Commodore.news

C64FC | Stian Søreng has developed the C64FC Flash cartridge for the Commodore C64. The cartridge will emulate a 8 kByte EPROM, but you can program the cartridge from your PC. In the last month he has developed an SID jukebox and is working on a GUI for the C64FC. You can read all the details on his blog.

Plipbox | Plipbox is an device that allows to connect Amiga's via Ethernet to your local network. The device uses a an Arduino and connects to the parallel port. Changes in this version: Fast burst protocol with a maximum speed of 235 KiB/s, improved firmware and driver code, and a new test modes to allow detailed benchmarking of all system components.

Princess C64SD v3.0 - Firmware v0.10.4 | For the Princess C64SD v3.0 is new firmware available. The changes in this version are: Improvements for the VICE VIC emulation, and reading tapes with the VIC PAL. And there is a new XF5 option to avoid problems with VICE dumps.

Portable KIM-1 | Scott Lawrence made a portable KIM computer. For this KIM-1 he used an old plastic case he picked-up on a hamfest and a display from a surplus store. The computer inside is a Arduino Uno R3 micro board and a Seeed Studio protoshield. You can follow the whole process on his blog.

External disk drive for Amiga | A new replacement for an external floppy drive for all Amiga computers is being developed by Roman Breński, Jarosław Bieliński and Radosław Kujawa. The features are: Fully compatible with 880kB DD Amiga diskettes. Reads and writes NDOS diskettes. And a new disk drive mechanism.

Retro Invaders Calendar 2015 | Retro Invaders made a calendar for 2015. The calendar is available in the languages: English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, French and Hawaiian. The games are: Nanako in Classic Japanese Monster, Psycho Soldier, Turbo Girl, Barbarian II, Game Over, Elvira II, Mega-Corp, Athena, Phantis, Mystery, Gauntlet and Gothik.

C64FC | Stian Søreng has a working version of his C64FC Flash cartridge for the Commodore C64. The cartridge will emulate a 8 kByte EPROM, but you can program the cartridge from your PC. The C64FC has a ATmega16 micro controller for the USB communication and a IDT7005 RAM chip for the emulation of the 8 kByte EPROM.

MultiMax cartridge | MultiMax is the ultimate cartridge for the Commodore MAX Machine. It contains all 24 games that were released by Commodore for this machine. The cartridge has a power-on menu and a reset button. The cartridge is also compatible with the C64, C64c, SX64 and the C128. The software was created by Rob Clarke and Michał Pleban developed the hardware.

MIST - VIC20 core | MIST is an configurable device that's able to emulate the entire hardware of the computers of the 80's and early 90's. A Commodore VIC20 core is now available for the MIST with support for the PAL VIC20 with 3 or 16 kByte RAM memory.

No More Secrets | No More Secrets is a documents that describes the so called 'illegal' op-codes for the NMOS 6510 microprocessor. The document is maintained by Groepaz and gives you information on op-codes such as: RLA, LAX, ANC, ARR, TAS and many more.

CD32 - CDR adjustment | RetroGameModz made a video about the adjusting the CD-32 to read CD-R discs. In the video you can see: The disassembly. Identification of parts. Explanation of the signal paths. Schematics & block diagrams. The servo system. And the adjustment of FEG, TEG, FEB, TEB and laser power.

Princess C64SD v3.0 - Firmware v0.10.3.F | For the Princess C64SD v3.0 is new firmware available. The changes in this version are: Improved compatibility with Oceanloader C64 tapes. Better immunity when playing back tapes that have not been normalized. Added some small changes to improve usability when dumping a .TAP file back to cassette.

C65 - FPGA | Paul Gardner-Stephen is working on a FPGA version of the Commodore C65. His goal is to make an 8-bit computer for the 21st century. In the last month he has been working on a RAM upgrade from 16 MByte to 128 MByte and a test with a LCD screen.

BX720D project | Steve Gray is working on a new project. In 1983 Commodore wanted to sell a CBM-II BX-256-80 / BX-700 machine, but it never happened. Now Steve want to built one himself. The specifications are: CBM-II 710 computer, 8250LP disk drives, 8088 co-processor board and a few extras.

SD-BOX Cartridge v1.14 | The SD-BOX is a cartridge for the Commodore C64 with an SD card interface. The cartridge has many functions for the disk drive and the Datassette. Recent updates: Faster directory scrolling via the keyboard. You can now use the joystick in the menu and the diskette directory. Updates for the manual and a few small errors are removed.

Clockport Expander II | Matthias Münch released the Clockport Expander II for the Amiga 1200 desktop. This version makes it possible to use the Clock Expander with one of the many expansions such as the BVision, G-Rex PCI Busboard, Delfina Flipper, MP3@64, Silver Surfer, Subway USB, RapidRoad USB, Melody 1200, Prelude 1200 and the VS1011 Card.

Cassiopei - VIC-20 | The Cassiopei now supports VIC-20's that have a memory expansion. The menu program does a small analysis regarding the load-ability of the selected program and relocates the BASIC program where possible. Available are the firmware update (v20141018.hex), a menu program and a user manual.

Amiga 1200 Compact Flash | Amigakit made a kit to install a Compact Flash hard drive in your A1200. The kit includes a IDE to CF adaptor, a plastic rear trapdoor back plate with Compact Flash cut-out and a IDE cable. You can also order a 4 GB Compact Flash hard drive with an complete OS installation.

Furia EC020 v2 | After the success of the first batch of the Furia card, the developer decided to make another batch. The Furia EC020 is an accelerator card for Amiga600 with a Motorola MC68EC020 CPU, Motorola MC68882/40 FPU and 9.5 MB of fast memory. The Furia makes the Amiga over 10 times faster, than the original Amiga 600.

Ultimate II - Blog | Wiebo de Wit is writing a blog (English language) about the Ultimate II cartridge for the Commodore C64. The Ultimate II is an cartridge that can emulate the 1541 disk drive, it has SD / USB storage, a real-time clock, REU emulation, SID player and tape emulation. Wiebo has written the following articles: Floppy Copy, Software!, File use and Hardware.

Memwa Project | The Memwa Project is a hardware project from Staring Lizard. The hardware that he developed is a replacement for the Commodore C64. The MCU is an STM32F407, the display controller is an SSD1963, the memory is a H27UBG8T2BTRBC and a the display is an 7 TFT 4-WRT. The whole C64 is emulated and for the sound a real SID chip is added to the design. You can follow the whole development on his blog.

C64 / C128 Power supply | Ray Carlsen has built a replacement power for the Commodore C64, 128, VIC-20CR and Plus4 power supplies. The specifications are: Input = 120V, 60Hz or 220V, 50 Hz. Output = 5VDC / 5A, 9VAC / 1A. Built-in surge suppressor (Computer Saver). Metal case and a one-year warranty.

1541 Ultimate - firmware | For the 1541 Ultimate is a new version of the firmware available. Changes in this version: A new function to make it possible to write a .tap file to a real cassette. Supports for the new Flash chip (revision D). Improvements for the configuration screen (USB module).

RapidRoad USB - Amiga | RapidRoad is a new device that makes it possible to use USB on your classic Amiga computer. RapidRoad is a dual-port USB2.0 High-speed (480MBit) host module. It comes with the USB stack Poseidon by Chris Hodges. Requirements: 68020 or higher processor, 2.5 MB free fastmem, free clock-port or X-Surf-100 networking card and OS3.0.

Kim Uno | Oscar from Obsolescence Guaranteed made an replica of the Commodore KIM-1. For this project Oscar uses a Arduino Uno and a expansion shield with LEDs and a small keyboard. The project is now finished and is a 10 USD open source KIM-1 mini replica and a 6502 programmable calculator.

KryoFlux v2.5 | The software for the KryoFlux system has had an update. KryoFlux is a USB-based floppy controller. The system can be used to read a diskette, at low-level, and store the data from this diskette. New in this version: Preview of the RepliFlux technology. Updated G64 generator, Improvements for cell band detection and noise detection. Faster DTC, Improvements for the GUI and support for the wild cards ? and *.

Ryś USB adapter - Amiga | This USB adapter makes it possible to use and USB HID devices on your Amiga. Features: Support for USB mouses, joysticks and pads, Compatible with every Amiga, Internal USB stack, Boot-loader for firmware updates, Status LED and a 16-bit micro-controller. On the web page is a list of tested devices available.

Cassiopei - C128 | A firmware update for the Cassiopei has been released. This new version supports the C128 in C128 mode including wedge functionality. A major advantage of the C128 is the use of a boot-disk. Now you can use the Cassiopei directly after power-on, no typing required. Also a new version of the Cassiopei manager, a screen resizing bug has been fixed. And off course the manual has been updated with info about the C128.

VU-sette | Jani was making backups of old turbo-tapes to disk and noticed that the quality was very poor on some tapes. He needed a method to adjust the head alignment and see if the signal was better. He built an analogue VU-Meter inside a Datassette. On Jani's blog you can see the new system.

Amiga CD32 - RGB modification | RetroGameModz has made a video about the modification of an Amiga CD-32. The modification is an RGB connector at the back-side. During the modification RetroGameModz discovered a few defective capacitors. In the video you can follow the whole repair and the modification.

TherapSid | The TherapSid is a music system that can be used to play music with the original SID chip. The features are: Compatible with all SID's, 3 Oscillators, 4 Waveforms per oscillator, Multimode Filter, 35 Knobs, 31 Buttons, 100 Pre-sets, 16 Step Modulator and the system is compatible with the iPad.

1 MB - C64 | Tomasz Nowak is developing a system that makes it possible to run 16 virtual C64's inside 1 real Commodore 64. The extended memory is divided in 16 block of 64 kB (16 virtual machine), 0.5 kB RAM for program MMU, and 16 memory blocks for the VIC, CPU, zero-page and the hardware stack.

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