Jean-François DEL NERO (la persona che sta dietro lo sviluppo dell’emulatore Floppy HxC SD) ha recentemente rilasciato una versione del firmware HxC compatibile con il chip STM32 utilizzato nel Floppy Drive Gotek.

Questo significa che possiamo godere di quasi tutte le features che il firmware HxC supporta anche per l’economico Floppy Drive Gotek.

Il bootloader per convertire il floppy drive Gotek in HxC compatibile va acquistato sul sito di HXC 2001 inviando un’email a Jean-François DEL NERO. Il prezzo del bootloader e’ di 10 euro una tantum per ogni Gotek che si vuole aggiornare/convertire. Gli aggiornamenti successivi del software sono gratuti e possono essere fatti da chiavetta USB.

The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports: + many more….

USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Floppy Emulator Firmware v3.1.60.5a -> v3.3.1.2a cumulative changelog:

• Fix multi-screens support (OSD + 7 segments screens)
• New Major feature !!! : On screen display support (OSD overlay)
• The HxC firmware for Gotek now support the On Screen Display !
• You can now select images and see the drive status on the machine’s screen without any additional software or LCD/OLED !
• No need to make holes in the machine case anymore ;).
• Picture: https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HxCGotek_OSDAmiga1.jpg
• You only need 2 wires and a resistor to connect the Gotek to the machine’s video signals :
• One wire is used for the CSYNC video signal (Composite Sync), the other wire for the red, green (prefered) or blue signal.
• One resistor must be put in serie on the color signal between the Gotek and the machine.
• You can use a value between 220 and 470 ohms for this resistor. A potentiometer can be also used to tune the OSD brightness/contrast.
• This was currently tested on Amiga 500, Atari STE and Amstrad CPC 6128 machines, but should work with any machines having a composite sync signal.
• HxC Firmware for Gotek OSD wiring:
• Gotek wiring:
  • OSD Video out : Gotek U8 Pin 5 (PB15)
  • OSD Video CSYNC in : Gotek “JTCK-SWCLK” pin (PA14)
  • Picture: https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HxCGotek_OSD_Mod.jpg
• Amiga 500:
  • OSD Video out : Gotek U8 Pin 5 (PB15) -> 220 / 470 ohms resistor (or a 1k ohms potentiometer) -> Amiga 500 Ferrite bead E432 (see picture).
  • OSD Video CSYNC in :  Amiga 500 U41 Pin 8 -> Gotek “JTCK-SWCLK” pin (PA14) (near the serial tx programming pin, please see HxCGotek_OSD_Mod.jpg picture).
  • Picture: https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HxCGotek_Amiga500_OSD_Mod.jpg
• Amstrad CPC6128:
  • OSD Video out : Gotek U8 Pin 5 (PB15) -> 220 / 470 ohms resistor (or a 1k ohms potentiometer) -> CPC6128 R128 (see picture).
  • OSD Video CSYNC in :  CPC6128 IC116 Pin 5 -> Gotek “JTCK-SWCLK” pin (PA14) (near the serial tx programming pin, please see HxCGotek_OSD_Mod.jpg picture).
  • Picture: https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HxCGotek_AmstradCPC6128_OSD_Mod.jpg
• Atari STE:
  • OSD Video out : Gotek U8 Pin 5 (PB15) -> 220 / 470 ohms resistor (or a 1k ohms potentiometer) -> Atari STE R420 (see picture).
  • OSD Video CSYNC in :  Atari STE R475 -> Gotek “JTCK-SWCLK” pin (PA14) (near the serial tx programming pin, please see HxCGotek_OSD_Mod.jpg picture).
  • Picture: https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HxCGotek_AtariSTE_OSD_Mod.jpg
• Power supply voltage measurement:
  • You can now see/read the power supply voltage incoming to the floppy emulator.
  • This feature is quite useful to check the machine power supply state/working condition.
  • If you want to use this feature you must add this voltage divider to measure
  • the power supply on the JC jumper input :
  • VSS/GND|—| 1Ko Resistor |–(JC pin)–| 4.7Ko Resistor |—< 5V Power Supply input.
  • ( See https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HxCGotek_voltage_system_monitor.jpg )
  • Notes:
  • Use +/-1% Resistors if possible.
  • This voltage divider support up to 18V.
  • Use the embedded menu to access the system monitor :
  • Press both buttons to enter the menu. Choose “System Monitor” or “E  ” if you have the original 7 segments display.
  • “Temperature” menu renamed “System Monitor”.
• On-die STM32 temperature sensor support : You can get the current CPU core temperature from the embedded menu :
• press both buttons to enter the menu. Choose “temperature” or “E  ” if you have the original 7 segments display.
• Blackberry trackball : Sensitivity reduced/better usability.
• External/Additional select button support :  Behavioral fix -> remove glitch-like effect when selecting images.
• Fix the short and long read emulation pipeline buffer size options (custom fw web page).
• HFEv3 : Weakbits support added.
• Fix the files extensions display option : you can now also hide the file name extensions in selector/indexed mode.
• New major feature ! : Auto mount USB stick folder to a FAT/DOS compatible virtual floppy !
• This feature allows you to directly put your files in a stick’s folder and mount this folder as a FAT/DOS floppy disk !
• You can use it with any machine compatible with the FAT file system (PC, Atari ST, lots of keyboards/samplers and CNC machines…).
• To use this feature, copy an empty/preformatted DOS IMG image to the stick path “/mount/emptyfat.img”
• This image can be a 720KB or 1.44MB blank DOS image or any other FAT compatible blank image.
• You can use the HxC Floppy Emulator software Disk Browser to create it or take the ones present in the firmware archive.
• Once you select a “mount source” folder on the emulator, the emptyfat.img file is duplicated to a “MOUNTED.IMG” file.
• Then all files/subfolders present into the selected folder are added into this duplicated image.
• (Note : the emptyfat.img remains untouched).
• Your “mount sources” / root folders should have the extension “.mnt” to be mounted by the emulator :
• example : “myvirtualdisk.mnt”
• This new feature can be used with the “normal”/direct browsing (oled/lcd screen usage) and indexed modes.
• For the indexed mode just put the DSKAXXXX prefix in the mount point folder name.
• example : “DSKA0000_MyMidiFiles.mnt”
• Please note that the image duplication and files copy operations can take some seconds.
• I will try to optimize/speedup the mount operations in the next releases.
• Let me know if you have any problems or any suggestions/questions/comments on the HxC forum or by email.
• FAT 12/16/32 layer write support enhanced to create entries (files & folders) and allocate clusters.

