Planning to make my custom case.

[PanterHZ]

The most important thing to look at when buying a PSU is the ripple at the 5v/12v at the load the Amiga pulls, ive used PSU's with high amps on 12v and 5v but at low load there was quite some ripple = unstable Amiga.

So allways google a PSU and check ripple values!

That might be true

The fact is that modern PSU's are really made for modern ATX boards which uses a lot of 12V power, most of them even have a second 12V rail dedicated to the CPU and GPU. I have a theory that maybe it could be an idea to connect something that draws a "lot" of power to the 12V ouputs, like some large resistors or something. This in order to maybe stabilize the PSU a bit.

[TCMSLP]

I recently converted a cheap chinese ATX PSU to Amiga.  The Amiga crashes within minutes and shows a lot of noise on the video output.   As you've said above - I'm assuming this is due to ripple;   I've not connected it to a scope.

When I have time I'll take some measurements with and without a heavy load on the 12V line.

[som99]

I recently converted a cheap chinese ATX PSU to Amiga.  The Amiga crashes within minutes and shows a lot of noise on the video output.   As you've said above - I'm assuming this is due to ripple;   I've not connected it to a scope.

When I have time I'll take some measurements with and without a heavy load on the 12V line.

Take it under a scope and you will probably see the ripple problems with cheep PUS's, post your results here when done

[Thorham]

I see people using 300W PSU for their case conversion...what the heck do they put in?

They might have bought a new PSU at their local peecee shoppe, which is very convenient. Try finding a 90 watt PSU at those places I bought a new 460 watt PSU for my A1200 a few years ago for 50 bucks for the same reason: Convenience. Can't be bothered to shop around for low power PSUs. Plus, those PSUs won't have to work very hard, which may be good for their lifespan.

[som99]

They might have bought a new PSU at their local peecee shoppe, which is very convenient. Try finding a 90 watt PSU at those places I bought a new 460 watt PSU for my A1200 a few years ago for 50 bucks for the same reason: Convenience. Can't be bothered to shop around for low power PSUs. Plus, those PSUs won't have to work very hard, which may be good for their lifespan.

Jepp, also buying a to me unknown brand old PSU can be risky, it can fry taking the Amiga with it also you don't know the quality of them how they have been stored over the years, usage etc, I try to use known good quality PSU's to be safe and they also are more energy efficient then old PSU's so I only see pros no cons as long as it's a stable good PSU.

[superfrog76]

So, time for an update

Got some parts here and there….the Lyra, and a PicoPSU with brick (the one that I have already is too big and won't fit in the case); and of course the case.

First thing first; today I was able to open the box and actually see the case for the first time! It is larger probably than an A1000 case, but slimmer than a 2000, which makes me happy!

I've take it apart and tried to fit stuff, and here comes the issues, for which I am sure that you may have some logic suggestions.

1) I need to fit CD and floppy, but there is no space for the floppy, if I put it on the front. The cage that sustain the CD is fine; I have cut off the lip that was supporting it on the base of the case (it has 4 screws, so it will be solid enough, plus I have on the board the caddy for the HDD, which will support the cage), but there is no way to put the floppy inside, facing forward…..so the alternative is either the floppy sideways to the left, under the cd cage, and cut the case on the left, or remove the cd and put a floppy adapter (don't even know if anyone sell them), to fit the floppy in the CD bay (which means that I will just have to cut the actual CD cover plate).

The mobo leave no space to add the floppy facing forward; I even tried to place it on the area where the usb ports are (they are removable, so I can just cut trough and make the slit for the floppy); another option that I was experimenting, was to put a riser under the mobo, so I can place the floppy under it, but I am not sure if it is a good idea or not

2) the case is made to support micro atx boards, and I am planning to remove the shield from the bottom of the mobo, so I am not sure exactly what I can place at the bottom to avoid that the board will just short on the case and fry…the Amiga has no holes except 2 if I recall correctly, plus the accelerator board would be hanging if I raise the Amiga without supporting it too….and I am concerned about use a wood board under to support it, since it heats up a lot….what would be the best way to place and support the mobo?

