My Custom A1200 Project

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cozzer79
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 190
  • Views Views 72803
Couldn't resist a quick pic of the Indy installed, waiting for its adapter :)

image.jpg
 
Last edited:
I started building the Ratte to VGA adapter cable this evening; there's something odd about the pinout of the Ratte end; I noticed that the key pin for the cable that connects to the Indy is keyed at the opposite end to the cable that comes with the Indy - I've Googled pictures of the Ratte cable connected to other Indy MK2cr's and they all appear to be connected the same way round to how I have mine (the RAM chips on the motherboard would prevent it being connected the other way up) - but other than that, it's pretty straight-forward.

So when the VGA connector turns up, I'll get that soldered on and give it a test :)

Edit: I've just remade it correctly as I realised that I've numbered the thing backwards at one end because I was being a numpty. Should work spot on this time!
 
Last edited:
My FPU and other goodies are now fitted to the Blizzard IV :) I'm hoping that the VGA connector and a pair of IDE 44pin gender changers turn up so that I can complete the VGA adapter and finally test the IDE cable before allowing it to move into its new home.

image.jpg


Edit: Unfortunately, the middle connector hadn't taken properly on my IDE cable, meaning that it was useless. I've now discovered however, that Amigakit will make me one to order though (Doh!) so I've sent a query in to have one made that's how I want it to be, without the ridiculousness of the item trekking across the States first.
 
Last edited:
Adapter is complete:

image.jpg


I'll make the ends tidier with some black Sugru later, but it certainly works:

image.jpg


I'm about to go find a file so I can mount the adapter in the case :)

Update: The adapter now looks like this - nice and safe, and won't short out anywhere.

image.jpg
 
Last edited:
I've done a spot of filing - very happy with the result :)

image.jpg


I also removed the bar from the rear of the keyboard; it's sole purpose seemed to be to make life difficult when removing the lid/keyboard:

image.jpg


The edges of that are a lot smoother than they look. Hopefully the brackets for the DVDROM will be finished in the next couple of days - they went down to production yesterday :)
 
Last edited:
Quote: "I also removed the bar from the rear of the keyboard; it's sole purpose seemed to be to make life difficult when removing the lid/keyboard:"


+1 to that, I know this pain. :)

Very nice project Cozzer :thumbsup:
 
This bad boy turned up over the weekend :)

image.jpg


And it's now in its new home :)

image.jpg


Mated with a matching pair of low-profile 50ns 128MB EDO SIMMs - saving up for a SCSI2SD over the next couple of weeks before moving on to the next item on the to do list!
 
Last edited:
This classy number turned up today, it'll match the Black case really nicely when it turns up :)

image.jpg


It's Black and brushed Aluminium - very nice! One side of my DVDROM mounts have been made, just waiting on the other side now...
 
Last edited:
This update has been a long time coming - I was handed this by my colleague at work this afternoon:

image.jpg


Which when screwed to the back of the keyboard look like this:

image.jpg


And they fit a standard laptop optical drive lovely:

image.jpg

image.jpg


And the drive is then held in a position where there is a fair bit of space beneath to work with:

image.jpg


Needless to say, I'm rather pleased with the outcome, and I only had to wait patiently for nearly 6 weeks to get these parts made lol

I shall be marking up the top to have a hole cut for this drive next week - at the moment it's in the dishwasher as apparently there is going to be some sun on Sunday :)
 
Last edited:
Had a go at BBlonde'ing the top of my Amiga over the weekend, and the results were pretty good - I only managed to get a couple of hours direct sunlight in my garden, and I think it could use going again to get it near perfect.

image.jpg


The area around the keyboard and on the floppy side was worst affected; this is the top just after it came out of the dishwasher.

image.jpg


All wrapped up covered in BBlonde - had to keep moving it about in the garden to catch what little sun there was.

image.jpg


This picture best shows the difference after the treatment; and it largely looks pretty good. When I've got my new case, I'll treat this half again along with the bottom half (which is less affected anyway, other than the floppy side.) and the floppy button. The top is in the workshop having a hole cut in it for the DVDROM at the moment :)
 
Last edited:
Following advice from TheCorfiot I've managed to make an interesting floppy cable (https://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?82206-HxC-_and_-a-real-floppy-drive-in-an-A1200), it'll connect to the internal floppy (DF0) and an HxC (DF1 which I accidentally ordered) and by the flick of the attached (DPDT) switch, it'll swap them to be HxC as DF0 and the internal floppy as DF1 (powered off of course!). I'll mount the switch above the floppy connector at the rear of the case - need to find some nice black countersunk screws to attach it with. Figuring out a way of moving the SD Card slot to the rear of the case too, maybe just spin the HxC around... Will see - I'm only going to fit it in the new Black case when it comes, as I don't want to mess with the original case too much. Apparently Kipper2K will be making an adapter to move the three buttons to the area under the floppy too :)

image.jpg
 
Minor update - I ordered a SCSI2SD to replace the CF HDD I had; all configured and it works lovely (after re-flashing the boot-loader, and tweaking the reported drive size) - the cable was provided by a.mi.goun and is just the right length for where I've decided to mount the "drive". Good job I changed my mind about asking for a shorter one!

image.jpg


The mounts have been Sugru'd to the back of the keyboard, which I'm waiting to go off before I can mount the "drive" properly. The DVDROM cable path has been simplified now that the CF Card has been removed too. In theory, I shouldn't have obscured any of the areas needed to fit a Blizzard PPC and Blizzard Vision - that's forward planning for you :)

image.jpg


I've tidied up the solder points etc. on the floppy cable too, but I'll spare you pictures of that!
 
