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Documentation about the Vampire hardware

Vampire V2 for A600 On Sale.page  1 2 

Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
01 Apr 2020 16:43


Hello people.

As above, my Vampire V2 is reluctantly on sale.

The board was made by the (in)famous kipper2k, and I will not write down what I think about his terrible job.

I am really disappointed about a very expensive board that does not work, but I am more disappointed about the lack of hardware support for people like me that do not have soldering skillsand/or any other help nearby.

I had it power-fixed and socket was changed (I spent 30 euro...)but still the socket was not stable on my motherboard.

I asked someone in this team to help me (obviously PAYING and not for free) and the only answer I got was "ask someone else on the apollo forum".

Well, end of game. At least for me.

If a hobby turns into spending money without success and help, well...It is not worth the trouble.

This is the link of the auction, have fun.

EXTERNAL LINK


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
19 Apr 2020 18:12


Since the sale was not completed, and someone bought it without paying, my Vampire is again on eBay.

EXTERNAL LINK


Peter Heginbotham

Posts 214
19 Apr 2020 19:55


500 euro !!!! why when i can buy a new one for 380 in a few weeks


Manfred Bergmann

Posts 226
19 Apr 2020 20:31


Yeah. Probably the reason no one bought it.

Those are not 20 year old hype products everyone is looking for.
They are still being produced, or will be again.
I'd consider this a rip-off.


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
19 Apr 2020 23:50


Vampire seems a great option for money investment.
Even when you have problems with a card you can still sell it for twice the money you bought it.


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
19 Apr 2020 23:56


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

I am really disappointed about a very expensive board that does not work,

What exactly does not work?
You show in the Ebay auction some screen shots of a game.
Did you load this game from Floppy or from IDE?


Claudio Guglielmotti
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 185
20 Apr 2020 06:58


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

I am really disappointed about a very expensive board that does not work

before saying that the card doesn't work, you should try it on another Amiga600.


Smartroad 78

Posts 116
20 Apr 2020 08:07


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

Vampire seems a great option for money investment.
  Even when you have problems with a card you can still sell it for twice the money you bought it.

That's is probably more to do with lack of supply more than anything else. It is something people desire, the manufacturer can only make so much and the price goes up. Nintendo are experiencing the same with the switch at the moment.


Manfred Bergmann

Posts 226
20 Apr 2020 12:06


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

Vampire seems a great option for money investment.
  Even when you have problems with a card you can still sell it for twice the money you bought it.

That remains to be seen.
After all it's just market economy.
Higher demand, but little availability will also make the prices raise for used ones.
You guys certainly also have your part in it depending on if you produce new ones or not.

For this case here I don't like it.
I'd accept a price similar or little little less to a new one, but certainly not a lot more than a new one.


Peeri the Sunlight

Posts 71
20 Apr 2020 16:53


It is not fool who asks, but who pays!


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
20 Apr 2020 17:26


claudio guglielmotti wrote:

  before saying that the card doesn't work, you should try it on another Amiga600.

As you (maybe) know, I did it.
  And I experienced the same problems on another motherboard.
  I'm fed up with this sort of "therapeutic persistence": try this, solder that, send here this, try there that. I've been experiencing problems with this piece of cr4p from the very first day I got it from the infamous Kipper.
  I ask for that price OR BEST OFFER just because I don't know how really can cost this sh1t.
  If some good at soldering gets it, he maybe can make it fully work.
 
 
Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

  Vampire seems a great option for money investment.
  Even when you have problems with a card you can still sell it for twice the money you bought it.
 

  Yes. If it WORKS and some wants to buy.
 
 
Peter Heginbotham wrote:

  500 euro !!!! why when i can buy a new one for 380 in a few weeks
 

  Few weeks that can become even a YEAR. Who knows?
  So tell me what should I do with a piece of non working plastic?
  Put it in a frame and remember how unlucky I've been in buying this sh1t from kipper and NOT having support from the so-called "official team"?
 
 
Manfred Bergmann wrote:

  Yeah. Probably the reason no one bought it.
 
  Those are not 20 year old hype products everyone is looking for.
  They are still being produced, or will be again.
  I'd consider this a rip-off.
 

  Lack of support is a rip-off.
 


Olaf Schoenweiss

Posts 690
20 Apr 2020 17:40


just a tip...

if you want to "sell something" for high price calling it shit and crap in every second sentence is not a good strategy


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
20 Apr 2020 18:20


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

  Lack of support is a rip-off.
 

 
If you want support then maybe a could start would be answer to question  of people offering support?
 