This is only a little part of the changelog. The original one is very long and you can read it here. (instruction manual here)

The HxC Floppy Emulator Firmware Customization page: https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/

Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.3.1.2a (932)

source: hxc2001.com

E’ stato rilasciato un nuovo aggiornamento firmware per l’Ultimate-64 di Gideon.

Differences with previous release V1.20:

• Based on the Ultimate-II+ firmware Version 3.5a.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed UltiSid reset; should zero all registers to silence it.
• Fixed debug register for regression testing.
• Fixed directories that match file type extensions.

Download:

• U64/Ultimate-64 v1.21 (597)

source: ultimate64.com

ARM2SID SIDs & SFX Sound Expander (OPL FM synthesis) emulator

Nobomi ci stupisce ancora con l’ARM2SID il nuovo “emulatore” del chip audio SID (fino a 3 contemporaneamente) del Commodore 64/128 e SFX Sound Expander ( OPL FM).

Il formato dell’ARMSID e’ DIP28 ed e’ assolutamente identico al chip originale e dunque si adatta perfettamente a tutte le situazioni.

La qualita’ audio e’ veramente buona sia per l’emulazione SFX Sound Expander (OPL FM) che per il SID.

Inoltre e’ possibile aggiungere un secondo socket come secondo SID se si dispone di un’adattatore Stereo/U64/Reloaded oppure collegare i cavi direttamente al Computer.

• Fino a 12 canali musicali contemporaneamente (due o tre SID o FM o un SID e FM)!
• Funziona con tutte le schede C64 e C128 (leggere il manuale)
• Modalita’ Stereo con qualsiasi combinazione del SID 6581 oppure 8580.
• Fallback automatico su dual mono se non si utilizza il secondo SID.
• Configurazione e aggiornamenti vengono fatti tramite software che gira sul C64/C128.

