My A1200 project Updated: 08/28

[som99]

Now it's time for me to upgrade my A1200 and ive ordered  some nice things, yesterday I got two packages and started playing.
I have more stuff im waiting for but ill fill in more pictures and info when I get more stuff.

The first 2 packages appeared and they contain a small PSU and a ACA-1231.
The ACA-1231 is a 42MHz 030 accelerator board with MMU and 64MB memory and the PSU is well a PSU.

First of I opened the packages and they contained this:


Well lets start with the PSU, I wanted to keep the Amiga power brick and this PSU would fit perfectly inside it with some work, so first I one spare Amiga PSU (the low weight A500 one)


Then I opened it up and removed it's intestines.


Now I opened the ATX PSU and hotwired it to see how loud the Fan where, after that I tried an Fractal Design fan and compared them both, the 80mm Fractal Design fan won on both 5v and 12v so that is what I will be using.




Now it's time to pull the ATX PSU to pieces.


After that I decided I want to use the standard power connector from the ATX PSU instead of the one that is stuck on the Amiga PSU, So I had to make a hole for it so I started working and a while later I had a perfect fit.



Then I was going to make an 80mm hole in the top of the Amiga PSU casing for the fan but I did it to fast and destroyed the case... I was quite mad at myself at this point.


So now I had  few options to correct this, either destroy another Amiga PSU or try to work with what I had, I decided the latter for now, I will try to get my hands on a not to yellow non working Amimga PSU instead of destroying a working one.

So I decided to kill an old AT-PSU and use it's 80mm fanplace in the Amiga PSU and make an rectangular hoel in the Amiga PSU, a bit of hacking and slashing later and I was done and got decent results, not perfect but it will work for now, I will make a new PSU later on.
(I also destroyed one of my oldest favorite plier that I have had for ages) I also had to remove two parts of the fan grill.




Now it was time to start doing some soldering and fitting the PSU inside the Amiga PSU case.

First I soldered the amiga power cable pinouts after measuring what color is for what, notice that I cut the shield cable wich i later decided to use anyways and restored.
I also soldered the Amiga power on button from the ATX-PSU green (Active) to black (ground) so the Amiga still is switched on and off by the button.
I also shrink wrapped all the cables for obvious reasons


Then I fitted the ATX-PSU in the Amiga PSU casing and tested the fan on 5V again.
Notice that I still don't use the Shield cable. I also de-soldered all 3,3v cables from the ATX-PSU since they just take space and I do not need them.


Then I decided to use the Shield cable anyways and soldered with the ATX-PSU shield/ground. Then I soldered the fan and fixed all loose cables that I do not need.
Now it's starting to look good and it fits like a glove!


And here is the Amiga PSU done, im quite happy with the results tho I will need to make a new top and make an 80mm hole and mount the fan, but first I need to get a new top.
But it works for now and it didn't kill my A1200



Now it's time to install the ACA-1231, I did not take any pictures when installing since it's just a trapdoor expansion.

Here the ACA-1231 is, I just added the battery.



Now time to boot my A1200 for the first time with my new built PSU and with the ACA inside.

The picture makes it look a bit yellow, but it's not yellow, the buttons has started to yellow a bit but not the case.


First I fired up my low memory WB install that takes just a tiny amount of memory used to play WHDLoad games and you can see the amount of free memory!


Then I fired up a fresh install of ClassicWB lite just to test.
The camera makes the picture look blue-ish but it's not and I don't know why the camera messed up.


Sysinfo gave me 9382 Dhrystones without MMU, tweaking or ACA software installed, will set the card up tomorrow and do a better run, currently struggling with resolving exception "adress error" expmem in a lot of WHDL games and also playing some 4D sports driving

Update: 2012-08-22
Well im back with a few new pictures, as you know I was not happy with my first attempt of getting an ATX-PSU inside the Amiga power brick, well now I redone it and now im happy with it!

First I got my hands on the older Amiga-PSU, one of the heavy ones, slightly more rugged build and a bit more quality to work with.

This time ill use a dremel for the fan hole:

I started by making a hole in the top and holes for the fan/grill:


Then trim some plastic here and there for the ATX-PSU inners to fit, also making the hole for the power connector:


Also this time i did make air intakes/vents by modifying the grill on the sides od the Amiga-PSU, Im happy with the results!


