phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti) (04/11/90)
[Line eater? What line ea
I want to detatch my A500's keyboard from the system unit. I've got a
couple of small questions:
1) What's a good length-limit on the keyboard cable? How sensitive is
the system to longer wires in that area? I only want a few feet of coiled
shielded cable; would that be enough?
2) Can I order the top half of an A500 shell from Commodore, and if so,
how much would it cost? I'd like to cut away at an A500 top so that I could
have a standard-LOOKING unit and not destroy my original case. (I can't use
an A2000 keyboard case; no place for the LED lights. :-) I can see it now,
of course... "Why is your drive activity light on the keyboard, Dar?" "Oh,
that's actually the CPU Overdrive light. Turns on whenever I type too
quickly..." :-) )
- R'ykandar.
--
| R'ykandar Korra'ti | Editor, LOW ORBIT | PLink: Skywise | CIS 72406,370 |
| Elfinkind, Unite! | phoenix@ms.uky.edu | phoenix%ms.uky.edu@ukcc.bitnet |
| "Careful, mom, the toys are loose!" - from The Wizard of Speed and Time |megahed@cat23.cs.wisc.edu (Abraham Megahed) (04/13/90)
I did the same thing myself, about a year ago. Ripping out the A500
keyboard, that is. About a year ago I had a dealer in town order me CMI's
processor accelerator for the A500. Unfortunately, I (and the adds at the
time) thought that there was one model for BOTH the A500/A2000, and an add-
tional unit for the A1000. Well, when I went out to pick up the board from
the dealer, He told me that he had ordered the unit for the A2000. We both
thought that the same board would work for the A500.
So I get home, rip apart my '500, void the warranty, and find the
damn thing doesn't fit. The accelerator is one of those boards that want you
to yank the original 68K, and plug the card into the vacated 68K slot. One of
those elegant and yet disgusting hacks at the same time, if you know what
I mean 8-/. The problem was two fold. Firstly the ROM next to the 68000 was
to high, and wouln't allow the accelerator board to plug in. I ended up pulling
out the ROM and clipping all the pins a little. Gross, I know. This left me
with the MAJOR problem of the keyboard. the A500 keyboard is canted at slight
angle, and with the board was plugged in, there wasn't enough clearance for
the keyboard to fit. See below.
--
\__ <-- A500 keyboard.
Processor Accelerator --> ------------- \__
A500 PCB. --> _____________________|__|_______ \
Well, I was desparate. Hindsight being what it is, I should have
returned the board. But noooo, I wanted the accelerator to work NOW. So,
I went into my closet, got about 6' of ribbon wire and spliced the original
wire leading from the keyboard to the motherboard. I then had had a keyboard
separated from the computer by about 6'. Going to the basement, I nailed
together a wooden box which I turned upside down and put over the A500 PCB
I then marked and cut some slots in the sides of the box, so that I could
insert disks, and so that the minimegs I bought also had space to stick out.
I then put my monitor on top of the box, with the keyboard separate, like on
the A2000. This was actually quite nice, because the A) my computer now had
a much smaller foootprint, and B) the keyboard was now mobile (ie I could put
on my lap etc.)
There were still several (ahem) athestic problems. The keyboard was
now out of its case, with the bare PCB showing. UGLY. Also kind of dangerous.
After months of taking flak from friends about how it looked, I finally did
something about it. Taking a trusty hack saw, I found my original A500 case
and cut out the part of it that had fit over the keyboard. Vsisting my little
brother, I grabbed three slightly angled blocks from his wooden block set,
and using the original screw holes in the keyboard I attached them to bott-
om of the keyboard. With the keyboard tilted at a nice angle, I then screwed
and glued the ogiginal piece of plastic over the Keyboard. Hey! Looked pretty
nice - the LED's were once again in their little sockets, and labeled. I
was pleased.
There is still one problem that I need help on. Ever since removing
the keyboard, my A500 has been *extremely* sensitive to static. I mean, getting
out of my chair, rubbing my feet on the carpet, my roommate touching the
anntenae of the TV on the outlet on the first floor directly below my amiga -
all of these things will cause it to crash. Not all the time - it seems to
depend on the humidity, how its feeling, etc. But its still very annoying.
(The static problem is completely my fault, my Amiga worked great before
I ripped out the keyboard.) The keyboard was originally grounded to the disk
drive via a thick wire, but re-attaching this didn't seem to help. I can go
for hours, sometimes days, before it will crash/lock up whatever, and sometimes
it will flake out repeatedly in one hour. Is my cable to long?
Any suggestions?
As to the person who wants to put his A500 in an AT box, I'm not really
sure what to say. On the one hand its a lot of work to remove the keyboard,
and even if you don't permanently damage your machine, you may still end
up with a touchy machine like mine. But now that all is said is done, I'm
glad I seperated the keyboard - I like a keyboard I can move, and I like to
be able to easily access the innards on my 500. Good luck if you decide to
do it.
Thanks,
Eric Bazan (using Abe's account)