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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Starglider on January 07, 2014, 07:22:35 PM
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Hi Amigang, I've tried signing up to the Minimig forum but the activation email was never received, but I'm sure you guys know something about the Minimig.
These are my specific needs and I'm wondering if Minimig is the hardware to go for:
- I want to be able to boot floppy ADF files from a flash card, including obscure ones not available on WHDLoad.
- I want to be able to restore my old Amiga hard disk backup from floppy ADF files, onto a bootable virtual (not real) Amiga hard disk also stored on a flash card.
- I'd like to connect the keyboard of a dead Amiga 500 to the device.
So far, I've ruled out the following:
- HxC only boots virtual floppies not HDs.
- ACA500 only boots virtual HDs not floppies.
- Raspberry Pi is great but the problem comes when connecting an A500 keyboard, as you need to program an Arduino Leonardo board as a go-between.
Will the Minimig allow all the above, especially connecting the A500 keyboard via some sort of PS2 adapter?
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Um, this doesn't really seem like an apples-to-apples comparison here. An A500 could be equipped with both an HxC floppy emulator and an ACA500, these two products aren't mutually exclusive. Also I've heard the A500 keyboard is very difficult to interface because of it's on-board controller. You might have better luck with a same-form-factor A1200 keyboard and something like the Keyrah (and maybe a USB to PS/2 interface). Good luck! :)
http://www.vesalia.de/e_keyrahv2.htm
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Thanks, yes I've considered getting both into a working A500. But the Minimig would be cheaper. Buy 1 device instead of 2.
Do you know if the Minimig does the 1-2-3 above?
Edit: Actually I guess they come out to equal the same price. Still I do prefer the 2-in-1 functionality without having to hack my floppy disk drive to put the HxC in.
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1. I want to be able to boot floppy ADF files from a flash card, including obscure ones not available on WHDLoad.
A: Minimig, FPGA Arcade, Chameleon64 allow the mounting of ADF floppy images into virtual floppy drives of the SD card.
2. I want to be able to restore my old Amiga hard disk backup from floppy ADF files, onto a bootable virtual (not real) Amiga hard disk also stored on a flash card.
A: There shouldn't be an issue with this. Create a blank HDF file of the required size and mount it. Then boot with your recovery ADF image containing the hard drive backup utility (or in the case of the ARM Minimig you can boot from 1 HDF image and mount a second empty one), then do your recovery by mounting the required ADF images in the virtual floppies as requested and write the backup image to your blank HDF. Note: I can't guarantee this will work, but I see no reason why it shouldn't. The correctly configured Minimigs work just like "real" classic Amigas with a hard drive installed.
3. I'd like to connect the keyboard of a dead Amiga 500 to the device.
A: I'm unaware of any hack to allow this on the Minimig v1.1. The FPGA Arcade might allow it via a Keyrah as the new ones are supposed to support a USB keyboard (I've got the old prototype that takes a PS2 keyboard). The Chameleon64 allows an A500 keyboard to be attached via the docking port. I've never tried this as I use my Chameleon attached to a real C64C:
http://www.vesalia.de/e_chameleondock.htm
Hope this helps.
Edit: I just read that the Chameleon docking port can be attached to a Minimig v1.1 board via a cable and used with a special core. I don't know the details of this, but I assume that it is to allow the Minimig to use the keyboard connectors and the extra joystick ports. Can anyone confirm this?
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many thanks for the detailed response. So what you seem to be saying is that there is no device that can provide all three of my wishes in one single device? Namely floppy emulation, hard disk emulation, connection of Amiga 500 keyboard.
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many thanks for the detailed response. So what you seem to be saying is that there is no device that can provide all three of my wishes in one single device? Namely floppy emulation, hard disk emulation, connection of Amiga 500 keyboard.
Turbo Chameleon + Docking Station
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many thanks for the detailed response. So what you seem to be saying is that there is no device that can provide all three of my wishes in one single device? Namely floppy emulation, hard disk emulation, connection of Amiga 500 keyboard.
As lumi said above, the Chameleon64 should (the docking station adds the Amiga500 keyboard connector and 4 joystick ports), and possibly the newer versions of the FPGA Arcade using a Keyrah (although I'd email MikeJ for confirmation of that first).
I have a ClassicWB HDF file based on WB3.1 that runs on all three of the machines to boot into a nice Workbench screen and run WHDload. Other games/demos can be run from "floppies" by mounting an ADF file.
