Amiga Sick Hundred - Part 3 - Composite Fix and Building a Chip RAM expansion
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- Its time to finish off the Amiga 600, we need to sort out the lack of composite video and I’ve got a 1MB chip ram expansion to build.
Massive thanks to Mark Brown (Supaduper) for sending us the parts needed for the composite mod along with a spare keyboard membrane.
The new video encoder is a Sony device, part number CXA2075M. To complete the mod you need a 2.61k ohm metal film 1% resistor between pins 12 and 17.
This composite mod can also be applied to the A1200 using the same parts and methods. UA-cam channel @BranchusCreations has an excellent video on it here - • Amiga 600 and 1200 CXA...
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End music - Modspire by Naokis - @NaokisRC
Music bed - Some Assembly Required by @Momentvm
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:29 Quick fix of the LED cables
03:01 Composite fix
04:20 A massive thank you
05:13 Composite fix
13:20 Explaining the mods for the composite fix
17:01 Chip RAM expansion build
19:30 SMD soldering time
23:10 Mini soldering montage
24:12 LED?
25:36 Mini soldering montage
26:10 Polarity for a tantalum?
26:45 Straightening up
27:21 Through hole soldering
30:20 First test
31:00 Well there’s the problem
31:48 Second test
34:55 Conclusion and Credits - Наука та технологія
Quick correction
When talking about the ROMs I said that the A600 came with 3 variants as 2.04 37.175, 2.05 37.300 or 2.05 37.350. This is however incorrect. The 2.04 rom never shipped with the A600 and rather the rom that came in my machine is most likely from an Amiga 500+. There were 3 versions of the ROMs that shipped with the 600 but the first version was 2.05 37.299. It didn't have IDE support, you need 37.300 or 37.350 to have IDE and of course you can do to 3.1 or 3.2.1 etc and all those will work fine too. Thanks to Mark and Pillock for point out this mistake.
Got there in the end! Mate, you need to get a smaller tip for your soldering iron - doing SMD work and drag soldering with that tip is almost guaranteed to result in bridges at some point. Those RAM chips are indeed PLCC packages, just the less common version compared to the square ones. The orientation for the LED was marked on the silkscreen with the standard diode symbol and the dot/line on SMD diodes is always on the cathode of the part. Great that you got the old machine working 👏👍
Thanks, I'm no expert with these things and still learning as I go but best to leave such mistakes in the video as I feel its a better learning experience for myself and for anyone watching, not that you should be watching my videos to learn how to do this 😂
I need to order new tips, been saying that for a while but I just keep forgetting until I go to pull the iron out again. Yes that one is a bit big.
Well done!
You mentioned "supaduper". I was once having terrible trouble with compact flash cards getting corrupted every time I tried to copy Amiga files to them. He sent me a card and it's been working ever since, so if he's reading this, then thanks!
I am always lurking but I am normally like a ghost on the interwebs :)
You can never have too much flux in my book :) I don't know how anyone can solder without using it liberally. Love your content, keep at it!
Loved my A600, 40MB HDD, 1mb extra ram. Played Dune 2 till the cows came home!
I have an A600, I did similar upgrades to yourself, 1MB chip RAM expansion, hard PCB CF adapter, kickstart 3.2 ROM and a Hard Keyboard membrane upgrade. Then to top it off, I fitted a Furia accelerator card. Its pretty fast now,great content by the way 🙂
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I think for this one I'll keep it simple with a bit of fast ram, new rom and a CF card. The furia is a great option but I've got other accelerated Amigas and don't really need it in the 600. Of course I say that then I'll get carried away and drop something faster in there anyway 😂
Yeah, those SOJ package chips can be a pain to solder if you don't have nice long pads like you've got on that board. I just used the standard footprint when I first designed my SIMM module project and the prototype boards were a massive pain to solder. I did lengthen them in the second spin of the boards, but I was trying to keep them to a smaller size so they're still not as easy to solder as that board.
