Stephen Jones, the man behind the retro inspired Checkmate A1500 computer case. Has developed a new retro inspired case called the “Amiga Mini”. The Amiga Mini is a slightly smaller case when compared to the Checkmate A1500 and is designed to be more in line with the dimensions of the O.E.M. (Original Equipment Manufactured) Amiga A3000. A personal favorite of Mr. Jones.
The new “Amiga Mini” will be of the Mini ITX standard and will not be large enough to fit a video card per se. According to Mr. Jones the idea is that this case hold all in one APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) style boards or systems like the Raspberry Pi 4. Neil of Retro Man Cave (RMC) did press Mr. Jones for MiSTer FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) support. A system of which its goal is for cycle accurate hardware emulation.
To this he responded by stating he could put up C.A.D. (Computer Aided Design) files to 3D print, and possibly working with MiSTer community to design a solid form factor supporting the FPGA system. One other important thing to note with the new mini case is that it will not be entirely accurate to the original measured layouts of the A3000. This means that it will be measure slightly smaller the the O.E.M. case and will not accommodate any original Amiga boards.
Aside from the new case Mr. Jones is also working on is the Ami-Hybrid project. A Linux based operating system (O.S.) that incorporates an Amiga Workbench look and feel but within a Linux environment. The idea stems from the old Siamese system that would combine a PC and Amiga into one grouped up machine. However this time, that task is accomplished virtually with in Linux and is done in a way to keep resources separate and as free possible. All while providing an Amiga experience in 1080p with the nice conveniences of modern utilities and ease of use.
Mr. Jones states that people do not have to use his new case in this example and is just an example that he is promoting. He is providing the Ami-Hyprid project information free on his Patreon and you do not have to be subscribed to view this project. It is completely free to view. Both Mr. Jones and Neil explain the ideal uses for such a system and even hopes to secure an agreement from François Lionet to have a form of AMOS (An Amiga BASIC programming language) distributing with the project package. Links down below to all the projects and more.
LINKS:
Stephen Jones’ Main Site | https://checkmate1500plus.com/Introduction.aspx
Mr. Jones’ Patreon Free Post Ami-Hybrid | https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-checkmate-41234821