EXTREME Amiga 500 Upgrades
Ғылым және технология
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The Amiga 500 was the low-end, entry level machine back in the day but in 2022 I give it some EXTREME upgrades. Fitting a brand new Crystal Case and using a Raspberry Pi to boost the speed by over 1000x!
New Amiga Cases: a1200.net/
Caffeine OS: / captlechuck_
Amiga Forever Essentials: play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Amiga PiStorm Emu68 Setup Guide / Tutorial: www.retro32.com/amiga-resourc...
My retro gaming podcast: theretrohour.com
My Twitter: / danwood_uk
My Facebook: / danwooduk
▬ Contents of this video ▬
00:00 - Introduction & Amiga 500
01:50 - A1200.net Crystal Case
2:32 - Unboxing Crystal Case
03:19 - Fitting Amiga 500 Crystal Case
04:54 - PiStorm Recap
05:57 - Emu68 Introduction
06:53 - Squarespace Sponsor Slot
07:55 - Caffeine OS Introdution & Install
09:38 - Caffeine OS Tour
11:40 - Networking & Internet
13:16 - Bundled Utilities
14:38 - SysInfo Benchmarks
15:04 - Scene Demos
15:25 - Game Performance
16:12 - Conclusion
#retrocomputing #retrogames #retrogaming #amiga #raspberrypi
Пікірлер: 183
Imagine if Commodore had cared even a tenth as much as the community. The amazing hardware being made for the system to this day is bonkers.
@Tech-geeky
11 ай бұрын
they would be if they could have stayed in business. They probably would be right up there with Apple i bet, making trillion dollars... There is allot of Amiga enthusiasts out there and developers still that want to keep it alive
@Brukner841
9 ай бұрын
@@Tech-geeky The spirit of the totally 80s Amiga will forever live on,
I loved my Commodore 64 and my amiga 500.
That Philips monitor was the best, wasn't it, boy I loved the picture and sound on that. Wish I still had one!
@patbutete1722
Ай бұрын
No question about that boyo! I also used mine as aTV monitor hooked up to a Betamax video recorder. .AND a PC /Atari ST monitor ...Awesome piece of kit that Phillips 8833.
Well, some folks are still waiting for their cases and keycaps from Kickstarter campaign even the fact some Amiga Shops already have it. It seems some are more equal than others.
@brostenen
Жыл бұрын
And keycaps are for sale now.... Why nobody mention it, is a puzzle to me.
Great video. I really like the PiStorm as an affordable CPU/RAM/HDD/Network/HDMI upgrade for the Amiga 500. It really is a total gamechanger and makes the good old 500 relevant again. I would have loved the transparent case back in the late 80s, but today I think I prefer the original.
@zuulnet1792
Жыл бұрын
Just use a fucking modern pc, this is useless. Original is as it is supposed to be used
The Raspberry Pi4 will be supported soon as that will kick up the power no doubt. Only thing is that how much work is the Amiga doing? The Pi is so much faster it can emulate an Amiga very easily. Sounds like it is just using the Amiga for interfacing a keyboard and mouse and once the wifi driver works even less. It is astonishingly good, but on another thing, I am 51 and recall when I first turned on my Archimedes A3000. Modern stuff does not give you that excitement. The world was slower but you felt better once things got going. We are becoming sheeps to speed. I am using a PC with a Ryzen 5 2600 and a GTX1060 6GB with 16GB 3200Mhz ram on a 4k monitor typing this. I really do not see the need for us to go blazing all the time. Ah well it is what it is but love your videos Dan anyway :)
@spart361
Жыл бұрын
yeah, you might as well just be using a emulator on a pc
@regisdumoulin
9 ай бұрын
I pretty much made the same comment... what I would like is to run the original Amiga OS/Workbench, maybe little faster at it would help for certain games, but still use the custom chips to produce sound and music with the Pi only providing CPU and "translation" of image and sound for display through HDMI. Basically something I could have got back in the day but output on a modern screen (because my original Commodore takes a lot of space and is getting old)
@gdawwg1125
Ай бұрын
i agree. when the Amiga Maxi comes out there will be no reason to do this as you will get the look, feel and emulation which is what this is.
