So lately Ive been using my A1200 alot, and I have added bits and pieces to the hardware.

Atm I have:

A1200 with Blizzard 30/50 2+16 megs
Lyra 2 Keyboard adapter
RapidRoad USB
CF as harddrive
PCMCIA CF adapter
Mouse adapter
Indivision AGA Mk 2

And I just ordered the Gotek USB floppy replacement from Amigastore.eu.

My A1200 psu died a long time ago, and since then Ive been using my original A500 PSU for years (its from early 90s).

As far as future expansions I am thinking about getting CD Rom and a newer accelerator.
At the moment Induvidual Computers 030 accelerators are out of stock, but I might end up holding off for the Apollo FPGA upgrade (when it done from A1200...eventually!)

The question is; how will an A500 PSU handle all the stuff Im throwing at it, plus any thoughts about how it will deal with the addition of Apollo?
I assume Ray Carlsens PSU will have no problems with it.
Got EU/Norwegian power connection btw.

Last edited by Overflow on 30-Sep-2015 at 10:10 AM.
Last edited by Overflow on 30-Sep-2015 at 10:10 AM.

@Overflow

well, you are pushing the limits there. i also had a dead 1200 psu, so i unsoldered the cable and mated it with an old at psu. same can be done with atx, and if you threw the baby (plug) out with the bath water (broken psu) then i saw connectors mentioned in a news item just yesterday. I can assist with soldering if you need.

_________________
This weeks pet peeve:
Using "voltage" instead of "potential", which leads to inventing new words like "amperage" instead of "current" (I, measured in A) or possible "charge" (amperehours, Ah or Coulomb, C). Sometimes I don't even know what people mean.

@olegil

:) Thanks for the offer. The A1200 PSU is long gone (since 90s).

You are thinking about converting a off the shelf PSU to Amiga PSU?

Then the question would be; what size, brand, etc.
This is a topic I have less than no knowledge about, so just throwing up the link to

https://www.komplett.no/category/10057

Im not very keen on butchering my current A500 PSU, but if I can buy such a connector and get it soldered onto a off the shelf PSU then Im very intrested :)

It could push me over the edge getting into a A1200 Towering project.

Last edited by Overflow on 30-Sep-2015 at 11:57 AM.

@Overflow

AT PSU are pretty old now but still good quality which doesn't
mean you won't find leaking caps inside.

Difference is that on ATX PSU you need to connect green wire to
black wire (you can do it with thin bent metal piece) and it will
start up every time you push on switch.

Best power supplies are "heavy ones" , take it in hand and if
it seems like there is brick inside that's a good sign.Light ones
may be nominated for high values but only at "maximum load"
which means if you try to run them at nominated values they
fry in hours.

Some good choices DTK,Chieftec (although these are tricky ,
they have extra parts inside) and the option I would use in
your place would be PSU from old Compaq or HP brand desktops
as there are top quality.

Newest ones need extra magic to make them think that 12 V is
being used to start.Amiga doesn't need that much power but it
needs it to be stable and it needs -12 V which cheap (light as in
not heavy) have mostly for decoration.

@blizz1220

Thanks for the reply! I do have a laptop Im thinking bout scrapping, and as such that frees up a PSU.

That said, heavy duty PSUs are quite cheap too, so if I end up with a tower project; then a "brick" might be a good option.

Last edited by Overflow on 30-Sep-2015 at 12:00 PM.

@Overflow

a laptop PSU is not directly useful, it would need something like a picoPSU to give you +12/+5/-12, but this is actually a very good solution overall.

An old AT power supply is definitely my favourite, see if you can find something on QXL, finn or ebay.

Third option is older type ATX, at least no newer than ATX12Vv1. These could be about as hard to find as an AT supply.

Under NO circumstance WHATSOEVER should an ATX12Vv2 PSU be connected to any Amiga, be it classic or NG. This will always end in tears, as they NEED a high consumption of +12V to function. I've only recently started being interested in modern computers and discovered this when I was buying a new motherboard for an old PC. The 12Vv1 boards can not supply power to a new motherboard, 12Vv2 can not supply power to the older motherboards. The NG Amigas I have seen are all designed like P3 or at best P4 motherboards, so need 12Vv1 PSUs.

Any new Amiga design from now on should use +12V as much as possible, to ensure compatibility with 12Vv2.

_________________
This weeks pet peeve:
Using "voltage" instead of "potential", which leads to inventing new words like "amperage" instead of "current" (I, measured in A) or possible "charge" (amperehours, Ah or Coulomb, C). Sometimes I don't even know what people mean.

@olegil
Quote:

Under NO circumstance WHATSOEVER should an ATX12Vv2 PSU be connected to any Amiga, be it classic or NG. This will always end in tears, as they NEED a high consumption of +12V to function. I've only recently started being interested in modern computers and discovered this when I was buying a new motherboard for an old PC. The 12Vv1 boards can not supply power to a new motherboard, 12Vv2 can not supply power to the older motherboards. The NG Amigas I have seen are all designed like P3 or at best P4 motherboards, so need 12Vv1 PSUs.

