Best Upgrade in 30 Years! Parceiro II

[@t0rshammer612]

My Amiga and the Parceiro will now make love till the end of time. What a great peace of hardware. It just feels orginal but it's so much power for an 1000

[@Ratnaic]

I French here, and I had installed one Parceiro II in my Amiga (PAL Europea) 1986. And my A1000 is resurrect 🤣..... I need to do video for French user, it s easy to do modification if u have knowledge electronic. VERY BIG THANKS TO DAVID

[@Abrothers100]

I just got mine a week ago but haven’t set it up yet. I moved and haven’t pulled the Amigas out yet. Thanks for answering the rejuve question I had on the autoboot. My bro has 5 rejuve pcbs on the way and we are going to build a couple. I’ve got an original so I’ll put the new one in my vampire 1000. Amiga love you have sparked so much new life an interest in the 1000! You have no idea how grateful we are! -opcode

[@AmigaLove]

You've left me a bit speechless (for a moment). That's not an easy thing to do! Thank you for the kind words. That is SO cool that you share this hobby with your brother. When I labelled the P2 as "The Best Upgrade in 30 Years" the Rejuvenator was in my mind as the best upgrade prior. It's now been over 30 years since its release. These two upgrades are the perfect marriage. You get bonkers chip, and bonkers storage. And stay tuned, because David isn't done... He's working on a little something else to turn our machines into little hot rods.

[@AndreAguiar]

I recently moved too and both of my Amigas are still in bins. Have been in contact with Dave and will be ordering one soon. Can’t wait!

[@mylespine7731]

awesome video, id love to get one of these

[@AmigaLove]

You probably can if you ask and are patient. Email David: Amiga.Parceiro [at] outlook dot com.

[@MrLurchsThings]

The Parceiro II really is the ultimate upgrade for the A1000. Additionally, David is such a great guy who was more than happy to help me get a better understanding of both the device and my Amiga. Cannot recommend it enough.

[@AmigaLove]

Can't agree more about everything you've said. Now that I've got mine out there I'm heading over to your channel to watch your experience. Good to see you, Mr Lurch! Happy Holidays!!

[@MrLurchsThings]

@@AmigaLove cheers mate. You too 👍 On the Amiga, honestly, a bump on o even just a mb of chip ram and I really don’t think I’d want any more from a 1000

[@AmigaLove]

@@MrLurchsThings I can say that I used to have my ICD AdSpeed @14Mhz working with the original Parceiro and the speed felt like the P2 w/o acceleration. I'm going to be doing some experiments in about a week or two with the P2 and see if I can get that fixed. The main benefit with mild acceleration is screen refresh and drawing of drives with lots of folders, etc. And, it does improve read/writes a bit, too, which you can feel. But I agree. With 2MB Chip, 8MB modern Fast and now really peppy (and vast) HD speeds and it feels... well, it feels about done, doesn't it? I know there will be some accelerators in the near future added, and some will probably pull the thread on the sweater endlessly like video options, etc. But I'm extremely happy with it.

[@MrLurchsThings]

@@AmigaLove I guess my plan with my 1000 (which I point out in my vid) was more about giving it some “quality of life” upgrades (HDD, KickStart) and then just a little extra pep (8Mb, 68010). If I want a screamer, I’ve got other machines for that.

[@AmigaLove]

@@MrLurchsThings Yes, I wholeheartedly agree 100%. We're on the same page there. Even having extra kickstarts feels weird to me. When I need silly powers, I roll over to my A3K. Cheers, man!

[@ToddsNerdCave]

Great video Eric! I bought my A1k specifically because of the availability of the original Parceiro. Once I was ready to buy it, the II model was available. I’ve really enjoyed it and it makes the 1000 far more accessible and usable.

[@AmigaLove]

It's remarkable. Curious - do you know the version number of your card? (I think it is sometimes printed into the silkscreen on the back)

[@ToddsNerdCave]

@@AmigaLove Mine looks like it's v2.4.3

[@AmigaLove]

​@@ToddsNerdCave OK cool - mine is, too. How did you hear about the P2 originally? Do you remember? Or did you go ask for a P1 and then learn of the P2?

[@ToddsNerdCave]

@@AmigaLove Yeah I had emailed David back in September inquiring about ordering a Parceiro and that’s when he told me he was waiting on parts to arrive so he could put the finishing touches on the Parceiro II. Couple weeks later he emailed me back saying it was ready to ship.

[@paulmiller7432]

I have used the Parceiro 11 for 6 months and it is everything that the video says it is. Mine was shipped without the RTC because of a chip shortage and I was not prepared to wait, but I have ordered the chip from Mouser. I also ordered the PAL chips and the 681000 chip but I have been avoiding modifying the original board and so far I have not had any desire to move from WB1.3. I fitted a drive emulator and loaded the kickstart image onto this, and now it kicks and boots without physically swapping disks. Not only is the hardware a valuable upgrade but the software is intuitive and it compliments the hardware. The RD and has gone into this package is worth the asking price alone. I am one very satisfied customer.

