PAY ATTENTION!!!
I AM NOT RESPONSABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE YOU MAY CAUSE TO YOUR A1200
...MY SYSTEM WORKS PERFECTLY,BUT BEFORE STARTING YOU GOTTA PRACTICIZE
WITH SOLDERER,TIN,SAW,DRILL AND CUTTING-NIPPERS...
USE IT (THE FILE) AT YOUR OWN RISK AND NOTICE THAT FROM THE
MOMENT YOU UNSCREW ANY OF THE SCREWS OF YOUR A1200 YOU UNVALIDATE THE A1200
WARRANTY
INDEX
Thanx to
Introduction
My configuration
What you need
Getting ready
0) Learning to solder
1) Building up extensions
2) Fixing Hardisk(s) and floppy disk
3) Cutting the front metallic panel of the case
4) Connecting the keyboard
5) Building keyboard extension cable
6) Connecting leds
7) Connecting power supply
8) Replacing the back ports panel
9) Fixing the motherboard
10) Connecting ports
11) Building keyboard case
12) Last things to do
13) Tricks
THANX TO :
back to index
-Franz (Francesco Simonetto) for having helped me to build up many
of the parts this case is made of (and for having held me back
each time I wanted to burn everything down)
-"Teacher" Michael Griggs for having helped me to correct the old version
(hehe!! your english lessons haz been a lott very much usefuller than that I
thinked,az you cann see =) )
-LOGICA (Pn) for having helped me to desolder the white keyboard
connector (u needn't such an "external" help as everything I have
written is enough)
INTRODUCTION
back to index
Hi everybody!!! If you got this file it means that you want to "pack" your
A1200 into a PC minitower and that you are still in love with your
wonderful A1200 keyboard
MY "CONFIGURATION" :
back to index
-A1200
-Blizzard 1230 IV (with coprocessor 882) not necessary for you
-2 HD IDE (if you have a 2.5 HD see 9) ) not necessary for you
-1 (obvious) internal floppy
-a lot of patience
-3 or 4 grey cells
WHAT YOU NEED (other than the things I've just mentioned) :
back to index
-a river of patience
-a solderer
-a drill
-1 or 2 "sticks" of tin for electric soldering
-a little pump that sucks up melted tin (very cheap
and funny to use with your tongue when you
have nothing to do, but pay attention:
tin mix is dangerous) 
-a minitower case (mine is "TERRA CASE TK330",dimensions:
41.3 cm. x 35.8 cm. x 17.5 cm.)
wires
-lots of reels of electric wire (sect 0.6 mm.)
-a 36 pin wire (similar to the one you use to connect
the data flow of your HD) which is as long as you require your
keyboard to be from your case (mine is 2 meters long)
-a 34 pin flat cable to connect your floppy disk to
your motherboard(the one you own is not long enough)
about 30 (or more) cm. long
-(if you own 2 HD's) a 40 pins "L" shaped normal HD
data wire about 40 cm. long (with 3 females connectors)
(you can use the one you already have,on condition
that it is long enough)
connectors
-a male connector for power supply like the one
that comes out from the A1200 pow.suppl. box
-2 female audio connectors (like the ones your Amiga has)
-2 male audio connectors (same format
PAY ATTENTION TO ASK FOR 2 FEMALE
CONNECTORS WHICH HAVE ALSO A MASK TO BE INSERTED AND
FIXED TO A PANEL see picture below )
-2 female 9 pins connectors (like your mouse connector)
-2 male 9 pins connectors (with mask) (like your joystick connectors)
-2 female 25 pins connectors (like Amiga parallel port)
-2 corresponding male 25 pins connectors (with mask)
-1 female 23 pins connector (like Amiga video port)
-1 corresponding male 23 pins connector (with mask)
-1 female 37 pins connector
-1 male 37 pins connector (with mask)
-12 screws to be inserted into your connectors masks
-12 tins suitable for the screws
-12 washers suitable for the tins
-2 screws suitable for the audio connectors masks
-2 tins suitable for these last 2 screws
-2 washers suitable for these last 2 tins
others
-a shell suitable for the male 36 pin connector
-cutting nippers for metal (only if you own the Blizzard)
-3 screws M3 (3 mm. diameter) 5 cm. long
-9 tins suitable for the 3 screws
-9 washers suitable for the 9 tins
-a saw for metal (useful if you wanna find out what's under
your skin...and if you r good enough you
can see how deep the flesh of your fingers is... isn't this enough?
