My Checkmate A1500 Plus Amiga 1200 Project

[ToddH]

So I recently received my black Checkmate A1500 Plus Kickstarter case and decided to do a quick review as well as start a project thread. So let's get started.

First up the packaging is super nice. You'd expect just a plain shipping box from a community project but Stephen went all out. Here's a couple of pictures:




So my plan was to use the case for my recapped A1200 motherboard (thanks Acill!). After removing it from the old yellowed case and removing the small screws around each port in the back, I used the supplied brass standoffs to mount it in the case. There are different mounting holes depending on your setup. For the 1200 there were only a couple of places to secure. After mounting it in the correct location, I replaced all the port screws, especially the ones around the two controller ports since they also act to secure the mother board to the case. Next up was to start on the drive mounting.

[ToddH]

So the drive shelf is made to hold a number of different drive combinations. For myself my plan was to use an IDE DVD-ROM drive I had laying around and my floppy drive. This is where I ran into some issues. The DVD drive mounted fairly easily into the mounting holes on the drive shelf. The floppy drive, however, had a couple of issues.

The first issue was that it sat too low and didn't line up with the drive opening. After looking through the supplied manual for a solution, none could be found. So then it occurred to me to use four of the brass standoffs to raise the drive. So after installing the standoffs the drive height was perfect. Of course now the second issue was even more obvious.

The second issue with my Sony floppy drive was it sat too far to the left on the drive shelf. The eject button wouldn't function at all. So I broke out my drill and drilled four new mounting holes a little farther to the right. I'm not sure if this is an issue with other floppy drive models so your mileage may vary. The new mounting holes did the trick and I was all set.



So now both drives are mounted nice and neat. I just wish I could find a better eject button. The button that came with my Sony drive from Amigakit was a 3D printed white button. After looking around Thingverse I found another Amiga 1200 Sony button and had it printed out in black. Unfortunately, while it looked really good, it didn't fit the drive at all. So I broke out my plastidip paint and painted it black for now.

[ToddH]

My Amiga 1200 has a number of aftermarket parts. They include a SUM USB keyboard adapter, an Indivision AGA MK2, an ACA 1221EC Accelerator with RTC, the hard to find black optical Boing Ball Mouse, 4GB CF IDE hard drive, and Kickstart 3.1 roms. Some of these parts required some planning to make sure their mounting was nice and neat, since I didn't want cables hanging out the back of my case haphazardly.

For the SUM adapter I used one of the two slot covers to install a USB plate. I tried finding a plate that had only one port but had no luck so I bought the two port model and placed a plug in one of the ports.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000511LW
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IY1Y6UG

Now the keyboard connected nice and neat to the back.



For the Indivision, I knew I wanted to use the space that the old RF modulator used to occupy on the motherboard. A quick trip to Thingverse and the correct Amiga HDMI mount was found. It was actually made for mounting the HDMI cable of a Vampire in an Amiga 600 but worked fine for my project.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2495538

The creator of this part recommends a certain HDMI adapter, but it wasn't available on the US version of Amazon so I went with this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MQF01OD

After some slight trimming of the cable it worked like a charm and zip tied perfectly onto the mother board.

[ToddH]

Next up was adding an SFX power supply. I purchased the 1200 ATX adapter kit with my case.

https://www.checkmate1500plus.com/Products.aspx?id=357

There were reports that some power supplies were causing issues with the ATX adapter board supplied with the Checkmate case. I chose this one and hoped for the best:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003H4QPDC

After mounting with three of the four supplied screws in the case (one screw hole was off by a good bit but it was super secure with just the three) I plugged it in and gave it a test. Luckily it worked perfectly.

If there's one thing I wish were a bit different about the power supply kit it's the adapter that plugs into the 1200's power input. Having a bare board on the outside of the case looks off but hopefully someone will maybe come up with a 3D printed solution.

[ToddH]

So now everything was mounted inside the case with the exception of the DVD drive's' IDE cable. I'm currently waiting on my 4xEIDE'99 Buffered Interface to arrive from Amigakit.



So now it was time to finish putting everything together and test it out. i had a monitor laying around so I hooked it up to the HDMI port. I ran the audio out to a pair of powered speakers and plugged in the mouse and controller (I'm using the Competition Pro CD32 controller). I had already installed Workbench on the CF card back when I had my 1200 in the old case. With everything plugged in I fired it up.



I couldn't resist a quick game of Deluxe Galaga...



Here's a few more pics:

[ToddH]

The only things I have left to do at the moment are connect the DVD drive and figure out why my CF card adapter doesn't light up the case's HD activity light. I'm currently figuring out a solution to getting the CD audio out mounted to the back of the case since I want to play some CD32 games with the CD audio intact. As soon as I finish up that project I'll post some info on my solution.

So my final verdict? The case is an amazing accomplishment and Stephen should be proud. It's beautiful and evokes memories of the old 3000 case. Fit and finish is excellent, with the exception of some of the screw holes not lining up exactly right. It's got plenty of room to add lots of new upgrades. I highly recommend it.

And to the Vampire guys...I'm ready for the Vampire 1200 whenever you are! 