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Using an Active USB to PS/2 adapter such as this http://uk.startech.com/Server-Management/KVM-Switches/PS-2-to-USB-Keyboard-and-Mouse-Adapter~PS22USB + a keyrah should alow you to connect A1200 keyboard to a Minimig but as I don't have an active adapter I cant test that out.
If I could find a cheaper adapter I would be tempted to give it a try myself as I have all the other bits and it would be quite fun to house one of my Minimigs in my old A1200 from my first A1200 Tower conversion and I already have a keyrah which I purchased for a previous project.
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As lumi said above, the Chameleon64 should (the docking station adds the Amiga500 keyboard connector and 4 joystick ports), and possibly the newer versions of the FPGA Arcade using a Keyrah (although I'd email MikeJ for confirmation of that first).
I have a ClassicWB HDF file based on WB3.1 that runs on all three of the machines to boot into a nice Workbench screen and run WHDload. Other games/demos can be run from "floppies" by mounting an ADF file.
I'm sorry but isn't Chameleon64 only for the Commodore 64?
Are you saying I can just plug an Amiga 500's keyboard (not the Amiga itself) into a Chameleon64, via a docking station, and the Chameleon will give me full Amiga emulation, and allow me to boot virtual HDF and ADF files? No actual Amiga required?
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I'm sorry but isn't Chameleon64 only for the Commodore 64?
Chameleon 64 can be operated as a stand-alone computer, running a Minimig core (AFAIK). See this link for a quick overview:
http://www.vesalia.de/e_chameleon.htm
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Looks cool. Also looks unavailable.
But how do I load my ADF and HDF files onto it? I see no SD card port.
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It has one. Here is perhaps a better picture on this link:
http://www.syntiac.com/chameleon.html
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Ah yes thank you. This pretty exciting.
So just to clarify:
I can boot ADF floppies from Chameleon64
I can boot HDF hard disks from Chameleon64
I can plug my Amiga 500 keyboard into Chameleon64 (via dock)
One last thing then, can I install it into the A500 case, using extension leads to break out the sockets (like joystick) to the A500 rear ports? Or would I have issues as the Chameleon64 buttons need to be accessible?
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Also, where can I buy the Chameleon64 + dock? Out of stock everywhere.
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Also, where can I buy the Chameleon64 + dock? Out of stock everywhere.
Directly from manufactuter: http://icomp.de/home/indexe.htm ;)
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Woah $325 without the dock.
can I install it into the A500 case, using extension leads to break out the sockets (like joystick) to the A500 rear ports? Or would I have issues as the Chameleon64 buttons need to be accessible?
Can it emulate all kickstarter chips and different processor like UAE?
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Woah $325 without the dock.
can I install it into the A500 case, using extension leads to break out the sockets (like joystick) to the A500 rear ports? Or would I have issues as the Chameleon64 buttons need to be accessible?
Can it emulate all kickstarter chips and different processor like UAE?
Sure, don't see why not, but that's going to require some serious hands-on hardware hacking. Move the Chameleon buttons to somewhere like the top of the case, etc.
If it's running a Minimig core, you're going to be limited to what the Minimig can do. In other words you're not going to emulate an '060 with it. ;)
IMHO you're asking for some very specific capabilities. You've already been told that an A1200 keyboard (which is virtually identical to an A500 keyboard) would be much easier to interface, etcetera. That it would be much cheaper if you just got different hardware for a lot of what you're trying to do. But these specific things you want to do, while they're certainly doable, it's going to cost ya. Welcome to Amiga world circa 2014. ;)
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PS - If you do a google image search for "amiga hxc" you'll find a ton of images like this one. Not a Chameleon64 inside, but I think this is a pretty tasteful implementation of what buttons on the outside of the case might look like. Your own mod may differ, LOL. ;)
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Thanks for the advice. It's just that I already own the dead A500, so A1200 doesn't really fit in the plan. Plus the A500 is my nostalgia. If I'm going to use an A1200 I may as well put a Vic-20 around the Minimig as I never owned that either ;)
I'm leaning towards putting a Raspberry Pi in the A500 case and breaking out all the cables to the back ports. Then using the Arduino Leonardo to handle the A500 keyboard. Seems that's the cheapest way to achieve ADF and HDF emulation. $32.50 instead of $325 without the docks.