Category Archives: Amiga models

PowerShark USB-C Amiga Power Adapter

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PowerShark Amiga Power Adapter for USB-C PSUs

I finally got my hands on the PowerShark Power Adapter for the Amiga 500/600/1200. There are many PSU options for wedge Amigas these days but the PowerShark power adapter in combination with a USB-C PSU for the Amiga was a nobrainer for me to choose because of two reasons: It is USB-C and it has a power switch close to the Amiga 1200.

USB-C Amiga PSU

I highly suspect USB-C will become even more widespread in the future for retro gear, not just for Amiga computers. I suspect most vintage hardware will be able to be modded or will be able to made run on USB-C with some hardware device – meaning, one main PSU could drive many devices instead of having multiple aging PSUs.

The power switch situation

Having a power switch close to the Amiga is a luxury. No need to reach for the switch on the floor anymore.

Lets take a closer look at the PowerShark Power Adapter for Amiga

Top of the PowerShark Power Adapter, notice the USB-C socket in the mouth of the shark

The PowerShark power adapter is a neat little piece of hardware that inserts into the power socket on the Amiga 500, 600 or 1200. It has a LED that lights up in either red or green, red if the PSU driving it fails or green if everything works. The plastic shell is quite nice and looks professional.

Back of the PowerShark Amiga USB-C Power Adapter

The backside of the PowerShark power adapter for the Amiga has a small on/off switch and the USB-C socket for powering it from the USB-C PSU.

Sideview of the PowerShark Amiga PSU USB-C Power Adapter

The side view shows its small size. The size of the PowerShark is 25 x 27 x 58mm.

How to power the PowerShark Power Adapter for the Amiga?

A regular USB-C phone charger PSU and an old Apple USB-C Macbook charging cable

The PowerShark has to be fed power from a USB-C PSU. As you may know Amiga runs on different voltages so PowerShark Power Adapter has to be fed 12v. The 12v then gets converted into the different voltages the Amiga needs to run in the PowerShark. That means the USB-C PSU has to provide 12v or else it wont work.

Besides providing 12v the PSU has to provide enough amps or else there wont be enough power to power up the A1200 (a 5w phone USB-C charger wont run an A1200).

I tried with my laptop charger and it did not work because it did not provide 12v. But another USB-C laptop charger I had worked fine since it could provide 12v. If in doubt, it is usually specified on the charger if the USB-C PSU outputs 12v.

I also tried with a low end Apple charger (5-7w IIRC) and that did not work either as expected, the PowerShark just got a red LED.

For testing purposes I fell back on this 20w USB-C phone charger i found at home pictured above. I will for sure upgrade to a more beefy USB-C PSU later but for now this will do fine.

There are some details on the homepage about the USB-C cable that you should use. I just took the safe route here and used an old Apple USB-C cable that powered an old Apple laptop i had years ago.

A nice cheap alternative is to get the RaspberryPi 5 27w USB-C PSU. But that one seems not to be available in black.

PowerShark USB-C Power Adapter on my Amiga 1200

As my main Amiga 1200 is black I wanted a black PowerShark and I think it goes well together with it. It sticks out a bit at the back but it is not that bad I think.

PowerShark USB-C Power Adapter on my Amiga 1200 powered on and running fine

The Amiga 1200 I used for testing consists of the following hardware and is my main A1200 (and the Amiga that gets the most use by me except the A4000TX):

  • ReAmiga1200 1.5
  • TerribleFire 1260 128MB/060@100Mhz
  • Indivision MK3
  • Solas + one LED strip
  • MicroniK floppy drive
  • 4GB Compact Flash
  • PicoWyfy
  • MouSTer + USB adapter for mouse

How much power does an Amiga 1200 use

Running a fractal generator stresses the 68060 CPU a lot

I wanted to test the stability of the PowerShark and came up with a mini test. I got an idea to run a few programs that pushes the Amiga 1200 hard. I ran both Quake and Quake 2 for a few minutes and also ran a fractal generator on my A1200 with 68060. Everything worked fine – keep in mind this was not a 24h test, but more a half hour test.

Power meter measuring the watt usage of my A1200 powered by PowerShark

I got this power meter years ago and it is quite fun measuring devices. While pushing the A1200 above hard the watt meter tops out at 23w. During idle it sits between 18-20w and during regular use around 21w.