[@jdryyz]

I got excited when I first saw Parceiro in the title but then realized it is the II model that I already have. Not at all diminish the awesomeness of it but I know he is working on yet another project. Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be great! 😁

[@AmigaLove]

He's working on something that will work *with* the P2: an accelerator.

[@jdryyz]

Cool! Looking forward to that one.

[@jandoor2068]

@@AmigaLove Yessum, an accelerator AND further RAM boost over the current 8MB of the P2.

[@TheMcflyster]

Great video! Thank you. Merry Christmas.

[@AmigaLove]

Thank you, Niklas - same to you!

[@3vi1J]

That looks damned cool. Makes me want to break out the old 1000 just to play with this cool add-on.

[@jandoor2068]

I got a Parceiro II's last year and did the PAL's modification to my A1000. Truly am amazing piece of hardware. I can now swap between KS 1.3/WB1.3, KS2.05/WB2.1 and KS 3.2.1/WB 3.2.1 on my A1000! Oh, small tip - the Parceiro makes use of certain instructions from the 68010+ which GREATLY speeds up the read/write speed to the MicroSD, so now there is are three good reasons to drop a cheap 68010 into your A1000 - 10 to 15% (on a good day) CPU boost, WHDLoad escape key compatibility and 40% faster read/write access with the Parceiro.

[@AmigaLove]

Dunklee is one of my modern-day heroes. His work is truly inspirational. Glad you "get it" and are having so much fun, too!

[@danjmcs]

Man, what a great update to what was already a really great card! Thanks for the great video man! Just when i think there aren't going to be any real new hardware bits for my Amiga 1000s!

[@AmigaLove]

The Parceiro 2 is such a massive leap it was really hard for me to express in the video. The first time I turned it on and watched my A1K boot up 3.1 in 15 seconds I felt the hair on my arms raise up. Will I ever use that OS? TBD. But holy smoke even just the speed increase in OS 1.3 combined with the MASSIVE transfer volume... If I could figure out how to get my AdSpeed to work with it all (David has one that I sent him and he got it working with his...) I'd be in total heaven. It would make the nutty speeds 20% faster still + better screen redraws. Regardless, it's awesome!

[@danjmcs]

@@AmigaLove Yeah, I have a Classic 520 card that I use with one of my Amiga 1000s, but it's far from being the most elegant item sticking out the side of the machine, heh, even with the little side box i built for it. But, i totally get you on the booting. The first time I booted up off the KS Rom and HD CF Card on the Classic 520 i was blown away. Booting into 1.3 or 3.1 in a few seconds on an Amiga 1000 is just amazing and not something I ever thought I'd see. The Parceiro though is not only brilliant, but elegant in its design, so I'm definitely getting in touch with him about any additional runs of them and would love to have one after watching it in action. Just looks amazing, not to mention his own custom tools to make it so easy to configure.

[@AmigaLove]

@@danjmcs It's quite possible if you sent him your P1 he'd cut you a deal on the P2 (I think he might be able to scavenge some parts? Dunno.) And yeah, to bring top-shelf software tools to the table is really, really special. We're so lucky to have him working on Amiga projects in 2022+!

[@danjmcs]

@@AmigaLove Yeah, no P1 here, I'd recently bought a Classic 520 card when the P1 was released, but I've got a P2 on the way now! Thanks again for the great video and share!

[@f1lupo]

I love my 1st version Parceiro so much that I don’t miss my side cars (that much) anymore ❤

[@AmigaLove]

I love the 1st-gen Parceiro, too. I don't mind the boot disks. But I have to admit when I fired up the P2 for the 1st time and it booted in just seconds I was stunned. And his breaking the 4GB storage barrier felt... felt kind of magical. Frankly I don't need all of that space. But it's a wonder that it is there. Flipping over to WB 2.0 is pretty handy for the handful of mostly Public Domain software that was aimed directly at it. I also think - just for fun - I'm going to install Magic Workbench on the 3.1 drive. It's all ridiculous at this stage, but why not? :P

[@f1lupo]

@@AmigaLove I hear ya it’s definitely cool and David is a stand up guy too 👍

[@retrotechtive]

Excellent video! I really love my Parceiro II, and can't recommend it enough - it really transforms the A1000 😍

[@AmigaLove]

Thank you! And yes - "transforms" is a good way of putting it. It's not a total take-over, but it definitely makes it very convenient to use and is surprisingly quick even at 7Mhz. Curious - are you running a Rejuvenator, or stock? And do you use any acceleration?

[@retrotechtive]

@@AmigaLove No Rejuvenator (though I'd like one!) - I modified the daughter board for the GALs but that's all. I did have issues with a noisy address/data bus, but replacing the 68000 with a 68010 solved that completely - and gave me a 10% speed increase too :)

[@AmigaLove]

Yes, I think that may have been my issue, too, with the AdSpeed.

