Commodore.news

Stereo SID Card | Mike Berlin is working on a stereo SID card for the Commodore C64. The system has two SID 8085 R5's, four latches, an EPROM and two amplifiers. The card can be inserted in the original connector on the motherboard and there is no special software needed to play the SID tunes in full stereo.

Pocket SID Audio Player | Jeff Ledger developed a pocket size SID music player. The SID player uses a Parallax Propeller microcontroller and a SD card to read and play the SID music. He made a manual on how to construct the hardware and you can also download the necessary software for the Pocket SID Audio Player.

EasyFlash 3 - Firmware | Thomas skoe Giesel has released a new CLPD firmware version for the EasyFlash 3. The EasyFlash 3 is a cartridge for the Commodore C64 with the possibilities of using different cartridge and kernal images. The most recent changes are: Re-enabled AR/RR mode and improved compatibility of KERNAL implementation.

Comet+ | In the past months Goog has been working on a new version of the Comet64 Internet Modem. The new Comet+ is a mix of a storage media, internet connection and a hardware and software experimentation platform. The features are: Wi-Fi. Micro SD. Disk drive emulation. BBS system. Open-source firmware (Arduino). RS-232. 4MB Flash RAM. The Comet+ can be used with the C64, C128, VIC-20, Plus/4 and the C16.

Test Cartridge - C64 | Musicmax3 from the web page C64MOD has made an test cartridge for the Commodore 64. The cartridge has a 2 Mbit Flash memory for storing the programs. The program can be selected by jumpers. A reset button is also available. You can view an demonstration on YouTube.

Blinkenwall C64 | Blinkenwall is a wall made from 9 x 5 = 45 glass bricks. Next to every glass brick is a RGB-LED (Shiftbrite). The Blinkenwall is normally controlled by an Arduino system. But it was time for something different and now the Blinkenwall is controlled by a Commodore 64 with a custom build interface. You can see an demonstration on YouTube.

FPGA64 | Sabbi is still working on his Commodore 64 inside a FPGA chip. All the parts for the system are now placed on a wooden board to avoid problems with the connections. The hardware SID is replaced by an FPGA implementation. An Arduino Pro Mini together with an 1.8 Color LCD gives the system two joystick-ports with paddle support. The control panel has control buttons for a system reset, mute, borders on/off and a menu system to select the kernal image.

New products from Individual Computers | Individual Computers announced a number of new or updated products for the Commodore C64 and the Amiga computers: SuperPLA, PLA replacement for C64, Plus/4, 1551, CBM 610 / 710 and PET. ACA1220, Turbo card for the A1200 with 128 MB RAM. ACA620, Turbo card for the A600 with 9+1 MB RAM. BigRamPlus, 256 MB RAM expansion for the A3000(T) and A4000(T).

Zeus68k | Zeus68 is a new expansion for the Amiga 500. The device is actually 4 devices in 1. It has an accelerator (68SEC000 at 7 or 50 MHz), an RAM expansion (8 MB), an Boot menu / Kickstart ROM Switcher (6 Kickstarts) and a IDE controller. The Zeus68k is a proto-type at the moment but a limited production run is planned for the winter of 2012. You can follow the progress on the English Amiga Board forum.

Parallax SID 6581 Tunes | Andymanone used an ET-BASE PX32 Developer Board to play SID tunes. This development board uses an Parallax 8Cog-Propeller CPU and a SD card to play Commodore C64 SID music. You can watch a demonstration video on YouTube.

VIC 314 - Raspberry Pi, C64 | Retrotext build an new C64 with the help of a Raspberry Pi and a not working Commodore C64. For his project he used the following: Commodore C64 casing / keyboard, Keyrah USB interface, 4-way USB port, three RCA connectors, Ethernet and HDMI cable, on/off switch, power supply and some small items. After installing all the hardware inside the C64 he installed VICE on the Raspberry Pi. He can now play his favorite games on his new C64.

C64 Bass Guitar | At the Bay Area Maker Fair in May 2012 Jeri Ellsworth showed a new project. She made an combination of a Commodore 64 and a bass guitar. In this video Jeri shows the inside of the device and explains how it works. The system includes a guitar, a C64 keyboard, an FPGA and a real SID chip.

Plipbox - A500 | Lallafa is working on a new project for the Amiga 500. The project will enable Internet access on the Amiga 500. The system use a Arduino board and a Ethernet module, and allows direct access to your local network. On the Lallafa's web page you can find a description on how to build the hardware and the source code is also available.

HxC floppy emulator - v1.7.1.2 | For the HxC floppy emulator is new firmware available. The HxC floppy emulator is a replacement of a 3.5 inch disk-drive in for example an Amiga or a Atari ST. Recent changes in the firmware: Embedded setting menu: Floppy Interface mode, Bitrate, Track step mode, Enable/disable the drive B. Write support: Improvements for MFM / FM, HFE file format and DataMark support. Faster seek and load. Flip disk function.

EasyFlash3 v1.0.0 firmware | Skoe released a new firmware version for the EasyFlash3. Changes in this version: USB and I/O2 RAM in KERNAL mode. Improved KERNAL implementation. Support for the C128 with 2 MHz mode. For the future there are plans for an external KERNAL on the C128 and USB-related features.

Chameleon - Firmware: Beta 7b | Tobias released a new firmware version for the Chameleon cartridge. Changes in this version: Improved REU, Faster SDRAM controller, Slowdown modes. Update program added. Improvements to the menu and the file browser (navigation, quick find, gfx viewer, wav player and file copy).

Retro style microcomputer | Jeff Ledger started a new project. He made an platform for your own Retro-style microcomputer. The platform is based on the Gadget Gangster Propeller Platform USB board and will have video, audio and a wire less keyboard. With the right software you can turn this system in a 6502 or Z80 microcomputer.