I wouldn't worry too much about using too much flux, that's what the solder fume extractor is for! I always wash my boards afterwards. I see people on UA-cam who just scrub theirs with some alcohol and a brush, but that's just dissolving the flux and spreading it on the board. You need to wipe or wash it off if you don't want to leave a residue. As I'm certain you're aware. 😄
Anyway, good to see another machine repaired.
Cleaning up with IPA and a brush or cotton buds is all I have but yes sometimes it makes more mess than anything. What I tend to do is loosen it up as much as possible then tilt the board and pour the IPA over it while brushing off.
I've been looking at ultrasonic cleaners although not sure. Might get a small one.
If unsure you can use a meter on continuity test mode to work out which way around the anode and cathode of an led are :) if it lights then the red probe is on the anode.
Also I reckon that socket was sacrificial, to stop the RTC legs getting bent in the post.
Good point on both the led and socket.
In the moment I forgot you could test an led like that but at least I caught it. As for the socket it doesn't do any harm to have it in there below the chip, doesn't seem to foul anything.
@@CRG oh yeah, no harm in fitting the socket as well. To be fair the led trick hadn't occurred to me until sometime in the last year when I heard someone else mention it, maybe BigClive.
Great job! Another fab rescue! My suggestion would be add the 4mb fast ram, new ROM and a CF card to make a fab little WHDLoad machine!
Yep that's exactly what I think I'll do with it 👍
Great Video again! I have an Amiga 600 with NO expansions yet so I'm deciding what to do as well. I was thinking about the PiStorm 600 tbh but haven't made up my mind yet. -Mark.
Pistorm is great, I've got one in my 2000 but it's not without problems. Some games don't work on it and the majority of demos I've tried show problems. For pure performance and rtg stuff it's very hard to beat. Mines running a full colour 1280x768 workbench which looks awesome and I've been playing the RTG port of command & conquer.
I think for the 600 though I'll leave it basic, just upgrade the rom, bit of fast ram and a CF card.
If you get your heat gun on really low (start at about 50 degrees) and warm the area at the front of the case, you can use the plastic end of a screwdriver or a spudger or something to push the dimples back down. I did this many, many times per day when I worked in laptop repair and would stumble in with a hangover and stick all the wrong screws in the holes :D
Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a go and hopefully that'll be another problem solved.
If you do this can you do a video?
Given your existing collection of more capable Amigas, I would probably just burn a 37.350 ROM, put in a CF card, and use it as a nice little games machine.
Yeah I think that would be a great idea. Set it up as a standard 600.
I was about to suggest this same thing. lol
It's over 20 years since I would have considered myself 'up' on Amiga hardware, so I'm not sure what's even out there to fit. But if you've already got other Amigas upgraded, keeping this one fairly stock seems fair enough. I'd go for the newer ROM for the IDE support, and maybe look at adding some fast RAM. The A600 was rather unloved in its day, but I always thought it was a cute little thing.
Yes I think that's what I'll do, get the rom to add ide support then a little fast ram.
A friend of mine had the 600 and at the time I had asked my parents for the 600 for Christmas. The 1200 was just out so I got that instead, it's great to have them all now.
Another Amiga saved from the great electronic scrap heap in the sky, as mentioned the furia is a good upgrade,I have the A630 which works well also and I have a Vampire in a spare A600 lol, nice work again Glen
Thanks again for sending the parts my way. It's greatly appreciated and I owe you one, in fact by now I think I owe you quite a few 😄
Congrats on fixing this!
I use my A600 for meetings, great little portable machine. Also upgraded chipmem plus 4Mb fastmem. With 4Mb fastmem, no conflict with pcmcia port, but works great with whdload games.
That's what I think I'll do with this one.
Great job! The amount of work was quite large but it was worth it :) I love to watch a sick gear being revived.
Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it. I'm really happy to have this 600 in my collection now.
Really nice video, you're getting better and better.
Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it and thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm always trying to improve things.
Maybe put a EMU68K Pi-storm? Makes it a crazy little powerhouse.. Loved seeing the A600 videos, I have two A600HDs that I need to try and resurrect as well. :)
I have the pistorm in my 2000. Makes it one very powerful machine. Been playing a load of rtg titles on it.