My USB-C PSU is rated at 20w so I wont run this setup permanently as that cant be too good pushing it too hard but its interesting that stability was not an issue.

My Amiga 1200 computers, one basic one not so basic in setup

But that got me into thinking, how much power would a regular Amiga 1200 draw. I have a backup A1200 that is completely stock (except its also a ReAmiga 1.5).

This A1200 has: A CF adapter without CF card and a 3.5″ floppy drive, other than that, its completely basic.

Power meter measuring the watt usage of my basic A1200 powered by PowerShark

And here it is powered by the PowerShark Power Adapter and is hovering between 9 to 11 watts.

Final thoughts

I have no regrets, this is a great addition to my Amiga 1200.

You could say it is an expensive solution since the PowerShark costs 80 euros and you need to get a USB-C PSU (and USB-C cable if PSU does not have one) so that adds to the price.

You could also say it is a complex device because you need to have a specific 12v USB-C PSU that can provide sufficient amps. There are many great options for USB-C PSUs mentioned on the website and for the average Amiga user I highly suspect this is not a real problem.

It is what it is but I think that you pay a little bit premium to have a modern solution and that is something I happily will do. I would happily pick up another one if I was knee deep in wedge Amigas only!

SMB2FS setup on AmigaOS 4.1

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I got an WIFI adapter for my Sam440EP last year. Since then I have wanted to get SAMBA shares up and running on the Amiga for easy file transfers and accessing data that lives on my workstation from my Amiga.

I played around with SAMBA for Amiga as early as 1998 when I bought an Amiga 3000 with an ASDG LanRover card (for 50 euro). I never got it going though as the SAMBA archive on Aminet was confusing to follow.

How I got SMB2FS working on AmigaOS 4.1

Getting SMB2FS working on AmigaOS 4.1 took a few tries…

First of all, a small disclaimer – this is how I got access to PC SAMBA shares on AmigaOS 4.1 working, it might not be the default way of doing it but it worked for me. I tried a lot of different configurations until this one worked.

Before doing the installation I recommend to double check that both machines can see each other on the network. That is done by pinging the PC from the Amiga and vice versa. To find out the IP number on the Amiga, I typed inshownetstatus in CLI. Once ping confirmed both computers shaking hands with each other, I decided to continue.

Step 1 – Download and install SMB2FS

The first thing I did was to download SMB2FS from OS4Depot. Once download I clicked on the install icon. Unlike the SAMBA installations of old on Amiga SMB2FS is much easier to setup and lets you add shares on the Amiga only. Seems like you do not have to be a Unix expert or MCSE geek to get it going anymore.

Step 2 – Adding a dosdriver for the share

I have removed username and my password (12345678AB) from the pic above

The next thing I did after installing SMB2FS was to copy a dosdriver in sys:storage/dosdrivers. I renamed the dosdriver to SMBShare. Then I opened the dosdriver in notepad and added:

Handler   = L:smb2-handler
StackSize = 65536
Priority  = 5
GlobVec   = -1
Startup   = "smb://username:password@ipnumber/share-on-pc VOLUME=volume-name"

Where:

  • Username = The username for logging in to my workstation running Windows 11.
  • Password = The local password I use to log into my workstation.
  • Share-on-pc = The name of the folder that I shared on my workstation.
  • VOLUME = The name the shared volume should have in AmigaOS4

Some notes here that I would have been glad if they were specified somewere.

  • The username is the name you see when you open a command line on Windows.
  • The password has to be a local password, it wont work with a Microsoft password (the password you use for you Microsoft account).

As I understood it you should then add a default tool “c:mount” to the icon and add “activate=1” to the tooltype of the dosdriver. If you drag it over to sys:devs/dosdrivers/ and reboot then you would see the share on the desktop. But it did not for some reason work for me.

Note:

What worked was setting tooltype “activate=0” and then activating device in shell like typing in “smbshare:” (if that is what it was named to). But I wanted the share to auto mount during startup.

Step 3 – Starting the share

Network-Startup is like User-Startup for network applications

I got it the share to mount if I kept the dosdriver in sys:storage/dosdrivers and mounted the dosdriver from CLI by running “mount replace dh1:storage/dosdrivers/smbshare” (if you wonder why sys: is dh1:, that was an error by me during installation, off course it should be dh0:).