The ATX-PSU fitted:


This is how it looks done, this time im happy with it!

(PS: It's not yellow the camera went haywire)




That's all for now, I think ill get the Indivision AGA MK2 on friday or monday, and no idea how it's going for my things ordered fom Amigakit since my order just updated to "Being Picked" and it's now 10 days since I ordered, not to fast but im in no hurry.

Updated: 2012-08-28
New update:
Got a few new toys, first of the Indivision AGA MK2
I took my biggest cup of coffe while working


Stripping the machine down



Then time to clean the Amiga.


The Indivision in place, requires some force as you might know.



As you can see the HDD cage is usless now, so time for some cutting


Cutting done and im happy


Shielding done.


Went to the post office a while later to pick up some other nice things, an 4xEIDE'99 Buffered Interface, 15-9pin adapter and a 44 pin angled riser.


on place.



More work and use of it will be done later on when I get more stuff


Currently I have heat issues im working with also there is some conflict with the EIDE'99 drivers, when I remove it from startup sequence all works fine but if it's there the OS wont start, so a bit of work left but I hope to fix it before I go on my next peice of the plan for my A1200

EDIT: Update 2012-08-29.
My poor Amiga has problems, currently she is a mess and I will soon do the Timing fix for her, to bad she was an rev 2B board.

[som99]

Hi do you know if theres going be another batch of the 030 cards i love to buy one
need it for my bbs, theres the 020 version but i rather get 030 version as need the speed up

You can still buy the ACA-1231 @ http://www.vesalia.de/

Some very nice modding.  
Mike

Thank you, im quite happy with the results.

Really nice work you know your stuff i must say. now you must have a very fast Amiga 1200 i would imaging

Thank you, I try my best the ACA brought my A1200 to life again!

I quoted your post so everyone has to scroll down A LOT!

So where did you get the idea to put a fan in the power supply? And why did you go to all that effort? I have never thought of doing this but it looks great! Good effort!

Thanks, The thing is I like to have a Power brick, don't really know why but I like the looks of it and it feels right to have one near my Amiga so I guess it's most esthetics's and nostalgic reasons , so the idea was to keep the brick but get more power for the Amiga so I spent a lot of time finding a suitable PSU to fit inside it, also I like the process of modding stuff and the challenge was fun also, been thinking of doing this for ages and now when I was planning on expanding my A1200 I had to do it!

@som99

Might I suggest that on your PSU modification, you drill some holes into the sides, back or wherever in order to allow air to flow through the unit. Otherwise the effectiveness of the fan is reduced considerably. The air pressure inside the case will either go up or down slightly (depending on whether the fan is supposed to be drawing air in or pulling it out) after which the flow will basically stop.

I was planning on doing vent holes on the sides and use the fan to pull air out of the casing (cool air from bottom and hot air out of the top) but after testing I notices that the ATX-PSU do not get stressed enough to get to hot when used at the setup atm so im saving the air holes untill I get a new top for the PSU and make a new round fan hole, also I really need to get a dremel for the top hole to make it a lot easier and minimize the risk of destroying another top cover (my current dremel is dead).
I also was planning on doing lines as holes at the same dimension as the top lines (don't know a better word in English then lines but rectangular holes sound stranger) and then a dremel will make it a piece of cake!

But thanks for your input

oooh amiga porn

It sure is, also I hade fun (most of the time) making it

[som99]

Hope your Amiga 1200 is still up and running

Ive been tinkering since I posted
Currently been working on triple boot depending on what I want to do, using Workbench 2.1, 3.1 and AmigaOS 3.9, also im tinkering with mapping kickstarts in the ACA memory and I just put down an order for a "Indivision AGA Mk2"
Also trying to get my hands on a white DVD/CD slim reader for internal mounting else I have to repaint a black/silver one.
I also ordered a new  broken power brick for a new attempt on the fan hole, also bought a new ATX-PSU, same size but better quality, will use it for another Amiga.
Thinking of getting a industrial MLC PATA drive for it also, but have not decided yet.

I got a few more plans in my sleeve but Amigakit is slow, my order is still pending :/

[som99]

Thanks for the info yes, looked that card for a while know damm neat design
Will order this as soon i can afford it, what with my motorbike needing parts and my amiga
aghhhh

It's a nice little card, works like a charm, picking between repairing the bike or upgrading your  Amiga Well the Amiga do not consume petrol/gas so I would go for the Amiga since it will be cheaper in the long run

@som99

Nice to see a real amiga thread here... good work.