well,you also will be able to find out the difference between
arterial and venous blood)
-little panels to fix in the ports panel of the case
(with all the Amiga ports shaped holes)
-a vice is highly recommended
GETTING READY
back to index
Unscrew the A1200 motherboard from the metal panel,using a lot of patience
in unscrewing the ports
Don't throw those stupid and strange hexagonal screws away!! They'll be
helpful later
Throw away the transparent plastic sheet you find below the motherboard
(or try breathing onto it and painting indecent drawings)
Throw away also the 2 metal panels unless you need something to beat onto
to wake up your parents in the middle of the night
0) LEARNING TO SOLDER
back to index
-first of all switch on your solderer and wait for it to become hot
enough to make you scream a big "FU*$ŁK YA!!!" when you touch it to
test if it is hot enough.
-take an electric wire and cut about 1 cm. of plastic covering
away from it (pay attention not to cut the metallic threads)
-curl the metallic threads enough to have an almost solid wire
-stabilize the wire (i.e. with a vice)...if you r good enough you can do
this by using a hand only...(best wishes!!)
-take the solderer and the tin and let the point of the solderer TOUCH
the "naked" wire together with the tin
-spread the melted tin onto the "naked" part of the wire
-mind not to form big DROPS of tin,the coating MUST be even and thin
-cut away about 1 mm. of the wire soldered point
1) BUILDING UP EXTENSIONS
back to index
you need this to connect your motherboard ports
(joystick,mouse,parallel,serial, video) to the back of the case, where
ports have to be. I've heard of many people who have adopted many other
solutions, but this is the only way to make a clean job and to adapt the
motherboard into your case in the way it was conceived to be (if you want
your Amiga to be packed into a miniTower).
-for each port take the female connector, connect to the male connector so
that you have a more "solid" unit to work with and so that the plastic
around the pin of the connectors won't melt
-cut the wire into pieces of length 40-50 cm. and do what's described in
0) for each piece of wire and for each edge of the piece of the wire
-stabilize the edge of each wire (ONE PER TIME) into the small basin of
the pin in the the connector
-take the solderer and the tin and touch with the solderer and the tin
the edge of the wire AND the small basin so that you melt the tin of the
wire and the tin in the stick to connect the wire to the basin
-do this for every pin of the connector.Check picture below
-when you have finished with the male (or the female) side you have to
connect the other edge of the wire.. MAKE SURE YOU connect the pins
in the right way!!! (Check picture above)
-building audio extensions is quite simple...you simply have to
connect the inner contact of a female connector to the inner contact
of the corresponding male connector,and do the same with the outer
(GND) contact
2) FIXING HARD DRIVE(S) AND FLOPPY DISK INTO THE SMALL BASKET
back to index
-unscrew the cover of the case and take it off
-unscrew the side panel (where you'll have to fix your mother case) and
take it off
-unscrew the small basket where HD's and floppy disk will sit and take
it off (BE CAREFUL!)
-fix HD and Floppy Disk into the small basket the way you like most (I
suggest, from upper to lower side: Floppy,HD,HD)
-take away the plastic mask at the height of your floppy disk
3) CUTTING THE FRONT METALLIC PANEL OF THE CASE
(for Blizzard board owners only)
back to index
if you try to put the motherboard of your 1200 with the blizzard you'll
find out (after 3 or 4 hundred of curses) that the Blizzard is too
long to fit
so you have to do this:
-unscrew the front plastic panel of the case and take it off
-take away the stupid useless little speaker and its case
-use the cutting nippers and the saw to cut the metal front panel like
described in picture below
4) CONNECTING THE KEYBOARD
back to index
...ok now the most delicate part of the journey...
