Pimped my 128 :)

[StyleCHM]

Hey all

Had fun yesterday - pimped out my 128 a bit

It now has 64k VDC, jiffydos for both 64 and 128 modes, and a servant chip.

I also jiffydos-ified my 1581, and the 1571s will cop it later today.

next Ill start planning to mount a 1581 internally in a flat 128. Im planning to desolder and plugs from the 1581 PCB (so it lies flatter) and use a slimline floppy mech - I *might* be able to squeeze it all in the case. Still wondering what to do about power though, I doubt the regular 128 supply has enough oomph to power a 1581 as well. Maybe Ill just mount the regular 1581 power socket in the back of the 128 and run 2 power supplies.... any thoughts?

BTW, Ive asked in a few other places, but does anyone know if there is a key combination to avoid booting the servant chip on powerup?

thanks

[Blacklord]

next Ill start planning to mount a 1581 internally in a flat 128

Is this gonna look like the "pop up" C128 prototypes ?

Lance

[StyleCHM]

nope, Im hoping out the left hand side like the opposite of an amiga 500.

I might end up having to put a space between the top and bottom halves though - luckily I have plenty of discarded amiga cases I can use as a source of plastic

Ill take photos along the way, so if Im successful others can do it.

[Mark Smith]

How are you going to do the slim line floppy thing ?  What model will you use ?

[RobertB]

nope, Im hoping out the left hand side like the opposite of an amiga 500.

How interesting!  I've seen custom 128DCR's but never customized flat C128's.  What drive mech are you intending to squeeze into the case?  A 1581 requires 5 and 12 volts, and a flat 128 requires 5 and 9 volts.  If you drive off of one power supply, you'll have to get all three voltages.

Happy New Year!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/

[StyleCHM]

I have 2 Teac FD-05HG drives ( i got them from ebay, theyre out of some dell desktop PCs from memory). Obviously Ill test them first before I start hacking, but i think theyll work if I swap the DF0/DF1 lines. They come with a stupid little "laptop like" connector and ribbon cable, so Ill solder ribbon cable directly onto the pads.

I just had an initial look using another 128 i have that's currently in bits. The drive mech and 1581 PCB fit inside as long as I remove the metal shield, which I dont really want to do. I think Ill modify the metal shield, and add some sort of shielding to the drive/PCB (thin MDF maybe?). Also, once I remove the connectors from the PCB and lay the components flat it should fit easier too (Im even thinking of unsoldering the sockets from the board and directly soldering in the components to make it even flatter).

At this point I think Ill run seperate power, and mount the 1581 power socket in the far right hand (looking from the front) on the back, near the other power connector. Id really like to make a power supply to run the whole lot at once through the original connector though, so Ill at least investigate putting a 9VAC power brick PCB into a switch mode ATX supply. Problem is finding the square connectors

Ill also rip the floppy button and door off the slimline drive and paint them cream, so it matches the 128..... luckily i have some krylon fusion around here.

First though Ill solder a cable onto one of these slimline drives and get it working with the 1581 PCB i have.

[StyleCHM]

nope, Im hoping out the left hand side like the opposite of an amiga 500.

How interesting!  I've seen custom 128DCR's but never customized flat C128's.  What drive mech are you intending to squeeze into the case?  A 1581 requires 5 and 12 volts, and a flat 128 requires 5 and 9 volts.  If you drive off of one power supply, you'll have to get all three voltages.

Yeh, thats the main problem Robert. I believe the 9VAC from the 128 supply is rectified internally to 12VDC somewhere, but Im not entirely sure the 128 supply has enough grunt to run the whole thing. I think the TOD clock and datasette run from 9VAC, and the SID runs from 12VDC.

The other option is to open the 128 supply and get my dad to modify it to give it more grunt. The 1541-II/1581 supply is rated at 5VDC at 700mA, and 12VDC at 500mA, so its power requirements are significant but not massive.

The final option is to use an ATX supply, and simply put 12VDC on the 9VAC line. The TOD wont work, and neither will the datasette, but everything else works apparently.

[RobertB]

I have 2 Teac FD-05HG drives...

I hope they are compatible with the 1581 board.

Happy New Year!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/

[StyleCHM]

I have 2 Teac FD-05HG drives...

I hope they are compatible with the 1581 board.

So do I

Actually, I think an DD capable mech is compatible, as long as you wire it correctly

The only question that remains is, are these drives DD compatible?

Only 1 way to find out I guess

[StyleCHM]

Found something interesting - these slimline drive mechs run on 5V only. Im thinking that the 1581 only uses 12V to power the motor in the original drive mech, so I can probably get away with supplying only 5V