Thank you, I will update the thread as soon as new parts arrive

[som99]

I built a new ATX-Amiga PSU, alot more happy with my new one since it's the right kind of Amiga power brick I wanted also I did the 80mm hole as I wanted.
Original post updated and here are the pictures also.

This time ill use a dremel for the fan hole:

I started by making a hole in the top and holes for the fan/grill:


Then trim some plastic here and there for the ATX-PSU inners to fit, also making the hole for the power connector:


Also this time i did make air intakes/vents by modifying the grill on the sides od the Amiga-PSU, Im happy with the results!


The ATX-PSU fitted:


This is how it looks done, this time im happy with it!

(PS: It's not yellow the camera went haywire)




EDIT; Currently playing around with OS3.9, news tho, my Amiga kit stuff is shipped and indy mk2 is shipped from vesalia

[som99]

I must say it looks very good what you have done

Thank you im happy with it! Got my Indivision AGA MK2 today so ill post some pics tonight if I get time

[som99]

Great handwork! Nice nice nice! :-)
Some days I wonder why Amiga shops and some nice craftsmen like Loriano dont offer similar package of Classic with Style and some horsepower

Thank you! It would be great to see others offer things like this since I guess some people would want one

Really really great. And you show what the most of us don't show, the errors. That's great. For example when I said (in my thread) that I was using a broken A500 Psu case.... who do you think that broke it? jeje In my case it was I used a hotgun to smooth the hot glue and it was running with around 400 degrees... I didn't notice, so the plastic got deformed... that's why I had to make another design.

Also I see, as you comment that the photos look more blue than in real. I was having a problem with my A1200 showing the colors with more blue (I fixed it later with the "Anemo's Revenge Trick"), but when taking photos to show it, it was a lot more blue than in real, like in your case.

Take care when buying an ATX, as you have to search at least for 20Amps in the 5volts line. It can run with less, but if you add much things to the miggy... I don't know the aspects of yours, so it's just to take in consideration.

Thanks, yes I have no problem in showing my mistakes, also I hope by showing mistakes people can avoid doing the same mistake It's quite easy to make mistakes with 20 year old plastic and first ideas are not the best every time
To bad about the deformation, but you solved it with your rebuild

Great to hear not only I get more blue-ish photos, im going to install an Indi AGA MK2 today and see how it looks on a decent monitor.

Good work som99... if i found some empty a500 psu case maybe i will one of these mods.

Thank you, I like the look of it, so go for it if you have spare cases

[som99]

New update:
Got a few new toys, first of the Indivision AGA MK2
I took my biggest cup of coffe while working


Stripping the machine down



Then time to clean the Amiga.


The Indivision in place, requires some force as you might know.



As you can see the HDD cage is usless now, so time for some cutting


Cutting done and im happy


Shielding done.


Went to the post office a while later to pick up some other nice things, an 4xEIDE'99 Buffered Interface, 15-9pin adapter and a 44 pin angled riser.


on place.



More work and use of it will be done later on when I get more stuff


Currently I have heat issues im working with also there is some conflict with the EIDE'99 drivers, when I remove it from startup sequence all works fine but if it's there the OS wont start, so a bit of work left but I hope to fix it before I go on my next peice of the plan for my A1200

[som99]

@som99,

It is great to see pics of all your mods and new pieces of hardware for your A1200 and how they fit into the stock A1200 case.  Thanks for providing so many pictures within this thread.

Can you perhaps take some measurements and tell me if the new IndivisionAGA's DVI connector board would fit over on the other side of the case, if you removed the Composite output port and converter, like so many people have done to their A600's and A1200's?