So I added that line to Network-Startup inside S: (not sure if you have to add run >NIL: but did not try without). During testing, I had to add replace to the mount command. Not sure why, but that is why I added it to the line here.

Step 4 – Trying out Windows 11 SAMBA share on AmigaOS 4.1

The SAMBA share is added on the Workbench desktop and behaves like a regular device

After a reboot the share popped up on Workbench! The share from the PC is the bottom device “MP3”. I have added an icon to the share otherwise it defaults to the regular AmigaOS 4.1 HDD icon. The share can be snapshotted wherever I want it on the desktop.

Accessing folders on the share is no different than local drawers

I have two drawers from the share open here on my AmigaOS4.1 desktop. One showing the top level of the SAMBA share and one of a sub folder. Opening folders in the share can take some time if there are many files inside them, but it is not that bad.

Having access to shares on another computer makes file transfers quick!

I have dragged an MP3 file to AmigaAMP that plays the tune from the share over the network. Occasionally there is some lag. I think that is because I am running a wireless adapter, but it is not that bad.

Next steps

  1. Install SMB2FS on my 68k Amiga systems. DONE, it was almost exactly the same procedure.
  2. I would also like to share the full Amiga partitions to my workstation, that way I would for example be able to edit s:user-startup or restructuring partitions or add/remove files from my PC.

N2630 Amiga 68030 CPU card metal bracket

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N2630 metal bracket

N2630 is a great 68030 CPU card you can build yourself for the Amiga 2000 or A2000EATX project. You can find more information about the N2630 project on the website here.

N2630 CPU card with 3D-printed bracket (that has a part broken off)

There is a model for a bracket for the N2630 that you can 3D print. I did that but it was too flimsy and eventually broke in two pieces.

I was planning on ordering a 3D metal print of the bracket from JLC but heard of arymanx on Amibay who had made a small batch of metal brackets for the CPU card. In this hobby, you have to act fast, or the chance might never come up again so in less than a week a shiny metal N2630 Amiga 030 CPU card bracket arrived to me from UK.

If you are interested in a metal bracket for the N2630 too, feel free to contact arymanx directly about it on AmiBay.

Another view of the N2630 metal bracket.

Its just a bracket, but is a great reminder of that it is the small details that makes a DIY build great.

Metal bracket mounted on to the N2630, my A2000EATX is in the background.

I mounted the bracket to the N2630 with two screws and nuts. The nuts got a drop of blue Loctite to hold them secure. Fitment was excellent.

Back of my A2000EATX. One slot left for a NIC.

Not only does it hold the card better in the case it also looks better.

Pay no attention to the nut wedged between bracket and case. The CPU slot I used when building my A2000EATX motherboard was taller than a regular CPU slot used on the Amiga 2000 making the CPU card sit further out from the motherboard.

Installing 3DFX Voodoo 4 in Amiga 4000D with Firebird PCI daughterboard

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Amiga 4000D setup for PCI card installation and test run

Here is my Amiga 4000D with PCI slots. It has an Firebird daughterboard that has PCI slots, Zorro slots and one video slot. More information about the Firebird PCI boards here.

Firebird PCI daughter board for Amiga 4000D

This is an older picture of my Firebird PCI daughterboard with no cards mounted to it to get a better look at it. This was before it was fully built, that is why it only has one PCI slot.

I tried PCI on the Amiga years ago on my A1200 with a Mediator A1200LT – I was not sold on the concept as I felt the performance was lacking. Since then I wanted to give PCI on the Amiga a fair chance again and so I had to get the Firebird to try out PCI on a big box Amiga properly!

3DFX Voodoo4 PCI

Here is a 3DFX Voodoo 4 PCI graphics cad I got years ago, back when they sold for a reasonable sum. It has spent close to 15 years in storage. Along the way it got a capacitor knocked off (that I am pointing on). I replaced the capacitor, added a heatsink and fan to it and hoped that it would still work.

Amiga 4000D with PCI cards, Zorro cards and a video slot card

Here is a closeup of the Amiga 4000D with the Firebird PCI board holding the Voodoo4 PCI card and a PMC carrier holding a PPC card. I will make a separate post about the PPC card in the top slot in the future. The other cards you see is a purple Multifix-AGA, GottaGoFaZt3r and a CPLDICY.