That's some useful information, I was wondering it the newer type of PSU could be used to replace earlier types should they fail. Sadly it seems that they can not.

@Arnie

Well, let me moderate myself a little. ATX12Vv2 is backwards compatible with v1, so a new PSU can power a P4 design. But it's as near as useless for a P3 era design as it could be.

This is because it's meant to supply power mostly to two hungry consumers: GPU and CPU. Both of these now use 12V. P4 era, only CPU used 12V, GPU used 3.3. P3 era, both used 3.3V.

I've got an i5 on a basic motherboard, with no extra GPU (I'm still playing Civ4 ). This is JUST about within limits for my Chieftec Dragon cabinet from my old P4 workstation. It's WAY outside the specifications if you try to compare the PSU numbers with the motherboard numbers, but this is because the motherboard obviously lists max values with a much bigger/faster CPU and also a lot of expansion slots in use.

History:
AT: +5, +12, -12 from 1 common source
ATX: Adds +3.3 from same common source
ATX12Vv1: Increases +12V capacity of the common source
ATX12Vv2: Basically an ATX with an EXTRA +12V source, only for CPU+GPU

So as an example if using a 350W ATX12Vv2 for a P3 motherboard, it would for all intended purposes be a 150W ATX with an extra noise source. An XE (and I believe also a SAM) is designed for ATX, A1200 fits best with AT (but can't see why ATX would be bad).

An X1000 or X5000 can obviously benefit from ATX12Vv2 if using a big enough graphics card that it has the added 12V connector. Otherwise I would be wary of v2 here as well.

_________________
This weeks pet peeve:
Using "voltage" instead of "potential", which leads to inventing new words like "amperage" instead of "current" (I, measured in A) or possible "charge" (amperehours, Ah or Coulomb, C). Sometimes I don't even know what people mean.

The A500 PSU has quite a lot more power for the 5 volts than an A1200 PSU IIRC. If you are intending to power a CD-ROM from it on top of your existing add-ons though that may be pushing the current requirements a bit. The CF card should use less power than a 2.5" HDD would and the Gotek is likely to use less than the floppy drive. As for an A1200 version of the Apollo, it may render your Indivision AGA MkII obselete if the plan to implement the (improved) AGA chipset on board works out and it shouldn't need any more juice than the Blizzard card does, although that isn't guaranteed since it doesn't exist and I don't know the current draw on the Vampire 600 V2 either.

Thoughts about this PSU;

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=69859

While it seems my A500 PSU is up to the task, it never hurts having spares.

Got a GTR 310W (Switching Power Supply(What ever does that mean)) Modded By Hanzu.

Works Great but it's quite noisy. Only a Petro's new A1200 some Turbo,HD etc.

Does the PSU really need 2 fans?

The more important question is as playing with pc to Amy PCMCIA CF Card:

Is it safe to remove the adapter or card from the A1200 while running?

Does the 4 GB do a limit to the expansion memory?

Need to boot x 3 usually with it sticked aside so thinking if booting first, then insert card. And Oh, forgot something.. Put it on the PC and then back. Any harm in this swapping?

Bought another one too 4GB. Fat 32 and both read if my memory goes ok. Sandisk works. Kingston no. In an ide adaptor? I'll buy one adaptor if it does for a hd.

@PR

Quote:

PR wrote: Got a GTR 310W (Switching Power Supply(What ever does that mean)) Modded By Hanzu.

It means it doesn't use a simple linear design, which usually consists of a large transformer and simple regulator. Instead it uses high-speed switching and a feedback loop to adjust the output voltage on the fly. Makes for efficient, light power supplies.

Quote:

Works Great but it's quite noisy. Only a Petro's new A1200 some Turbo,HD etc. Does the PSU really need 2 fans?

Possibly, depending on the load and the PSU design. If you're not stressing it you could possibly get away with less airflow, but I'm sure the designers put two fans there for a reason... Maybe you can change them for quieter fans?

Quote:

The more important question is as playing with pc to Amy PCMCIA CF Card: Is it safe to remove the adapter or card from the A1200 while running?

Yes. PCMCIA is designed to be hot-pluggable. So is CompactFlash, though removing it from the adaptor while still attached to the Amiga might cause problems as it depends on the adaptor's electronics to handle it correctly, and some don't.

Quote:

Does the 4 GB do a limit to the expansion memory?

There isn't a 4GB limit on CF cards when using PCMCIA, but you do need to use Fat95 or another filesystem that works with devices over 4GB.

Quote:

Need to boot x 3 usually with it sticked aside so thinking if booting first, then insert card. And Oh, forgot something.. Put it on the PC and then back. Any harm in this swapping?

No harm, in fact with the reset bug on the A1200, you're better off booting without anything in the PCMCIA slot and only inserting it after the computer is turned on, unless you've installed patches to fix the bug. Swapping to and from the PC (and a Mac, Linux etc.) is no problem, Fat95 will let you read FAT32 formatted cards. Just remember to properly eject cards on other systems to close off any cached files, or they may not be readable on the Amiga.