It looks like the pcb board for the DVI connector might be larger than the square component behind the Composite RCA jack inside of the A1200, so it probably won't fit there.  I have a Blizzard A1260 inside my stock A1200 case and I am using the port where you put your DVI connector for my SCSI port and would need to put my DVI port in a different location, so the Composite port location would be the nicest place for me to put mine without making another new hole in the case plastic of the A1200 case. (I am terrible at making clean, nice looking holes in A1200 cases and did such a bad job for my USB connector holes that I have purchased a replacement A1200 case to try again.  Hopefully I will have better luck in making it look professional this 2nd try)

Thanks, and you all are welcome :)I will measure the DVI PCB asap, I got some problems with the Amiga atm and will soon do the timing fixes and see if it solves the issues.
My gut feeling tells me the PCB is to deep but we will see, might be possible to remove a part of the PCB and resolder the flat cable connector, ill look into it later

[som99]

Can you perhaps take some measurements and tell me if the new IndivisionAGA's DVI connector board would fit over on the other side of the case, if you removed the Composite output port and converter, like so many people have done to their A600's and A1200's?)

I measured now when doing the timing fix.
You have to solder a cap on 0.5mm wires, then remove both the Composite and the RF module and it will barely fit

I really like that PS!

The switch broke on my a-power one so now I'm using a "bigfoot" which is really ugly

That is a nice A1200 too!

Thank you, I was happy with the PSU results, urgh using a bigfoot is not to nice, but well as long as it do the job it's better then nothing ^^


Ill update in a while when I have played around a bit and found out if the timing fix worked or not

[som99]

Nice work on the PSU mod Som! :cool:

Just a quick question, I've been building a custom PSU myself but discovered the PSU board was faulty (or i broke it, not sure which :p ) - does it matter which grounds you use for the 5v+, 12v- & 12v+ rails? (cant seem to find any info one way or another)

My other query is how necessary is the sheild to be grounded? My PSU is a pico-psu that is powered by a 12v 10a DC Power brick and so I dont have a ground available.

Thank you, broke your PSU eh you can use whatever ground (black wire) you want without any issue
The ground is not necessary at all so don't worry, it will work fine without it

Also an update for all you people here!

I did the timing fix and guess what? Everything works again! Im happy puppy

Taking my baby to pieces "again".



Hard (impossible) to see on such small pictures what i did but here they are, before and after.



And here my girl is put together again!


Have been running near 20 mins now without any issues, with and without MMU enabled!
Im still holding my thumbs!

Next thing to do on my list, work out some cooling for the Indi/Lisa and the ACA

[som99]

New toys arrived today, I have fixed the timing issues but I still got a heat issue, so I ordered some things to help me out, have not yet figured out what to do with it so ordered a bit of this and that, it will always find use even if not for the Amiga so I ordered a bit extra, I know I will be spending the night having fun
I got a package that will show up on Monday with tiny 25mm fans and some other stuff also.

[som99]

Well work on cooling my A1200 has begun (mostly Lisa and Indi for now) and here comes some pictures.

First I had to construct a way to mount it, so I did modify some parts from a GFX card and do some work on the 40mm fan.


When that was done it was as simple as mounting it on the Indivision in a hole on the right place


Then I fitted the Indivision back again on the A1200 MB.


Then I put together a dual 3-pin fan cable, so I can use both 5v and 12v depending on how fast I want it to spin (5v is enough).


I also took some time to build a new short 40-pin PATA cable so the CF card do not block the fan.
I also built a new floppy powercable with a few more connectors.


IT'S ALIVE!


Im happy with it and hope it will be enough, atm you can't even hear the silent Fractal Design fan at all! I might build some more cooling in the Amiga in the future if needed, but for now ill test this

[som99]

Nice work! I must admit I was surprised to see that the aca-12xx cards mounted upside down like that as it's not ideal for Cooling and airflow at all.

Thanks, nice to not having it overheated anymore
I also would like it the other way around, if I had space I would have built a crossed flexible cable for it to turn it around, tho I can't due to it's shape
I am thinking of putting a low profile heatsink on the hole in the PCB on the ACA (A hole in the back to the CPU), ill see what ill do More work to be done tomorrow

[som99]

Nearly killed the Amiga today, pulling to many amps trough the 12v on the motherboard.
Some smoke, but seems it survived, have to put protective coating on the traces again and I guess all will be fine. But I was sweating blood I have to be more carefull but im a bit stressed out since my problems never end.

Adding the cooling to the Indivision seems to do the trick to some extent. But when I close the amiga it runs hot and gives errors/graphics corruption after a while (alot longer time then before, since before it happened withing 5-10 mins now mabe 30-60 mins) still, just resting a 80mm fan on the vent holes over the keyboard keeps it cool enough to have no issues, so mabe it's not only the Indivision, I guess I have to start a thread about this.