Testing Voodoo 4 PCI RTG output in Workbench with HippoPlayer

…aaaaand surprise, the 3DFX Voodoo4 PCI graphics card worked!! Installation went really smooth even if it was not a simple point and click installation.

Looking at the cards listed on the PCI bus

There is only so much time on the weekend so I ran out of time installing the PPC card, hopefully I will look into it next time. I will also need to set up an automatic switcher between RTG and scandoubled output. As usual, you are never done in this hobby….

Daily soup of Amiga Custom Chips

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A set of custom chips from an Amiga 1200 resting in a plate of IPA

Bought a rotten non working Amiga 1200 motherboard recently and spent the evening desoldering and cleaning up the Amiga custom chips. TBH I was only after the Alice chip… hope it works!

Update on the Amiga custom chips: 2026-02-01

Amazingly, all chips was confirmed working! Especially considering the motherbaord that I desoldered the chips from looked like this (warning):

A thick layer of dirt covering the A1200 motherboard. I especially like the unmatched Kickstart chips!

This is how I tested the Amiga custom chipset, I have an ReAmiga 1200 with sockets for the custom chips so I could just swap the chips on it and give it a go in Diagrom. I bought this Amiga 1200 motherboard built by someone else. I do not recommend building it with sockets, but for testing purposes it is fine.

ReAmiga 1200 with sockets for Amiga custom chips

Some Amiga activites I have worked on in December

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I have worked on some small things here or there on my Amiga computers. Here are some noteworthy things that has kept me busy.

Installation of an 2.5″ angled CF adapter in my backup A1200

These angle 2.5″ CF adapters were popular 20 years ago

I found angled 2.5″ CF adapters on AliExpress. I have been looking for these for quite some time. They can not work if you have an Indivision AGA in your A1200 but if you do not have one they offer a great reliable way of running an internal compact flash drive in your Amiga 1200. There was only one problem:

This one has a pin blocked, probably to keep you from frying it by mounting it 180 degrees wrong

They came with one pin blocked. I used a small drill to drill into the blocked pin and realised that it was only the top layer that was blocked. Next step: try it out in my backup A1200.

How nice, a genuine C= Amiga 1200 case and keycaps

My backup A1200 has 3.1 Kickstart roms so I had to upgrade the Kickstarts before trying an Workbench 3.2 installation. So the next step was to flash some roms with AmigaOS 3.2.

FlashROMs are programmed with DiagROM and Kickstart 3.2

Here are the FlashROMs. I decided to flash DiagROM and Kickstart to them as they can hold two ROM images. It is very handy to have DiagROM availble if needed.

A white ReAmiga 1200 matches the case nicely

My backup Amiga 1200 looks like a regular A1200 on the outside but inside it is a white ReAmiga 1200 that I built a couple of years ago.

The more LEDs the better

Here the FlashROMs installed. But it failed to boot into the Kickstart screen, DiagROM worked though. So out came the T48 programmer and FlashROM adapter again. It was impossible to flash the FlashROM again. After 30 minutes of fail checking I realized that I used the wrong USB-A cable for the T48. After swapping cables the correct ROM image was flashed and everything worked.

The ReAmiga 1200 has a kickstart switch built in it

The ReAmiga 1200 has a nice Kickstart switch feature that you can enable. If enabled you can chose between two different ROM images through a jumper. If you do this with a FlashROM you do not need to jumper the FlashROM. As you can see, I never bothered to solder on the fan headers.

The angled 2.5″ CF adapter fits the A1200 motherboard fine

Here is the CF adapter mounted on the internal 2.5″ port of the ReAmiga 1200. Booting off of a WB 3.2 installation it worked fine.

I am using an old school external 23 pin scandoubler, thats why the image is a bit dull

Making the ReA4091 work with a BFG9060 clocked at 100 MHz

ReA4091 SCSI2 Zorro 3 card

I had problem with my ReA4091 SCSI card when running my BFG9060 68060 turbo card at 100 MHz. The Amiga 4000TX worked fine if the BFG was clocked at 50 MHz but at 100 MHz the system refused to run stable giving me filesystems error instantly in Workbench.

This is not a new problem as many other has had it. But at the same time, many have gotten A4091 and a BFG with a 060 clocked at 100MHz working without trouble.

