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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: TheMagicM on April 01, 2016, 07:51:57 PM
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Finally after a LONG time, I have acquired an A1200. No HD, no floppy, no PSU. I have a few A500 PSU's. I want to use an LCD monitor with it. I'll use it to play games mostly and to tinker around with stuff. No browsing the web but I do want to access my NAS to copy whatever software I've downloaded over the years if I choose to use the games/apps.
What do you guys recommend?
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A CF hard drive, Indivision, and one of the ACA accelerators. 3.1 + BetterWB or 3.9, if you want a more modern experience. ;)
Edit: Oh, and I guess you'll need a PCMCIA network card, if you want to access your NAS.
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A CF hard drive, Indivision, and one of the ACA accelerators. 3.1 + BetterWB or 3.9, if you want a more modern experience. ;)
Edit: Oh, and I guess you'll need a PCMCIA network card, if you want to access your NAS.
I looked at the Indivision..looks like I'll need to somehow mount my CF hard drive somewhere since it'll run into the CF. The indivision cable goes to the far right of the A1200 in the empty "bay/slot" cover area.
Where do people usually put the HD when they use the Indivision?
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Check out kippers thingy here http://www.kipper2k.com/cfadapters.html
It tucks you CF card out the way with no need for cable or insulation.
I love mine.
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Check out kippers thingy here http://www.kipper2k.com/cfadapters.html
It tucks you CF card out the way with no need for cable or insulation.
I love mine.
Does it interfere with the Indivision?
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I have an Indivision Mk II and the internal CF adaptor. They don't interfere with one another as the CF adaptor sits on top of the PCMCIA port. You can still use a NIC in your PCMCIA port as it fits in underneath the CF adaptor. Both lovely bits of kit. I mainly use my Indivsion for Workbench Productivity stuff and the HighGfx mode I love.
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maybe just scart lead and gotek floppy emulator if on budget
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If you really want to do it right you'll want these things:
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You could also do it this way (see attached sketch in this post):
http://www.amiga.org/forums/showpost.php?p=803043&postcount=15
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Does it interfere with the Indivision?
Kipper2k is busy with Vampire orders at the moment so could take a while. A regular CF adapter is fine with the Indivision though. It just rests on top (do a Google image search and you'll see). Obviously make sure the back of the CF adapter is shielded in some way so it doesn't short anything - some people stick plastic to the back, others have it in a plastic bag. Some adapters are sold with a plastic backing already - AmigaKit's do I think. Note that I don't have the metal shield in my A1200 - can't remember if that's a requirement but the shield is pointless anyway.
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I used to have a 030 accelerator and enjoyed that a lot before I sold it.
Right now I have an 8 mb fast RAM expansion, a CF card with an IDE adapter, a SD card PCMCIA adapter and a 3c589 network card, and it definitely gets me by. I can move files from a more modern computer using the SD card adapter or download directly from aminet and so on using the network card. The extra RAM is more than enough for me in most cases but I admittedly mostly play whdload patched games and use Protracker with the thing.
I have the network card directly connected to a Raspberry Pi to be able to use the wireless network, and on the Pi I also run a gopher server that I use for file sharing.
The "minimum" is only a matter of what you want to do with the thing, but I'd still recommend the RAM expansion as it gets you quite far, and I don't really miss the accelerator that much. Maybe it's useful if you are into old flight simulators or the type of games that run slower on a stock machine. As for LCD monitors, I have a cheap kitchen TV with RGB scart input that I use some times, but in the end I still prefer the 1084S.
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I am using a SD SDHC SDXC MMC memory card on IDE 2.5 Inches 44Pin Plug Adapter and not a CF card. it's smaller and you can flip it over so it does not get in the AGA MK2cr way.
here is the adapter.
http://www.amazon.com/Optimal-Shop-Digital-Adapter-Converter/dp/B00DGNYXQ0
I use it like this guy. you can see how it flipped over in the upper left corner of the system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efLRef4lU_Q
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I am using a SD SDHC SDXC MMC memory card on IDE 2.5 Inches 44Pin Plug Adapter
Yes, SD cards are more reliable, also easier to handle (my laptop has built-in SD reader). As for putting them inside my A1200 I do it this way:
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka47_view1_576.jpg
Or even this way (you can see Indivision AGA on this photo as well):
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka60_view1_576.jpg
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I would totally forget of CF adapter and just go from an IDE 44 pins to SD adapter. As SD cards are easier to find, to interchange with other devices, and are a lot cheaper. Just buy a long 44 pin flat cable and fix the adapter´s position where the floppy would have been, with the card´s socket pointing towards the floppy insertion hole. In this way you dont need to make holes in your case.
