How to modify a 24xSlimLine CDRom from a Compaq Deskpro EN-SFF -------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25/07/2001 : 08:19 What's this ? ------------- This is a short explanation on how to modify a CDRom drive that comes with Compaq's Deskpro EN-SFF machines to fit in your Amiga. It's rather simple, so read on.. What you need ------------- In my case I used a cdrom that was supplied with the Compaq. But when I found the diagrams for the pinout I found it to be a Teac player. The model of the player I used is CD224E. I found this label inside the player on the circuitboard right of the IDE connector. You also need a soldering iron, some wire and a 44pin IDE ribboncable along with 3 connectors. One for the CDRom, another for the IDE HDD (if you use one) and the third to connect to the motherboard. Of course you may need some tool to! This is intended for use with A1200 but will of course work with any amiga (or pc for that matters) that has a IDE controller. Before you begin; a little this-and-that! ----------------------------------------- I bet this works on most cddrives for portables also since they more or less use the same connector. I've checked a few and they all seem to have this common 50pin connector on the back. I am not talking about the normal connector that connects to the ribboncable, but there is a adapter between the ide-cable and the cdrom itself. This converts the 50pin microconnector to a standard 50pin connector that let's you hook up a ribboncable. Now, what you have to do is to first find out what drive you have and find the pinouts for it unless you have a CD224E in front of you that is. I will assume you do have it. Make a ribbon cable with 3 connectors. One in each end, and the middle with about 5cm from either the sides. This makes the cable short and nice from the motherboard to the HD connector. Since these are quite close on the A1200, you only need about 5cm cable. So, the other end of the cable you have the third connector that hooks up to the cdrom drive. Keep the length of the cable approximately 50cm. This will allow you to drag the ribboncable out of the leftmost side of the casing and you can have the drive on the table beside it. The nice thing is that we're planning to use the power from the A1200 to power the drive and put the power (5v+gnd) within the ribbonso all you need is just this ribbon cable. Nice and tidy. The modification! ----------------- Open the cdrom by removing the siderails. There is one on the left side (tray facing you). Remove the two small screws. Now remove the (if any) 2 big screws on the right side. They are just used when mounted inside the Compaq Deskpro. Now. You can either choose to remove what is a dummy-panel on the right side, or keep it on. I've kept it on since this makes it more squared when used externally. However, I've also mounted my drive inside my A1200, and then I removed the extra metal on the right side. This metal is just what keeps it to a 5.25". Remove it and it will be smaller. Simple as that! If you want to examine the drive to see if yours is a CD224E, you can remove the 4 small screws on the top of the drive and open the tray with a paperclip. This reveals the PCB of the drive. Now, look at the PCB and see if you find the words "PCB CD224E" on the silkscreen right of the connector. Here you can also see the connector I talked about. The micro-50pin-connector. This is used in _alot_ of devices so my guess it that once you have a adapter from this microconnector to the 50pin IDE connector on the back, you can hook up any device you want. Even a DVDplayer or a CDR-Drive for that matters. Anyways, you seem to have found the letters, right ? And it's a CD224E ? Ok, good. If not, get one or get a similar and make sure the pinouts are the same. Now, you have to unscrew the adapter the is connector to the micro-connector. This is usually fastened with 2-3 screws located on the same end as the IDE connector. Unscrew it, and dissassemble the layers of insulation plastic and look at the printed circuitboard (about 1x10cm). Solder a wire from pin 41 to 45. This allows the 5v from the pins 45,46,47,48,49,50 (they are latched together) to the pin 41 which is the normal 5v pin of the standard 44pin IDE cable. Now, we're in business. We've got power to the drive. Now assemble the drive back together. On the small micro-connector to IDE adapter on the back of the cdrom, you have to make one small modification. On the back of your cdrom, there's a 50 pin IDE connector. Use a knife to cut off the pins 46,47,48,49,50. This is because they are not needed as you've latched them to pin 44 already ensuring power to the drive. PS! You you want to, you can just latch pin 45 to pin 44 on the 50pin IDE cable that came with the cdrom and that's about it, but I wanted to explain in detail so you understand how this works. Also, you can use standard ribboncables if you modify the drive itself allowing you to use it in any 44pin IDE configurations and machines later on. Power up your computer with the cdrom, harddisk and motherboard connected to the ribboncable. use IDEfix or something similar to check if you cdrom is detected. If it's not, check your soldering and the cable again...twice! Put the cover onto the a1200 again and you have a ribbon sticking out of the leftmost side of the machine. Connect your cdrom to this whenever you want. Feel free to email me at espen@skog.as if you need help! Espen Skog Oslo, Norway!