A1200 Tower Project

Having used and played with Amiga machines in the past, I thought I'd get myself back into the scene by setting up a new Amiga system. The A1200 is a great little machine which can be picked up pretty cheaply these days, but its design tends to limit its expandability, not that this has stopped several owners from stuffing amazing amounts of harware into that modest wedge-shaped case! I however thought it was about time for a hands-on, hardware-hacking, case-modding project, so I figured I'd try and fit that A1200 in a more respectable box.

Disclaimer

This documentation is written to be easy to follow, but does assume that the reader has at least basic "hobby level" knowledge of electronics and computer hardware. If you don't understand terms or concepts used in this documentation, please do any appropriate research before continuing.

It seems common sense to me, but just for the record: The author cannot and will not be held responsible for any damage or injury caused by following the directions in this documentation. The documentation of this project is provided as-is, with absolutely no warranty, and you use the information therein at your own risk.

How It All Happened

Here are the details of the project, which I've presented in the form of a guide. Where possible, I've tried to explain some the other options available and why I decided to do things the way I did. There are plenty of other such projects and guides which may focus on differnt techniques. The thing to remember is that, if you're building your own A1200 tower, you'll of course have your own requirements which may be very different from mine, or anyone else's. I've tried to keep things as non-destructive as possible - I could re-use the case for a PC if necessary, or even rebuild the A1200 without too much trouble.

You'll need at least basic skills in soldering and metal work and/or case-modding. The right tools will make the job a whole lot easier and the finished result that much better, but you shouldn't need anything too fancy. You will however need some basic meterials, such as wire, screws, odd bits of metal, etc. If you have a veritable "PC graveyard" as I do, this is a great resource for parts.

The whole operation took me a few weeks, on and off, as sometimes I was waiting for parts to be delivered. If things go well, you could probably get it done in a week or so, working evenings and a weekend or two.

The Salvage Operation - Opening up the case and salvaging any parts you need.
The New Case - The case I chose, and why I chose it.
Power Supply Unit - How to connect up a PC power supply to run your Amiga.
Mounting the Motherboard - Methods for fixing the motherboard inside the case.
The Keyboard - Hooking up an external keyboard (the easy way).
Port Access - Making ports inside the case accessible from outside.
Floppy Drive - Fitting and connecting a floppy disk drive.
Hard Disks and CD-ROM Drives - Fitting and connecting mass storage devices.
Reset Button - Hooking up a PC case's reset button to the A1200.
Interface Circuits - Connecting up the A1200 with the front panel and PSU.
Finishing Touches - A couple of ideas for finishing the box off.
Replacing ROMs - Upgrading from the original 3.0 ROMs to version 3.1.
Testing and Troubleshooting - Common problems and tips on how to solve them.
Resources - Useful information and technical data about the A1200.