I like the idea of the clear keys/ice Amiga, that would have blown my 18-year-old mind back in 1987. BUT, in honor of the machine's age, I suggest you find an EXTREMELY yellowed A500 and clean it up without any retro-brighting at all. Then you can tell folks that it is a cheddar cheese edition, ha! Great job as usual, Amigas forever!
Hi Dan, great video. I love The Retro Hour podcast as well! I discovered it a few months back and I've been going through the backlog steadily since. I'm up to episode 87 and it looks like I've got a loooong way to go. The great thing about a retro podcast is the content ages very well :)
I have three A500 but I don't really play games or use them but its always great to learn about the latest upgrades of the legendary machine. Nowdays I only load games I used to play only to listen to the music and look at the loading screens and menus. A nostalgia fix if you like.
Loved seeing the pistorm in action again Dan after the teething issues at release. It's looks brilliant now.
Really cool mods and setup. I have an Amiga 500 that doesn't get the love it deserves. I should look into this for sure. Thanks Dan!
Perfect for all your prison retro computing needs! No hidden contraband but big enough to bludgeon someone, with a nice easy clean surface. Pass inspection then right back to Deuteros!
your cool videos gave me a pleasant reminiscence down memory lane, and made me think of my old PCs/gadgets. Thanks!
My problem with things like the the PiStorm is that you may as well just run PiMIGA or WinUAE etc. It's the reason I resisted using a ZZ9000 in my A4000. I like modern solutions, but only in keeping with the original hardware.
The model I had used from 1990 to 1997, still my most favorite computer ever. I wished that all of those new case suppliers would plug that floppy hole, barely anyone uses those anymore. Give us an USB port instead! I modded my A600 that way and it's a nice and clean solution.
This twists my brain. On one hand, you have a Pi that is so tiny and could be liberated from the giant A500 case since it is emulating thus replacing the entire A500. On the other hand, you wanted to use that cool clear A500 case. It feels... wrong to me. I want Amiga guts in that clear case.
I thoroughly like movies like this and i wish i had more time at hand to get involved.
4:36 i instantly recognize that toy next to the monitor just from the back of it! if memory serves it was a Ghostbusters toy, and it was a kindly old lady, until you triggered its mechanism, her hat would pop up and she would transform into a fiendish ghoul!
Can’t wait to watch this. Any chance of doing a top 50 of your fav Amiga games 😁😁
Great video. I've just picked up an A500 with the ECS and a 512 trapdoor expansion. May try this out on a spare pi I have laid around.
I'm in the middle of designing keycaps for mx cherry switches based keyboard for a500, so one could print it in 3d on a resin printer.
Absolut Gorgeous Transparent Upgrades !!!
Please check Dread (3d doom-like demo that runs on stock amiga as well), I had plenty of problems with JIT on WinUAE, I'd love to see how JIT on emu68 behaves. IIRC state of the art also had some problems with JIT.
Great Video! Its been very helpful! Since watching I managed to get the pistorm and raspberry pi installed, and running caffeine OS on an A500, Thanks! It would be great to have a video that also covered the compatibility with the floppy drive, or Gotek, or external Gotek. I've run into some issues with trying to use a floppy and external Gotek with Caffeine OS, in particular - software seems to freeze before opening.
My soul left my body a little bit when you cut to X-Copy. That was something I never thought I'd see again.
Great video Dan, thanks
I could stare at an A500 motherboard for hours
I think the transparent cases look a bit meh, even if it's more practical to see what exactly is in the case in regard to upgrades. The black cases with backlit keys are better looking, although dust would be more noticeable during the day, but you could always cover it. The original Amiga case will always be the one that brings back the nostalgic memories.
@mm-hl7gh
Жыл бұрын
i wonder how it would look with the original color painted on the inside.. maybe even using plastidip..