Maggiori informazioni le trovate sul sito di Nobomi e di RETROCOMP.cz

Galleria:

Video:

E’ stato rilasciato un nuovo aggiornamento firmware per l’Ultimate-64 di Gideon.

Differences with previous official release V1.18:

• Based on the Ultimate-II+ firmware Version 3.5

Added features:

• Real time streaming VIC video data over Ethernet
• Real time streaming audio data over Ethernet
• Read more about the streams here: Data Streams documentation
• Added commands on TCP port to enable/disable these streams
• Added commands to enable/disable emulated drives, over UCI
• Added possibility to write to D64 images from the menu (e.g. copy PRG files into it).
• Added DE00 and DF00 ranges as possible options for SID socket decodes
• Printer emulation now supports color!

Improvements to VIC:

• Sprite collision timing solved
• Sprite to background collision problem solved
• Sprite expansion timing corrected, also in combination with multicolor
• Sprite retriggering fixed
• Border color change timing one adjusted by one pixel
• Various improvements to pass emufuxx0r tests. (incl. 50-pixel wide sprites)
• Fixed loading sprite data when VIC is read AEC=1
• Sprite timing fixed for NTSC

Improvements to CPU:

• ANE (B) made to work.
• Implemented SHA, SHS, SHX, SHY and LAX #imm
• CPU PIO register floating inputs fixed.

SID improvements:

• Improvements to ADSR envelope generator (fixes missing notes in e.g. Hawkeye 2018)
• More realistic values for SID filter resonance
• Added volume control for the SID digis
• LowPass boost in sid mixer.
• Improved anti-aliasing on resample filter in PAL mode
• Improvements on SID player
• Built-in SID player now supports MUS files as well (including stereo tunes)
• Music files can be found here: http://www.c64music.co.uk/
• Added support for toggling screen on/off in Sidplayer with S key.
• Added support for song length in SID header.
• Fixed correct SID model selection for SIDFX boards
• Various other bug fixes

Other machine fixes:

• U64 speaker volume fix.

Other bug fixes:

• Another bug in the network stack that caused stack corruption and random crash
• Copying a file from a container now restores extension
• Fixed issue of copying file from .t64 files
• Added ‘Enter’ option for .t64 files
• User Interface improvements / fixes
• Fixed telnet connection – removing header upon connect (fixes random copy actions)
• Changed default hostname to match target

Thanks to:

• David Horrocks for very useful input about VIC sprite handling and custom test programs
• Rene Garcia for this addition of color to the printer emulation
• Wilfred Bos for his improvements to the SID (and now MUS) player
• Scott Hutter for added UCI commands
• Martijn Wieland for his U64_Streamer PC application
• Chris Verheijen for his critical ear on UltiSID.

Download:

• U64/Ultimate-64 v1.20 (649)

source: ultimate64.com

Bitt-Boy/LDK Game/8BCrat RestroStone my Open Source Retro Gaming Handhelds.

Sono sempre stato affascinato da queste piccole console portatili di ultima generazione sopratutto per il costo contenuto ad esclusione del RetroStone che ha un prezzo maggiore.

Queste piccole console arrivano ad emulare discretamente bene la maggior parte dei giochi per console e computer e vengono supportate da un’attiva comunita’ di appassionati.

Non mi sembrava il caso di fare la centesima recensione di queste consoles portatili, vi lascio con le specifiche Tecniche di ogni consoles e alcuni utili link.

