How to Build a GB A1000 Amiga Computer

This site is a reference resource for hobbyists interested in building the GB A1000 computer. The intention behind these pages is to help each other as we progress in turning the bare boards into functioning machines. If you own a GB A1000 board, register here to benefit from member features.

Latest Update

3/8/2010: A post on the Amiga & Phoenix Community website forums (a1k.org) started by evillord68 discusses a 060 cpu upgrade for the GB A1000. Visit forums for more information. More time line items here...

Website Improvements

(As of 7/21/2009)

NEW FEATURE: You can now receive notifications through email whenever forum threads are updated. To enable this, visit your account settings and select the forum email options of your choice.

Illuwatar provided very nice assembly drawings and board schematics. See the materials section to download them.

The parts list can now accept user-entered comments. This will be useful for hunting down parts. Go to the parts list and tell us where you found your parts! Adding this information will also help you determine which part you still need to acquire.

Background

The GB A1000 is a motherboard based on the Commodore-Amiga 1000, a personal computer popular in the 1980s. The new hardware was developed by Georg Braun. Several individuals on Amiga forums such as Amiga.org expressed the desire for Georg's GB A1000.

After some valiant coordination, a series of these boards will be manufactured. We are now waiting to receive our empty boards, gathering as much knowledge as possible in preparation for the work.

Simply put, this site intends to provide a collection of useful information in the form of pictures and input from members of the group as to: How to build the GB A1000.

Contributors

If you are participating in the Amiga forum discussions and/or intend to build the computer yourself, please do not hesitate to contribute material. I'm looking for pictures and short videos of your progress, your ideas, your "how-to" documentation, links of interest, and any other freely distributable materials you feel would help others follow along, familiarize themselves and ultimately build the board. If you have questions regarding soldering or anything else around this project, feel free to ask. I will probably not be able to answer myself, but a FAQ page could be generated and maintained with the help of others.

For the moment, you can send your contributions directly to me: sapristi@grements.com. All credit will be given where due.

Disclaimer

    Georg Braun, the developer of the GB A1000 board cannot offer any support for the construction of this project. The existence of this website does not imply his support nor his assistance in assembling this fairly complex board. Please do not ask him to solder components for you. If you intend, or are already part of the group ordering the blank pcb, it is understood that the work of assembling the machine is your responsibility alone. This said, Georg Braun's contributions to this project resource site will be most welcomed if any.

    No copyrighted materials should appear on this website unless permission has been granted for its distribution. I've assumed that the English translation of the board's manual is freely distributable as it has already been made public. Please notify me immediately if you feel any content should be removed. I can be reached at sapristi@grements.com.

    Here is the disclaimer from Mr. Georg Braun:

Important!

    A high level of expertise is required for construction and troubleshooting of the GB A1000 board. Successfully constructing the board without SMD soldering experience and in-depth knowledge of Amiga hardware will be a most difficult endeavor.

    For this project, soldering tools and measuring technology is required! To get the board working, a CPLD and GAL chip programmer is necessary. To troubleshoot and eliminate soldering and component errors, an oscilloscope and a multimeter is required at the very least. To speed up troubleshooting, access to a 68 channel logic analyzer is recommended. Regarding Amiga custom chips, it is recommended that more than one of each chip is at hand to ensure functioning chips are used in the build.

    The builder of the board is on his own! I (Georg Braun) does not offer any support for acquiring components, building the board, getting the board running, nor answering any questions regarding your project.

    I am not supporting any bulk orders of the board! Bulk orders in different forums are not being supported by me. If you have questions regarding the board and the order, ask the person in charge of the order.

    You are not automatically entitled to access the files for the project! I reserve the rights to modify or delete the project files at any time, regardless of whether referral to my homepage from bulk orders exist. The source code for the programmable logic components will not be made available, so don't even bother asking.

    Commercial use of any of the project files without written authorization is forbidden!

Note:

    I do not want to deal with frustrated people who participate in a bulk order because of a good price, especially when it results in nasty comments on the web. Completing the board requires about 20 to 30 hours of soldering including work on rosters with pin distances of 0.5 mm. The circuit is highly complex and involves many potential sources of error. Troubleshooting involves working with oscillators, drivers and custom chips bought as "new", which for one reason or another may not work properly. Soldering problems also occur, which happen to me too. Debugging can easily take several hours. On top of that, you will be working with a 4 layer PCB, which of course must be of suitable quality, including the size of the PCB, through-layer contacts and minimum measure. Also, a good free of debris adhesion of the copper layer is needed for the visa and IC-sockets etc. The solder mask must be resistant to solder running on to it and the PCB should not show any bends or twists. Some of the components used in this board are difficult to obtain or only obtainable from older Amiga hardware. This does not only concern the Amiga custom chips but also TTL-Gutter like for instance 74F245 which is no longer in trade in an SMD model. The project builder must know where to find these parts on his own.

- Georg Braun