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Dynamic_Computing

Posted Mon Jun 18, 2018 2:16 pm

Greetings!
I have been an Amiga fan since my first A500 in 1987 (which still works to this day) - And in the interim years I have aquired another A500 (a european model), two A1200's, A3000 Desktop (Main machine from '91-'95 until it died), and A4000 desktop, A3000 tower, A4000 tower, A1000 and a very rare A2200 motherboard.

Many of them I have fixed and sold on Ebay over the years, but I still have my A1200, A4000 Desktop, A500 and A3000 tower. My A4000 is my workhorse machine, with a Cybergraphx RTG card, Thylacine Mini USB Zorro II card and A 16 Gig CF card. This little guy works quite nice, but the poseidon drivers for the USB cards seem to interfere with some old games I try to use via WHDload. The A1200 has a nice Blizzard '040 card and a 2 GB CF card connected to a 4xEIDE adapter. I lost the clip that holds the keyboard ribbon in place so I am using it without the top of the case and have a PS/2 kb attached via an adapter. The 4XEIDE is an old clunky model that never let the KB sit in place anyway. I just received an Indivision MK2 Display adapter so I can hook my A1200 up to a nice current monitor, but it came in the day before my vacation and I have not hooked it up yet.

I have always gone through phases of using my Amiga's, and then storing them away for a few years. I am back to loving using them again! Next week I am dragging my A3000 tower out of storage - it is actually better than my A4000 and has a very nice fast accelerator with a nice amount of RAM. I may just put the Thylacine USB in there and use it as my go-to machine now that I have room.

In real life, I am a technology Consultant mainly dealing with PC's and Macs - Sales, upgrades, network installation support and the like. I have always loved the Amiga's and even today they hold a special place in my heart. I really just like to tinker with them, see what I can get them to do. I play an occasional game on my A1200, but the old school joysticks are just to limiting to be much fun anymore.

I do have an A2200 motherboard - that was a model that was designed to be a desktop unit more powerful than an A2000 but not quite A3000 level. It has an onboard 68020, slots for 2 MB Chip and 16MB FAST RAM, a slot for a daughterboard and the ECS chipset. It did boot about 10 years ago with my A4000 power supply hooked up, but I have not really tried it since. I received it when I ordered a box of dead A4000 boards off of Ebay about 15 years ago. I sold off the old A4000 boards, but kept the A2200, thinking that one day I will get around to getting it running.

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Mon Jun 18, 2018 3:02 pm

Welcome, Dynamic_Computing. Would love to see pics of your rigs at some stage.

Regarding the 2200, do you have a case for it to go into? The later model 2000's are pretty interesting machines, IMO, and in a lot of cases were far more capable than the 3000 power and expandability-wise. But yeah - the 3000 was a gorgeous design in general. Shame there seems to be so few out there.

One of my main daily drivers is an A2000 with an 030 GeForce @ 40Mhz, over 15MB of RAM, 2MB Chip, dual floppies, 44MB SyQuest and (recently added) Iomega SCSI Zip 100. It has a 40MB mechanical drive (still works!) and a SCSI2SD 2GB hard drive, too. I keep my 2000 running 1.3 as - for me - it's where most of my software lives and it's just so damned compatible with the vast majority of what I want to do. Love that machine.

Would love to see your 2200 come back to life at some stage. I assume you yanked out the battery ages ago.

Welcome aboard!

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EzdineG
Springfield, MO

Posted Mon Jun 18, 2018 7:59 pm

Welcome to the board! That is a fine collection indeed. I am sure a lot of us can relate to having a rollercoaster affair with our Amigas. I have regrettably sold some of my best machines during these low points and they’re now worth too much to attempt to obtain again. (Don’t be like me!)

I’d be interested in some pictures of that A2200 as well as hearing of your experiences with the board. What an incredibly interesting prototype that was!

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primitivefunction

Posted Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:37 am

Welcome Dynamic_Computing.

That’s an awesome fleet of machines you have there. I hear you on the phases. I reckon I have one about every 5 to 8 years - the Amigas get pulled out of the cupboard and I end up using them much more than I thought I would.

This current phase is probably the strongest so far for me. I think sharing our passion and experiences on boards like this one really adds value to the hobby.

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Dynamic_Computing

Posted Wed Jun 20, 2018 2:35 am

Just a motherboard for the a2200. I think it works with an a3000 daughter board, but I think I recall that the slots are Zorro 2 only? Last time I tried it, the IDE did not seem to be responding very well, but that was a long time ago.
I kick myself for getting rid of my A1000. I needed the cash at the time, and I did not use it for anything , really. I should have held on to it.
I think I still have an empty A4000 desktop case - I should see if the A2200 board fits in that.

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Dynamic_Computing

Posted Sat Jun 23, 2018 7:38 pm

I took my A3000 tower out of storage - had a pain getting a monitor to work with it. It has a Retina Z3 BLT card, and none of my monitors wanted to really display the frequencies it was putting out. I did manage to get a display out of it, then reinstalled Picasso96 and reset some of the funky frequencies and got it working.
Man... This guys hauls! It has a Warp Engine 040 with integrated SCSI that just eats my A4000/040 for lunch! My Retina card feels a little faster than my Cybervision64, but maybe it just the wicked fast SCSI making everything pop faster. The Retina does not have the flexibility of my Cybervision64 - only 800x600 in true color and 1024x768 is only reliable in 256 color. I can create a mode for 16 bit color, but my monitor freaks out at the frequency required. Oh well.
Years ago I tried to get this Warp Engine working in my A4000, but it never worked right.
I also just got my Indivision AGA MK2 installed in my A1200. It is a nightmare to work with the utility to customize some resolutions, but once it is done, it displays a really incredible image. I want to create a FAQ with some of my trials and tribulations to make it easier for others to set it up.

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Bulletdust

Posted Mon Jun 25, 2018 2:39 am

I just love the A3000 tower, IMO the best looking Amiga ever made.

I found a guy in the US willing to sell me one, but postage from the US to Australia was a killer not to mention the risks associated with transporting such a bulky and fragile device such vast distances.

I'd love to see some pics!

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Dynamic_Computing

Posted Mon Jun 25, 2018 7:42 am

I should be clear that my A3000 tower is a monstrous towerized A3000 desktop. It is nice, though. I will post some pics of all my babies in a few days.





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