[@batteman]

A wonderful video for an awesome piece of hardware, made with a lot of Amiga love ! Thanks ! And this form factor and this case are so beautiful ! If I already don't have a Classic 520, I would buy one P2 for sure ❤️ 😍 Amiga rulez ! 😍

[@AmigaLove]

Thanks, and happy holidays! Good to see you before we ring the bell for 2023. =)

[@batteman]

@@AmigaLove Thx ! Don't have a lot of time for Amiga stuff for the moment, I must probably say I don't have time at all... Hope 2k23 will be more Amiga friendly for me. Take care of you and your family ! 😉

[@El_Guapo74]

So with an unmodded A1000, can you make a Kickwork disk boot into WB2.0 or 3 or its just 1.3 from the disk?

[@AmigaLove]

You can indeed make a Kickwork 2.0 or 3 disk. But it's kind of a hack. I even have a 3.9 Kickwork disk... But it's more a demo and not really usable. The Kickwork 1.3 disk, though, is the real deal and originally came from Rudolph Loew in New York. If you search my channel, I talk about the KickWork disk from back in the day. Mr. Loew passed away a few years ago, but if I remember correctly his son still hosts his files and has released them to the public.

[@tjlazer71]

I have the first version. So what happens in V2 if you do not do the PAL chip upgrade? Does it work without the autobooting like V1 does?

[@AmigaLove]

Without the mod, the Amiga will prompt for a Kickstart 1.3 disk. Once the OS is loaded, then the Parceiro will boot into Workbench 1.3! In other words, you don't need a custom boot disk but you would need a Kickstart disk. Then the P2 would take over and go from there.

[@otakumw]

What would happen if already have the kickstart built in the A1000? I added it via one of those DIY boards between the CPU and board

[@AmigaLove]

@@otakumw I'm not sure, but I *think* you'd need to disable that mod. In the Rejuvenator example, for the P2 to work you have to remove KS ROM from the Rejuvenator board.

[@ScoopexUs]

Are you Don Parceiro by chance? :) Sure sounds like it :D * Bus passthrough requires, humm, a 74 series chip and RC, which is not very expensive to add. * CF (and SSD) offers faster write speeds, and internal IDE solutions have been around for A1000 for quite a while. With SD, 'consumer write-once' rather than 'user' is assumed, sadly as a platform is as alive as the new software coming out for it. For larger drives and autoboot, it's nice to see the special software for it although 3.1 is king. * RTC is vital for creating on the platform, and many expansions lack it not least the original A1000 HW, so it's ... vital. At least I would not buy a RAM expansion lacking it, ever. It is a welcome addition.

[@AmigaLove]

The passthrough isn't expensive to add, but it is big and bulky and since most folks would never use it - it was a design decision. Thanks for watching and for your insights. Happy Holidays ScoopexUS! I appreciate you!!

[@curiousottman]

I have one of these (version 2) and it truly is amazing. It boots faster than my a3000 or a4000. I recommend adding 68010 cpu for a speed increase and hotkey quit in whload. Read/write speeds are about 400k/s (sysinfo reports). Adding the two pal chips and a bodge wire is really easy. No more kickstart floppies. Autoboot 1.3, 2.0 or 3.x. I boot in 1.3 for that authentic 80s experience.

[@lausk9613]

This is amazing. Seeing new hardware for such an old computer. Is there anyway to make an old amiga usable on the modern Internet?

[@AmigaLove]

Some people will do this, but the browser technology isn't amazing. For me, I don't bother. It requires a "monster" Amiga upgrade and then you're dealing with mostly ancient sites in mostly text.

[@a120068020]

I have managed to get one of these on eBay. I am hoping not to have to remove the 3.1 ROM in the Rejuvinator so I can carry on using the A1000 without the Parceiro II if the need arose. Is it essential to remove the ROM? I guess I will find out when it lands!

[@xxycom8963]

Gees, there is no link to Parceiro II. Seems to be Unobtainium 😁

[@AmigaLove]

Correct. No link. However, if you are interested you can always inquire at [e-mail] It all depends on Mr. Dunklee's availability, ability to source parts, etc. But his original Parceiro (what I call the P1) is indeed gone to the sands of time. Some of the chips used for it are no longer out there.

[@xxycom8963]

Thanks for your fast response. I will assume we all will be interested in the new, improved Parceiro II.

[@AmigaLove]

@@xxycom8963 When you turn it on for the 1st time with a P2, it's... it's hard to explain how magical it seems. More power than I feel like I even need. It's amazing. (And David isn't done turning our machines into little hot rods...)

[@michaelparadigm7836]

I want something like this for Amiga 2000

[@AmigaLove]

That's an interesting idea. I guess since the 2000 had so many Zorro-card upgrades made for it, it kind of gets forgotten. FWIW, Dunklee has made an A500 version, though...