Good luck with your 600s. The HD models always interested me, very cool to have two of them.
i think fast ram is the way to go...also very nice job! i like it ...play some games on it....
Thanks, yes fast ram, a new rom and a CF card I think would finish this machine off nicely.
34:00 2.04... That's an A500+ ROM. Even the first Amiga 600 ROM was 2.05, with version 37-299, (Which was basically still just the 37-175 with a few minor updates) which still lacked SCSI (IDE) and PCMCIA drivers. Version 37-300 was the most common ROM, which was did include the drivers. That's the one in my A600, and has no issues with hard drives upto 4GB.
I'd recommend you get a 37-350, or 3.1 40.63 ROM if you want to keep the Amiga "Original". There's a newer 3.1.4 (I think) ROM, but lacks some of the files to be able to boot floppy games, as they rely on the rather large workbench file being on the ROM, so you pretty much have to have a hard drive with that one.
The easy answer is, get 2 or all 3 of the ones I recommended, and a ROM switcher.
Now all that A600 needs is an accelerator of some kind to just make it a bit nicer to use and possibly a bit of retro-bright for the keys. I think the Furia might be the easiest upgrade in that line but I am really not that familiar with the A600 hardware. I know you are unsure about if it is worthwhile fitting an accelerator but as I understand things, the IDE solution that Commodore fitted is very slow so an accelerator that includes an IDE connecter should increase both the CPU speed and the HDD access speed (with also having the possibility of adding some fast RAM ala TerribleFire). Going by the Amiga's you listed at the end of the video the only outstanding 'wedge' type I can see missing from your collection is the CD32 although a case could be made for not classing it as a wedge Amiga since it was capable of being expanded with an external keyboard.
Thanks for the comment but I think with this one I'm just going to add a bit of fast ram, update the ROM and run workbench 2.05. I've got the accelerated Amiga well covered by other machines but I've also got the A500 running workbench 1.3 so this running 2.05 I think would fill things out nicely.
I do also have a CD32, and my EATX2000 but I didn't mention those since they aren't wedges, or well I wouldn't have called them that anyway.
That 2.04 ROM was never shipped with the 600, so someone has been in there and swapped that. All 600s came with 2.05 but the missing one is 37.299 which is the one that doesn't have any IDE code in - effectively it is 2.04 but marked as 2.05/37.299 in a typically Commodore way :D
Thanks for the info, bit of a dumb on my part because it's obvious now that you say it.
The first thing which came to my mind on your question, what to do with that A600 was: "gift it to me", but that would be out of question :D
I am eager to see, what you will do with it :)
Sorry Christian but it's taken me this long to get one, I don't think I could let it go 😂
Might be a good system for a vampire since the 600 is where that project started. Not sure though as they are very expensive.
I stuck a ROM switcher (1.3, 2.1, 3.1 and DiagROM) in mine with the switch coming out where my RF can was. Added a CF drive and an internal Gotek. It's my "Amiga Games" machine as it can play pretty much any game designed for ECS/OCS.
I think in this one I might just go to kickstart 2.05, install workbench 2.05 and some WHDLoad stuff. I bit of fast ram wouldn't do any harm either.
Great channel as always :) No you use perfect amount of flux
Thanks for saying so 👍
Happy hello everyone.
The Furia is an excellent upgrade. Your newly gained Xilinx programming kills will come handy as there's always a new firmware that almost fixes some annoying issue.
Furia would be an option although I'm leaning towards a simple fast ram upgrade and keeping this one on its original workbench.
👍
The ROM update, but otherwise keep it stock. It has some charm being a bit of a franken'miga and raised from the dead.
Yeah I think a ROM update is a must although I think I'll just take it to 2.05 with the full HDD support and install workbench 2.05.
Don't know why the RAM chips cannot glued in place so you have an easier time soldering those chips.
