Timtheloon's A500+ with A570 CD-ROM and Dual Processor 68K & TF536 Build

[Timtheloon]

So just a little build this time from me

My Amiga 500+ which A570 but it includes the TF536 with the CDTV rom and a Garlic CPU Switcher to select between the TF & 68K

This allow the A570 to work with the A570 which has been upgraded to the new 2.35 CDTV extended rom (A570) Version.

The keyboard has been refurbished with a PCB membrane and I got a kit from eBay which I soldered up. This adapter allows the floppy drive Activity LED also show the HDD Activity.

These kits are sold to work with the CF to IDE adapters and it does work flawlessly with them however my SD to IDE adapter just made the LED stay on but I found adding a 10k pot to the line made it work.



I also refurbished my 3 Roctec floppy drives with a clean and a new drive belts using this Youtube video to do it, tricky at first but I was a pro on the last 2 haha and they work just like new

The Flat Drive Belt size is 71 mm Diameter 0.6mm thick x 2.8mm and can be purchased from eBay or Modern Radio in the UK.



Spec:
A500+ with 2mb chip RAM in trapdoor expansion.
A570 with SCSI interface
Kickstart ROM 3.2 (47.111)
Extended ROM 2.35
TF536 with 32gb SD card SD card extended outside of case.
internal floppy drive is a FB357A HD floppy drive


future hopes PI storm with emu68 get a software upgrade to make it compatible with the A570

Update 28/11/24: Added programmable kickstart with dip switch selection which also includes the Garlic CPU Switcher selection on the 3 way sip switch. See post No.16 of this thread

Other projects of mine you maybe interested in:

A500+:

Timtheloon's A500+ with A570 CD-ROM and TF536 Build​

A600:

Timtheloon's A600HD PiStorm Build​

A2000:

Timtheloon's A2000 Triple Processor Project​

A1200:

Timtheloon's Checkmate A1500 Plus (A1200 Build)​

CD32:

Timtheloon's CD32 SX32 Pro Setup with Cosmos Kickstart Mod​

Timtheloon's CD32 TF360 Plus ProModule Build​

A4KD & A4KT

Timtheloon’s A4000cr Alice project​

Timtheloon's A4000T Project​

Acorn RiscPC:

Timtheloon's RiscPC 600 build​

RetroPC

Timtheloon's Retro High-End AGP (HD3850) PC (Dual Boot WinXP & Win7)​

 

[fitzsteve]

Awesome stuff bud, nice project

 

[Magic]

Very Nice!

 

[miggygossip]

Inspirational. Great stuff.

 

[Xanxi]

Awesome stuff i would have love to have at the time in the 90's.
Too much bulk for my limited desk space nowadays unfortunately.

 

[fitzsteve]

Awesome stuff i would have love to have at the time in the 90's.
Too much bulk for my limited desk space nowadays unfortunately.

I had an A500+ With GVP A530 years ago, took up a lot of space but was a nice setup with a 1gb SCSI HDD in there.

 

[Xanxi]

I had an A500+ With GVP A530 years ago, took up a lot of space but was a nice setup with a 1gb SCSI HDD in there.

Yes if i remember well, i have this old GVP530 of yours somewhere in my storage room. Would like to have the GVP 286 addon for it as well but i let the opportunity pass before and now it's too expensive.

 

[wizk83]

Timtheloon - thank you for sharing this, very nice with all the parts working together! I am interested in doing something similar, using a TF536 with an A570 but also swapping out the A570 for a GVP A500 HD+. Really just wanting the accelerator function of the TF536. I'm hoping the SCSI bus of external units will work with the TF536. Does your SCSI in your A570 work? Is your TF536 the TF536 that has recently been sold by DjCook for the CDTV here on AmiBay?

I am wondering if DjCook's TF536 can be used in either a CDTV or a A500+ (makes sense?) and support SCSI devices via the A570 and GVP. Would really appreciate any insights you have from you experience in putting together your awesome system. Thanks!!

 

[Timtheloon]

@wizk83, The TF536 im using isnt a @DjCook one, that one I bought from him is actually in my CDTV, but they will still work. The TF536 you choose to use just needs to have the CDTV firmware so a normal A500 version of the TF536 will work if flashed with the correct firmware.

The TF also has IDE so to be honest the SCSI adapter in my A570 is a bit obsolete but it a nice to have if I do want to use a SCSI device.

One thing I do like about the system is that it shows the CDTV boot screen before accessing the HDD.

You will need to update the extended rom in the A570 to the new 2.35 version or they will not work together.

 

[wizk83]

@Timtheloon - this is very helpful, thank you! I am looking forward to trying this. Btw, I like your 3-story RocTec stack!

 

[btp]

Nice setup! And everything seems to fit perfectly in this old-school desk!
With all these addons and external drives I suppose you should require a beefed-up PSU.
Are you using the C= original or an aftermarket?

 

[Timtheloon]

Nice setup! And everything seems to fit perfectly in this old-school desk!
With all these addons and external drives I suppose you should require a beefed-up PSU.
Are you using the C= original or an aftermarket?

I have two Goliath PSUs powering it, overkill I know but they are rock solid

 

[bazzaq]

very nice indeed..

i have been saving my a570 for years to do something like this.

did you flash the roms yourself or get somebody else to do it? this would be the part i would need some direction on

 

[Timtheloon]

did you flash the roms yourself or get somebody else to do it? this would be the part i would need some direction on

I flashed the ROM myself with my old EPROM flasher

 

[Timtheloon]

Added a Gofloppy V2 and a Garlic CPU switcher to the system

just got to find a rom switcher to allow me to switch to Kickstart 1.3 when using the 68K and Kickstart 3.2.2 when using the TF536

 

[Timtheloon]

Think I have got it as I want it now.

With the addition of a 4 programmable Kickstart I now have the ablity to switch between The following ROMs 1.3, 3.1, 3.2, & DiagROM

using a 3 way dip switch, Switches 1& 2 set in certain postitions select the ROM I Require and Switch 3 selects the CPU I wish to Start up with.

I did have to trim down my Garlic CPU Switcher to allow the Programmable Kickstart ROM to fit in the Kickstart Socket its a tight fit.

Set with Switch 1 on and 2 off = Kickstart 1.3



Set with Switch 1 off and 2 on = Kickstart 3.1



Set with Switch 1 off and 2 off = Kickstart 3.2



Set with Switch 1 on and 2 on = DiagROM



Set Switch 3 on = 68K and off = TF536




Things to tidy up is a nice 3D printed case for the Dip Stick CB

 

[bazzaq]

very nice.

 

[Xanxi]

Hello @Timtheloon

I don't see a picture of how your SCSI add-on for A570 looks like. Care to share pics? Thanks.

 

[Timtheloon]

Hello @Timtheloon

I don't see a picture of how your SCSI add-on for A570 looks like. Care to share pics? Thanks.

Will do when im back from holiday