@ronaldmadican2393
Жыл бұрын
I was an investor for those cases. The anger I felt when Dan showcased these cases, and was gifted 3 of them for free. This was a massive smack in the face. Mine didn't arrive till 2 months later and was missing parts that I never got. That experience put me off the Amiga scene permanently. And I'll never take part in any kickstarter ever again. As soon as I hear Dan's voice, I can feel the bile and anger rising in me.
@paulklasmann1218
Жыл бұрын
@@ronaldmadican2393 You can still enjoy your Amigas, theres no need to be in the "scene", it's actually full of A-holes, elitist cretins and KZread grifters and e-beggars. The same is true of any "retro" computer or gaming scene. I went to Amiga 37 and didn't bother with the youtubers, just had a good time by myself and some of the vendors.
@paulklasmann1218
Жыл бұрын
Actually I do like Dan's videos the probably best and its not his "fault" that he gets gifted things to test or promote. But there are some out there who I'd steer clear of.
Also have an A500 with PiStorm, for network connected Zorro II adapter with a first gen X-surf network card (10Mbit).
Slightly creeped out by that Ghostbusters figurine turning away between scenes... An interesting video, despite that! ;)
I've got a PiStorm/Emu68k in my Amiga 1200. Use any other image than CaffeineOS and you quickly run into trouble with compatibility. That said, I'm sure the guys are working on this, and CaffeineOS provides lots of fun things to play with!
Jam in all new ceramic caps.
I run PiMiga on a Pi400 (keyboard enclosure) and it does exactly the same as the PiStorm. It's good, but it's not an Amiga. It's great at booting up and playing a few games quickly. My 600 and 1200 have CF cards, memory and WHDload but things don't always work as quickly or easily. I'm planning on getting a A500 and I'll probably keep it stock with a RAM upgrade and keep the floppy. I have two Amigas that I can use for gaming, and a Pi emulator so it'll be nice to have a stock A500 and use it like it's 1992 all over again.
@the_bogeyman.
5 ай бұрын
The Pi400 is great imo, I have one too and many different microSD cards, a PiMiga one as well. It’s so versatile and the keyboard enclosure made it worth it to me. I wish they did the ”clicky” MicroSD slot on the regular R.Pi 4B as well, it’s a pain to change microSD once added a case. I wish also the 400 came with 8gb of ram. Too late, let’s see if they’ll make a R.Pi 500, hopefully 8gb.
Great video once again.
Write to Phil: where are our keys and cases from the Kickstarter and IndieGoGo campaigns?
Some tropical fish would like nice in there.
Your Philips monitor might need some TLC, I can hear the 15kHz over the CRT TV I'm watching on and it seems very loud indeed
given its the pistorm driving most of this, and a new OS.. _is_ it an amiga 500? or just the equivalent of a linux pc with an emu?
There is something about vintage Amiga's.
Another great video on one of my favourite topics. Strange question but Dan Wood Is the man to ask about this. Has anyone made a video of putting Amiga forever 9 on steam deck that you know of? I’m looking to deck out my steam deck in a Commodore Amiga skin. But adding Amiga forever 9 would be the ultimate Amiga Clone😎
Floating point emulation is very hard as you have the mantissa and exponent which has to operated upon and is actually a 128bit value if it is using IEEE785 format.
I don't think that case looks good. Purely personal, but the original, slightly yellow case just looks way nicer.
@domramsey
Жыл бұрын
Suggestion: Take the clear case and put an A500 Mini inside it (still in its original case) so it looks like some kind of alien pregnant Amiga. That would be cool.
@roscoe500
Жыл бұрын
Inclined to agree, think Dan's original case was nicer looking than the new transparent one.
I would add there is also Amiga Forever Essentials on Android which also gives access to roms.
Amiga is Amazingk!
What is that cool multi-display ball/clock sitting on the XBOX next to the controller?
