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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: punkyclown on February 13, 2017, 09:16:37 PM

Title: USB on A1200?
Post by: punkyclown on February 13, 2017, 09:16:37 PM
Hi All, Is there a USB solution for the A1200, just wanted to know, thanks
Brad Hansen
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: dovegrace on February 13, 2017, 09:18:04 PM
Quote from: punkyclown;822075
Hi All, Is there a USB solution for the A1200, just wanted to know, thanks
Brad Hansen


There's the Rapid Road...

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1213
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on February 13, 2017, 09:22:48 PM
Your first resource for questions like this:

http://amiga.resource.cx/dir/usb

or maybe this:

http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.com/bboah/CategoryList.aspx?id=19

(although I generally find the former to be more up-to-date)
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: darkage on February 14, 2017, 03:01:22 AM
Ive seen multiple posts about how Rapid Road cards are failing and ppl wished they stuck with subway.
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: magnetic on February 14, 2017, 03:08:52 AM
what do you mean by failing? any links?
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: punkyclown on February 14, 2017, 03:30:54 AM
Okay, so there is no direct install for a USB connection to an A1200.  You need to buy a
second board like an X-Surf 100? and it seems to you need some technical know how
to install and then connect the USB board?
Thanks Brad Hansen.
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: dovegrace on February 14, 2017, 03:46:01 AM
The Subway and Rapid Road both connect to the A1200's clockport.
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on February 14, 2017, 04:13:53 AM
Quote from: punkyclown;822094
Okay, so there is no direct install for a USB connection to an A1200.  You need to buy a
second board like an X-Surf 100? and it seems to you need some technical know how
to install and then connect the USB board?
Thanks Brad Hansen.


Did you even read the links in comments #2 and 3? :angry:

Either way, a little "technical know how" is always good when working on an Amiga. :laughing:
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: paul1981 on February 14, 2017, 10:49:07 AM
Quote from: punkyclown;822094
Okay, so there is no direct install for a USB connection to an A1200.  You need to buy a
second board like an X-Surf 100? and it seems to you need some technical know how
to install and then connect the USB board?
Thanks Brad Hansen.


The A1200 and A4000 were designed and released 4 years before the advent of USB.
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: darksun9210 on February 14, 2017, 12:48:24 PM
the rapidroad is your best option. connects to the clock port of your A1200.

but all A1200 clockport USB stuff needs drivers to be active. you wont be able to boot off USB keys or USB CD drives.

so extra requirements are ideally workbench booted of hard disk with the drivers installed, and some fastram

i have two rapidroad cards myself, and have had no problems - but again, that is a limited data sample set. and if we want to go anecdotal with no evidence; i remember people saying that their subways were dying back in the day, but that was due to plugging in the clockport cable the wrong way round and stuffing 5volts to something that didn't want 5volts i'd imagine. :)
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: klx300r on February 14, 2017, 02:10:21 PM
@ punkyclown

No problems here with my RapidRoad USB on my 1200 via the clockport BUT on my A4000 I've had no luck at all getting it working with my X-Surf100 and there are many other A4000 users with the same issue so beware
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on February 14, 2017, 04:01:06 PM
Quote from: klx300r;822131
No problems here with my RapidRoad USB on my 1200 via the clockport BUT on my A4000 I've had no luck at all getting it working with my X-Surf100 and there are many other A4000 users with the same issue so beware


I thought this was due to certain models of processor cards in the A4K? Either way, +1 for the RapidRoad, works flawlessly in my A2000 with X-Surf 100. Supports nearly every device I throw at it. :)
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: LoadWB on February 14, 2017, 09:31:23 PM
Quote from: paul1981;822117
The A1200 and A4000 were designed and released 4 years before the advent of USB.


The A1200 and A4000 were designed and released over a decade before most of the shyte we cram into them.

FTFY :)
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: LoadWB on February 14, 2017, 09:38:55 PM
Quote from: klx300r;822131
@ punkyclown

No problems here with my RapidRoad USB on my 1200 via the clockport BUT on my A4000 I've had no luck at all getting it working with my X-Surf100 and there are many other A4000 users with the same issue so beware


Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;822139
I thought this was due to certain models of processor cards in the A4K? Either way, +1 for the RapidRoad, works flawlessly in my A2000 with X-Surf 100. Supports nearly every device I throw at it. :)


Yes.  I had the problem with my new A4000D and coming to find out it has one of the older 3640s.

Information on the RapidRoad here (http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/RapidRoad), and the latest driver is down in the page with this link (http://wiki.icomp.de/w/images/3/38/RRDevice17Bin.lha) under "Software Downloads."  Fixed me right up.  Oh, so it says it requires Thor's mmu.library (http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/MuLockLib).

