RapidRoad USB Clockport Version

Clockport versions have been discontinued because setups like the one you are describing have caused too many defects that we had to treat as warranty cases. The Checkmate case is an accident waiting to happen, and clock port cables are obviously too error prone.

I have stopped making the Delfina ayears ago for this exact reason, and I should have known better when I made the clockport version of RapidRoad. When the returns caused the whole project to slip into a loss for iComp, I stopped sales of the clock port version and decided not to make any clock port device with a cable any more.

Quote from bladejack

When I built mine into the checkmate case I decide to have it run directly from the PSU and did not go anywhere near the Floppy drive connector on the Motherboard. I hope this means it will last longer.

Nope - you're using an ATX power supply, which is generally not suitable for Amiga computers. It's just that the Checkmate makers ignored this fact. They could have done a few point-of-load regulators, but decided to go the easy, unreliable route. Please read our PSU FAQ for details.

Quote from Jens

I stopped sales of the clock port version and decided not to make any clock port device with a cable any more.

Sorry to hear they became a support issue. I also had a subway which locked up and had to be sent to e3b for repair.

Since reading your PSU FAQ I have recapped all my C= PSUs.

What you say about powersupplies is so true. I had C= psus that caused issues with my ACA1233n55 rapidroad combo and others that didn't. Recapping sorted some out but not all.

Is the problem purely because there is a ribbon cable between the A1200 and the Rapid Road ? Does that mean if it was plugged directly onto the clockport header then it would have been less of a support issue for you. I'm hoping to use mine on the ACA1260, once available, will be possible like the on ACA1233n ?

Quote from Jurassicc

Is the problem purely because there is a ribbon cable between the A1200 and the Rapid Road ? Does that mean if it was plugged directly onto the clockport header then it would have been less of a support issue for you.

Hardly due to signal quality - that's taken care of with the grounding cable. However, it's customers and even resellers not reading the manual and just plugging things, often without connecting the ground cable "just for a first test", and that causes trouble already. I'm just fed up with telling people to follow instructions "next time", as I cannot verify if they really change the power supply, and I also can't verify if they connect the ground cable. All those cases that have to be treated like warranty cases (although 98% certainly haven't been) have only caused the project to slip into a loss.

Quote from Jurassicc

I'm hoping to use mine on the ACA1260, once available, will be possible like the on ACA1233n ?

The clock port of the upcoming accelerators (ACA1234 and ACA1240/1260) have the exact same wiring as the ACA1233n: You can use them for an RTC module, or a "fast" clock port device. The one thing you MUST AVOID at all cost is using one of those Meanwell-based PSUs that are all over eBay and Amazon. They are not suitable - if you have a Keelog, A-Power or Electroware PSU, send it back for a refund. You have been fooled - the advertising "for Amiga" is false. Yes, it has the connector, no, it does not comply with any of the three key specifications that Commodore has published. THose PSUs are dangerous for your valuable gear.

Quote from Jens

Hardly due to signal quality - that's taken care of with the grounding cable. However, it's customers and even resellers not reading the manual and just plugging things, often without connecting the ground cable "just for a first test", and that causes trouble already. I'm just fed up with telling people to follow instructions "next time", as I cannot verify if they really change the power supply, and I also can't verify if they connect the ground cable. All those cases that have to be treated like warranty cases (although 98% certainly haven't been) have only caused the project to slip into a loss.

Sorry, but not all cases of broken RR can be blamed to bad PSU or to customers not following instructions from manual. I had a case that my RR has stopped to work while everything was done strictly by the book. I had CA-PSU, RR connected with CP cable that came in box, properly grounded on the FDD screw. And there was no CP extender or anything. Clean machine except B1230 and Indivision AGA MK3. And for me, RR stopped to work after I pluged-in USB stick in the USB port. And it didn't happen on first usage but after some two months after instalation. OK, you can say that this is those 2% of justified warranty requests. But regardles, RR has a history of going broken even with all "by the book" handling.

And just to say, after your repair and applying the fix (two capacitors) it works OK so far. But I'm now a little concerned since you are pulling this product off the shelve while my understanding was that this fix is something that should make RR less fragile. I expected that you would continue to sell RRs with this fix as a workaround of the problem.

Quote from dhud

And for me, RR stopped to work after I pluged-in USB stick in the USB port.