On the LCD side, I would probably buy from Kipper2k his Svideo adapter and if your LCD supports Svideo input you are done. If not just make an additional purchase of those abundantly cheap Svideo to VGA adapters, you can find in places like ebay and just connect them together.
On the software side, I would run a modified version of BetterWB:
-Add C:setpatch and LIBS:workbench.library from AmigaOS 3.9
-Edit the startup-sequence and remove the first 3 lines which reference icon.library
-Run Prefs/IconSet and select GlowIcons
-Replace Tools/DW and DWEdit with Dopus 4.16
-Also use and replace c:env-handler with the one from Aminet
-And if you have the time and will you could probably replace many system components with their 68020 version counterparts for further speed benefits.
BTW, I currently have a similarly specced Amiga 1200 that is getting that same treatment, once I find the time.
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Fast RAM.
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On a budget, a 4meg fastram card with RTC. Even those cards can fetch silly money these days, but you may be lucky. Obviously you'll need a pcmcia network card, wireless if you like. Then take your choice regarding storage. Personally I have many spare laptop hard drives and you may do as well. Why fork out for a flash storage solution if that is the case...
If you want to play games like AB3D and Gloom Deluxe or flight sims etc then one of Individual Computer's ACA 68020 cards might be a better purchase, as you'll get a bit more cpu power and added bonus of more fastram with pcmcia compatibility.
An A1200 with hard drive and fastram does make a really nice WHDLoad machine.
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Yes, SD cards are more reliable, also easier to handle (my laptop has built-in SD reader). As for putting them inside my A1200 I do it this way:
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka47_view1_576.jpg
Or even this way (you can see Indivision AGA on this photo as well):
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka60_view1_576.jpg
holy crap I want that KA 47 adapter. thats awesome!!1 thanks for the link...
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Yes, SD cards are more reliable, also easier to handle (my laptop has built-in SD reader). As for putting them inside my A1200 I do it this way:
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka47_view1_576.jpg
Or even this way (you can see Indivision AGA on this photo as well):
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka60_view1_576.jpg
Nonsense,Where do you guys come up with this stuff? More reliable than CF? nope.. CF is true IDE and takes no conversion through the pcmcia slot or ide on amiga. Its straight through,making them utterly more reliable with minimal access time. SD requires adaption from the parallel ide to serial style the sd card is which requires a custom chip, this not only adds latency(slower access time-although not that noticeable),but it one more conversion.
Not to mention flash ram is flash ram basically,addressed serial or parallel.
Introducing more complex chips into the equasion doesn't make it more reliable than a cf that plugs straight in,wired one for one with no conversion chips.
If you think cf is unreliable,don't buy cheap no name ones and or ones that are counterfeit off ebay/china etc. many sandisk extreme even have a lifetime warranty and you can reg them online.
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On a budget, a 4meg fastram card with RTC. Even those cards can fetch silly money these days, but you may be lucky. Obviously you'll need a pcmcia network card, wireless if you like. Then take your choice regarding storage. Personally I have many spare laptop hard drives and you may do as well. Why fork out for a flash storage solution if that is the case...
If you want to play games like AB3D and Gloom Deluxe or flight sims etc then one of Individual Computer's ACA 68020 cards might be a better purchase, as you'll get a bit more cpu power and added bonus of more fastram with pcmcia compatibility.
An A1200 with hard drive and fastram does make a really nice WHDLoad machine.
Let me answer that :) Flash is way faster than most laptop ide drives. It has almost zero access time, versus say the laptops 5 to 12ms access.
Its ultra low power and dead silent,and makes virtually no heat,which are all good for amigas,especially ones with anemic stock psu.
Transfer speed is usually slighly improved depending on the cf. Workbench feels fast and snappy. 8GB cf will hold all of whdload pretty much as well as apps etc.
A 8gb CF card in sandisk is like $14USD worst case and the ide to cf adapter is all of $3-5USD.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1012244&gclid=CPbkwsfH8csCFQmqaQodZQYAdw&Q=&ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876%2C92051677562%2C&is=REG&A=details (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1012244&gclid=CPbkwsfH8csCFQmqaQodZQYAdw&Q=&ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876%2C92051677562%2C&is=REG&A=details)
Even a poor person like me can afford CF setup. I've actually ran 32Gb cf's in my 4000 for over 10+ years and now 64Gb cards as well as samsung ssd's.
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But for interoperability, SD cards beat CF hands down.