Maybe it's just me but I love the modern replacements when you're restoring an old machine and your options are limited. You've got an old motherboard but no case, an old system but no floppy or PSU, so you find modern replacements because of cost and availability. There's also the modern convenience options - use an SD card - not a HD for example if it doesn't make significant 'permanent' modifications to the system. For me it's a balance between nostalgia, convenience and cost.
@Dan Wood you need one of Steve's monitor stands for your 500 setup. You will save a few inches on the desk!
@roscoe500
Жыл бұрын
The Checkmate monitor might be a good solution for switching between native output and the RTG.
There aren't better key caps? Nice video
Did you try bustest and check the chipmem speed? I was surprised that SysInfo didn't say sth like 3x A600 chipmem speed (however bad it is at comparably measuring things).
You could easily do a TV series “Pimp my Amiga”!
Dan, is it likely that you do a video on productivity software with these amazing accelerators? I am more than curious if my favorite classics like PageMaker, Pagestream, Deluxe Paint IV, and the like. Can they run under Caffeine? To classic RGB only, or HDMI, and in 720 (1080) HD?. Are classic title bar whole screen dragging functional? These were the features what made me stick with the Amiga for graphic use well into 1997.
(Brillant black commodore datasette!)
hi Dan, i would like to dust off my A500 for a pistorm upgrade.. was wondering about those resolution modes for applications and OctaMED frequency range.. i remember those being connected... can the amiga with a pistorm now also do crazy high sample-rates?
Because of the on-going shortage, I haven't followed on PiStorm development. Is this a new PiStorm+Pi combo that actually fits in a closed Amiga 500 ?
Looks like one of these transparent cassette recorder shown by Techmoan which where designed for use in prison.
On the very controversial topic of whether or not the usage of `PiStorm` is genuine, after watching Dan's video it is now clear to me that I have to draw the line at the usage of the Pi HDMI output. If you end up using the Pi's HDMI output with a modern screen, what's left for our good'ol friend the Amiga to do? Are the inputs/outputs sent to Amiga's onboard devices at all? It certainly doesn't need to. It almost feels frivolous at that point to read from joystick ports when everything else is bypassed Still, getting 21st-century facilities to an almost 40yo machine is rather nice (as long as it is reading and managing MOST input & outputs) :-p
@oldtwinsna8347
8 ай бұрын
Some folks just appreciate the illusion of running on old hardware. This is like taking a small form factor PC and gluing it to an original IBM PC case from the 80s. Then you can pretend you're running windows 11 on an old XT.
I heard there is a problem with chipram on pistorm? Can it be configured with fast/chip ? Talking about games that need about 2MB.
Nice
Truthfully - abandonware is a misnomer. Copyrights last up to 15 years after the last rights holder's death (at least in the US). I definitely agree with your air quotes and warning concerning licensing as "abandon ware" is probably going to get grounded in any NATO friendly democratic, business court system. Nice vid. Tricking out the A500 because it deserves a classy night out too!
@Anaerin
Жыл бұрын
I have no idea where you get your number from, but in the US it's "Life +75 years" currently, thanks to Disney lobbying hard to get it extended every time the house of mouse's characters get near the end of term. Look it up.
@NOPerative
Жыл бұрын
@@Anaerin Well if it was extended to 75 years that's news to me - I actually have US copyrights btw and it was 15 years; if noone can legally claim the rights then the Government gets them by default.
The new 68k emulator for RPi looks interesting, but for me I would be more interested in the RPi as a standalone rather than attached to the A500. Inclined to agree with others, the RPi seems to take over. Can you still load a game of a disk at boot as on a stock A500 or does the PiStorm introduce to many compatibility issues? The switching between HDMI on the Pi and the native output reminds me of my A1200 tower with its Voodoo PCI graphics in early 2000s. Annoying. Some solution that brings the outputs together would be cool, similar to the pass through/scan doublers on classic Amiga RTG cards like Picasso 4.