I fekken love my X-Surf 100 and RapidRoad.  The only thing which prevents it from replacing my Deneb is the lack of FlashROM (oh, and the number of USB ports: two for the RR and either three or four for the Deneb of which I make judicious use.)
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on February 14, 2017, 09:46:49 PM
Quote from: LoadWB;822157
and the latest driver is down in the page with this link (http://wiki.icomp.de/w/images/3/38/RRDevice17Bin.lha) under "Software Downloads."  Fixed me right up.

Good find! :hammer:

He sure buries that info in the page. lol. :lol:
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: klx300r on February 14, 2017, 09:50:24 PM
Quote from: LoadWB;822157
Yes.  I had the problem with my new A4000D and coming to find out it has one of the older 3640s.

Information on the RapidRoad here (http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/RapidRoad), and the latest driver is down in the page with this link (http://wiki.icomp.de/w/images/3/38/RRDevice17Bin.lha) under "Software Downloads."  Fixed me right up.  Oh, so it says it requires Thor's mmu.library (http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/MuLockLib).

I fekken love my X-Surf 100 and RapidRoad.  The only thing which prevents it from replacing my Deneb is the lack of FlashROM (oh, and the number of USB ports: two for the RR and either three or four for the Deneb of which I make judicious use.)

lucky you! I don't even have a 3640 in my A4000D, I have a CyberStorm MKIII and no luck at all with getting RR to work
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: utri007 on February 14, 2017, 10:04:50 PM
Has any one tried X-Surf version of Rapid Road with Buddha's clock port? I have understand that A1200 has quite lot noise and that why it is more epensive.
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: punkyclown on February 14, 2017, 10:47:48 PM
Mike - I did read both of them, twice... But like I said my know how is obviously leaving me short.   (I had to read and copy the instructions for using TLS1 on iBrowse 4 times before it finally worked.) So right now my short coming is not understanding exactly what and how the Clock port is and works. Sorry, but thanks for the help.
Brad Hansen
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on February 15, 2017, 12:25:56 AM
Quote from: punkyclown;822164
Mike - I did read both of them, twice... But like I said my know how is obviously leaving me short.   (I had to read and copy the instructions for using TLS1 on iBrowse 4 times before it finally worked.) So right now my short coming is not understanding exactly what and how the Clock port is and works. Sorry, but thanks for the help.
Brad Hansen

Hi Brad,

I'm not trying to come across as a smart-ass, but if you don't even know what the clock port is, it's going to be very challenging for you to add USB support to an A1200.  That doesn't mean it can't be done, thousands of people have done it before you, but just be prepared that you're going to have to spend a lot of time reading and researching.  It's not just "pop in a card and go" like you might be familiar with on a modern PC.  ;)

You might want to start with this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_port

Cheers!  :)
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: LoadWB on February 15, 2017, 07:02:01 AM
Quote from: klx300r;822159
lucky you! I don't even have a 3640 in my A4000D, I have a CyberStorm MKIII and no luck at all with getting RR to work


hrrmmmm the 4000D into which I want to install this has a CSMKIII... now I am curious and have to add this to my long list of things to try.
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: cgutjahr on February 15, 2017, 01:41:20 PM
Do you want USB just because it would be cool to have (which is a totally valid reason, of course)? If not, maybe you should weigh the pros and cons - USB solutions for Amiga are expensive and hard to find.

Unless your A1200 is supposed to be used for modern desktop computing tasks only, USB input devices are a no-go since they don't work with Amiga games. Having two mice connected to an A1200 is just weird, IMHO. And using a 600dpi mouse with a 640x256 display doesn't sound like a perfect fit to me.

Nobody's using scanners or tablets on an A1200 anymore, that leaves USB storage devices. A 5 € PCMCIA network card and the free AmiTCP 3 from Aminet will let you connect your A1200 to your local network. Much cheaper and more comfortable than transferring files using USB sticks...
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: punkyclown on February 15, 2017, 06:21:48 PM
Hi, No my dream is to have a CD/DVD drive and Thumb drive/SSA Card reader and my internet connection all running at the same time. Meaning my PCMCIA slot is for internet connection only.  Thanks Brad Hansen
Title: Re: USB on A1200?
Post by: Iggy on February 15, 2017, 06:40:49 PM
Quote from: punkyclown;822229
Hi, No my dream is to have a CD/DVD drive and Thumb drive/SSA Card reader and my internet connection all running at the same time. Meaning my PCMCIA slot is for internet connection only.  Thanks Brad Hansen

I doubt you would be able to get a USB CD/DVD drive to work with an Amiga.