LDK Game Retro Gaming Handheld Technical Details:

Processor: JZ4760 Dual-Core 64Bit 528Mhz
Software Functions: Retro Gaming Emulation, Audio/Video Playback, Audio Recorder, E-Book
Pre-Installed Emulators: CPS1, CPS2, Neo-Geo, Megadrive / Genesis, Sega Master System, GameGear and so on.
Display: 2.6″ Inch Color Display (IPS) Adjustable screen brightness
Video Playback: Supports the following formats: RM, RMVB, AVI, MKV, WMV, VOB, MOV, FLV, ASF, DAT, MP4, 3GP, MPG, MPEG
RAM: 128MB DDR2
Storage: 16GB Fast-Accessing Storage
Storage Expansion: Micro SD Card Slot (For up-to 32GB)
Speakers: High Quality – Built IN
Audio Playback: Supports the following formats: APE, MP3, WMA, DRM WMA, OGG, APE, FLAC, WAV, AAC (Including: AAC-LC/AAC HE/AAC+V1/V2)
Audio Recording: Supports Audio Recording in .WAV (High Quality)
I/O: RCA Component for TV Output, 3.5mm Headphone Jack, Micro USB Port, Micro SD Card/TF Card Slot
Languages: English
Battery: Li-Ion BL-5B 1020mAh Built-in
Product Dimensions: 7.60 x 8.80 x 1.70 cm / 2.99 x 3.46 x 0.67 inches
Product Weight: 120gr / 0.26lb
Package Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 5.5 cm / 4.70 x 4.70 x 2.16 inches
Package Weight: 220gr / 0.48lb

Link:

• CPU Datasheet
• Custom Firmware

Bitt-Boy (v3/v3.5) OpenDingux Retro Gaming Handheld Technical Details:

Processor: ALLWINNER F1C500S 408Mhz~900MHz
Software Functions: Retro Gaming Emulation, Audio/Video Playback, Audio Recorder, E-Book
Pre-Installed Emulators: CPS1, CPS2, Neo-Geo, Megadrive / Genesis, Sega Master System, GameGear and so on.
Display: 2.5″ Inch Color Display (IPS) Adjustable screen brightness with a tempered glass protector for the screen will effectively reduce the problem of screen scratching.
Video Playback: Supports the following formats: RM, RMVB, AVI, MKV, WMV, VOB, MOV, FLV, ASF, DAT, MP4, 3GP, MPG, MPEG
RAM: 32MB DDR2
Material: ABS
Memory card type: Micro SD
Storage: 8GB
Speakers: High Quality – Built IN
Audio Playback: Supports the following formats: APE, MP3, WMA, DRM WMA, OGG, APE, FLAC, WAV, AAC (Including: AAC-LC/AAC HE/AAC+V1/V2)
Audio Recording: Supports Audio Recording in .WAV (High Quality)
I/O: RCA Component for TV Output, 3.5mm Headphone Jack, Micro USB Port, Micro SD Card/TF Card Slot
Extra: Support vibration on games.
Fix: ghostkey problem fixed.
Battery: 700mAh lithium battery
Languages: English
Battery lasts 3–4 hours
Dimensions: 2.6 x 3.8 x 0.5 in (6.8 x 9.9 x 1.3 cm)

Link:

• CPU Datasheet 
• Custom Firmware
• Custom Firmware Installation
• Official Homepage

8BCrat RestroStone:

Processor: ALLWINNER H3 Quad-Core 64Bit @ 1.2Ghz
RAM: 1GB DDR3
Power: DC 5V @ 3A, 3000mAh 3.7V Li-Ion battery, energysquare
LCD: WidthxHeight (3.5″ X:Y)
Video Output: HDMI (Type A/B/C – full/mini/micro), VGA
Audio Output: 3.5mm headphone plug, HDMI, SPDIF, internal stereo speakers, internal speaker
Network 100Mbps Ethernet (Manufacturer device)
Memory card type: Micro SD
USB: 4x USB2.0 Host
Dimensions: 130 x 90 x 25mm

Link:

• CPU Datasheet
• Official Homepage
• Software

Gallery:

Questi sono i risultati ufficiali del Demo party  CSDB Flashback 2019 che si e’ concluso il 10 Giugnoe 2019. Per maggiori informazioni o aggiornamenti visita il sito CSDB nella sezione Flashback 2019.

C64 Graphics:

• 1 – Medusa by Buzz_clik
• 2 – Djmeqanique by Ray Manta
• 3 – Flasheep by Logiker
• 3 – Antiriad PETSCII Loading Screen by Worrior1
• 3 – Mountains of Madness by Polyducks
• 6 – LLP Street by Cheapshot
• 7 – Merman by Iconic
• 8 – Matilda Anthem by Corel
• 9 – The Last Metroid is in Captivity by Mibri

WiLD Demo:

• 6 – Vandalism News #69 by Offence, Onslaught, Vandalism News Staff
• 7 – Modular Sounds 12 by Artstate
• 8 – Vandalism News #69 Disk Covers by Onslaught

Mixed Graphics:

• 1 – Cyberwolf by Delysid
• 2 – Give Hate a Chance by Genesis Project
• 3 – Invasion by Atlantis, Onslaught, Protovision
• 5 – Octopussy by Level 64
• 7 – Tiels 4 Realz by Caoimhe
• 9 – Dinner Time by Hokuto Force
• 10 – Reel Time by Disaster Area

Mixed Music:

• 2 – Tekarp by Adam
• 3 – Toxic by Delysid
• 4 – The Hero by Onslaught
• 5 – Half-half by Artline Designs
• 5 – Flashback by Magnar Harestad
• 7 – Tetraider III by Ald
• 8 – Zeus Theme by SIDWAVE
• 9 – Stress Overload by The New Dimension
• 10 – Simple Tune by Mayday!
• 10 – Acid Flashback by Arise
• 12 – Nun with Nunchaku by SIDRIP Alliance, Singular
• 13 – Red and Blue by Protovision
• 14 – Rising Tides by Nah-Kolor

Mixed Demo:

• 2 – Threshold by Jason Page
• 3 – Robovalken by DataDoor
• 5 – VDC101 by Strobe, Onslaught
• 6 – Ghost in the Sydney by Samar Productions
• 7 – H.E.R.O. Animated PETSCII Loading Screen by Hokuto Force
• 8 – Craptro (a work in progress) by Darkzone
• 9 – Topryk Thunder by Mayday!

Download: Flashback 2019 Party stuff (798)

source: csdb.dk

E’ stato rilasciato da Nobomi un nuovo aggiornamento firmware per l’ARM2SiD.

News features and fixes in FW 3.6:

• Compared to version 3.5, a quick response in stereo mode was added (when using a second socket), the dual-mono mode is activated without timeout when both socket is addressed in the same time.
• Also upper addresses mapping is fixed in the update (sometimes misaligned address detection in the update application).
• The “blind” FW 3.6 update updated without reading the registers during the update (especially useful if you have a problem with ARMSID detection)

Download:

• ARM2SiD v3.6 (716)

If you have wired A5/A8 address lines, you can try 3SID files modified for D400h, D420h, and D500h addresses.

• 3SID files modified for D400h, D420h, and D500h (708)

source: dzi.n.cz/8bit/arm2sid

Robotron 2084 (TI-99/4a) – Cartridge by Fabrizio Corpetti [FACELE.EU]

Ringrazio Fabrizio Corpetti [FACELE.EU] per avermi fatto avere tramite Ciro Barile [TI99IUC.IT] la versione del PCB assemblato della cartuccia Robotron 2084 per TI-99/4a.

Come scrive Ciro, questa cartuccia non e’ mai stata commercializzata dalla AtariSoft, l’unica cosa che si puo’ trovare in rete e’ il DUMP della ROM.

Galleria:

Atari 800XL miglioramenti Hardware.

Ho deciso di aggiornare il mio Atari 800XL con alcune interfacce disponibili sul sito di Lotharek.

Situazione attuale del mio Atari 800XL:

• Ultimate 1MB from Sebastian Bartkowicz (Candle) con l’ultimo Bios di FJC.
• VBXE + DIN Connector for RGB/Audio Output (Rimosso Modulatore RF)
• Simple Stereo + U-Switch + Jack Stereo 3.5 per l’uscita Audio.
• SIDE 2 / AVG Cartridge

Nuove interfacce installate:

• P-Covox + Jack Stereo 3.5 per l’uscita Audio.
• SRAM 64Kb.

Dopo aver installato il modulo SRAM 64Kb ho rimosso anche questa serie di circuiti integrati che non vengono più utilizzati dall’Atari 800XL.

• 8 X RAM NEC 4164C
• 2 x SN74LS158N
• 1 x DM74LS51N
• 1 x SN74LS375N
• 1 x Delay Line EP8212 (C060472-D)

Galleria:

Riparazione Atari 800XL con la linea di ritardo mancante EP8212 (CO60472).