Let me ask again:
 
What exactly does not work?
 
You show in the Ebay auction some screen shots of a game.
Running a game requires already a lot to work.
Did you load this game from Floppy or from IDE?


Peter Heginbotham

Posts 214
20 Apr 2020 20:20


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

  Lack of support is a rip-off.
 

What are you using as a PSU to power your Amiga?
What other hardware do you have installed?
Which OS are you running (WB 3.1, 3.1.4, 3.5 3.9 Coffin rxx, ClassicWb)
Which firmware you are running on the vampire.
Which versions of the following software do you have install
  P96
  Saga
  whdload




Knight Stone
(Needs Verification)
Posts 136/ 1
21 Apr 2020 11:31


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

  Lack of support is a rip-off.
 

I can feel your pain, but i think alot of your bad feeling, is coming from frustration, than anything else.

I had connectivity problems with my V600, until i 3D printed out a bracket that bolts it down. Making an accelerator for the A600 is probably the hardest machine to create for, the CPU isn't in a socket, and to get it to work, you have to use an upside down socket, that's meant for the motherboard. If it boots, but is flakey, i would doubt the accelerator is knackered, if it was broken, all you would get would be a black screen. Cleaning out the pins, and filing down the socket helped for me, but you said you have tried a number of solutions, none of them have worked.

As for support, i will admit support could be better. The support there is, isn't very well documented, and sometimes assumes a degree of knowledge that alot of people don't have. If there was a ticket system to lodge a question or issue, that would help, failing that, the team are on here, and i should imagine trying to help as best they can through gritted teeth, i know, i am sure i made them feel like that. But if it's not working for you, it's not working. All i can say is, clean out the socket with some alcohol, and try it again.

And finally, i feel i should say something about the V600. Some people say the original boards could have a better build quality or whatever, and sometimes opinions on this are thrown about, without much concern for the guy who made them. I have a Kipper made V600 and it's rock solid. For my part, i am very grateful that the guy took the time, to probably work 20hrs a day, making these things, probably through sweat, loads of blood, and tears. We all screamed for them, and some guy built these in his house probably, trying to satisfy demand for them. These are expensive little toys, but very cheap for the price/performance ratio. I have always found Kipper to be very helpful, his V600 he built for me has been great (after getting a solid connection) and i think he has a very "broad pair of shoulders" to listen to some of us go off. Thanks Kipper :)


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
22 Apr 2020 18:31


Peter Heginbotham wrote:

    What are you using as a PSU to power your Amiga?
    What other hardware do you have installed?
    Which OS are you running
    Which firmware you are running on the vampire.
    Which versions of the following software do you have install
    P96
    Saga
    whdload
   

  PSU is a MeanWell 65RT-B
  No other hardware
  CoffinOS or ClassicWB Lite.
  Tried a 2.10 x11 then went back to 2.7 x10 flashed via Blaster
  P96 & SAGA from apollo accelerators. WHDLoad from Coffin or CWB.
 
 
Knight Stone wrote:

  I can feel your pain, but i think alot of your bad feeling, is coming from frustration, than anything else.
  [...]
  All i can say is, clean out the socket with some alcohol, and try it again.
 

 
Tried to clean a lot of times. nothing new. I have a 3d printed bracket too. And it doesn't firmly fit the board on top of the 68K.
If I tighten the bolts, it doesn't boot.
If I unscrew them, it doesn't boot.
As I said before, it's not test. It's getting "therapeutic persistence".

  Frustration > money spent up for PSU + vampire recapping > time using it.
  Is it still worth it?
  Is this piece of plastic inside a drawer still "a great option for money investment"?
  NO. By my side definitely NO.
 


Manfred Bergmann

Posts 226
22 Apr 2020 19:01


But you didn't say if it actually ever worked or not.

I have a Kipper2K V600 as well. It did work, but was very unstable the first half year until I added a few hardware patches. Now it works very stable for more than two years.


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
22 Apr 2020 19:26


Manfred Bergmann wrote:

But you didn't say if it actually ever worked or not.

It doesn't.


Roy Gillotti

Posts 517
22 Apr 2020 22:41


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

Manfred Bergmann wrote:

  But you didn't say if it actually ever worked or not.
 

  It doesn't.

So you're selling a non-working Vampire for 500 Eur?


Ali B.

Posts 24
23 Apr 2020 06:39


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

I ask for that price OR BEST OFFER just because I don't know how really can cost this sh1t.

10€ + 10€ p n p?


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