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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Alpha_Tay on Sun, 16 September 2012, 21:42:38
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Tech-Dynamic, the rosewill singapore Distributor,
The first batch of rk9000 had an issue with the usb port coming loose. It's been fixed already and you shouldn't be facing these issues anymore with units available in retail stores now.
any truth in it?
http://forums.vr-zone.com/hardware-depot/1744808-rosewill-rk9000-mechanical-rk9100-backlit-mechanical-keyboards-15.html
Tech-Dynamic replys,
For RK9000 updated USB, you can check the serial number of the unit.
eg. serial number:
(product type) - (model) - (dateyear) - (serial)
2320-1044-0811-01152
2320-1044-0512-01111
those made in year 2012 have no usb issues
so the units with 0512 (may 2012) will have no such problem.
anybody can confirm this?
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apparently the average age on this forum is "very old"
So we're all tech savy enough to solder.
None of us would bother looking up if such problem was true, because if it ever happened to one of us, we would just solder the wire.
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I've always heard the Rosewill boards had problems with the USB connector, but I have one and have had no such issue. But then again, I was kinda babying it since I knew there had been issues.
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I've always heard the Rosewill boards had problems with the USB connector, but I have one and have had no such issue. But then again, I was kinda babying it since I knew there had been issues.
Ditto. My Rosewill hasn't shown any issues, but I'm super careful with it. I have an earlier 2nd gen RK-9000 with detachable cable, during the era of manufacturing issues. First gen RK9000s were hardwired as USB boards, I believe.
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i have the rk9000 bri
im pretty sure that all the white body ones are made in 2012 so there shouldnt' be a problem
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I got mine earlier this year for cheap @ newegg to test out reds, no idea when it was actually manufactured though. There is some problem with the USB, not quite sure what it is. Basically the PC forgets it has a keyboard attached and I have to unplug it and plug it back in. Annoying at times.
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apparently the average age on this forum is "very old"
So we're all tech savy enough to solder.
None of us would bother looking up if such problem was true, because if it ever happened to one of us, we would just solder the wire.
i'm seven thousand years old, so i don't even bother buying keyboards, i just imagine myself typing on new layouts every 1.22 gigaseconds and transmit the raw data to my computer using my enormous, weaponized brain. i wrote my ph.d thesis on telekinesis and my oral dissertation was a levitation demonstration.
edit: actually i lied, i have ethernet cable running into both ears and each half of my brain is on a different subnet
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Just got mine from Amazon yesterday. Its dated 01 12. Does that mean I am safe?
Have not tested it yet 2 tired. Been up 27 hrs so far.
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Open it up and find out. I don't know why people are so scared of opening up their keyboards. It takes like 5 min to take the top cover off.
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Also voids your warranty to open it.. I would wait till it sputters before you open it. The soldering job is pretty easy though if it occurs, great keyboard and price.
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Ok I am awake now and typing on my new Rosewill RK-9000RE with wobbly USB connector.
Date code indicates 2012 manufacture but while setting up the keyboard in a manner that is ergonomic to the USB connector I noticed the connector moving around quite a lot. I don't understand how it can even work like this.
What is the USB connector mounted on? A spring? Rubber bands and wires? I am a software designer not a hardware designer so I don't understand how a connector can move around so much.
I have owned many electronic devices with many different connectors, including a thing or 2 with small USB connectors and none of them have wobbly connectors that I ever noticed.
I have had devices that had rock solid connectors when new but then with age and use the connector became wobbly and began to fail electrically. One of my CRT monitors is like this.
The keyboard comes with 2 cables. 1 mini-USB to USB and 1 mini-USB to PS/2. Both cables are very stiff; much stiffer than any keyboard cable I have ever used in my life. I have used at least 30 different detached keyboards.
The cable looks all sweet and innocent sitting there. It does not look like it is applying force to the connecor as I write this... But how do I know? I cannot actually see Newtons. I can only feel them.
I assume the wobbly connector will break within 3 years unless someone out there has knowledge that wobbly connectors are normal, safe and reliable?
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mini-B's design requires OUTSIDE support in order to protect it from getting ripped off the PCB or stressed by repeated flexing of the leads. Just like any single conductor wire, flex enough times and it's broken.
There are 2 choices for mini-B, through hole and SMD. Surface mount will fail faster if there is no reinforcement from the hole the connector is passing through. There should be clamping force provided under the PCB and directly on the connector housing. Through-hole is only slightly better as solder is still not that amazing compared to the forces that can be applied by the typical mini-B cable end.
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So basically, Rosewill keyboards cost $70.00 less than Filco keyboards because Rosewill doesn't spend the extra $70.00 reinforcing the connector?
Although now that I think about it ... I don't see how stripping the reinforcement could save more than $2.00...
Basically when the guy at Rosewill sent in the design for the keyboard he willfully left off a reinforcement, correct?
Or did he design it with reinforcement, but the OEM did not follow his plans, and they left off the reinforcment?
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As Rosewill very carefully designed their cable so that OOPS it will break your keyboard I am trying to find a replacement. But all my searches for USB Mini to PS/2 cable keep turning up weird things that are not what I need.
USB Mini plugs into the keyboard and PS/2 is on the other end. I never saw a cable like this before. Usually they use a normal USB cable with a separate little adapter.
Is there a certain name for this type of cable?
Is it some super custom thing? Or can I replace it with a normal USB Cable + adaptor thingy?
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The PS/2 adapters for USB keyboards are passive. The mini-B to PS/2 cable is literally what you said in your last sentence
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kthanx. I will buy a regular old USB cable + adapter sometime when I am actually conscious. Then maybe my keyboard will last more than 3 months.
You wouldn't believe how stupid this cable looks. Its sticking up in the air and zigzagging around. Probably putting a lot of weight onto the intentionally badly designed USB mini port.
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I have a Rosewill, so I know exactly what you mean. Mine is old and doesn't have the glue, but it's been fine. I don't use the ultra-stiff cable it comes with. If/when the connector breaks, I'll solder the cable right to the PCB ala Filco. Other that this issue, it's a great keyboard for the price.
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I have a Rosewill, so I know exactly what you mean. Mine is old and doesn't have the glue, but it's been fine. I don't use the ultra-stiff cable it comes with. If/when the connector breaks, I'll solder the cable right to the PCB ala Filco. Other that this issue, it's a great keyboard for the price.
Just did this for a friends Rosewill board. The connector had come lose and one of the pins had become detached from the connector to the pcb board. I removed the connector, stripped the cord and soldered it directly onto the pcb. The cord was then epoxied onto the top of the pcb so it was sturdier.
None of this was difficult, but if they had just used a better connector / pcb interface in the first place it would have been easy to avoid.
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i have the rk9000 bri
im pretty sure that all the white body ones are made in 2012 so there shouldnt' be a problem
i order a RK-9000I, that the white you were talking? if thats so i bought mine on black friday bia amazon so, it should be fine right?
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i order a RK-9000I, that the white you were talking? if thats so i bought mine on black friday bia amazon so, it should be fine right?
yup, rk-9000I is the blue switches with the white body. and yes you should be fine. ;D
if not, then we're both screwed :eek:
i really like this keyboard. soooooo clean and plain looking without the very expensive pricetag