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.

[actung_bab]

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

[Firedawg]

Some very nice modding.  

Mike

[lassie]

Now it's time for me to upgrade my A1200 and ive ordered  some nice things, yesterday I got two packages and started playing.

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

[Kesa]

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 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!

[Karlos]

@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.

[runequester]

oooh amiga porn

[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

[lassie]

Hope your Amiga 1200 is still up and running

[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 :/

[actung_bab]

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

[kickstart]

@som99

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

[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

[actung_bab]

true but bike is awsome hehe

[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