Converting A600 into a console. Great work

http://www.globaldata.pt/forum/viewtopic.php?p=280484

Ok guys, this is in Portuguese, but there is a lot of pictures.

This guy pick up a A600 and created a nice console. :thumbs:

I think i will do the same. My girlfriend don t like My A1200 in the living room, she says it is not prety to have "keyboards" on the middle of the living room....
So i will have to transforme one Amiga into a nice console or something more attractive... this exemple is great, This A600 is fully operational and looks like a tv satelite receiver. If i transform my Amiga into this baby, maybe my girlfriend let me keep it on livnig room .... :D:D:lol:

I think this is a great job, the post ends with the guy saying that he would put the Amiga logo in it, but there is no more text.
Take a look

Last time i checked it didnt had the logo, but these photos the logo is there,
the main boards of A600 are not so expensive... humm...

Very nice project. Does he say in the posts about the keyboard? How does one get connected? Amiga to PC adaptor?

And I noticed in one of the screenshots it is showing a kickstart 1.3 screen. Does he give details about that? relokick? rom switcher? or other method?

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If i transform my Amiga into this baby, maybe my girlfriend let me keep it on livnig room ....

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Your house? Your rules! Are you a man or a mouse!!! :lol:

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Originally Posted by Harrison

Very nice project. Does he say in the posts about the keyboard? How does one get connected? Amiga to PC adaptor? :

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He uses a keyboard pc adaptor when the game requires keyboard.

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And I noticed in one of the screenshots it is showing a kickstart 1.3 screen. Does he give details about that? relokick? rom switcher? or other method?

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He put the kickstart from the A500 !!

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If i transform my Amiga into this baby, maybe my girlfriend let me keep it on livnig room ....

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Your house? Your rules! Are you a man or a mouse!!! :lol:

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....i am a mouse...:unsure:
She is not living in my home yet, so for now, she just said "a keyboard (amiga)? how nice... are you going to keep it here in the living room?"
But i know the day she moves to my home.... i will have to do something....
yes i am a mouse...

Did you see the hole that he did in the A600 Mainboard? :o
He needed to make a hole with his black&decker so that the board would fix to the chassis.
Very courage guy, i dont know if i got that spirit to do it... imagine that 1 milimiter to the side end... bye bye Amiga ...:huh:

Yeah, that would worry me too. I think I would rather modify the case more, rather than start cutting holes out of the motherboard.

That sounds like an ace project. Whats the chances of hooking up a bluetooth keyboard to this - that way I could hook the same one up to the ps3. Now that would be cool!

It definitely would be the ultimate Amiga with a wireless keyboard/mouse. You could then put the actual Amiga anywhere out of the way and control it. And using WHDLoad so the games are all on the HD would mean you don't even need to get up to load a game! You would just need to work out how to control the on/off to reset the Amiga.

Couldn't you just build a wireless keyboard dongle into the case?

Using an Amiga to PC keyboard adaptor, and then using one of the wireless keyboards where the connector plugs into the PS2 PC keyboard port should work. That way I don't think you would need any software at the Amiga end.

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Originally Posted by Harrison

Using an Amiga to PC keyboard adaptor, and then using one of the wireless keyboards where the connector plugs into the PS2 PC keyboard port should work. That way I don't think you would need any software at the Amiga end.

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Then it's just a case of finding a way to turn it on and off at the PSU remotely.

Something like this:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...C=SO&U=strat15

Now theres a project to be proud of! Harrison, make it so! Oh yeah, how you getting on with your Mame cabinet?

I've not begun the MAME rebuild yet. :( I am planning to focus on it at the start of the new year though, and will document it and post the building process as I go for you all to see. :)

Ok, this has got me thinking. Heres a list of components that I think would be required to build one of these bad boys. If I have missed anything out let me know:

Casing
Seperates casing such as a satellite receiver.
Spray paint
Plasticising filler
Tower floppy disk drive casing

Power
Amiga PSU to AT PSU adapter
ATX PSU or similar
Power lead

System
A1200 with Kickstart 3.1
100Gig 3.5'' HD
2.5'' to 3.5'' HD adapter
USB adapter
Amiga to PC keyboard adaptor

Controls
USB Keyboard
USB Mouse
USB Joystick

Do you think this shopping list would be enough or have I missed anything? How much do you recon all of this would cost too? Its not like I'm going to build one soon but it would be a great project if you had the cash and time!