-take off the blizzard board and the rest of the wires (leds,HD data
and power supply,floppy disk power supply ones...) from the A1200
motherboard
-find the white keyboard connector on your motherboard (31 pins)
see picture below
-take off the green plastic wire from the white connector (pick up
a little piece of white plastic in the white connector then take the
green ribbon out)
-overturn the motherboard and put it on a clean cold isolating surface
... NEXT THING IS HIGHLY RISKY IF YOU ARE NOT SKILFUL ENOUGH ...
it is not too difficult,but be sure to be able enough to handle the
little pump and the solderer together
-find out the soldered connectors on your motherboard corresponding to
the white keyboard connector
-melt and spread a reasonable quantity of fresh tin onto the soldered
connectors (I know,you have to "short-circuit" them)
(this enable you to melt and suck up in a better way ALL the tin on
the mother board)
-using the solderer and the little pump suck ALL the tin up from the
31 connectors on the mother board using a bit of patience
-done? good,take off the white connector from the motherboard (if you need
it pushing it gently forward and backward)
5) BUILDING KEYBOARD EXTENSION CABLE
back to index
-take the 36 pin wire and isolate each one from the others paying attention
to leave each one isolated from the others (both edges)
-do with each edge what's in 0) paying attention to follow the measures
given in picture below (both edges)
-solder and connect the grey 36 pins flat cable -like in picture below - to
the white connector pins
-take the male 37 pins connector and solder it to the 36 pins flat
cable, remembering that pin 1 of the cable has to be connected
like in picture below
-remember to use the metal ring to fix the cable in the 37 pins
connector shell (so that pulling the cable won't unsteady the contacts)
-take 31 pieces of normal wire 30-40 cm. long and connect each one to
the hole in the motherboard where the white keyboard connector used to be
-now connect each of the 31 wires coming out from the motherboard to the
FEMALE 37-pin connector like in picture below
6) CONNECTING LEDS
back to index
-ok ...now 36-31 is... 5!!! (WOW!!) ...so..what can we do of the 5 grey
wires left on the cable? Let's use them to connect leds to keyboard!!!
-unscrew the green little led panel of the A1200 (the one screwed to
your keyboard case)
-unsolder the 4 wires soldered to it (black,red,orange,green)
-connect the edges of these wires to 4 of the 5 basins left on the 37
pins female connector (in the order you like best)
-now on the 36 pins cable (keyboard side)take 4 other grey wires and
extend them with 4 pieces of normal wire (about 30 cm.)
-connect the edges of these 4 extension wires to the holes just
desoldered on the little green led panel
-now check the order you have just connected these last 4 wires in and
solder the grey wires of the 36-pin flat cable (corresponding to the
extension wires just soldered to the led panel) in the right order to the
male 37 pins connector (you can check the right color on the little leds
panel...it is written there)
-there should now be only one grey wire not connected on the 36 pins
cable and 2 pins free on the 37-pin connector
check picture below
7) CONNECTING POWER SUPPLY
back to index
-lots of wires come out from the little pow.supp. basket in the case
-there is a group of 6 wires: blue,orange,black,black,red,yellow
-cut out the white connector which contains these 6 wires and do with
the wires (unless one of the 2 black ones, it is indifferent which one)
what's described in 0)
-connect the 5 wires as in picture below,throwing away (pay attention not
to dislocate your wirst) the plastic shell (hope you have the same
tension values, otherwise check one of the many aminet files talking
about this argument)
-you can fix the last black wire with some good tape connecting it to any
metal part of the case (you can even solder it).Check picture below
8) REPLACING THE BACK PORTS PANEL
(for Blizzard board owners only)
back to index
-unscrew the back ports panel of your case and replace it the way it is
shown in picture below
9) FIXING THE MOTHERBOARD
back to index
-I suggest you to use these 3 holes in the A1200 motherboard to fix it
to the support: see picture below (if you use the metal support for your 2.5
HD you'd better find a different solution)
-with the drill enlarge (GENTLY!!!!!) hole 2 and 3 to a suitable measure
for your long screws to fit in (pay attention not to ruin the NOT-GND
circuits on the motherboard)
-drill with the same tip size (3 mm. should be ok) like in picture
below, but I suggest you sign the right measures using a black feltpen
-put on the Blizzard board
-fix the motherboard like in picture below, doing as described
-notice that the extreme part of the Blizzard should almost "touch"
(ALMOST!!) the frontal plastic panel once inserted (try it).