Quote:

Bought another one too 4GB. Fat 32 and both read if my memory goes ok. Sandisk works. Kingston no. In an ide adaptor? I'll buy one adaptor if it does for a hd.

Sandisk are generally very compatible, but sometimes some cards just don't work with one or the other interface. Some people say Kingston work, others say they don't. It all depends on the individual card.

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@Daedalus

Thank You from the very informative Reply!

Just did the "You can remove the card from the Win7" just to be sure Bill Gates is not doing anything and sticked it on the Miga when WB is loaded from the HD.

What a load of stuff and I have missed this since the early days of A500!

My elder days are secured.

Don't get me wrong as am a long term with also a 060-PIV, XE, few here and there. Maybe 15?

While doing some adf's to the A500 cleaned the surroundings of the "new" OS3,9 (fresh) machine and found an IDE to CD adapter that ordered before. Null Modem cables are wired etc I think the Amiga is just gaining the golden Years.

A few Amigas are in the net but here the newest HWpc with the 7 to Amiga is the best bet.

Just got some only DD (War is Fun) runnable maybe and can chain two extra and another extra HD drive as it's fun. Thinking the Power Supply should be more than enough the small saound dissapears or put more volume or The Book Of Souls(Maiden).

So much more to try. Doing it occasionally. Still as all is great I'll fire up the A500 (Thanks to the A1200 pcmcia combo) for a really quiet moment and fun like at 10 years old.

Again thanks. Someday I'll open another A1200 for the IDE-CF to try.

Keep PRoductive. PR

@PR

PR Sounded silly but the chimney sweeper just came along so was in a hurry and told He had Amiga and bought extramem for Dragons Lair. Maybe buying one baby for fun later.

Let there be typos.

Seems like the PSU decided to die on me. Worked fine earlier today, but sometimes didnt come on.
Then totally dead. The cable into the PSU is fine. Measuring 240V at the entry onto the board. Measuring at the 5 pin connector yield no result whatsoever.
On the board, where the input 240V enters+the on/off switch is soldered, there is a brown color around the solder. Looks a bit burnt, tho doesnt smell like it.

Any hints regarding trying to measure wether or not this PSU is dead? I bought the multimeter today, so Im quite clueless

Regardless, the PSU is around 25 years old, so I guess it was overdue.

Ive decided to just purchase a new one from Mechy (amiga.org), and then get some practice with soldering on my old broken A500 PSU. Off to purchase soldering equipment

Anyhow, any suggestions about vendors that sell ATX psu's that will work with A1200?
I understand the issue with regard to the ATX v2.
Looking at the normal vendors, the PSUs are all v2.
How about this?

https://www.elfadistrelec.no/no/automatvekslende-stromforsyning-120-utgang-mean-well-mps-120-12/p/16996631

Also;

http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/amiga_hacks/Amiga_Power_supplies/amiga_power_supplies.html

Last edited by Overflow on 27-Jan-2016 at 07:28 PM.

@Overflow

Hi

The issue of power to the 1200 for me was always to use the heavy brick from a 500. Over the years I have acquired cheap 500s as they came onto the market and stored the bricks. I had two fail before Christmas for no reason. Just died. I still have a few stored under the bench.

CDroms generally are in their own case with their own power. I have a 1200 with internal hard drive and two externals off a Blizzard SCSI KIT. All the external units including the ZIP and CD run off their own power. I have done the same with a Squirrel. I used the SCSI cus I wanted the PCMCIA for my ethernet card.

I have an EZI Tower with an A1200 and you would be amazed at the way the power is connected. See below. I also have an A1200 in a 2000 case... see also pics below.

The trick with the Amiga is to get some stock kit cheap off Ebay and swap in and out as necessary. Doesn't hurt to get a spare or two. Having a 500 around is never a bad thing. Also you may be lucky like me and find hidden goodies inside.

The problem, I thought with the new PSUs is there being no power switch and that they were driven by software. I have a few Goliath power supplies but in truth you can't beat a heavy brick. Others may have a view but get an old A500 off Ebay, even busted or broken and get those bricks.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_m2016_03/car0216002.jpg

Its the blue wire.. This tower booted up first time after around eight years under a dust cover. Running as we speak.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/scuzzblog1602.htm

This is the current blog.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz222.htm

And meet Graham my bogus A1400

And this is the website.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/a_amiga_inframe.htm

By the way if you get a spare Amiga you can always check to see if that PSU is working. Quite dangerous messing with PSUs. I wouldn't advise it to be honest.

@Overflow

It could be as simple as a blown fuse on the PSU. There's a fuse on the PCB near the mains connections - check the resistance with your multimeter (make sure it's not plugged into the mains!!). Sometimes fuses just blow for no reason. If you're lucky, perhaps replacing it will get it going again. It's not expensive to try it anyway, though don't try it with your Amiga connected until you check the voltages!

ATX v2 PSUs can be used if you have a dummy load of the correct wattage and resistance to keep it stable. I personally would look at a PicoPSU and a decent power brick for it. If you get them the right size, they can be fitted inside the old Amiga PSU casing.

Ian Stedman's website is a wonderful resource for all things Amiga electronics related.

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