Pyrre's A500+ project

[pyrre]

First id like to give my greatest thanks to Amigakit for the excellent service on purchasing the Indivision ECS (and of course AGA).

This project actually started several years ago. but has been on hold for tree years.
Now i am finally able to get back to work on my girlfriends.

And first up is the A500+, the one in my signature.

Today i installed the indivision and it boots up and shows the kickstart screen, on my 17" lcd display.
However. i am currently unable to fit the derringer inside the case. the indivision occupy the space the derringer needs. I tried desoldering the cpu socket from a defect a500 and fitted it. but it still builds to low. however. if i build any higher it will come in conflict with the keyboard.

My plan B is to use a ribbon cable from an old scsi setup and remove the socket entirely. im guessing the cable should not be longer than  one or two inches...

I will post pictures as soon as i am able to operate my camera again.

[pyrre]

Time to update the project status... i guess.

I have removed the pins of the derringer. partially because some pins were broken of, but mostly because the derringer wont fit inside the case with the indievision installed.
With an extra socket fitted to the CPU socket the derringer got just above the indie, but because of board warping it is under pressure when "forced" into the slot.
And the keyboard wont fit, it comes to rest to-three millimeters from the post it is supposed to rest at, and when gentle force is applied to the keyboard, the derringer pops out of the cpu socket.
I dare not even start the computer like this. afraid it will damage something.

I then decided to remove all of the old pins from the derringer and replace them with copper wire into the cpu socket and soldered to the derringer. First i will find a location where the derringer is at rest, no more stress and no more warping the board. finding something to rest the derringer at on the edges.
Then i will carefully solder it at a slight angle where the derringer will be above the indievision but still under the keyboard.

When i find a IDE solution that will work with the derringer on top, i will solder everything firmly in place.
Any one got any idea for an IDE solution?

That was a lot of text..... time for picture.
Before attempting to solder.

[pyrre]

Yet another update.
After postponing the project for nearly 10 years, i can finally call the project finished.......
At least when it comes to fitting the derringer together with the Indivision.
Seeing the workbench screen after 7 years or so away from it was intoxicating.
- The first image shows the soldering about half way there.
- Second image shows the completed soldering job
- Third shows the kickstart boot screen.
- Fourth image the amiga is completely assembled, apart from top cover.
- And finally the last image shows the WB screen in 800X600 with 4 colors.
I have not (yet) attempted to install highGFX. but will do later on.
Right now it is just a pleasure being done with something i have had in my mind for nearly ten years.

I know its not the prettiest solder job on the planet, but it works and i am happy.
(and please look past the clutter on the desk....)

[curtis]

Interesting way to accomplish the fitting of both expansions.

Of course, after you've successfully accomplished the adjustment, wouldn't it have been easier to get some wire wrap long tail sockets and trim them to the appropriate angle?

Something like this:  http://www.king-cart.com/phoenixent/product=SOCKETS+WIRE+WRAP+DIP+%2526+SIP/exact_match=exact

[pyrre]

Interesting way to accomplish the fitting of both expansions.

Of course, after you've successfully accomplished the adjustment, wouldn't it have been easier to get some wire wrap long tail sockets and trim them to the appropriate angle?

Something like this:  http://www.king-cart.com/phoenixent/product=SOCKETS+WIRE+WRAP+DIP+%2526+SIP/exact_match=exact

Have no idea. I'm not an electronic engineer. I'm actually a gunsmith.
But as long as it works, i'm happy.

Oh.. and a picture of performance..

[pyrre]

Now i have upgraded the system with a Buddha ide controller.
the card is installed and seemingly works fine. at lest it shows up in sysinfo and the "buddha_atapi" shows up fine.
i have installed a card reader with a 512mb cf card.
but my trouble stats here.
How do i get the buddha to recognize the cf and how do i format the drive?
Can i use hdtoolbox under wb 2.1? - YES
--------------------------------
HDToolbox finds the buddha_atapi.device
but no disks installed, even though there is a disk present

[Acill]

HD toolbox should work. Be sure you have the correct device selected in it. Its been a long time since I used one of those IDE controllers, but when I did on my A3000 it was the primary CD-ROM and HD controller I used.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

- And finally the last image shows the WB screen in 800X600 with 4 colors.
I have not (yet) attempted to install highGFX. but will do later on.

Nice work!  You can run 800x600 in up to 16 colors.  HighGFX should work too, but it's going to eat chip ram like crazy.  I'd make sure your Indi is flashed to 1.10 firmware (instead of 1.01) before trying those modes.  I've only ever used them under 3.1 & 3.9, assume they should still work under 2.1 but I've never tried.

Personally I'd bump the system up to at least 3.1, is that accelerator going to be easy to remove to access the ROM socket?

[pyrre]

HD toolbox should work. Be sure you have the correct device selected in it. Its been a long time since I used one of those IDE controllers, but when I did on my A3000 it was the primary CD-ROM and HD controller I used.

Seemingly HDToolbox is able to find the "buddha_ataspi.device" but it is completely unable to find any device connected to it. have tried CF adapters with 512mb and 4gb cf card, and hdds... no avail.

do anyone have any good setup of icon types?

current information:
SCSI_MAXADDRESS=6
SCSI_MAX_LUN=7
XT_NAME=    XT
SCSI_DEVICE_NAME=buddha_atapi.device

and some DO NOT EDIT lines

in that order

[pyrre]

Nice work!  You can run 800x600 in up to 16 colors.  HighGFX should work too, but it's going to eat chip ram like crazy.  I'd make sure your Indi is flashed to 1.10 firmware (instead of 1.01) before trying those modes.  I've only ever used them under 3.1 & 3.9, assume they should still work under 2.1 but I've never tried.

Personally I'd bump the system up to at least 3.1, is that accelerator going to be easy to remove to access the ROM socket?

I would like to keep it 2.04, i actually like WB 2

Flashing indi is on my to do list.
The accelerator is removable. but it puts a lot of stress on the board of the derringer to do so.. I don't want remove it unless i really have to do so...

Edit:
I have found an age old maxtor 1.6gig HDD that is recognized and working with the buddha controller.
I am guessing i just have to find other CF cards and try to find one that works with the buddha.
At least the buddha works, seemingly fine.

But a strange thing is, it did not work when the icon tooltype was set to the appropriate .device "buddha_atapi.device"
It worked when i put a ; in front of the scsi_device_name line. and only used the ASKDEVICE line....

Anyone know why?