Last edited:
Small update, the SCSI2SD is mounted up - not sure if I might have to move it to mount the HxC, but we'll see...

image.jpg


The HxC has turned up too - think I'll need to make some cables up to mount the screen away from the main board:

image.jpg
 
Last edited:
My 1st post on here in ages, and just to say this.....................................

this thread gets the JuvUK seal of approval :)

nice work
 
My 1st post on here in ages, and just to say this.....................................

this thread gets the JuvUK seal of approval :)

nice work
Thank you kind sir :) I've another little update this evening...

I cabled in the HxC to make sure everything is working - I've connected the DVDROM here loosely as otherwise it takes ages for the IDE to timeout before booting (Edit: Interestingly, the drive I later used instead of this one still had that issue, fixed by a ROM patch)

IMG_6837.jpg


The long and short of it is that both drives show up and work great too :)

IMG_6838.jpg


If I throw the switch on the floppy cable (with the power off of course), the drives do indeed swap, so the HxC can be either DF1: or DF0: and the internal FZ-357A the opposite. Chuffed :) I need to do a little work on the settings of the HxC, but otherwise it's golden.

One thing this did make clear though, was that I've mounted the SCSI2SD in the wrong place... So I'll be scraping that off again tomorrow and remounting it closer to the DVDROM mounts. I can't access the last partition on the SCSI2SD at the moment; I've a feeling that WinUAE has used an area of the SD card that it shouldn't have, making it unreachable. I'll try to start sorting that tomorrow. Edit: Sorted that now, WinUAE had put the end of the partition right at the end of the SDCard which is not accessible by the SCSI2SD. Did some other tidying such as killing off the scsi.device patch that is no-longer required too - boots _very_ fast now.

I knocked up a set of extension cables for the HxC this evening also though - hopefully it'll be a doddle to mount in the new case when it finally arrives!

IMG_6839.jpg
 
Last edited:
I've moved the SCSI2SD to a better location; it allows more space for the HxC, and the (unused) power connector was slightly fouling the SCSI kit. I've also added a couple of spots to firm up the DVDROM mounts - with hindsight I should have obtained better material than the copper - it was free though :)

image.jpg


I applied some Sugru to the HxC extension cables too - booted up from the HxC to repartition the SCSI2SD when I did that earlier; nice to have no PC involved :)
 
Last edited:
I've mounted up the DVDROM today; the Sugru additions to the mounts have done a lot to firm up the support of the drive, and also to act as a damper for vibration - it's nearly silent with a disc spinning in it now.

IMG_6336.jpg


I've also tried out the location of the HxC which now fits with ease - once I know how the lid it going to be altered for the screen, I'll be able to devise a way of mounting the HxC - Arms in from the back of the case with screw holes are looking favourite at the moment, might CAD something up and see if I can get someone to print them for me :)

image.jpg


I'm going to go enquire about the hole in my case again... I'm not far off buying/borrowing/stealing tools to do it myself at home - should keep my eldest entertained for a while watching through the patio door lol :)
 
Last edited:
I clamped up my case when I got home from work today:

image.jpg


After attacking it with a Dremel and then tidying up with a file, I've now got a hole that fits the drive lovely:

image.jpg


I've managed to scuff the case in a couple of places - a bit of wet and dry ought to sort it out so that it doesn't show though; something learnt for the new case when it arrives. I also thought that the smaller cutting discs would make the job easier, but with hind sight, the slightly larger discs should help prevent me scuffing the case, that and some tape!

Wet and dry tomorrow then, and another round of BBlonde - my garden gets so little sunlight lol :)

Chuffed with the result though - technique was suggested by Arnie and the job itself was inspired by Retrofan
 
Last edited:
Nice job, would love to tackle something like this myself, keep the updates coming... :thumbsup:
 
Minor update today - although by far the most visually impressive; I closed the case on my Amiga for the first time in several months, and she is looking good!

image.jpg

image.jpg


The position of the DVDROM hole is not perfect (doesn't help that the facia of this drive is 1.5mm smaller in width than the one I was using as a measure at home), but it's more than acceptable. It took a good half hour of fiddling with the fixing screws for the drive to get it to sit exactly as I wanted it to against the rear of the case, but it was worth the time - Also, I now know exactly where to make the hole on the new case for an OCD like finish, and how to avoid making marks on the case beneath it. I'll not be making any more holes in this case as the next owner may not want them ;)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom