Catweasel online manual for the Amiga versions

Catweasel online manual for the Amiga versions

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First, connect the 22-pin cable to the clock-port of your A1200. The red marker on the cable must face to the right, towards the 150-pin connector. Then, connect the other end to the Catweasel controller with the red marker facing to the MACH-chip (the square chip, see figure!). The power-connector can be used for additional power supply, but it shouldn't be necessary. In Desktop A1200 computers, there is not much room, so you have to be creative in order to find a place for the Catweasel.

Catweasel MK2 in A1200 diagram

Not every A1200 has got a clock-port. You can identify a clock-port by a 22-pin pinheader installed in P9B facing towards the 150-pin connector. Other (very uncommon) versions of P9B are: The connector faces towards the harddisk, the connector has got 40 pins, or there's no connector at all. In all these cases, your service partner will help you. Do not try to connect a Catweasel here, you may destroy both, the computer and the Catweasel!

Installation in the A4000 to the IDE-port

Use the 40-pin cable that's shipped with the controller for connection to the IDE-port. The red marker must face to pin 1 of the port, in A4000 desktop versions this is "towards the power supply". On your Catweasel controller, pin 1 faces towards the local expansion connector.
For power supply, there's a Y-style adaptor shipped with the controller. Just plug the "small" end to the power-connector of the Catweasel, and the other end to a free connector of the power supply. The second output of the adaptor (5,25 inch connector size) can be used for a harddisk or a CD-ROM drive, it is meant as a pass-through.

Installation of the Zorro-II version

Plug the card into a free Zorro II or Zorro III slot of your computer. Mind the correct orientation of the card: The three IDE-ports must face to the front of the computer, and the 26-pin local expansion port must face to the back. The parts of the controller must face towards the diskdrives in A2000 systems, and they must face up in A3000/4000 desktop computers.
Note: Proper function of the Z-II Catweasel is only guaranteed with commodore- computers. The Zorro-signals are not generated by a buster-chip on Zorro- expansions for the A1200, so adaptation of the Zorro-expansion may be necessary. The Z4 board for the A1200 is the only one known to work properly, so please contact the vendor of the Zorro expansion for adaptation if you encounter problems. Especially RBM Zorro boards are known only to work after a re-work.

The new Zorro-II versions of the Catweasel ("S-Class cards") should fix most problems with these expansions. Especially if the Zorro-PCB is connected with cables to the A1200, there are reflections on the bus that can't even be eliminated by our bus technology on the new Zorro-cards. However, it has been reported that configurations with these kinds of expansions work fine.