@Tech-geeky
11 ай бұрын
Nothing is ever perfect
This is all very impressive, but with Caffeine OS running on effectively a Raspberry Pi is it still an Amiga... I mean you could run Caffeine OS on a Raspberry Pi 400 and have pretty much the same experience... What does the Amiga do in this case appart from providing power, a keyboard and a mouse? Can you still use Pi Storm and boot from an original Amiga OS? I'm asking this because having an Amiga 500, I would love to use a modern monitor to display the image and wouldn't mind a faster CPU but would prefer running an original Workbench and software that would run on an original Amiga... for more modern stuff I have a pretty fast Linux-running laptop that suits me very well
is there a place i can get a replacement rf shield? mine rusted. i understand i dont need the top half of it but can i just throw the entire thing and be done with it?
Wish there was a way for the Raspberry Pi to enable Aga functions on the ,a500
@fischX
Жыл бұрын
Theoretically the pi nano can do analogue output (see pi nano VGA / NTSC/ PAL) depends if the pi storm uses those pins otherwise
What was the Sun Microsystems keyboard connected to @6:22?
@dataterminal
Жыл бұрын
That's a type 7. Probably connected to his mac as it has two USB ports at the back. The keyboard came with the ultras and sparc stations, but he did a video a couple of year back where he mentioned Solaris 11 as an alternative OS. So might have triggered him.
forts of greait video, but are you really runing an amiga at this point, or ae you running a hw emulator in an amiga shape case with an amiga keyboard and a disk drive? or put another way when is an upgraded amiga nio longer an Amigaa, I'm just curious?
Hello, can you tell me how to activate standard screen mode? I want to use the amiga standard display. THX
You forgot to run Frontier! ;)
Thanks for this cool video! One question: Do I have to have 1 megabyte of Chipram, or does this run well with the standard 512k? I do have rev8 board, but I am no expert in soldering... Thanks in advance!
@manxam2k
Жыл бұрын
The Pistorm allows you to map slow to chip via the boot configuration file, meaning that you can install a ram expansion in the trapdoor and NOT have to cut/solder a jumper to make it active.
@AS-ly3jp
Жыл бұрын
Thank you!!!
@Daz555Daz
Жыл бұрын
@@AS-ly3jp Worth noting that even with PiStorm you do still need a 1MB compatible "fatter" Agnus for the 512KB trapdoor to be mapped as extra chip RAM.
@AS-ly3jp
Жыл бұрын
@@Daz555Daz I do have a fatAgnus installed.
The beauty of a1200 was that it was the upgrade for a500, that gave it the edge. It was also cool, but was it? Nowadays taking that x factor would a newbie see the a1200 as a better design then an a500?
@mrsmilee
Жыл бұрын
to be fair a pistorm is not classic hardware, so the A1200 still has the advantage.
Can you do one on just the 600?
I use PiMiga 3 on a Raspberry Pi400. The sysinfo score is about same as in video. And i can surf the internet (well, not fully compatible but good enough) and watch youtube on it. I don't have a real Amiga, i think a Pi400 works really great as an Amiga with PiMiga and it's small and compact, makes it very portable to move around. As for the transparent case, it's not cool at all. The original Amiga keyboard case looks way better.
I really would love a terrible fire or pistorm but my agnus supports only 512... Is it useless to buy the pistorm?
Keycaps are for sale now.... Just a heads up, as I see nobody mentioning it. So, yeah, just going to spread the news my self then.
I thought Caffeine OS became Apollo OS. Is this a customized AmigaOS or Aros based?
@EdgeOfPanic
Жыл бұрын
Caffeine OS and Apollo OS are both Aros based.
Sysinfo rulez !
can games and demos be ran on HDMI?
this lion king animations is creepy as hell :D
I'm not a fan of turning a good working Amiga into something else apart from maybe storage, rather have a stock Amiga than a rig that's no more a Amiga
@gunnerhoward3134
Жыл бұрын
It is just an emulator running inside a 500. Not my cup of tea.
@blahmeh242
Жыл бұрын
@@gunnerhoward3134 Exactly. All this strange effort but you may aswell just chuck a pi inside the a500 case and hook up the power light. No ones going to know. What would be more interesting is some basic hardware mods that allow more ram or allow an SD card for a HDD.. but otherwise, yeah there is no point.
