External SATA DVD/CD-RW Drive for A1200

ChewChew

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Joined
Nov 30, 2019
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Country
United Kingdom
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Beds
Here’s a project that kept me entertained for some of lockdown.

I took an old USB CD Rom enclosure, fitted a DVD/CD-RW drive, modified the connection from USB to SATA (on eSATA connector) and included a passive audio mixer. I had intended to build an active audio mixer, but the passive mixer works really well blending the Amiga audio and CDDA audio without too much attenuation.

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In my A1200 I installed an IDE to SATA adaptor, routing the SATA output to an eSATA connector fitted in the expansion slot/port. This is connected to the A1200’s IDE port along with an SD to IDE adapter. I did not use any custom IDE convertors such as 4xIDE or the like.

Exp-Port.jpg

I’m really pleased with the results. CD32 games work well with blended Amiga and CDDA audio using the IDEfix and HiSoft CD32 emulators.

It’s sad to retire my Zappo/Overdrive CD after 26 years of service, but I now have a faster drive that can read CD-RWs and DVDs and still supports CD32 games. Oh and my PCMCIA port is now free so I no longer worry about disconnecting/reconnecting the fragile Zappo PCMCIA connector each time I want to connect a CF card.

 
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