?

Weasel Fierce · 24 June 2022, 00:58

A story that comes up now and again is that some 500 Plus motherboards were sold in A500 cases (leading to confusion no doubt).

Has anyone here actually seen such a beast in person?

Matt_H · 24 June 2022, 05:02

My understanding is that it’s not so much a 500+ in a 500 case as a rev 8 motherboard. Commodore shipped most rev 8s as the 500+, but also shipped some as a plain 500 (half the RAM populated, no clock/battery installed). The hardware databases have pictures of such a board.

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but bottom line, there are no secret 500+ machines out there. But there are secret rev 8 machines that could be upgraded to be a full 500+.

alexh · 24 June 2022, 06:13

What he said. They were A500+ motherboards without the plus bit populated

Matt_H · 24 June 2022, 07:33

Those secret rev 8s are probably all in a newer case with an A-500 badge rather than the plain Commodore badge most 500s have, but the A-500 badge isn’t a guarantee. My own 500 - and the one linked here - have the A-500 badge but they are rev 6A.

Weasel Fierce · 28 June 2022, 17:38

I see, thanks gang. Makes total sense from that how the story might have gotten started.

Lord Aga · 28 June 2022, 17:52

What happens when you add a trapdoor expansion to those boards?
Do they get CHIP RAM or (slow) FAST RAM?

hooverphonique · 28 June 2022, 18:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Aga

What happens when you add a trapdoor expansion to those boards?
Do they get CHIP RAM or (slow) FAST RAM?

Slow.

Dale423 · 28 June 2022, 20:20

I have one of these motherboards. it was an 8A.1, 1 mb chip no clock circuit ever installed. This board was super easy to convert to a 2mb chip ram board BTW. No megachip needed, just the right 8375 agnus and some jumpers.

Jope · 29 June 2022, 08:58

The ones I've seen already came with the correct Agnus and super Denise, even though they were in the 512k mobo / 512k trapdoor configuration.

There are threads about how to make a full a500+ out of them on this board, a few jumper settings, a few missing 74 series logic chips and 512k of RAM is all you need. You can also populate the clock if you wish.

Weasel Fierce · 29 June 2022, 18:45

So you can in fact turn it into a stealth 500+ on your own.

pandy71 · 01 July 2022, 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Aga

What happens when you add a trapdoor expansion to those boards?
Do they get CHIP RAM or (slow) FAST RAM?

Depends on jumper pad settings - it can be CHIP (so you may have 1.5MiB of CHIP) or SLOW.

24 June 2022, 00:58	#1
Weasel Fierce Registered User Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: Michigan Posts: 661	A500 Plus in A500 case? A story that comes up now and again is that some 500 Plus motherboards were sold in A500 cases (leading to confusion no doubt). Has anyone here actually seen such a beast in person?

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24 June 2022, 05:02	#2
Matt_H Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 943	My understanding is that it’s not so much a 500+ in a 500 case as a rev 8 motherboard. Commodore shipped most rev 8s as the 500+, but also shipped some as a plain 500 (half the RAM populated, no clock/battery installed). The hardware databases have pictures of such a board. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but bottom line, there are no secret 500+ machines out there. But there are secret rev 8 machines that could be upgraded to be a full 500+.

24 June 2022, 06:13	#3
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	What he said. They were A500+ motherboards without the plus bit populated

24 June 2022, 07:33	#4
Matt_H Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 943	Those secret rev 8s are probably all in a newer case with an A-500 badge rather than the plain Commodore badge most 500s have, but the A-500 badge isn’t a guarantee. My own 500 - and the one linked here - have the A-500 badge but they are rev 6A.

28 June 2022, 17:38	#5
Weasel Fierce Registered User Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: Michigan Posts: 661	I see, thanks gang. Makes total sense from that how the story might have gotten started.

28 June 2022, 17:52	#6
Lord Aga MI clan prevails Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Belgrade, Serbia Posts: 1,443	What happens when you add a trapdoor expansion to those boards? Do they get CHIP RAM or (slow) FAST RAM?

28 June 2022, 20:20	#8
Dale423 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Bentonville, AR USA Posts: 74	I have one of these motherboards. it was an 8A.1, 1 mb chip no clock circuit ever installed. This board was super easy to convert to a 2mb chip ram board BTW. No megachip needed, just the right 8375 agnus and some jumpers.

29 June 2022, 08:58	#9
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,861	The ones I've seen already came with the correct Agnus and super Denise, even though they were in the 512k mobo / 512k trapdoor configuration. There are threads about how to make a full a500+ out of them on this board, a few jumper settings, a few missing 74 series logic chips and 512k of RAM is all you need. You can also populate the clock if you wish.

29 June 2022, 18:45	#10
Weasel Fierce Registered User Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: Michigan Posts: 661	So you can in fact turn it into a stealth 500+ on your own.

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