Project Unity | Project Unity is a project to build one system with many game consoles inside. The system will have 20 game consoles, but only one power supply, one video output and one game controller.
At the moment the following game consoles are integrated: Amiga CD32, Sega SMS, Nintendo NES, Mattel Intellivision, Nintendo GameCube, Philips CDi, and Playstation 2.
And there are plans to include the following systems: SNK NeoGeo, Sega MegaDrive, Amstrad GX4000, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, Sega DreamCast, ColecoVision, Nintendo SNES, NEC TurboGrafx/PC Engine, Atari 7800 and the Atari Jaguar.

RetroCade Synth | Jack Gassett started a new chip-tune hardware project. The project is based on the Papilio platform, and is designed for hardware hackers and musicians. The RetroCade Synth will play the Commodore 64 SID chip, the Yamaha YM-2149 chip, .mod files, MIDI files, and all at the same time! Specifications: 2 Audio connectors, MIDI (In, Out, Through), µSD card, Micro joystick, LCD display, 16 Analog inputs and 16 digital inputs.

Project: CDTV Remote Control Unit | Stefan Egger started a new project. He wants to make a replica of the prototype of the CDTV remote control unit. He has a couple of pictures from an presentation of the CDTV as an example. You can follow the progress on Stefan's web page.

Amiga Hardware | There are still people who develop hardware for the Amiga. Most of them are independent hardware developers and do not sell products through standard retail channels. On this web page you can find many of these products and information about ordering the hardware. A few examples are: RGB to Video converters, Clock-port expanders, CF to IDE adapters, etc.

UltimatePPC | Gideon Zweijtzer and Rutger Bevaart are working on a modern version of a PPC turbo card for the Amiga 3000 and 4000. This card will give your Amiga great performance and many new possibilities. Specifications of the UltimatePPC are: 33MHz 68040 CPU, 1.0GHz Freescale PowerPC CPU, 128MB memory for the 68040 and 2GB of extra memory, USB2, SATA2, Ethernet and video with a DVI connector.

C64 Bass keytar | Jeri Ellsworth showed a new project at the Bay Area Maker Fair. This time she developed an Commodore 64 bass guitar. She combined an bass guitar with a C64 and a FPGA system. The FPGA system reads the signals from the guitar strings and the C64 keyboard. The input is processed by the FPGA and send to a real SID chip to produce the sound.

FPGA Arcade - Amiga | The FPGA Arcade is a FPGA computer that can emulate many 8 and 16 bit computers. For emulation of the Amiga you can now order your FPGA Arcade from Laurent Zorawski. The system can emulate the following: 68000, 68010, 68020 and 68020EC processors, OCS, ECS and AGA chip sets, 2 MB Chip-RAM / 9,5 MB Fast-RAM, Kickstart 1.3 - 3.1, hard disks and diskette drives. For the future an expansion with a 68060, Ethernet and USB is planned.

1541 Emulator - ARM Cortex M4 | Thomas Winkler started a new project. He wants to develop a hardware replacement for the 1541 disk drive. He is using a STM32F4 Discovery development board with a 168 MHz CPU, 1 MB Flash RAM and 192 kB RAM. With this system it will be possible to emulate all serial (IEC) communications, but also Speed-DOS und Professional DOS are possible. You can follow the progress of Thomas on his blog (German language).

EPROM Programmer Universal Adapter | Reading an old EPROM is not as easy as you think. There are many different EPROMs and they can have different connections. Matthew D'Asar has made an universal adapter for an EPROM programmer. With this adapter you can read every EPROM. The adapter can be used for example on the inexpensive Willem EPROM reader / programmer.

Retro computer case - X500 Plus | Loriano Pagni designed the X500 Plus. This computer case is a tribute to the computers of the eighties and nineties and is inspired by the Commodore Amiga 500. The case is build from aluminium and plastic and has a in-built keyboard. You can install a mini-itx or flex-ATX motherboard, SSDs or HDDs, slim DVD-RW or Blu-Ray drive and a card reader. You can use the case for many systems like: PC, SAM, Raspberry pi, Natami, FPGAArcade etc.

SD2IEC Backpack | SwissMäc developed his own version of a SD2IEC. He named his version the Commodore 64 SD2IEC Backpack. In the video you can see that the device is installed on the Commodore C64 as a little backpack.

How to build an 8-Bit TTL Computer | Many people know a little bit about the internals of a 8-bit computer. The most important part is the CPU (Central Processing Unit). You can buy many different CPU's to build a computer. But Kyle from 8 Bit Spaghetti decided to make a computer the hard way. He did not buy a CPU, he build one himself from TTL chips. In this very comprehensive blog he explains how a CPU works and how you can build one yourself.

SIDboard | Stefan Noack developed a hardware SID player with the help of a Atmel micro processor. The used components are: 6581 SID, Atmel Atmega162 and a MAX 323. You can use the ACID 64 software to play your SID's on the SIDboard. Because the project is open source you can download the schematics and firmware to build your own SIBboard.

Indivision AGA Mk2 | A new version of the Amiga flicker fixer is available. The device comes in two versions and can be used with the Amiga 1200, 4000, 4000T and the CD32. Specifications: DVI-I Connector, 135 MHz Pixel clock, 16 MB frame buffer, Hardware updates are possible. The device is placed inside the Amiga on top of the Lisa chip.

Project 1565 | Stefan from the computer collection Vienna has now a real replica of the Commodore 1565 disk drive. He made a 3D drawing of the disk drive and used it to print the disk drive. With a modern 3D printer it is possible to produce 3D models. In the video you can see the result of the project. The total printing time was 4 hours.

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