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Martin Hansen
I have never liked the twin USB connector on the front of the "classic" Iyonix. It is recessed to look stylish but in such a way that many USB devices cannot be plugged in. The twin socket has a flimsy partition that separates the upper socket from the lower. A month ago, for the umpteenth time, I caught my hand on a plugged in USB memory stick. The partition within the twin socket snapped. Two of the Iyonix's four USB sockets were lost in one careless moment. Given that the other two sockets are used to plug in the mouse and the keyboard, this was a major reduction in the usability of my machine.
I despaired at the thought and hassle of sending my Iyonix away for repair. Would a USB hub get around the problem ? A careful perusal through a Maplin's catalogue resulted in a determination to not work around the problem as a hub would do. I resolved to fix the broken machine myself.
I ordered a USB Backplate with two Type A USB ports with cable for internal connection. It's part number LY53 and it cost £3.99. It is sold as being USB 1 compatible, and the plugs seemed to have the correct number of wires running to them. If you have installed RISC OS 5.14, you have USB 2, of course, but earlier versions of the OS are USB 1.
Given the cost of a replacement Iyonix, I was somewhat cautious in opening up the case. I should also add at this point, "Don't try this at home", unless you know what you are doing regarding electrical safety.
The broken twin USB socket was soldered directly to a small printed circuit board. This in turn was connected by a 30cm internal cable to a USB card that plugged into the Iyonix motherboard. To my delight I found that I could simply unplug this 30cm internal wire, throw it in the bin, and plug in the new part. I pulled the USB card out of the machine with the new part connected to photograph it. Note the configuration and where the red wires are. The pin socket on the printed circuit board does not have a mechanism to stop the incompetent plugging it in the wrong way round.
The replacement USB sockets work well. To get around the annoyance of not having a USB socket that is accessible from the front of the Iyonix I bought a 1 metre USB extension lead. This is a far better arrangement than the intended one.
I'd go as far as to say it fixes a flaw in the original design.
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