@roberthazelby4424
Жыл бұрын
@@blahmeh242 Agreed. I think I’m going to have to save up for an ACA interface. I want to have my A500 up and running with Workbench 1.3 from SD card and more RAM.
@customsongmaker
10 ай бұрын
He could have 2 Amigas instead of 1. A working A500, and then a Pi inside the clear case with a USB keyboard
@serial_sequence2k
6 ай бұрын
For my use case, the pistorm works perfectly. I primarily use my Amiga for making music in octamed soundstudio v1. Ideally I want to make use of the Paula, along with the parallel and serial ports, so it's better to use a pistorm rather than emulating everything altogether. What I get out of the pistorm is a nice 720p octamed, more than enough ram and a high number of audio channels at once without bogging down the system. 😉
Spray it with orange paint from the inside!
It looks nice but I think it would look better if it was like the original iMac, semi- transparent and I think it would be easier to manufacture.
Put some LEDs in that clear case. YW.
Amiga: Greetings fellow kids!
Does this add AGA as well?
@fasih_rehman
Жыл бұрын
No - whilst in theory it is possible, it just makes sense to jump to RTG instead!
Maybe this can run on an OrangePi?
I had an amiga 500.... It was great. But I'm not sure how this is still an amiga... I mean, you literally put a full computer inside the case, so what part of the computer is actually an amiga? Can you not do all the same things with JUST the raspberry pi? for example, I can play NES and SNES games on my pc with no issues. What am I missing?
The big question is : Can it run this botched US Gold Outrun ( ? ) Version with decent framerates ? ;)
what it's model rpi ?
Neat, but the excitement is quashed when you realize all this modern glory is just running on the isolated part of the machine which is the raspberry pi. Like putting a modern small form factor PC into an old IBM case and calling it an original XT. Sure, if you want to believe that.
@danwood_uk
8 ай бұрын
Not really. This solution only replaces the cpu. The Amiga graphics and audio custom chips are still being used.
Why not use an Amiga 1200. I already pimped my A1200 years ago. I turned my Amiga 1200 into a tower with a graphics card.
I really do not get all this modding of old 'retro' computers. Surely the point is that we all remember how these machines felt, ran, loading times, graphics, bringing us back to our childhoods. If you want all this modern tech, why not buy a simple emulator or A500 Mini. Buy an old retro system, use it as it was designed.
Just buy a CD32 and you have the best Amiga. No need to update the inferior models
1991? did you mean 1987? The A500 + was 1991/2 - and your's seems to be A500 with KS 1.3.
8:04 Please fix Denise!
Can I just get the case, a working keyboard board and keys, and just use a Raspberry Pi?
🥰🥰🥰
I don't know who's typing, but that's not how you type... LOL That's more like stabbing a keyboard. And the Amiga 500 case looks just like a RIP of the C=128 Oddly, between a C=128 and 500, in retrospect, I would not know which one I preferred... the 500 is not the clear winner. Yes, it is miles ahead of the 128 in hardware... but... that GUI OS it runs is a barf nightmare. The 128 made an excellent 80 column terminal machine to connect to remote systems, and it ran C64 programs, and if you wanted to dabble, a slow CP/M. It had some nice tools built into ROM like a machine language monitor and sprite editor, and so... was more of a hackers machine on the command line. The Amiga kind of insulated you from all of that to be a point and click user driver, not a developer.
And expensives. "Computers For The Masses, Not The Classes"
"But hopefull it won't be long before [RPI's] are back on the market at affordable prices". Estimated restocking on Farnell: July 2023 😭😭🤦♂🤦♂
You call it crystal I call it prison.
14:57 so same as any raspberry pi. whats new xD A500 is same fast as 90's here's pistorm last lates... here's x68 whateva..do we need it or yet again something come. we not need sdcard on amiga anymore we can raspberrypi ...again lol. soon we back amiberry? without need amiga lol.. full circle