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More reliable than CF? nope.. CF is true IDE and takes no conversion through the pcmcia slot or ide on amiga. Its straight through,making them utterly more reliable with minimal access time. SD requires adaption from the parallel ide to serial style the sd card is which requires a custom chip, this not only adds latency(slower access time-although not that noticeable),but it one more conversion.
You are right in theory, but in practice getting Compact Flash card working with Amiga is a lottery. I've read endless threads about which cards work, which do not, there are even some working in CF2IDE, but not working in CF2PCMCIA or the other way around. SD cards just work. Any brand. They are also smaller, so easier to fit, especially when you have internal scandoubler, turbo board in A600 and so on.
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You are right in theory, but in practice getting Compact Flash card working with Amiga is a lottery. I've read endless threads about which cards work, which do not, there are even some working in CF2IDE, but not working in CF2PCMCIA or the other way around. SD cards just work. Any brand. They are also smaller, so easier to fit, especially when you have internal scandoubler, turbo board in A600 and so on.
stick with a quality sandisk card, it works every time. Many people in these reports buy bootleg ebay or used cards is why they have headaches.
not all sd to ide adapters work on amiga in my experience.
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On my A1200, I'm using 4GB Micro drive as a HD, and multiple CF cards from 128MB to 4GB with PCMCIA-to-CF Adapter (Sandisk).
Works every time, not even one issue.
My 4GB CF card is some unknown "pq1" brand. Main card for transferring files between Amiga and PC. I even have a Shapeshifer HD image on it and the access time is better then the FFS on the IDE port. It means that the SS boot time is way faster then from the IDE hard drive.
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Yes, SD cards are more reliable, also easier to handle (my laptop has built-in SD reader). As for putting them inside my A1200 I do it this way:
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka47_view1_576.jpg
Or even this way (you can see Indivision AGA on this photo as well):
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka60_view1_576.jpg
That looks pretty good! Nice, compact and out of the way.
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cursorily for people that have CF card drives. what do you get in sysinfo for speed. I would like to start with putting some numbers up.
with my IDE2SD with FFS i am getting ~1.34MB/s
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At the IDE transfer rates of an A600 or even the A1200 I don't think the "speed advantage" of a CF card matters at all.
Should you ever want to install a Vampire 2 or a Furia accelerator in your A600 the SD card adapter doesn't get in the way.
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I'm sold on the idea of external access above the PCMCIA and the Kipper2K CF adapter is the popular choice:
http://kipper2k.com/cfadapters.html
Do not get me wrong, I really like the Kipper2k products but this looks a little too home made to me. I much prefer this one I found:
http://retro.68k.pl/category/a1200/
However, no one seems to be talking much about it and I do not believe it passes through activity to the built-in HDD LED. Not sure how its own LED will be visible.
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I looked at the Indivision..looks like I'll need to somehow mount my CF hard drive somewhere since it'll run into the CF. The indivision cable goes to the far right of the A1200 in the empty "bay/slot" cover area.
Where do people usually put the HD when they use the Indivision?
Instead of indivision get yourself SCART cable, then SCART to HDMI converter and HDMI to DVI cable and you are set, for half (or less) price. Good for start IMO. When you start doing something interesting with you Amiga then you can try something else, but for playing games on HDMI TV this solution is great.
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At the IDE transfer rates of an A600 or even the A1200 I don't think the "speed advantage" of a CF card matters at all.
Should you ever want to install a Vampire 2 or a Furia accelerator in your A600 the SD card adapter doesn't get in the way.
In case of an Amiga it is not about SPEED but also about ACCESS time, HDD will have the same "raw" speed, but when I switched to CD/SSD solution my Amiga boots INSTANTLY.
:).
For an Amiga software HDD speed is not that important. Why? Because most of Amiga software is relatively small. Speed will make a difference when you want to transfer 1000Mb of mods to your Amiga... then 1Mb/s... IS slow.
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with my IDE2SD with FFS i am getting ~1.34MB/s
SD2IDE here too, 1.8 MB/s with 68020@28.
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Yes, SD cards are more reliable, also easier to handle (my laptop has built-in SD reader). As for putting them inside my A1200 I do it this way:
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka47_view1_576.jpg
Or even this way (you can see Indivision AGA on this photo as well):
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/img/ka60_view1_576.jpg
resurrecting this old thread.
Where is that 44 pin adapter bought at... cant seem to use the correct keyword to find it.
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There you go:
http://krashan.ppa.pl/articles/hardware/index_en.html
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The above link works no more. I have cleaned up my hardware webpage, so it is now reachable at http://krashan.ppa.pl/hardware/.
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I found the SD cards were slower than the CF cards.