I got a heads up about a thread on github discussing possible solutions to this problem. You can find it here. One suggestion there is to reprogram U305 with the file from here.

Apparently this fixed the problem for the user who suggested it on github with a drawback of 10% less SCSI performance.

BFG9060 with 68060 rev. 6 clocked at 100 MHz

I did not have anything to lose so I decided to give it a go by flashing the little PLCC chip with the file suggested. To my surprise it actually made my hardware setup stable again at 100 MHz! Now that I have put in a few hours in my system I can confirm that it runs stable (and now more than 6 months later I can confirm that it has been working great).

This particular build consists of an A4000TX, BFG9060 with a rev.6 68060, ReA4091 with a ZuluSCSI compact, there is also a ZZ9000 graphics board in the setup. It is my main setup.

Solas + ISA board installation in my A4000TX

I have a Solas LED controller in my A4000TX, it is hooked up to an ISA carrier and is connected to the clock port on the Zorro-LAN-IDE card. It took a while to figure out how to connect them together and to get sound into the Solas. But after tinkering with it for a few hours it is working fine now.

The sandwich card of the Solas carrier and Solas is too thick though, making it difficult to run a full size Zorro card over it, I am thinking of soldering them together to decrease the height of the card sandwich. It could either be the greatest thing ever or the greatest disaster ever, I will need to flip a coin on how to proceed with this idea.

Second A2386SX board built and tested

I like to build things I like in pairs that is why I did not hesitate when I was given the opportunity to build a second A2386SX clone again. You can see some more pics in the previous link. I do not think I will build more of these boards as they have given me a tough time both in getting them working and in sourcing components for them.

A4000T AT case mod

Mid size PC AT case from 1998

I did not hesitate to jump on the train when an A4000T replica PCB was offered for sale on Amibay a few years ago. Building it was a lot of fun and also fascinating. The A4000T is after all the final official 68k Amiga computer released.

I was too naive expecting a case to show up by itself. Now I realize it might never show up so I decided to look for solutions. There are ATX options but I wanted to try an old AT case first.

The universe was aligned with my third eye and suddenly an AT case manifested itself on a local trading place. But the struggle is real, nothing comes without pain and struggle. The A4000T motherboard is huge, it wont fit this case without some cut fingers on old sharp PC case sheet metal edges and serious case modding. And I hate hardcore sheet metal case modding and cutting my fingers on old shitty PC cases.

The A4000T motherboard actually fits inside this case, but it will take some serious case modding to make it happen!

But once modded though, the 5.25 bays the case has wont be usable any more. It wont be able to take an AT or ATX PSU anymore either. But hey, when it is fully modded, at least I got a case for the A4000T where the daughter boards line up perfectly on the back of the case. I just need to figure out how to mod this case in the simplest way possible.

Mini-ITX case for Alicia 1200

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I built my Alicia 1200 last month. It was time to decide what case to use. Alicia 1200 is an Amiga 1200 clone in a Mini-ITX form factor so it was only natural to try and find a suitable ITX case to mount it in. It is difficult to chose a case when you don’t know future configurations of the machine. I am expecting to add a CPU card in it but do not expect it to grow that much in height. Thats why I went looking for a low Mini-ITX case.

Alicia 1200 motherboard mounted inside a Morex 557 Mini-ITX case

I chose to install the motherboard in a Morex 557 Mini ITX case. It is small case just slightly longer and wider than a 17 x 17 cm Mini-ITX motherboard. In these kind of cases you have to use a Pico PSU with an external adapter. Where I am from a genuine Pico PSU is quite costly but I was happy to find a reseller in EU who had genuine Pico PSUs for a very reasonable sum of money. I got two, one for the Alicia and one for the Denise in case I would need a better Pico PSU for it in the future instead of the cheap knock off.

120w Pico-PSU is powering the Alicia 1200

The Pico PSU sits very tight against the case but it fits with a millimetre to spare!

Morex 557 Mini-ITX case

I don’t think you can find a smaller size case than this and that is why I like Mini-ITX. The case is also well ventilated, perfect for passive cooling.

Two Morex 557 cases, one for my Alicia 1200 and one for my Sam440ep OS4 machine

I already knew about this case since I use it for my Sam440ep. Maybe I will get a third one for my Denise.

