New custom keyboard covers for my C64, Amiga 1000 & Amiga 1200 !

Got tired of using an old battered keyboard cover for my C64, a very large generic plastic PC cover for my Amiga 1200 and a few pieces of paper taped together for my very unique Amiga 1000 keyboard so when I bumped into a recent thread over at amibay.com for custom made fabric covers by Retro-Protect I sent them a message, found out they allowed custom colours and decals of your choice to be placed on the covers and placed my order.

Yesterday they made their way over to my man cave and here's what all 3 of them look like out of the package along with care instructions :-) (for those interested: cover to be hand washed only, do not tumble dry, iron on inside of cover on a warm setting, do not iron the logo directly, shrinkage may occur)

C64 cover:

Amiga 1200 cover:

Amiga 1000 cover:

I'm very happy with quality of the cotton fabric covers and more importantly the proper fit for all my keyboards.  Customer service was great and I was thrilled to have the choice of choosing my own colours and decals. 

As usual and unfortunately I have too many little projects to talk about here but alas spare time is yet again my enemy so I leave you with the now traditional view of what my man cave looks like today.

Getting my X1000 quieter & cooler !

Been a while since I started a thread over at amigans/ amigaworld.net over concerns of CPU temp and noisy CPU fan that came standard with my X1000 but luckily mainly due to a new great custom solution for our X1K's from Marcus Computer called MagmaBreath my problems have been solved :-)

The installation is clear and straight forward as noted below. You'll need 45 minutes, basic tools and a clear workspace:

The payment and delivery from Marcus Computer was pain free and the CPU heatsink and fan came safely bundled in a well protected package.

 View of package & contenets when open

Case panel off and view of Nemo's top face (since I had the case open already lol my old Radeon HD 6750 was removed so I can install a newer Radeon HD7750 single slot card to enjoy the new Warp3D driver update BUT that's another post for another day :-)

To start I removed the fan above the heatsink with a small philips screw driver.

4 screws fully loosened & power connector disconnected from Nemo (aka motherboard)

Fan removed and view of top of heatsink

Now time to remove underside case cover to access plastic screws securing heatsink to CPU

close up view

After almost scratching Nemo with a longer flat head screw driver I dug up a smaller screw driver which gave me much more control and precision while holding the CPU steady on the top side with my right hand and remove the plastic screws with my left hand.

The small plastic screws are quite slippery so attention is needed to slowly apply pressure without the screw driver head slipping and possibly damaging Nemo (aka DON'T RUSH lol)

OK all screws removed with no surprises and heatsink easily removed with my right hand making sure to not drop it onto Nemo.

Voila the top side of the infamous PA6T ! The heatsink came off clean with no residue at all from the thermal paste/sticker which left me quite surprised based on my mnay other experiences with thermal pads/tapes etc.

although pratctically like new I  wipe clean the top of the PA6T with the included alcohol wipe to make sure all is prestine for the new heatsink application (note my anti static wrist strap)

As per the instructions on the Marcus Computer website you have a choice of which orientation you would like to mount the new heatsink/fan combo.  I chose to install it with the heatsink fins facing towards the two separate 2GB ram modules for maximum cooling on CPU & ram sticks.

don't forget to remove the protective plastic over the thermal pad!

TRICKY PART! with my right hand lining up the MagmaBreath and my left hand lining up one of the included screws (don't forget to add the enclosed lock tight washer!) I carefully line up/insert the first screw and immediately the second one diagaonally opposite from the first.

It goes without saying that we're dealing with very delicate substrates SO be gentle with the torque on the small philips screw heads and don't exceed the 0.82N.m torque as per the instructions.

Tricky part over the remaining 2 screws go in efforelessly & voila you can plug in the power connector to the fan and enjoy the view from the top side :-)

Conclusion:

I'm very happy with the reduction in sound from the stock heatsink/fan combo as it's quite the difference and for the effectiveness of MagmaBreath the numbers from X1Temp docky speak for themselves!

Prior to the upgrade after 48 hours of constant use numbers were:
CPU-  47 deg.C
Core1-52
Core2-50

with MagmaBreath installed after 48 hrs I was pleased to see a significant decrease:

CPU-  38 deg.C
Core1-43
Core2-40

Clean up time before Spring gets here !

Well this is what the mancave looks like after a long winter and glad I got a few projects that were in pieces back up n running before the nice weather come along- my 1200T & 1200 wedge!

Getting my Radeon9250 with 256Mb video ram working happily with Picasso96 and my Mediator 1200 LT4 was slightlly short of agonizing but alas it was a defective Mediator that was the majority of the problem and luckily Elbox is still around to do the necessary repairs (actually a big thanks to Drewlio77 from amigaworld.net  for selling me his spare board while Elbox carried out the repiars).  So far my Apollo 060@50 with 32MB Ram, Elbox Fast ATA Mk2, SB128, and Spider2 USB with modded front face plate on my Infitiv case is working nicely with the exception of the usual amigan fiddling to get Workbench feeling  just right :-)

My 1200 wedge has a basic 3.1 install with Magic Workbench, Indivision AGA Mkcr2, M-Tec 030@50 with 32MB, and Subway USB working nicely for a very stable WHDLoad machine.  More fiddling as usual

Alas there's more to do and talk about but not enough spare time so I leave you with yet another snapshot of the mancave cave and wish everyone a great start to the spring season!