Mine will have 1MB Chip upgrade, 5.5 MB FastRAM and a v40 Kickstart, plus a 512MB or 1GB CF drive..... gonna keep it fairly low this one, have the A1200 with it's ACA1233N so can leave the 600 for smaller fun times
Sounds like a good plan. I might do something similar, just a little fast ram and CF card but might keep it with the 2.05 ROMs and run workbench 2 as well.
My A600 has an 8 MB Kipper Ram expansion and a SD to IDE adapter (had CF but several died).
It had a Wireless Keyboard adapter (when the Ribbon went), but now has one of those Stiff Membranes
from Sordan.
I have a spare case (broken clips - Velcro'd together) whose Trap Door you can have for nothing.
Same address as the LS-120's ?
If like to do something similar, just a little fast ram and upgrade the rom to add ide support.
The trap door would be great, still the same address 👍
@@CRG Posted, although it will not be collected until 9am
(one collection + delivery --- Grrrr)
the furia is 'ok' for a further upgrade- pretty essential to upgrade ram and proc as its sooooo slooooow stock. The new 630 accel is overpriced.
Great vid! don't worry about anyone who says you are using too much flux, flux is your friend, all of the modders that I see online all say use it, look at northridge fix he has expert level soldering skills and he doesn't hold back on the flux. Question... Is it possible to replace the 1mb onboard ram for 2 x 1mb chips instead?
Thanks for saying so.
To answer your question all I can say is I don't know. Might be something to try although a trap door expansion built can be had for about £25 so maybe not worth the hassle. Still, would be fun to try 🤔
@@CRG My logic for asking, if it can be done, then it frees up the trapdoor slot for something else?
The trap door slot can't be used for anything else really. It's not a cpu slot like on the 1200, it's basically just the A500s trap door slot for memory or a real time clock only.
@@CRG thanks for confirming!
What type of flux are You using? Can You share with link where can I buy it?
I use chipquik Smd291, previously used their smd491 stuff. The 30cc syringe I have I got from Amazon
I have a ROM labelled 2.05/37.229, but the Insert disk info says 2.05/37.299
😄
Weird, not sure what that version is. Does it have ide support?
I think on this one I'll go to 37.500 and just install workbench 2.05, keep it to the original 600 specification.
I have a pistorm for my 600. not fitted it yet :P
Cool, the pistorm is a great option although still has its issues with some software, especially demos. For RTG stuff though it's hard to beat. I've got mine in the 2000 now, been playing the RTG port of command & conquer.
@@CRGfor the games and demos you have issues with, try adding the Cache option in the tooltypes. Or you can use JST to load them instead. This gets quite a few things working that there were previously issues with. (The next version of WHDLoad you will be able to set the Cache option globally)
PiStorm and Caffeine OS
I've got a pistorm in my 2000 build. I've been meaning to try caffeine os, just need to download it I suppose.
I'll never use the RF modulator .... then proceeds to re-fit it ????????? Why ??? lol
For originality 😂, although (and mini spoiler warning) it will be coming off again...
@@CRG Ahhh, I see , originality , you'll be re-fitting the original RGB chip then :) lol , Oh , and I think you should upgrade the ROM, add a CF, and anything else you can too. Might as well make it the best A600 you can. 👍👍
If I could have got those cans then yes I would have kept the original RGB chip, but it had to be replaced to fix the composite that I'll never use either 😂
The plan is some fast ram, ROM and a CF card plus another thing that'll make the RGB port itself redundant. 100% original 🤣.
@@CRG If you need a CF reader, I got a spare one here 👌👌
@@42markk42 Thanks for the offer but I've got a few of them here 👍
My guessing: a simple ram expansion (4MB) will suffice. Then, I would try to give those yellow key a treat. No more. Cheers, M
p.s. A600 original roms were on the 2.05 side only. 37.299 (no IDE), 37.300 (40MB), 37.350 (4GB). The rom you found there is from the A500Plus, actually. 😅
Really, it's from an A500? The cheek of them selling that on eBay like that 😂
Oh well I was close anyway, there is the 3 ROMs types, I'll make a sticky note about it.