Check picture below
-you will probably have to cut out the lowest long screwing guide
(the one which would block the insertion of your Blizzard).See picture
above
-I had to unscrew and overturn the little box containing the contacts
of the "ON-OFF SWITCH" because my motherboard didn't fit...quite
easy.Check picture above
10) CONNECTING PORTS
back to index
-once you have fixed the mothercase you have to connect all the port
extensions to it,and the extensions to the little rectangular panels
that have to be screwed to the back of the case
-you would be a wizard to own a small panel with a hole with the
right shape for the 36 pins connector,but with a bit of ability
(and with the help of the same old curses) you can build it using
the drill (small tip!)...or enlarging an already present 25 pins
connector hole... the same things apply as about the audio connectors
-take the case back port panel and fix each port as described in pictures
below
-do it for each port
-regarding the keyboard connector there is a little trick: as it is quite
heavy it may be too unsteady to be connected...use the strange hexagonal
screws uscrewed from the original Amiga ports to fix the male connector
to the female through the little port panel as in picture below
11) BUILDING KEYBOARD CASE
back to index
-saw (yes,saw!) the upper and the lower keyboard part like in picture 11a
-don't throw away the 2 circular rubber buttons under the forward part
of the sawn case: unstick them and stick them to the part of the
keyboard case you are to keep
-screw the little green led board to your keyboard like it has always
been
-fix with some tape or with a decent glue (or better with a suitable
locking metal ring) the keyboard cable into the plastic case and
let it come out of the frontal plastic grating so that pulling it
from outside won't unsteady the contacts. See picture below
-stick together the keyboard plastic panel with the sawn one like in
picture below(I suggest you to use a sort of liquid steel stick,very
useful (I used LOCTITE METAPOXI))
-check picture below
12) LAST THINGS TO DO
back to index
-isolate with a generous turn of isolating tape the stupid metallic
original mouse port,or it'll be free to hang dangerously onto the
motherboard circuits
-rescrew the little basket which now contains your HD's and your floppy
-connect the data cable to your HD and to your floppy (and to
motherboard)
-connect the general 5 pins power supply cable to your A1200 motherboard
and the 2 HD power supply connectors too (easy to find:they are the same
as the ones you already own)
-connect the floppy disk power supply connector (same than the one you
had on your motherboard) directly from the case to your floppy
-take away all the stupid wires which come out from the front plastic
panel and the leds too
-build the floppy disk mask drilling and shaping the rectangular plastic
mask of the case
-DONE? ...good... and now u can throw all your case away 'cause this
file was only a trick!!! haha!!! ...just kidding,just kidding.. =9
everything is all right
-before screwing everything and switching on I suggest you to un-plug
the Blizzard
13) TRICKS
back to index
-you can connect your monitor directly to the case for having only
one power switcher by which you can turn on the computer AND the monitor
all at once. See picture below
... cross your fingers ... and...
WELCOME TO THE FANTASTIC A1300 WORLD!!!
any problem or suggestion?
write to: Matteo Rocco