Amiga OS4.1 FE is here !!!

Just a quick post to celebrate the fact that I just received in the mail from Amigakit the newly released Amiga OS4.1 FE which neatly closes out 4.1 for my favourite OS in one physical CD 'full' install package before the much awaited 4.2 comes along to give us multi-core & full 3D (for our Radeon HD cards) support.

I'm just happy that my favourite OS is still alive & kickin with new updates and programs being developed for it today in 2015! Many thanks to Hyperion, A-Eon Technology, ACube Systems, and all parties involved that help to keep the party going :-) 

+1 if you agree !

Tackling an Amiga 1200 Tower

Well another unexpected project jumped up out of the blue forcing my brain to make some time for it :-) Always loved the Amiga 1200 wedge case but was intrigued by towerizing the 1200 for maximum expandability back in the day so when this clean looking Micronik Infintiv-II case came around I knew I had to have it in my man cave.....now only the issue of time but a quick cleanup is in order for now........

bitter/burnt tasting espresso after trying everything on Rancilio Silvia ?

The main fuel that runs the man cave is great tasting espresso so when it starting tasting burnt/bitter (you espresso lovers out there know 'that' taste) and after trying all the usual culprits i.e fresh beans, check grinder settings, water temp, water quality, descale Silvia, clean Rocky grinder, regular backflsuhing STILL problem not solved SO yesterday I solved my problem by taking apart the 3 way valve and fully cleaning as illustrated below:

warning: don't let people tell you that you're not doing this or that right, you'll break something, bring it into the dealer blah blah blah...it's easy & straight forward and should be part of an annual or bi-annual maintenance SO let's get started:

Espresso Machine: Rancilio Silvia V3 

Time: 1 hour (includes running around trying to find my needle nose pliers :-)

Tools: philips screwdriver, adjustable wrench, needle nose pliers (or small adjustable wrench),       hex key, small flat screwdriver/knife blade

Materials: coffee machine cleaner/detergent, toothbrush/ brittle brush, ear swabs, small plastic container

Step 1: remove 2 philip screws to remove stainless steel cover plate at base of Silvia above the drip pan.

Step 2: view when you slide the cover plate off (you'll see that you can't pull the plate forward because the filter head blocks it so gently nudge it slowly to the either side and it comes off easily.

Step 3: remove the drip tube at the bottom of the solenoid (small metal black box).  I couldn't take if off by hand so used an adjustable wrench very lightly (as it's plastic) just to initially loosen it.  Once loose I removed the tube by hand.

 
Step 4: here's what it looks like once the drip tube is removed.

 
Step 4a: remove the lock nut and 2 washers with needle nose pliers or small adjustable wrench. I had to support Silvia from twisting as it was on quite snug.

Step 5: once the lock nut is off take a small flat screw driver or knife blade and remove the 2 washers stuck beneath the solenoid unit. Keep them in the same order you took them out so you remember the order to put them back

Step 6: disconnect the 3 wire connectors to the solenoid (gently wiggle them while slightly pulling as they are on nice and tight and a pulling action alone won't do...well it might but then you'd cut your hand on the stainless steel siding LOL).

Step 7: the solenoid should just slide off after step 6 but in my case it was too tight against the back plate so I just pulled it down as far as it can go so there was a gap large enough to get my adjustable wrench in to get to the stainless steel nut of the 3 way valve just above the solenoid.

Step 8: here's a pic of the 3 way valve stem and solenoid beneath it.

Step 9: what the 3 way valve and stem look like when you slide the solenoid off. IMP: take note of the orientation of the 3 way valve for when you have to reassemble it after cleaning!

Step 10: the 3 way valve in 2 pieces and now we can see all the embedded black tar like stains from the coffee bean oils!

Step 11: back to Miss Silvia we go to remove the brass fitting with a hex key (there are 2 screws). Make sure that the hex key is very snugly fit as you DON'T want to strip the screws or the brass fitting as it's very delicate compared to stainless steel!

 Step 12: once the 2 screws are off you'll have to use a small flat head screw driver or sturdy knife blade to gently pry the brass fitting off the main unit. Gentle prying motions on each side will do the job without damaging the brass.  DON'T BE AGRESSIVE HERE...EASY & SLOW IS THE WAY TO GO :-).

 Step 13: off without a dent or scratch !

 Step 14: what the brass assembly with 2 screws look like. Note the grundge atop the 2 small washers.

Step 15: turning the brass assmebly supporting the 3 way valve over, we see more of that caked on black tar from Step 10!.

Step 16: put the three black tar culprits into a small platic ciontainer filled with hot water and coffee machine cleaning solution (any brand will do here as I've tried every make with good results).  It's important to make sure the water is very hot to the touch and also that all parts are fully vovered with water.  Let sit for a good 20 minutes.

 Step 17: after waiting a good 20 minutes grab your toothbrush, small bristle brush etc and start scrubbing!

 Step 18: ah nice & clean !

Step 19: now trace back the steps above and put Miss Silvia back together making sure to not over torque all screws (one quarter turn after snug if all you need).
Put fresh water in the tank and run the it through without he portafilter for a minute or so, then make a few espressos and throw them in the sink. NOW make yourself a well deserved shot and ahhhh ya that's the aroma and taste that made you get out your tools and waste time doing this repair right LOL

ENJOY E BUONA SALUTE !!!