VOGONS


Simmconn AWE64 Adapter

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Reply 60 of 549, by hard1k

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Guys, maybe it would be more appealing to make a memory board instead of an adapter? Current prices of necessary chips make it a much more attractive and convenient solution.

Fortex, the A3D & XG/OPL3 accelerator (Vortex 2 + YMF744 combo sound card)
AWE64 Legacy
Please have a look at my wishlist (hosted on Amibay)

Reply 61 of 549, by FuzzyLogic

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hard1k wrote:

Guys, maybe it would be more appealing to make a memory board instead of an adapter? Current prices of necessary chips make it a much more attractive and convenient solution.

I'm confused. Are 72 pin SIMMs are expensive? Yesterday I bought 32MB SIMMs for $10 USD a piece. But yes, I'd rather get a board with 32 megs instead of an awkward adapter.

Reply 62 of 549, by hard1k

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Well, nowadays a 32 Mb SIMM72 can be costly in some areas, plus add the cost of a suitable SIMM72 socket that are also somewhat scarce. So, apart from obvious end-user advantages (no need to block the adjacent slot, etc.) the pricing consideration may also come in.

Fortex, the A3D & XG/OPL3 accelerator (Vortex 2 + YMF744 combo sound card)
AWE64 Legacy
Please have a look at my wishlist (hosted on Amibay)

Reply 63 of 549, by GuyTechie

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If Xu is okay with it, Serge can continue looking into it. I don't know how easy or hard for someone like Serge to modify or redesign it to just be straight-up memory modules instead of 72-pin SIMMs. I agree that would be a better idea than trying to use 72-pin SIMMs as they are getting harder to find these days.

Reply 64 of 549, by adalbert

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I am going to make one piece of that adapter using home-etched PCB, just like I did with the Adlib card. I am able to buy 32mb simms locally for under 5 USD so I will just solder them directly to the PCB, with help of a pin header, so they will look like SIPP memory :p I will probably change the layout of PCB a bit so it won't go outside of the outline of the card (now it makes the card a bit longer and it wouldn't fit in my case).

Repair/electronic stuff videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/adalbertfix
ISA Wi-fi + USB in T3200SXC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX30t3lYezs
GUI programming for Windows 3.11 (the easy way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6L272OApVg

Reply 65 of 549, by kithylin

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Robin4 wrote:

Maybe you can ask this guy: https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/ . I know he is visiting vintage-computers.com very often.. If you look on his site he also made memory boards.. So i dont think it would to hard for him to make this Simmcon thing as well.

Except as far as I'm aware the plans for it were never made public.. I may be wrong.

Reply 66 of 549, by adalbert

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kithylin wrote:

Except as far as I'm aware the plans for it were never made public.. I may be wrong.

http://simmconn.tripod.com/download.htm

Here are all the schematics and files necessary for manufacturing so everyone can just etch the board in home or order a single piece from a local PCB manufacturer. I will probably make one piece in next weekend.

Repair/electronic stuff videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/adalbertfix
ISA Wi-fi + USB in T3200SXC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX30t3lYezs
GUI programming for Windows 3.11 (the easy way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6L272OApVg

Reply 67 of 549, by kithylin

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adalbert wrote:
kithylin wrote:

Except as far as I'm aware the plans for it were never made public.. I may be wrong.

http://simmconn.tripod.com/download.htm

Here are all the schematics and files necessary for manufacturing so everyone can just etch the board in home or order a single piece from a local PCB manufacturer. I will probably make one piece in next weekend.

Yep.. I was totally wrong. Nice guy publishing stuff like that.

Reply 68 of 549, by stamasd

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TBH I have contemplated in the past doing that (redesigming the SIMMCONN to use DRAM chips soldered directly) but when I priced the parts needed the cost was significantly higher than that of using SIMMs + sockets. Maybe I didn't look in the right places.

I/O, I/O,
It's off to disk I go,
With a bit and a byte
And a read and a write,
I/O, I/O

Reply 70 of 549, by DeathCube

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Hello guys, I have an old AWE64 value wich i want to expand, I'm looking into making the module myself, it's not that hard, the main problem is getting the GAL chip used, nowadays it's hard to come by

Reply 71 of 549, by Arctic

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What if we just make a kickstarter?

We have the DESIGN
AND
We have the BACKERS

I see no problem! Just get estimates from PCB COMPANIES and start collecting orders. 😎

I am mostly writing this because I keep reading about people who couldn't order one in time...
This should be solvable, vogons!!

Reply 72 of 549, by dogchainx

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I'm always for projects like that. If someone heads it up, I'll contribute.

386DX-40MHz-8MB-540MB+428MB+Speedstar64@2MB+SoundBlaster Pro+MT-32/MKII
486DX2-66Mhz-16MB-4.3GB+SpeedStar64 VLB DRAM 2MB+AWE32/SB16+SCB-55
MY BLOG RETRO PC BLOG: https://bitbyted.wordpress.com/

Reply 74 of 549, by fitzpatr

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I have 3 AWE64 cards... 2 Golds and a 4380. I'd love to get some expansion boards.

MT-32 Old, CM-32L, CM-500, SC-55mkII, SC-88Pro, SC-D70, FB-01, MU2000EX
K6-III+/450/GA-5AX/G400 Max/Voodoo2 SLI/CT1750/MPU-401AT/Audigy 2ZS
486 Build

Reply 75 of 549, by Bester

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I have an AWE64 Gold and also a Value I'd like Simmconns for...looks like I left it a bit too late getting back into the retro PC scene (I didn't realise these were no longer available).

Amiga 1200 - Blizzard 1260 Rev6 (71E41J), Indivision AGA MK2cr
Amiga CD32 - TF330 030/50MHz with MMU, Kipper2K Riser
C64 Reloaded MK2 - 1541 Ultimate II+

Reply 78 of 549, by Ace

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Count me in for this as well. Got an AWE64 CT4520 and an AWE64 Gold CT4390 that could use a SIMMConn each.

Creator of The Many Sounds of:, a collection of various DOS games played using different sound cards.

Reply 79 of 549, by Jade Falcon

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I'm on board for a run. Shoot me a quote and I'll buy a one or a few to make it worth wile and sell all but one on ebay or something as I could use one.
If they cost like ~20$ you could but me down for 10.

I would like to see the ram slot rotated by 90 degreases for tight systems.