Some new games or tools (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups.

Titles:

• Hyper Circuit +23D
• The Catacombs of Cherubim +4
• Rust’n'Steel +4C
• Yloa’s Complex Preview
• Qualot +3E
• Rogue Preview
• Voivod Attack +22D
• Yloa Preview
• Hummdinger +18D
• Block’n'Tropic +6
• Urban Warrior + [seuck]
• Energy Warrior +20D
• Yucatan +27D
• Girlguard Preview [german]
• Alley Cat +18D
• Quak Attak +18D
• Block’n'Tropic +6
• Zodiac +23D
• Kong 64 +28D
• Que +2
• Dragonfire +2DGMF 101%
• Code Hunter +17D
• Ladybug 2015
• Ladybug 2015 +1H
• Dragonfire +2F 101%
• Chicken Chase +15D
• Denarius +28D
• Quantarallax Preview +2
• Sputnik Preview
• Wildfire Preview
• Worron +3
• Flimbo’s Quest Preview +2
• Galax-i-birds +27D
• Nuker Preview V2 +4
• Firefighter Mario +3
• Łazik
• Frogger Arcade Preview
• Robocop +8DFHIR 101%
• Squirm 2 Preview
• Robotfindskitten
• Vault Man 2 Preview
• Ferris’s Christmas Caper +17D
• Cosmic Warrior +1 [inglish]
• Robo +
• Squid Jump Preview
• Slither X +1

Download: All Games in One Archive (3657)

source: csdb.dk

The High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC) is a freeware hobby project which organises Commodore 64 music (also known as SID music) into an archive for both musicians and fans alike.

The work on the collection is done completely in the Team and contributors’ spare time and is proudly one of the largest and most accurate computer music collections known.

This update features (all approximates):

• 672 new SIDs
• 132 fixed/better rips
• 5 repeats/bad rips eliminated
• 812 SID credit fixes
• 133 SID model/clock infos
• 10 tunes from /DEMOS/UNKNOWN/ identified
• 4 tunes from /GAMES/ identified
• 22 tunes moved out of /DEMOS/ to their composers’ directories
• 12 tunes moved out of /GAMES/ to their composers’ directories

Download:

• HVSC Update #64 (1347)
• HVSC Complete #64 (1482)

source: www.hvsc.c64.org

The KIM-1, short for Keyboard Input Monitor, was a small 6502-based single-board computer developed and produced by MOS Technology, Inc. and launched in 1976. It was very successful in that period, due to its low price (following from the inexpensive 6502) and easy-access expandability.

The KIM-1 consisted of a single printed circuit board with all the components on one side. It included three main ICs; the MCS6502 CPU, and two MCS6530 Peripheral Interface/Memory Devices. Each MCS6530 comprises a mask programmable 1024 x 8 ROM, a 64 x 8 RAM, two 8 bit bi-directional ports, and a programmable interval timer. The KIM-1 brochure said “1 K BYTE RAM” but it actually had 1152 bytes. The memory was composed of eight 6102 static RAMs(1024 x 1 bits) and the two 64 byte RAMs of the MCS6530s. In the 1970s memory sizes were expressed in several ways. Semiconductor manufacturers would use a precise memory size such as 2048 by 8 and sometimes state the number of bits (16384). Mini and mainframe computers had various memory widths (8 bits to over 36 bits) so manufacturers would use the term “words”, such as 4K words. The early hobbyist computer advertisements would use both “words” and “bytes”. It was common to see “4096 words”, “4K (4096) words” and “4 K bytes”. The term KB was unused or very uncommon. The KIM-1 was introduced in the April 1976 issue of Byte magazine and the advertisement stated “1 K BYTE RAM” and “2048 ROM BYTES”.

Also included were six 7-segment LEDs (similar to those on a pocket calculator) and a 24-key calculator-type keypad. Many of the pins of the I/O portions of the 6530s were connected to two connectors on the edge of the board, where they could be used as a serial system for driving a Teletype Model 33 ASR and paper tape reader/punch).

One of these connectors also doubled as the power supply connector, and included analog lines that could be attached to a cassette tape recorder.

Earlier microcomputer systems such as the MITS Altair used a series of switches on the front of the machine to enter data. In order to do anything useful, the user had to enter a small program known as the “bootstrap loader” into the machine using these switches, a process known as booting. Once loaded, the loader would be used to load a larger program off a storage device like a paper tape reader. It would often take upwards of five minutes to load the tiny program into memory, and a single error while flipping the switches meant that the bootstrap loader would crash the machine. This could render some of the bootstrap code garbled, in which case the programmer had to reenter the whole thing and start all over again.

