FPGAArcade case

[TheDaddy]

I wonder if having a DVD-RW and a HD when you can have a 32GB SD Card isn't just a waste of time...maybe it's better to keep it compact? Or would you like a floppy/DVD-RW?

[TheDaddy]

I think a CD/DVD player is not needed (CD ISO will work I think).
However A HD is welcom to store all your data for all your .iso files :-) and other stuff.
I have build-in a 1TB 2.5 HDD and sits under the replay PCB (see my pictures in the link above A590 build).
It's not working yet but with the release of the daughterboard it will.
There is also a MicroSD slot on the daughterboard so you can use a other sd cart there.

How would you connect the internal HD to the board?

[TheDaddy]

So you have USB to SATA adapter?
I see...so basically a floppy drive should be easy or even a card reader?

Interesting...

[TheDaddy]

Correct.  Just the same as plugging devices into a Subway or Deneb on a real Amiga.  The principle is the same.

I am just thinking about the best way to have everything inside and integrated rather than having bits sticking out

[TheDaddy]

That was my reasoning behind having a 5.25" or 3.5" bay or two.  It would allow users to decide for themselves what they wanted to mount internally or just dangle via the external USB ports.

Personally, I wouldn't mind a real hard drive (2.5" or 3.5") and a DVD+RW mounted internally.

To keep the footprint small, the bays could be located either under or over the FPGA Board.

At the end of the day though, if costs are to be kep to the minimum then I can live without the bays.

I agree but it's all down to cost. I wouldn't mind having the possibility of a HD and DVD personally. I'll see what I can do

[TheDaddy]

What kind of price do you have in mind TheDaddy for the final case?

No idea. I would like it to be very cheap obviously but it depends on how many people are interested. The more the better of course. I'd have to finalise the sketches (which I already started months back) and put them into CAD...

I am thinking slightly larger than the board with a 3.5" space and a 5.25" slot. A bit of space on top of the board itself for the daughter board...

[TheDaddy]

Can you make the 5.25" slot laptop style CD ROM drive slot?

[TheDaddy]

Well I would live without a CD slot to be honest...

We'll see. I am pretty sure we'll come up with something quite nice and functional.

Is anyone going to use the connectors on the front (where the serial is)?

[TheDaddy]

It's a personal thing for me.  I hope the FPGA Arcade will replace my expanded A4000, so the ability to read or write data CDs/DVDs or have bucket loads of storage space (hard drive) would be nice.  The C-One had the nice feature of being able to use a real 2.5" hard drive.

Of course, all of these thinsg could simply be plugged into the FPGA Arcade as external USB devices, but this is my dream case we're talking about here.  

I'll see what I can do.

My problem is that from what I can see here there are only three people interested which makes the whole project doubtful. I am not sure how many have ordered/bought the board already, do we know the number? From Mike's original thread there seems to be a lot of interest but it looks like nobody apart from Darrin and Nostromo have replied asking for features/making suggestions which makes me think that people would rather prefer choosing the case themselves. I wouldn't like to be in the position of spending time and money for something that then nobody wants.

[TheDaddy]

I'd say just make a case which fits the board with the expansion =).

The size with of such case with or without the expansion would most probably be the same anyway.

Also what about the name?

I do like Replay or Re-Play what do you think?

[TheDaddy]

I think Replay is better, but to be fair, MikeJ should have the last word on this, no?

Edit: It says "Replay" on the board.

http://www.fpgaarcade.com/common/replay_overview.jpg

Replay it is then

Is the mini USB on the right usable? Or it it just for flashing? I mean can you connect devices to it?

What about pins for ON/OFF switch, LEDs?

[TheDaddy]

>>The USB on the left is for flashing the ARM only, usually you would use soft-update.

OK so if this is covered it won't matter much...

>>The LEDs are visible through the back panel.

I'd prefer to have them at the front of a case so your idea of "using the io patch panel to drive copies of dsk and pwr LEDs" is the better option in my opinion.

>The power switch on the back would be left in the "on" position if it's in case, and either the 5V supply switched, or the ATX power control PCB can be used to switch on/off an internal power supply using the case power button.

That would make life easier