3) I have taken apart the case and painted it white; now I am planning to make some stencil to put a boing red ball on the top of the case, and the AMIGA text on the side, but I am not sure if there is a better way to do so, like ordering a laser cut plate? I've attached few pictures to show how does it look now just painted white.

The main pain was to sand it down; overall the paint seems to be fine, without causing too many bad effects, like bubbling or orange skin effect, but the front plate is the one that is giving me the most pain of all….it is not made of plastic only, but they had the brilliant idea to put some sort of aluminum plate, with very thin grooves…can't explain honestly, it feels like metal brushed with small thin grooves in circles; if you see the picture of the front plate you can have an idea.

Anyway, the issue is that there is a pretty evident channel where the plate has been placed, and I was not able to paint that in a nice way, so in some areas got oversprayed and look not that nice….I may try to sand it down again, and remove the metal plate.

[superfrog76]

And this is how it looks after painting, 2 coats and 4 coats.

Waiting for the paint to dry, and tomorrow I will take some pictures showing the internal arrangement attempts

[lumi]

There  is a way of mounting slim DVRW drive together with 3.5 floppy in 5.25 bay. Take a look for example here: http://www.provantage.com/startech-slimcdfdcage~4STR90EK.htm

There is a lot of manufacturers with different specifications and prices that sell such brackets, just use the Google to find the right one.

lumi

[som99]

Nice paint job As Lumi said, use a 5.25" to Slim DVD and Floppy bay converter, cost around 10$ on ebay and all your trouble is solved

[superfrog76]

The problem is that I have a full size DVD drive, not the slim one (

Found brackets to resize the floppy to 5.25; I can use the bay cover to make a floppy opening, but this means to renounce to the dvd then.

Thanks! I am glad that you liked the paint job Used Rust Oleum universal spray can; they are good for any material, and has the primer, so you need just one product.

I sanded the case (altho not to bare metal), and did 4 pass each, in 15 minutes interval…not perfect but for being my first case painting job, I think is decent

Today I didn't  accomplished too much; I will get an acrylic sheet at the local store, so I can use it as base for the motherboard; I will also get a fan to be placed where the PSU should go, so I get some air out of the case (1 fan should be enough; the Amiga is fan less, and in the worst case, I will grab a small fan for the accelerator CPU). I've ordered the 9 pin extension cable so I can bolt them on the PCI covers.

Next step: solder the ATX connector on the bottom of the Amiga power connector, so I can use the picoPSU

[Amiga_Nut]

I will be interested to see how the external keyboard problem is tackled.

[Thorham]

I will be interested to see how the external keyboard problem is tackled.

That's not a problem; there are several keyboard interfaces for the A1200. The real problem is that you're going to end up with a keyboard that has Windows keys. On the other hand, it's a good opportunity to get a nice mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX switches to replace those crappy A1200 keyboards.

[superfrog76]

Yes, I used a Lyra adapter, the connector has already a plate so you can mount it easily.

I can't use a microswitch keyboard because it is too loud But it is nice to be able to use either an Amiga keyboard from a 1000-2000-3000-4000 or a generic windows keyboard.

I will try also a usb keyboard with the adapter for PS/2; I was told that some are working.

[som99]

Yes, I used a Lyra adapter, the connector has already a plate so you can mount it easily.

I can't use a microswitch keyboard because it is too loud But it is nice to be able to use either an Amiga keyboard from a 1000-2000-3000-4000 or a generic windows keyboard.

I will try also a usb keyboard with the adapter for PS/2; I was told that some are working.

Id recommend you to get red cherry mx switches since they do not make any click sound and are nice to type on There are switches that makes no sound and in my opinion the red ones are the best non clicking ones (black are nice to but requires quite some force to push down)

I myself love the clicking sound and im using blue switches

[superfrog76]

Y all

Some updates! Long week, but glad that finally the weekend is here

So, I tried to fit stuff in it, and so far I had to change my mind 3-4 times about how to fit all in, but now it seems that I've found a decent configuration, which allow me to keep everything in a decent position, and also that there is enough air going trough the case.