[ToddH]

Thanks! It's the Competition Pro CD32 gamepad. It was pretty hard to find but I managed to come across one at a really nice price (around $20-30 if I remember correctly), unlike the outrageous prices on eBay.

http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/32971/Competition-Pro-Joypad-for-the-CD32/

I've also decided that since I'm getting back into the Amiga scene I'm going to install a legal version of 3.1.4. I just put an order in at Amiga By The Lake and the kickstart ROMs and disks should be here in a couple of days.

[ToddH]

I've had it for a while. I think I bought it a couple of years ago. Prices now are just outrageous on eBay.

I may pick up this controller as well:

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=85056

The Competition Pro is very similar to a Genesis pad. The one I linked above is more like a SNES pad.

I'm currently running 3.9 installed from an ISO I found online years and years ago. Time to start supporting Amiga again so that's why I ordered 3.1.4. 

[ToddH]

It is indeed the 9 pin version. I got lucky finding it. 

[ToddH]

So today I received my 4xEIDE'99 Buffered Interface from Amigakit, AmigaOS 3.1.4 w/ROMs from Amiga On The Lake, and a 32GB CF card from Amazon. First up I finally came up with a solution for getting the CD audio out of the back of the machine. There is a mounting hole for the A500 Keyboard adapter. But since I'm not using it I decided to mount an audio out jack there. I purchased this audio out jack:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCPSUB4/

It required just a bit of trimming but I got it mounted no problem.



Next up I needed to make a cable to connect the CD drive's analog audio out to the jack  I mounted on the back. First I needed a couple of parts. First was a 4 pin CD audio cable. I was hoping to find one in my pile of old parts but had to order one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00852L4VO

Next up I need a stereo cable to connect to the jack.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DNXZBW4/

Now it was time to connect the two. I cut one end off the 4 pin cable and the RCA ends off the y connector and wired up the left, right, and grounds. After I was done I plugged everything in and hoped for the best.

Next up I installed the 4 way IDE adapter, 3.1.4 ROMs, and connected my DVD drive and new 32GB CF card. I then broke out the floppy disks for 3.1.4 and started my install. I've got to say setting up the 32GB CF card was super easy. A click of the installer and a few disk swaps later and 3.1.4 was installed. I then installed EIDE'99 and Allegro CDFS. A quick reboot and I was good to go. It even saw my DVD drive.



Now for the moment of truth...seeing if the CD audio played out the back jack I installed. After what seemed like forever on Aminet trying to find a CD audio player that worked under 3.1.4, I finally found one that did...SCDPlayer. A quick edit of the device number and it was time to test. I inserted a music CD, hit play, and was greeted with the sweet sounds of music coming from my speakers. Success.

Next up is figuring how to play Paula and CD audio at the same time. I may buy a small mixer to mix the signals or just buy a monitor with audio in and play Paula audio from the monitor and CD audio from the speakers. I also want to try my hand at playing real CD32 disks. If anybody has any advice on CD32 disk playback feel free to reply. I'm getting close to the finish line. 

[ToddH]

So a quick update...I've managed to get CD32 games burned to a disc to play just fine with both Paula audio and CDDA audio. I had a copy of IDEFix and the CD32 emulator works like a charm after setting it up. I just wish it played CDTV games as I'd love to play the CDTV version of Defender of the Crown CDTV on my machine. I've tried other emulators like CDBoot and the emulator that came with my Squirrel interface but no luck. Anybody know of a good way to play CDTV discs on an A1200? I know I can just use WHDLoad but then I lose the cool voice acting and CD audio.

I solved my mixing of Paula and CDDA audio problem by purchasing this passive mixer...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00102ZN40

It works perfectly with no distortion or added noise.

I have a few more mods to do (waiting on parts) and I will be close to done with my build. 

[ToddH]

So I decided to buy a new keyboard instead of using an old Dell keyboard I had laying around. I knew I wanted to buy a mechanical keyboard since I loved the feel. After searching online I found a place that lets you customize your keyboard however you like.

https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/

One of my favorite things about wasd is that you can choose an Amiga OS key. So I ordered one with the Amiga OS keys, brown tactile switches, and a classic layout. It was a bit pricey but it turned out awesome.







I wanted to put a badge on the keyboard but didn't want to use a cheap sticker. So a quick trip to A1200.net turned up this little beauty...

https://www.a1200.net/product/a1200-metal-badge-checkmark/






And with that my A1200 project is almost done. The only thing left is the Vampire 1200. 

[ToddH]

Nice.

You do realise that the Alt and Amiga keys are swapped compared to a "real" classic keyboard, right?

Was that an option that could be configured?

Best regards,

Niels

I do and the keyboard is actually programmable thanks to DIP switches underneath it. It even comes with a key puller. I'll get around to swapping them around sometime. Right now I'm just using it with my PC at the moment because it just feels so nice to type on.

[ToddH]

It's a really nice keyboard. It's solid as a rock and has some heft to it. Now that I've been using it on my PC I almost don't want to give it up for the Amiga. Something tells me I'll be ordering another on in the near future.

[ToddH]

Just a quick update...

Looks like I'm one of the first folks to get a Vampire 1200 card. As soon as I receive it I'll update the thread with pictures, impressions, etc. Looking forward to some sweet Vampire goodness. Thanks Igor for the hard work!