I'm not saying that everything is caused by wrong installation. However, the "resistors of shame" that this design also includes speak a clear language, and I've also had a few USB hubs here for analysis, only to find that they are either not powered at all (take all power from the host), or not properly wired in terms of ground and shield. This would be less of a problem if the Amiga-side USB ports would be grounded/shielded with a direct connection to earth, such as in the big box Amigas with an X-Surf-100 (the databse shows a single defect there over a product lifetime of more than five years now). This is an indicator that some defects are plain static discharge errors, but that's only based on statistics. You might go the other way and claim that the RR+X-Surf-100 combo does not allow wrong installation whatsoever.

Quote from dhud

But regardles, RR has a history of going broken even with all "by the book" handling.

What you call "history" is a matter of statistics here - and there are clear patterns that kept repeating, such as RRs coming back with a copy-paste-description that I have seen from a different customer before, maybe a week or two after buying the CA_PSU (in order to claim that this was used while the defect happened), and still, the resistors of shame told a different story. Instead of starting lawsuits across borders, I just paid for the repair and thought that it's good customer service - until it just got too much. Amiga people have a good network among each other, which is a good thing. However, this hobby is supposed to be fun. I'm fine with working without a salary, but I'm not fine with paying when I can prove that the customer is at fault.

Quote from dhud

after your repair and applying the fix (two capacitors) it works OK so far.

It's not just the two added solid-polymer caps, but also a different 3.3V regulator that has an even lower dropout voltage - that's only one part of the high extra cost, but the labour of installing it, including modification of the plexi cover, eats up most of the money. Try finding an ultra-low-dropout regulator with less than 0.3V dropout voltage!

Quote from dhud

I expected that you would continue to sell RRs with this fix as a workaround of the problem.

I thought the exact same thing when my tests have shown that the fix is rock solid, even with a slightly-too-low 5V rail. However, Designing a product to be operated in a broken-by-design-environment (such as MeanWell PSUs) is not good practise in the first place, as it will always backfire one way or the other.

This is the third product in the history of iComp that has a much-higher-than-average return rate. The other two are Catweasel MK2 and Delfina. Guess what they have in common: A clock port cable!

OK, I understand what you want to say and mostly agree with you. And sorry for saying "RR has a history of going broken", the truth is that I don't have the statistics and you actually do. I just wanted to remind that for me RR broke and that I really didn't do anything wrong. I understand that you might have some doubts wheter that's true or not. The thing is, I'm one of few persons that actually do read manuals and follow the instructions. I even read manual for my car and for my bread maker, cover to cover. I bought RR at the same time when I bought CA-PSU and Indi MK3 (all arrived in the same package). Previously (back in the days) I had modified AT power supply that was now really old and was failing. All three voltages was under expected value with -12V rail on just -9V, so I was affraid to power even plain A1200 with it. I decided to recap and start play with my Amiga maybe a month before I order a new PSU. And I choose CA-PSU mostly because of your comments here on the forum abut some other power suplies to avoid any potential risk of frying my stuff. So there was no reason for me to lie about PSU used with RR since I don't have alternative that I'm willing to connect to my machine. But OK, no need to go further. I believe that you probably met all kind of users and not all are talking the truth.

What you said about the problem with devices with a clock port cable in common... Maybe the clock port itself is not a stable port and makes a damage? This port was not initially designed with such expansion in mind so maybe it's unstable and do the damage to the devices connected to it. Regardles, I have seen in one of the post that you have mentioned some alternative option for USB for A1200 users. Do you already have something concrete in mind? How do you plan to connect it to the machine? Maybe as some option on your new announced accelerator cards?

Quote from dhud

Maybe the clock port itself is not a stable port and makes a damage?

Unlikely - I've pulled the plug at 6% return rate for the Delfina and the RR, and the rate was slightly lower on Catweasel MK2, bust still way higher than the less-than-0.3% that we have on other products. However, things go wrong on the clock port "right away" or "mostly never".

Granted, there's not only the polarity and possibility to only hit one of the two rows with the connector, but also mis-aligned pin headers from the factory for early versions of the A1200, so there's yet another source of trouble. So yes, the port should be considered an "expert port", but not the general-expansionport that it became after I introduced the first-ever clock port device to the Amiga (with the clock port adapter for the Catweasel MK1).

Quote from dhud

I have seen in one of the post that you have mentioned some alternative option for USB for A1200 users.

Correct, but that's not even in prototype state yet. I would like to close a few construction sites before I tackle that project.