Yes i think that's it toomanymikes.

But one thing i am not sure. In this project he said that he placed a Kickstart from the A500 in the A600 Mainboard.... i dont know if that is 100% compatible, he said it works fine... He do that because A500 kickstart is more compatible (games).

I'm also not sure about that. The A500 KS1.3 rom will be missing support for the ECS chipset, the IDE HD controller and the PCMCIA slot, so you would instantly lose all of those, plus you would no longer be able to boot ECS/Workbench 2 software. Much better to stick with the built in KS2.05 in the A600 and use a relokick 1.3 disk if you do have any games that require KS1.3 (although many WHDLoad installers fix games so they will run on newer Amigas, so that isn't such a problem.

The only thing on that list I'm not sure about is the A1200 motherboard. Yes it would be the best option, but they are quite wide motherboards so wouldn't fit in most separates/midi or sat receiver sized cases. The A600 motherboard is much better suited for this purpose.

I do like the idea of using an Amiga to PC PSU converter, and that gave me an idea. How about using a mini ITX PC PSU? That way you should be able to fit the PSU inside the case with the Amiga! If that could be made to work it would be a very neat and tidy solution. In fact you could even use one of the many available mini ITX cases for the project instead of converting a case form something else. That way you might even get one with a floppy drive slow already in place (and even a CD/DVD slot).

converting a PC PSU to Amiga is not so easy

check this user guide:
http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/am...U_Replacements

anyone wants to try on your own amiga ??

Seems like quite a complex method for the Amiga to PC PSU conversion. If I were doing one I would bridge the two soft power on pins so that when the PSU was switch on it would automatically supply power, then wire the standard Amiga power connector from an old Amiga PSU to one of the 12V rails from the PC PSU. Quite quick and easy conversion.

Although to do a completely internal PSU for an A600 or A1200 motherboard, it definitely would require a lot more work.

For a big box Amiga I would just buy a PC ATX PSU to Amiga converter and use that. I've been thinking about doing that with my A4000 as the original PSU in that is very noisy. I could fit a 200W ATX PSU that would be silent just by buying an A4000 PC PSU adaptor and swapping the PSUs over.

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Originally Posted by Harrison

How about using a mini ITX PC PSU? That way you should be able to fit the PSU inside the case with the Amiga! If that could be made to work it would be a very neat and tidy solution. In fact you could even use one of the many available mini ITX cases for the project instead of converting a case form something else. That way you might even get one with a floppy drive slow already in place (and even a CD/DVD slot).

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Thats exactly what i had in mind. Basically a box with a bunch of output connections on the back, usb connections and disk drive on the front and a power cable. How good!

It would be great, and would make a true multimedia Amiga.

Now this is a great mod

its simple, and has a great amount of precision under the hood, this is indeed a well thought out mod. and i hope the person is proud of their work, because he / she most certainly has a talent.

Its a good finish with the LED's and the colour, and although I would of prefered the joystick fly-overs to be based at the front or side ( for greater accessability ) its still a mod to be proud of :D

now all its needs is....

• SFF Optical drive
• 1MB Chip expansion
• 4/8MB Ram or 020/030 Accelerator ;)
• 4GB Compact Flash HDD
• Infrared keyboard / mouse (easy peasy to make)

now that would certainly be a box :D

heres an idea, i have always wanted to put a beefed up A600 into one of these chassis..

Pic 1
http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/enlig...nter/large.jpg

Pic 2
http://www.vdhsoft.be/img_art/22454.gif

I have one of these in the living room for the Media PC, its a nice polished MATX chassis... lots of potential :D