There are few pictures showing how did I positioned the components.

- I've made a piece of wood as the base for the mobo, in this way I can Screw it to the bottom of the case, and screw the mobo on the top of the wood, and nothing should move around. I am aware that wood does not conduce nicely as metal (in fact it is an insulant, not a conductor), but the board does not heat up too much...the only thing that heat up is the accelerator board, so I have made a hole below it, to place a small fan to blow directly on it.
AFAIK, no amiga 1200 with accelerator has ever needed a fan, so I should be OK

- I have placed the mobo 180 degrees, so the connectors will face the inside of the case, not the outside; this gives me space to put the video->scart->dvi converter board, cables and connectors. I am using extensions for the joystick and mouse ports, so no big deal. I don't use any of the other port (parallel, disk).

- The floppy ended up being on top of the raiser used to hook up the 2.5'' drives on the case; I've tried my best to place the floppy at the bottom, or under the CD drive, but there was no space whatsoever to do anything, so I ended up placing it on the raiser. Now I need to cut a hole trough the case and the front plate...if anyone has suggestions about how to do a clean job, I am all ears. I have a dremel and the cuts that I make are anything but straight; plus it makes the edge very irregular and I have no clue how to smooth it out.

- I have the HDMI board hanging for now, but I need a solution to mount it on a PCI cover ....does anyone has a suggestion about how to do so? I see that regular PCI cards has a screw that hook the metal plate to the board, but the HDMI board that I have, has no place to put a screw. As now I have the HD metal caddy positioned at the bottom, to keep it in position, but I need a plate for it.

- The HDMI board needs a 5V connection; altho I am not sure if the one coming from the PSU will be fine. The board has a small AC adapter (5V, 1A), I want to avoid to use it, since I can take the power directly from the PSU....is that a good idea?

- Does anyone has instructions about where to solder the cables for an ATX connector? I have purchased an ATX connector, to plug into the PicoPSU, but I would like to solder the connector on the bottom of the board, where the power connector is; instead than trash a PSU and use the original connector. I was not able to find a good set of instructions that show how to do so, and I don't want to trash the miggy

- Tomorrow maybe I will get the extension for the 2 serial connectors, so I can put them on the back plate, or maybe on the right side, like the A1000.

- Does anyone knows what would  be a good way to copy the AMIGA text from the 1200 case ?I tried to find a similar font but I had no luck finding it; I would like to make a stencil and use it to paint it on the front panel. I never did such things, so I am not sure how to do it. I am planning to put a boing ball on the top; I've purchased a sticker paper in bright red with glossy coat; so it will be perfect! I just need to use the little hobby knife to cut the boing ball parts and put it on the case; then I want to spray paint on top of it a coat of clear coat paint (the one used for the cars), so I can put a layer on top of the case and protect the sticker....I will put a monitor on top of it so I don't want to ruin it

man...was a productive day Sorry for the many questions, and hope that I didn't bore you to death LOL

Can't wait to turn on the spaceship...I mean, my Amiga

[PanterHZ]

- The floppy ended up being on top of the raiser used to hook up the 2.5'' drives on the case; I've tried my best to place the floppy at the bottom, or under the CD drive, but there was no space whatsoever to do anything, so I ended up placing it on the raiser. Now I need to cut a hole trough the case and the front plate...if anyone has suggestions about how to do a clean job, I am all ears. I have a dremel and the cuts that I make are anything but straight; plus it makes the edge very irregular and I have no clue how to smooth it out.

I assume you are using the standard A1200 floppy drive. But I think it would be really easier to use a modified PC drive instead. like the ones Amigakit sells: http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=106  This because it might be easier to make the hole.

Anyway, you need to find out exactly where to make the holes, and here you might have to be a bit experimental, but it doesn't matter if it don't look so good on the case since any mistakes you make will be covered by the front plate.
I would suggest that you do the rough cutting with your dremel, and then use a small flat file to even out the edges. Finish off by using a piece of fine sandpaper to smooth out the edges. It may involve a bit of work to get a good result, but focus mostly on the front plate.

Nice paint job btw