Grazie al Modulo SRAM 64Kb di Lotharek sono stato in grado di resuscitare un’Atari 800XL a cui mancava la linea di ritardo EP8212 (CO60472) che non è più disponibile come pezzi di ricambio.

Per avere maggiori informazioni sul SRAM 64Kb Module visitate il sito di lotharek.

Galleria:

Hoxs64 scritto da David Horrocks e’ un’ottimo Emulatore di Commodore 64 per Microsoft Windows 2K/XP/Vista/Seven (DirectX 9+).

Changelog (v1.0.21.1):

• The debugger now displays and parses all numbers using the current selected radix (hex or dec) while permitting the use of “$” and “.” as radix overrides.
• Fixed broken loading of a cartridge with in a save state file.
• Bug fix for randomly distributing keyboard and joystick input into the video frame.
• Changed ANE to use 0xEF as the magic constant as recommended by Groepaz.

Download:

• Hoxs64 32/64 bit v1.0.21.1 (741)

source: hoxs64.net

Il TONEL PC è fondamentalmente un clone ZX-81. Prodotto a Hong-Kong (da Lambda Electronics LTD? DEF?), È stato progettato come computer economico ed è stato concesso in licenza a molte aziende in tutto il mondo. Questo spiega perché lo stesso computer può essere trovato sotto diversi marchi e nomi (DEF 3000, Power 3000, Basic 2000, Basic 3000, PC 2000, PC 8300, Marathon 32K, IQ 8300, Futura 8300, Computer, ecc.). Ma su tutte le mainboard c’e’ scritto “PC 8300″ generico.

Il sistema è un ZX-81 clonato con una ROM modificata (per evitare problemi legali), una tastiera migliore, più RAM (2 KB), caratteristiche audio, un’uscita video composita e persino un connettore joystick (compatibile Atari). Questi rappresentano infatti tutti gli aggiornamenti che gli utenti ZX-81 volevano solitamente aggiungere al loro sistema, ma sono stati inseriti tutti nel corpo macchina ad un prezzo più economico.

Con la sua ROM modificata il Tonel PC era compatibile solo con i programmi scritti in basic per ZX-81. Ma era disponibile una ROM ZX-81 per trasformare il computer in una vero Sinclair ZX-81 in grado di eseguire tutto il software incluso codice macchina.

Sono disponibili diversi addon: espansioni di memoria da 16 KB e 32 KB RAM, modulo per la grafica ad alta risoluzione, Joystick, stampanti … Il bus di espansione dovrebbe essere compatibile con quello ZX-81 (da confermare).

Gallery:

Tonel PC (Lambda 8300) Loading Game (GIF)

Download:

• Some Tools/Emu/Games for Tonel PC (Lambda 8300) (747)
• Different ROMs for Lambda 8300 (Tonel PC) (841)

source: old-computers.com

Materiale retro che mi e’ stato regalato prima di essere cestinato.

Ringrazio Robert per per la donazione.

Lista del materiale:

• Commodore Amiga 500 (Alimentatore/Manuale/Floppy Disk/Mouse/Joystick Slik Stik)
• Commodore A501 REV 6C (Espansione di Memoria)
• Sinclair ZX Spectrum 16k (Alimentatore/Cavi/Manuali/Cassette/Joystick)
• ZX Spectrum Joystick Interface.
• Sony Playstation DualShock (Boxed)
• Sony Playstation 2.
• Tastiera IBM 8525.
• Floppy Drive Esterno 5″1/4 IBM.

Galleria:

Commodore A501 (REV 6C) Espansione di Memoria baciata dalla fortuna.

Perche “fortunata” ? perche’ la batteria utilizzata in questo modulo di Espansione di Memoria (A501) non e’ della VARTA ma GP, queste batterie resistono leggermente di piu’ all’invecchiamento e rilasciano meno acido.

Galleria:

Riparazione Atari 2600 (4-switch units)

Difetto:

• Schermo Nero.

Componenti sostituiti:

• 1 x CPU 6507 (A200)

Galleria della riparazione: