My 'ultimate' 500: finally finished!

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chiark

chiark

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I've been tinkering with my 500plus for quite some time, and I think I've finally got it to the point that I can't take it any further...

Take one A500 Plus.
Add 1MB more chip RAM.
Add MKL's IDE interface with CF card reader
Add a CSA Mega Midget Racer, 33MHz 030, 50MHz 882, 8MB 32 bit DRAM and 512kb of 32 bit SRAM.
Add an NMB keyboard for old skool cool
Add 1.72MB internal disk drive
Add an electronic kickstart switch with 2.05 and 3.1
Add boot selector switch to swap DF0 for DF1
Add TNT23's MegaDrive floppy emulator in A1010 housing (which can be used as DF0 with above)
Add an AT PSU

...and there you have it :D . Short of a PP&I 040, I can't think where else to take this and still have it fit in the original 500 case. It only just fits, with a little bit of forcing: the NMB keyboard is slightly thicker than a standard 500 keyboard, and with MKL's adapter and a CSA MMR in there it was already very tight. Hence the double insulation! The ROM switcher is extended using an IDE extension cable, which does the job nicely.

The CF card goes under the floppy: it only fits with a 2.5" CF card reader, so there's an adapter under there too. I had to create a custom power cable with 2 floppy power cables and 1 hard disk power cable to power it: works nicely.

The switches on the back are for df0/df1 swap, and for 68000 fallback mode. Switch kickstarts by holding reset for 5 seconds :D

I'd like to change the kickstarts so I have 1 .3+scsi device built in, and a 3.9 hackstart, but that's about it. Well, until Jens releases something über-cool that is a graphics card plug in for the 500... :D
 

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This is some serious hack pr0n fest chiark mate!!!
Desktop A500 is really awesome and having the best of worlds inside is indeed an awesome way to go!

Share more pr0n pics of your setup and some sysinfo shiz :D

Lotsa respect man. \o/
 
Very nice A500 rig :thumbsup:

Is it running stable? I could never get my setup running reliably so gave up in the end.
 
Thanks, it doesn't look like much from these pictures, but I'm pleased with it.

It's extremely stable: I've given it a 24 hour soak test so far with no problems. This is unusual :D . It's as reliable as my GBA1000, which up until now has been my most reliable amiga. I trust the GBA1000 more so far...

More performance than my stock 3000, which is nice, and a lovely keyboard...

What more pr0n do you want to see? :D I'll stick some pics of the TNT23 megadrive up...
 

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Last edited:
That clearly is AWESOME :thumbsup:


theres only really two more things you can do

1. Indivision ECS
 2. modifying a Side Car into a Zorro 2 adapter for a Graphics card, like a Picasso II etc
3. Upgrade the PSU
 
Cheers Z! :thumbsup:

Indy ECS: won't fit without a cunning denise relocation mod, and it'll be tight to find space anyhow! :) . If/when there's a new revision that works as an RTG graphics card then I'll make it work somehow. The 500 is running on a 1942, shared with my 1200, original 1000 and lightly breathed on 2000 so a scan doubler isn't really necessary. I don't like the 60Hz output, either... I like smooth scrolling at 50Hz .

Z2 adaptor: already have one, and already used the P2 (I got off you) on this rig :D . I like the cleanliness of having just one box though.

PSU: it's an AT PSU powering this already :thumbsup:
 
I dunno... I see a couple inches of wasted free space...


:lol:
 
True... Problem is denise is under the MMR - top left of the motherboard - and the space is bottom right :D !
 
That is pretty Wizzard! (I'm bringing it back) :thumbsup:

I've seen one of those accelerators at zetr0's but it was a faulty unit as I remember. They are fairly rare, but very nice pieces of kit.
How does the IDE compare with other IDE Amiga like the 3000? Is it noticeably different?

Hot glue is the roxxor, I love it! :D
 
The CSA-MMR is a good piece of kit: I've got two of them - and I had one in my 2000 before in the early 90s - and with the discovery that it works with Mkl's IDE68k is great. It's a solid, reliable accelerator that gives good performance.

The IDE solution is slow compared to a decent SCSI controller, and takes quite a bit of processor, but on the other hand it's integrated, doesn't need a SCSI to IDE adapter to work with CF or SD, it's simple, and always there, which is worth a bit of performance.

I'll grab a sysinfo pic or two today :D
 
I have only just found this awesome thread. That is one very nice Miggy! :thumbsup:
 
I just saw this, that is a very nice A500!
I've done a similiar thing myself (with CF and SLIM CD) but mine is more of a beginner's mod since the Viper is a complete package. Sucks don't having an MMU though.
Also: is that cable from IDE68k to keyboard for a LED?
It must have felt good putting the case on this package of wonders!
 
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