The KIM-1 included a somewhat more complex built-in Terminal Interface Monitor software called TIM that was “contained in 2048 bytes of ROM in two 6530 ROM/RAM/IO arrays”. This monitor software included the ability to run a cassette tape for storage, drive the LED display, and run the keypad. As soon as the power was turned on, the monitor would run and the user could immediately start interacting with the machine via the keypad. The KIM-1 was one of the first single-board computers, needing only an external power supply to enable its use as a stand-alone experimental computer. This fact, plus the relatively low cost of getting started, made it quite popular with hobbyists through the late 1970s.

Gallery:

Download: Commodore-MOS KIM-1 Docs (1189)

 source: wikipedia

Brief summary of NOT repairing the Commodore Chessmate of a dear friend (Giacomo Vernoni).

The Chessmate I received had a funny defect: it worked for 10-15 seconds and then freezed completely with harrowing sounds in the background. So the defect appeared when something warmed up.

Having another Chessmate (mine) to compare the signals to, I noted right away that communication was missing between RIOT (6530) -> ROM (6332) -> CPU (6504) -> RAM (AM9111); CLOCK and RESET were working fine.

I sprayed synthetic ice on the 6530 RIOT to check if the problem was caused by this IC: as a matter of fact, after lowering its temperature, the Chessmate began to work again. I was glad I found the problem, but quite unhappy because the spare part is almost impossible to find. To double check I decided to unsolder the 6530, install a socket, and try it on my Chessmate.

It worked! Damn… after thinking about it for a while, I thought that maybe the spray partially freezed the nearby ROM too.

So I reinstalled the 6530 back in the non-working Chessmate, I turned it on, and after 15 seconds I sprayed the synthetic ice on the 6332, and it magically worked again.

That’s it… from that moment on, the Chessmate always worked! after the freezeing spray I left the Chessmate turned on for two hours and it never stopped working.

So, I’m asking myself: did the ice repair the ROM? Will it die again? probably yes :-D Maybe there was some small tin residue on the PCB that I removed by spraying it: I noticed that the Chessmate had already been repaired before, there were visible signs on the pcb.

It will remain a mystery, anyway the MPS 6322 ROM can be replaced by a 2532 EPROM (pinout compatible) or by a 2732 EPROM with an adapter.

Gallery:

This is a program that can playback .SID files found in the HVSC collection on a real Commodore 64/128.

You will find different versions of SP64 in this package, most of themwill work on all devices.  But I suggest you use the correct version for for your device, since they might contain special commands.

Versions of the program:

• sidplay64-reu-1541u2cmd.prg – 1541 Ultimate II version with REU.
• sidplay64-reu-sd2iec.prg – SD2IEC version with REU.
• sidplay64-reu-1541u-netdrive.prg – 1541 Ultimate & Netdrive with REU.
• sidplay64-reu-iec-cmd-ide64.prg – CMD drives, IDE64 devices & other IEC devices, with REU.
• sidplay64-reu-normal.prg – REU version for 1541, 1571, 1581 and clones of these.
• sidplay64-normal.prg – Standard version for 1541, 1571, 1581 and clones.
• sidplay64-1541u-netdrive.prg – 1541 Ultimate & Netdrive.
• sidplay64-iec-cmd-ide64.prg- CMD drives, IDE64 devices & other IEC devices.
• sidplay64-sd2iec.prg – SD2IEC.

(The 1541U2 software iec mode has been disabled for this build.)

Download: SIDPlay 64 (SP64) v1.0.0 (1175)

source: sourceforge.net

The Multiface 128 by Romantic Robot UK Ltd  is a true multi purpose interface with:

• Fully universal and 100% automatic BACK-UP facility for tape, microdrive, Discovery, Plus D or Disciple.
• 8K RAM extension – suitable for our GENIE, LIFEGUARD, or as a buffer, etc.
• MULTI TOOLKIT to study/modify/develop programs, POKE infinite lives, etc.

Gallery:

Download: Multiface 128 User Manual (1750)

source: worldofspectrum.org

The Opus Discovery 1 is a true disk drive system for your Spectrum. 250K floppy drive and interface. Video output port (monochrome). Joystick port. Peripheral Through port. Parallel printer port.

Gallery:

Opus Discovery 1 + ZX Spectrum 48k Blue Fairy version :D

Download:

• Opus Discovery 1 Manual (English) (2415)
• Opus Discovery 1 Manual (Italian) (1290)

source: worldofspectrum.org