Info needed on A1200 expansion

Merlin · 20 April 2007, 11:49

Hi

I have bought an A1200 from Ebay, it has a 4M expansion board in the trapdoor which is marked Power Computing - 4M RAM/CLK FPU - PC525 Issue 1A.

Where can I get information or a manual for this expansion board, it doesn't seem to be in the Big Amiga Hardware guide.

Thanks

Merlin

alexh · 20 April 2007, 13:56

Short answer : You cannot. It is a rebranded card from someone else.

Long answer : Provide a decent (in focus) photograph and I'll match it.

Question: Why do you need a manual for a RAM card. Not exactly much required. Add 4Meg SIMM then Plug n Play?

Merlin · 20 April 2007, 13:58

Alex,

It has a PGA socket on it (maybe for a 68882?) and a jumper, I am not sure what the jumper does and I don't want to break the A1200 to find out...sorry it's a phone camera pic as I am at work.

The A1200 cost me £20 including postage from Ebay, it arrived at work today and I have just found out it has a 170Mb hard drive in it as well, what a result for 20 notes

Merlin

Zetr0 · 20 April 2007, 14:54

have you got an underside to that pic Merlin ?

keropi · 20 April 2007, 15:08

bah no harm if u try the jumper...
it propably disables or enables fast-ram _or_ it allows the fpu to run synchronous / asynchronous...
and this is a socket to add a FPU, mostly useless....

Merlin · 20 April 2007, 15:29

@ Zetro

The underside is just tracks, no hardware mounted on that side, with the information as per my first post screen printed onto the PCB near the connector.

I have directly spoken to Power Computing since, the guy there remembers these boards and offered me a 68882 40Mhz FPU for £20, not sure if that's a bargain or not, since the A1200 as it is now cost that...

Merlin

alexh · 20 April 2007, 15:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin

It has a PGA socket on it (maybe for a 68882?)

Yes it's for a 68882 or 68881 FPU. Be careful with the orientation when fitting. Your socket doesnt look keyed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin

and a jumper, I am not sure what the jumper does

Only one jumper? How many pins? 2? Get me a better photo in focus so I can clearly read the silk screen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin

the guy there remembers these boards and offered me a 68882 40Mhz FPU for £20

Good value for money as things go. But an FPU is next to useless on the Amiga. Especially as your card can only run the FPU at 14MHz

alexh · 20 April 2007, 15:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by keropi

_or_ it allows the fpu to run synchronous / asynchronous...

The Jumper cannot be for that. There is no socket for a separate FPU clock crystal oscillator anywhere on the board. The FPU must be run synchronous at the same speed as the A1200 motherboard at 14MHz

keropi · 20 April 2007, 16:03

correct, no crystal...

Merlin · 20 April 2007, 16:31

Thanks guys,

I'll leave the FPU then if it's going to be a chocolate fireguard, 4Mb is enough memory for what I am going to be using it for, I'll just "Pimp my A1200" with an internal laptop DVD-ROM/CD-RW (as Dambuster and Zetro have done) and a larger hard drive, so that I can easily access ADF images.

I think this board is the Power Computing PC1204 that the Big Amiga Hardware Guide refers to but has no picture of, I've e-mailed the pic to them.

Merlin

Zetr0 · 20 April 2007, 16:39

heys Merlin, do you have an FCC id for or on that board anywhere?

Merlin · 20 April 2007, 16:40

Nope, just the above info and a sticker with a serial number...

Merlin

alexh · 20 April 2007, 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merlin

I think this board is the Power Computing PC1204 that the Big Amiga Hardware Guide refers to but has no picture of, I've e-mailed the pic to them.

If it is then they have their specification wrong as your board definitely only has a 12MHz FPU.

Angus · 20 April 2007, 17:16

The good thing is that even though its only a ram card rather than an accelerator it will pretty much double the speed of your 1200 for a lot of stuff.

Merlin · 20 April 2007, 17:22

@ Alex,

If it's not the PC1204, then the Guide doesn't have this one at all. Oh well....

Merlin

alexh · 20 April 2007, 17:26

Maybe you have the only one in the world and it'll be a collectors item and worth pots of money.

Or maybe it's worthless?

Merlin · 20 April 2007, 17:38

Dunno, but as long as it's in the A1200 and works that will do.

Merlin

dambuster · 20 April 2007, 19:01

Good luck with the modding, and being only 4mb you'll not have any conflicts if/when you use the pcmcia slot. It would be worth reading the post re. cf cards instead of the hdd as you dont need a lot of harddrive space and using bloodwiches classic amiga images work great.

Merlin · 20 April 2007, 21:17

The A1200 has a 170Mb hard drive in it already, I have a spare 1.4 gig hard drive, it would be a shame not to use it

I may go the CF route with my A600 modding as it is more cramped inside than the A1200.

dambuster · 21 April 2007, 01:54

Go for a DVDrom rather than a writer, as there about a third of the price, and ive never used mine for writing dvd's - I normally use a cf and transfer to a PC and write the dvd from there - I always knew the PC would be good for something

20 April 2007, 11:49	#1
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	Info needed on A1200 expansion Hi I have bought an A1200 from Ebay, it has a 4M expansion board in the trapdoor which is marked Power Computing - 4M RAM/CLK FPU - PC525 Issue 1A. Where can I get information or a manual for this expansion board, it doesn't seem to be in the Big Amiga Hardware guide. Thanks Merlin

20 April 2007, 13:58	#3
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	Alex, It has a PGA socket on it (maybe for a 68882?) and a jumper, I am not sure what the jumper does and I don't want to break the A1200 to find out...sorry it's a phone camera pic as I am at work. The A1200 cost me £20 including postage from Ebay, it arrived at work today and I have just found out it has a 170Mb hard drive in it as well, what a result for 20 notes Merlin Attached Thumbnails

20 April 2007, 15:08	#5
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	bah no harm if u try the jumper... it propably disables or enables fast-ram _or_ it allows the fpu to run synchronous / asynchronous... and this is a socket to add a FPU, mostly useless.... Last edited by keropi; 20 April 2007 at 15:21.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Needed: Info on A1200 NTSC to PAL conversion	thgill	Hardware mods	31	01 April 2019 07:42
AROS info needed	DeafDaz	New to Emulation or Amiga scene	20	06 September 2011 05:19
i need more info on this expansion	cpiac64	support.Hardware	0	31 July 2011 23:25
A1200 expansion memory info required	Djay	support.Hardware	1	06 May 2010 19:08
general a1200 info needed	Belgarath	support.Hardware	6	16 April 2002 00:17

20 April 2007, 13:56	#2
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,461	Short answer : You cannot. It is a rebranded card from someone else. Long answer : Provide a decent (in focus) photograph and I'll match it. Question: Why do you need a manual for a RAM card. Not exactly much required. Add 4Meg SIMM then Plug n Play?

20 April 2007, 14:54	#4
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	have you got an underside to that pic Merlin ?

20 April 2007, 15:29	#6
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	@ Zetro The underside is just tracks, no hardware mounted on that side, with the information as per my first post screen printed onto the PCB near the connector. I have directly spoken to Power Computing since, the guy there remembers these boards and offered me a 68882 40Mhz FPU for £20, not sure if that's a bargain or not, since the A1200 as it is now cost that... Merlin

20 April 2007, 16:03	#9
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	correct, no crystal...

20 April 2007, 16:31	#10
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	Thanks guys, I'll leave the FPU then if it's going to be a chocolate fireguard, 4Mb is enough memory for what I am going to be using it for, I'll just "Pimp my A1200" with an internal laptop DVD-ROM/CD-RW (as Dambuster and Zetro have done) and a larger hard drive, so that I can easily access ADF images. I think this board is the Power Computing PC1204 that the Big Amiga Hardware Guide refers to but has no picture of, I've e-mailed the pic to them. Merlin

20 April 2007, 16:39	#11
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	heys Merlin, do you have an FCC id for or on that board anywhere?

20 April 2007, 16:40	#12
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	Nope, just the above info and a sticker with a serial number... Merlin

20 April 2007, 17:16	#14
Angus Amiga Games Database Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: South West England Posts: 1,281	The good thing is that even though its only a ram card rather than an accelerator it will pretty much double the speed of your 1200 for a lot of stuff.

20 April 2007, 17:22	#15
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	@ Alex, If it's not the PC1204, then the Guide doesn't have this one at all. Oh well.... Merlin

20 April 2007, 17:26	#16
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,461	Maybe you have the only one in the world and it'll be a collectors item and worth pots of money. Or maybe it's worthless?

20 April 2007, 17:38	#17
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	Dunno, but as long as it's in the A1200 and works that will do. Merlin

20 April 2007, 19:01	#18
dambuster Zone Friend Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dundee / Scotland Posts: 151	Good luck with the modding, and being only 4mb you'll not have any conflicts if/when you use the pcmcia slot. It would be worth reading the post re. cf cards instead of the hdd as you dont need a lot of harddrive space and using bloodwiches classic amiga images work great.

20 April 2007, 21:17	#19
Merlin AmiBay MegaMod Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Age: 62 Posts: 1,163	The A1200 has a 170Mb hard drive in it already, I have a spare 1.4 gig hard drive, it would be a shame not to use it I may go the CF route with my A600 modding as it is more cramped inside than the A1200.

21 April 2007, 01:54	#20
dambuster Zone Friend Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dundee / Scotland Posts: 151	Go for a DVDrom rather than a writer, as there about a third of the price, and ive never used mine for writing dvd's - I normally use a cf and transfer to a PC and write the dvd from there - I always knew the PC would be good for something

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