I’d have the LED on the Keyboard to denote the floppy activity and the one on the case to denote the ACA500plus CF Activity.
I can look at alternative options for merging the wignals later, but at present I have an LED on the case that does nothing.
Okay, makes perfect sense
Jens, has pretty much copped out on providing any further assistance, so looks like I’ll just have to go for it an solder a wire from each side of the onboard LED. I’ve got a few minor jobs to perform on the machine, so I’ll post an update when it’s all complete.
Not surprising…just disappointing right ?
Sends you on a wild goose search…then says…yeah…might be in the German side of the forum…besides… if you can’t find it or frankly if you have a question…you probably shouldn’t being doing the mod anyway.
Hope you thanked him for that 
So I finally managed to get Jens to help me out and I have success!
You’ll also notice the Gotek now matches the rest of the case. I’m thinking that I can use the remainder of the spray paint to change the colour of an old LCD monitor I am using.
Apologies for the delay in response the arrival of my Daughter 4 weeks ago has seriously hindered my Amiga addiction!
2 Likes
Stuck at 1.8 means that its been like that for a long time.
Well, the good news is that 1.9.1 (and for fixing new Z2 problems, 1.9.2) is out.
Hello Community,
first of all, sorry for my long (first) post.
tldr;
I have a short question: Has anyone a ZZ9000 working in a Checkmate1500plus (Zorro expansion board upper slot) together with a ACA500(plus) and an ACA1233n-55?
Longer story:
I just ordered my ZZ9000 (with sound module an Denise adapter) for my AMIGA 500 (Rev. 8A) in a Checkmate1500plus Case. I want to use it with a ACA500(plus) and an ACA1233n-55 Accelerator.
But I am afraid that this combination might not work, because:
- ACA500plus is incompatible with the Checkmate1500plus Zorro board
My ACA500plus is not working with my Checkmate1500plus Zorro board, despite the fact, that I am using the “known as working with the ACA500plus” daughterboard version…
So I bought a ACA500 (not plus) version, which is working with the Zorro board.
- ACA500 (not plus) does not work with my ACA1234-50 Accelerator
Despite the internet and Wiki at icomp.de, the newest ACA-Accelerator, the ACA1234 (I already owned) does not work with the ACA500 (not plus), with the ACA1234 it works well. (The icomp.de Wiki was meanwhile corrected)
So, I bought an ACA1233n-55 which is working with the ACA500 (not plus) and even in the Checkmate1500plus.
- GBAPII++ not working with the ACA1233n-55
My initial idea was to use my existing GBAPII++ graphic card in my Checkmate1500plus case. Unfortunately, in the combination with the ACA1233n-55 the system does not boot anymore.
So, I ordered a Terrible Fire 536 which is working with the GBAPII++, but not with the ACA500 (not plus).
At this point, I could not resist to by a ZZ9000. But according to my track record in “it does not work” hardware combinations.
I would be more than happy, if anyone could confirm, that the combination:
- Checkmate1500plus (Zorro board)
- ACA500
- ACA1233n-55
- ZZ9000
does work. Thanks a lot.
Best regards
Doc Leisure
My system:
- Amiga model: A500 Rev. 8A
- 680x0 CPU: 68000 (ACA1233n-55: 68030-55 / TF536: 68030-50)
- RAM Configuration: 2MB Chip (ACA1233n: 128MB Fast / TF536: 64MB
- Kickstart, AmigaOS Versions: KS3.2, WB3.2.1 (but also 3.1 available)
- Other Zorro cards:
ACA500plus, ACA500, ACA1234-50, ACA1233n-50, ACA1221lc; ACA1221ec, GBAPII++ (not Zorro: TF536)
- ACA500plus is incompatible with the Checkmate1500plus Zorro board
My ACA500plus is not working with my Checkmate1500plus Zorro board, despite the fact, that I am using the “known as working with the ACA500plus” daughterboard version…
I assume you’ve looked at the pictures posted that show the old vs new CheckMate1500 Zorro riser boards, and you can confirm you have the newer version, is this what you mean about “known as working”.
Have you removed the 68000 and Kickstart ROM to reduce loading on the address and data bus?
Have you bridged the ACA500plus internal clock jumper ? (and marked your ACA500plus card with a label so you don’t install it in a machine with a 68000 in the socket again)
Those are the things I had to do in order to get the ACA500plus to be stable with the CM1500 Zorro riser board.
Later the ACA1234-50 arrived and much later than that, iComp actually made the ACA1234 work…
Once there was a working ACA1234, it also worked when plugged into the ACA500plus, plugged into the CM1500 Zorro riser board, plugged into an A500 rev 5 motherboard.
(added later)
In case Jens should stop by and read this…
“It’s probably your power supply”
Hello ljmarent,
thanks for your reply.
I assume you’ve looked at the pictures posted that show the old vs new CheckMate1500 Zorro riser boards, and you can confirm you have the newer version, is this what you mean about “known as working”.
That is exactly what I did 
Have you removed the 68000 and Kickstart ROM to reduce loading on the address and data bus?
Have you bridged the ACA500plus internal clock jumper ? (and marked your ACA500plus card with a label so you don’t install it in a machine with a 68000 in the socket again)
Those are the things I had to do in order to get the ACA500plus to be stable with the CM1500 Zorro riser board.
No, I did not modify my hardware - I just bought an ACA500 (not plus) which is working with the Checkmate1500plus Zorro slot.
In addition to that I bought an ACA1233n-55 which is working with the ACA500 (not plus), because the ACA1234 was not.
At this stage, we have an (almost) equal setup:
- Checkmate1500plus case with Zorro board with a
- working ACA500 (in your case ACA500plus)
- working ACA1233n-55 (in your case ACA1234)
But the last open question is:
Is the ZZ9000 (plugged into the Zorro II slot of the Checkmate1500plus riser board) working in your setup or does the AMIGA not boot (as mine with the GBAPII++ card from Matze)?
Thanks for clarification.
Best regards
Doc Leisure
PS: “It is always the power supply”
Only one person in this thread has received his ZZ9000 and he has apparently had unresolved troubles with image quality and given up using the card. The rest of us, a year later, still can not answer your question, because we don’t have the cards in hand to test.
(added)
I can say that with my modified hardware, other Zorro II cards do work in my system, I’ve had the iComp Buddha card in the slot and it works fine. Without the modifications to the ACA500plus, the machine is black screen at power on.
Hi,
ups, I thought, as we are facing batch 8 and 9 in production, that at least 800 cards were delivered to (happy) customers…
… and some of them would use the card in a Checkmate1500plus case (with an ACA500(plus) card…
… and are somehow active in the community.
So patience will become my best friend
Thanks anyway.
Best regards
Doc Leisure
A year ago, I thought similar, but over the past year, it seems like there are very few ZZ9000 users active here.
I’ve come to believe that with Amiga stuff (after the influencers have had their time to play with new toys) customer orders flow in, units are shipped out and most of those units sit in their boxes, neatly on the shelves of collectors.
“power light turns on, all is well, put it back in its box”
“plugged it in, played a game, it’s great, put it back in its box”
I’m not sure how large the batches are, or have been.
If there are 700 users, I’d think that there would be significant buzz here on firmware updates or for the audio card add on… but it’s been pretty quiet during those events.
I think I initially misread that quiet as “everything works perfectly, nothing to chat about”, but now I suspect that only a tiny percentage of buyers are daily drivers of the toys.
1 Like
Hi ljmarent,
I’m not sure how large the batches are, or have been.
Greg Donners website states the following:
Production / Shipping ZZ9000:
Batch 1: 200 cards, shipped
Batch 2: 100 cards, shipped
Batch 3: 100 cards, shipped.
Batch 4: 100 cards, shipped as of May 2020
Batch 5: 100 cards, shipped as of late January 2021.
Batch 6: 100 cards, shipped as of June 2021.
Batch 7: 100 cards, shipped as of June 2021
Batch 8: “Status (Jan 13, 2022): Parts for all cards sold so far (Batch 8) are in stock and production is in progress.”
Batch 9: “Status (Jan 13, 2022): We have reopened pre-sales for Batch 9 which we expect for a June 2022 shipping target. Before buying, please keep in mind that due to the global chip shortage, additional delays can happen. We will ship your card eventually, but patience is key.”
Production / Shipping ZZ9000AX:
Batch 1: “Limited batch 1 presale that started on 2021-08-17 with lower introductory price is now over. Now in production and estimated to ship mid-end of February 2022.”
Batch 2: “Update 2021-12-04: If you pre-order now, you will be in Batch 2 which expects to ship in April 2022.”
“power light turns on, all is well, put it back in its box”
“plugged it in, played a game, it’s great, put it back in its box”
As there are 800 cards shipped, I cannot / will not believe, that they are all sitting unused in there boxes… that would be a great pitty (and very expensive by the way).
Best regards
Doc Leisure
In my experience, Amiga users typically hang in their own local forums and in the Commodore Amiga facebook group instead of here. There’s a thread with over 3000 posts on the German a1k forum, for example.
Sadly, I don’t read German, so I don’t feel at home at A1K
Being from North America and English, I’ve found a lot of influencers on YouTube reviewing the product in English.
I also find that influencers tend to be the “put it back in the box people”, as they have something new, in a different machine, each week to review or showcase to their fan base.
There are a few technical articles in English that cover ZZ9000 bug fixes like:
There are the usual forums, generally non-technical like:
Where people say things like:
Which does identify another English user not easily finding ZZ9000 chat, also in possession of an unopened ZZ9000, not sure of its use, but sure he won’t sell it. How odd…both conditions in the same posting… and just a little to the west of me.
Of course there is AmiBay, I’m a little surprised by how many of the 800x ZZ9000 cards have already been offered for resale.
That one’s just to the east of me.
The one person I know locally, who bought a ZZ9000 is not using it and now two strangers in driving distance to the east and west, also bought, but are not using or are reselling their ZZ9000’s.
Maybe this just a Canada phenomena ? 
-
Hard Truth: The ZZ9000 is Not for All NTSC Users - AmigaLove
or - https://www.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/q3bklx/hard_truth_the_zz9000_is_not_for_all_ntsc_users/
Where the author says:
Well that’s in the country to the south, so maybe it’s just a North America phenomena ?
Or this one, power tested a couple times and resold, in it’s box 
Oh…wait…that’s Denmark… So… Northern Hemisphere phenomena
I’ve really not found a treasure trove of English language Amiga forums with solid technical discussions about the ZZ9000, or how the users have modified or prepared their Amiga’s to receive their ZZ9000 or read of extensive testing of specific configurations using the ZZ9000.
I am glad to read that the Germans on A1K have found a cozy place for themselves 