Task: Purchase and Install a PiStorm CPU Accelerator for Your Amiga 500 16-Bit Computer
Needed: PiStorm, Raspberry Pi 3A or other compatible model, Amiga 1200, micro SD card
Time: 30-60 minutes
Introduction
I recently purchased an Amiga 1200 and was interested in adding an 8MB fast RAM expansion through the trap door slot on the bottom. Fast RAM is required to play certain games. As I looked around for modern fast RAM solutions it occurred to me that I could get fast RAM through a PiStorm for not that much more money. PiStorm uses a Raspberry Pi with Emu68 software to emulate faster 680X0 chips and provide lots of extra fast RAM. I have previously posted about the PiStorm CPU accelerator for the Amiga 500 and decided to give it a try on my 1200. The installation and setup are pretty straightforward.
Instructions
I purchased the PiStorm32 Lite model for the Amiga 1200 from Amiga Kit via eBay for $118 which included taxes and shipping to the USA.
To complete this project you will also need a Raspberry Pi. Compatible models include the Pi Zero 2 W, Pi 3, and Pi 4. I used a Pi 3A+. As shown below, my PiStorm came with a blue rubber sticker that goes on the Trion chip on the back of the board, a set of three screws and risers to connect the Pi to the PiStorm, and a cover for the back of the Pi to prevent contact with the metal underside of the Amiga keyboard.
First, flip the PiStorm over. The two rows of holes on the left side below are where we will plug in the Raspberry Pi. Before you do that place the blue sticker over the silver square under the Trion chip. The main part of the Pi will extend over the Trion chip and the blue pad.
Second, place the black risers over the screw holes and insert the Pi header pins into the two rows of holes. Please the cover over the exposed headers on the back of the board. Insert the three screws and gently tighten.
Third, remove the cover and keyboard on your Amiga 1200 and insert the PiStorm with the Raspberry Pi installed in the trap door slot. Mine is shown below.
Fourth, we need to create an SD card image with the software the Pi needs to emulate the 680X0 processor and extra RAM. Here are the steps I used to successfully boot the PiStorm-accelerated Amiga 1200.
- Download and extract the Emu68 imager for imaging an SD card with the Emu68 files along with Workbench. Info on the latest versions can be found here. Note that this image software runs on Windows.
- You will need a FAT32 formatted SD card for the installation.
- Find and run the file Emu68ImagerGui.cmd as adin. This will execute a PowerShell script to launch the software needed for the install. Choose START IN SIMPLE MODE unless you have a reason not to. This will launch the imager screen below.
- Select your Amiga OS version (I selected Workbench 3.1).
- Select your source Amiga files next. Point the imager to your Kickstart directory and choose your Amiga 1200 ROM. Then point imager to your Workbench install disks (ADFs). In both cases click the CHECK button to allow the software to check your files. This is necessary to proceed.
- Then set your WiFi SSID and password so the Pi can connect to the internet. This is optional.
- Select SETUP DISK in the upper left. On the next page select DISK and then select your SD card. Then hit RUN. I recommend turning off your firewall / virus checker while this runs. Note that the imager will create a FAT32 partition for the Emu68 emulator software. The rest of the card will be partitioned for Workbench and Amiga files.
Fifth, once the imager is done you can eject the micro SD card and plug into the Raspberry Pi. You are ready to boot the Amiga!
That is it! If all goes well, you should get a boot screen that looks like mine below. Note the 361MB of fast RAM shown on the top right of the screen! That was a what I wanted for my 1200. The 68040 CPU with FPU is pretty nice too.
Comments
This is a pretty easy install and can be done in less than an hour.
Here is the obligatory SysInfo screen (see below) showing an emulated 68040 processor with blazing speeds compared to the stock 68020 the 1200 comes with. The default also includes a 68882 floating point unit (FPU) math coprocessor.
The $100+ I spent on the PiStorm32 was well worth investment. This gave my Amiga 1200 a ton of fast RAM and a bunch of extras as well.
I have previously posted about installing a PiStorm on my Amiga 500. In that post I mention the modern Caffeine OS sporting RTG graphics with HDMI out to a separate screen allowing you to boot games and software on your Amiga hardware with video out through the RGB port.
Note that you can mount and boot the Amiga partition in WinUAE and make changes or add files as described in my previous post. I actually wanted my Amiga 1200 to boot off the IDE CF card hard drive, so I used WinUAE to create on blank partition for files removing Workbench altogether.
