Amiga 1200 upgrades
Video output
First upgrade was added several months ago to add the GBS-8220 to the RGB output on the Amiga.
A VGA monitor cannot be simply plugged in as all the signals are wrong. The 8220 is for video games cabinets but converts the signal well for the Amiga. It's a cheap option at around £20 compared to internal scandoublers. Interference is a problem and although I tried copper tape over the memory lines this didn't eliminate the problem. It's a bit poor for workbench, but OK to get going with games on a modern LCD monitor.
23 pin connectors are like hens teeth. Luckily I had a spare to use (cross over floppy cable) and will try to make a permanent cable later on.
FPU chip
Not entirely necessary but as they are cheap I bought one to try against something like Vista.
FPU pops nice and easy into the 4MB expansion card (my original 90s upgrade).
Sysinfo 4.0 results showing 68882 installed
Rys MKII
This is an adapter for the game and mouse ports to use USB controllers. Basically it's a micro controller with a USB stack converting the signals.
Spending loads of money on an old controller doesn't seem to make sense. This connects up with a number of supported devices and a USB keyboard can even be used as a game controller.
Connecting up a Logitect F310 required a bit of fiddling to get it working as expected.
The gamepad has to modes. Ensure it is on mode 'D'.
The gamepad has to modes. Ensure it is on mode 'D'.
The adapter can work with the analogue sticks but diagonal movement doesn't work. Switching mode on the F310 so the digital directional pad takes over from the thumb stick rectifies the diagonal movement in games.
An old Microsoft Sidewinder joystick was also tried but this failed due to jittery inputs from the analogue stick.
The Rys does have new firmware available which could fix some of the problems. Flashing requires a A-A USB cable, which I don't have and for me it works with the Logitech gamepad.
The Rys does have new firmware available which could fix some of the problems. Flashing requires a A-A USB cable, which I don't have and for me it works with the Logitech gamepad.
Thought about getting a Vampire card?
ReplyDeleteOpted for the ACA1233n card as it was in-stock with Amiga Kit. Vampire is the mutts nuts but unsure how it fits into the experience and what software I'd really run that would benefit. I feel that more of the old Amiga is still in-use with the ACA card and that's what I really wanted - use the bare metal (as much as possible) and play games written for the older hardware.
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