Alicia 1200 – Amiga 1200 AGA clone in Mini-ITX form factor

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Alicia is an Amiga 1200 clone in the popular Mini-ITX form factor. It is a nice DIY project you can buy as a semi built PCB. As I had previously built a couple of Denise A500+ clones, deciding to build the Alicia 1200 was a no-brainer and I think I was not alone in that thought as the interest around it has been great! Read more about the project here.

I remember fondly when the Mini-ITX form factor was released to the public around the new millennium. It was a really exciting time in PC hardware and watching the new tiny form factor it grow and become an established platform has been a pleasure to see and experience since I have been on the Mini-ITX train many times since then.

But to be able to see, build and own Amiga systems in this small form factor with real Amiga chips is the icing on the cake – Amazing!

Denise, Alicias little Amiga sister

Denise A500+ ITX with TF536, Denise NIC, Mini Graka, Indivision ECS v3

I have not written a lot about Denise, the A500+ clone, here on my blog even though I have wanted to do that for some time.

I “blame” the beginnings of my interest in this “wallet busting” hobby on this specific project, YOLO. So expect a better post later sometimes. I remember watching plenty of YouTube clips of doing SMD soldering with a soldering iron 5 years ago and asking myself, “can I really do it?”, then I ordered a Denise board and a package from Digikey. Unpacking the first 0805 capacitor, I questioned what I had gotten myself into back then.

Anyway, I think it could be interesting to show off my Denise build before moving on to the Alicia 1200.

The Denise is an Amiga 500+ clone in Mini-ITX form factor, it has all the regular chips the A500+ has and also two “dumb” (as in no Buster) Zorro 2 slots. The PCB is jam packed but everything is beautifully laid out on the board.

Point I wanted to make was that this has been a very stable Amiga and it is awesome to have an Amiga with a small graphics board, scandoubler, NIC and 030/HDD in a standardized small form factor – That it is Mini-ITX is just icing on the cake.

To think this kind of hardware was A2000 territory yesterday is crazy. Anyway, let’s move on to the Alicia Amiga 1200 AGA clone…

Approaching the Alicia 1200 Amiga 1200 clone build, what have I gotten myself into?!

Alicia 1200 is a small PCB and most of the stuff for the build fits in this small box!

Alicia 1200 is a kit, so one have to build it oneself. I have built a few Amiga kits myself as stated above so I did not expect any problem with the Alicia build. I usually build my projects from scratch, but in this case it has all the passives and common chips mounted. This saved a ton of time.

Lets talk PLCC sockets and chips

I decided to build my Alicia without PLCC sockets. I have a technique that works really well for soldering PLCC sockets without removing the inner part of the socket. In my experience soldering PLCC chips directly to the PCB makes for a more secure connection and eliminates any potential contact issue. I feel hot chips such as Paula, Lisa and Alice runs cooler when soldered directly to the PCB. I do have a few Amiga motherboards with full PLCC sockets for testing purposes.

Soldering the PLCC chips might be difficult if you are not used to doing them. I solder the PLCC chips with a relatively large hoof tip. Not saying the hoof tip is the definitive success factor. My success is probably from doing a LOT of PLCC chip soldering and getting used to a specific technique.

Difficult to find parts aka “ahh shieet here we go again…”

Most parts for the Alicia 1200 can be taken from an Amiga 1200 or can be found on Ebay, Amibay or from the “usual” places.

You will need the full Amiga 1200 chipset, including Motorola 68020, Budgie and A1200 Gayle. You will need an ADV101 or VP101 but you wont need the keyboard MPU. Memory can be taken from an Amiga 1200 too (but pay attention, some revisions come with incompatible memory that physically won’t fit). If you want to run the RTC you need a clock chip.

A 23 pin video connector is not needed and in fact can not be used, instead Alicia uses a regular VGA socket, so you have to make your own RGB cable if you plan to use it with SCART. You will need a PCMCIA connector, but that can also be take from an A1200 motherboard (hot air is your friend).

Everything else can be ordered from Mouser or Digikey.

So lets get the soldering iron warm…

Budgie and Motorola 68020 are done, drag soldering is your friend!

The first parts I soldered was the Budgie and the Motorola 020 CPU, they are both surface mounted chips and where desoldered from an Amiga 1200 motherboard. I actually did not know if they worked or not, but as they are mounted in a good position on the motherboard I could always desolder them and replace them if they failed to work.

Lets add some memory to the Alicia 1200

SOJ40 memory is soldered to the Alicia 1200 motherboard, flux is your friend in this case

You may have built a ReAmiga 1200 and struggled with the memory, I have. It is difficult to do a good job when the chips sit so tight together. I am not a fan of using hot air to solder them. Thankfully on the Alicia 1200 the memory chips are generously spaced leaving plenty of space for my preferred hoof tip technique making this task very enjoyable. This shows in the clean result.

Lets add some PLCC chips

First PLCC chip, Gayle, is soldered to the PCB, only six more to do!

Now its time for some PLCC chips. I have nailed the technique for soldering PLCC chips. But the challenge is getting them aligned correct on the solder pads so the joints form a straight line. I got successful with the first chip at the top left, Gayle. If you fail to align the chip it will still work but may look a bit off. Depending on your level of OCD this might be totally acceptable though.

All Amiga chips are now soldered to the board. But there are still plenty to do.

Here are all the PLCC chips soldered to the Alicia 1200 PCB. I think this was around 4 hours of work in total. No idea if it works and no way of testing it yet. Let’s hope it works.

And lets add some ports and connectors

Almost ready for the first test run, what if it does not work!

I am not alone when I say there is an universal curse around BOM orders. It is an unofficial rule more than an exception that it is derigeur to miss to order some small part or important part. In this case, it was a small chip on the bottom of the PCB and the ATX power socket.

First test run of Alicia 1200 A1200 clone

It is difficult to see, but there is a blue Indivision MK3 mounted on the Alice chip

Once I got the missing parts I was eager to try Alicia 1200 out and see if it was working. And it was here I stumbled upon a problem, I did not have a suitable screen or RGB-SCART cable to test it. I thought I could use a 23 pin to VGA converter and hook up my old RGB-SCART cable with a 23 pin connector, but it did not work.

Just to verity that it worked I opted to do a testrun with a temp solution: using my Indivision MK3 that I have in my Amiga 1200 so I could get HDMI output.

Update: I have since built a VGA to SCART cable according to the instructions in the manual and I recommend everyone to do that to test that the port is working.

And it works!!

Testing AGA chipset with DiagRom

DiagROM boots and all tests checked out fine! The image above does not do justice to the image quality of the Indivision MK3, I was almost ready to fork out cash for a second one! This is a beautiful hardware combo if you want AGA only.

Sound played fine on the Alicia 1200 when testing channels in DiagROM. I think the sound circuit is the same on the Alicia 1200 as on the Denise as i recognice a few of the parts on the motherboard here.

I would descibe the sound on the Denise as slightly tinny, metallic or a bit more clean than a regular Amiga 500 or Amiga 1200, it is an interesting attribute of these motherboards and adds another dimension to the sound output of the Amiga. Cant wait to try it out with the Sound Enhancer.

Lets finalize the Alicia 1200 Amiga A1200 clone build

Alicia 1200 fully built!

Once Alicia 1200 was fully tested I could go ahead and add the final connectors including the PCMCIA slot (that I cut down to make it shorter since it sticks out a lot).

So let’s end this post with some features that Alicia 1200 has that a genuine Amiga 1200 does not have. First it has a real time clock. Then it has a video slot on top left side. There are no devices to connect here today, but there are rumors of scandoublers and other exciting stuff. Lets see what the future holds. I have suggested a 3DFX card numerous times lol.

The Alicia 1200 Tornado slot CPU slot adapter.

The larger slot is the Tornado slot, as you can see on the image above it is converted into the Amiga 1200 slot. Hopefully someone will release a direct mount CPU card for the Alicia 1200, if not, we can just use the converter above and run our TF1260s or PiStorms or whatever will be available directly on that.

Next steps!

Let me follow up in the future what case I will chose and what CPU card I will use. I am leaning towards PiStorm, but the beauty of a 060 in this little system is very tempting, almost too tempting to resist. And with the way the CPU card is mounted, there is plenty of space to run a badass heatsink over the 060 unlike in an Amiga 1200… you can be sure I will follow it up here in the future!

Great work with this project everyone involved!