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C64 Game: Little Sara Sister Trilogy 101% / Invasor +2 / Memotest …

March 15th, 2013 No comments

Commodore CBM 8032-SK Keyboard – Before and After cleaning

March 11th, 2013 4 comments

Commodore CBM 8032-SK Keyboard - Before and After cleaning Commodore CBM 8032-SK Keyboard - Before and After cleaning

Detailed photo:

I have used the CIF Power Clean and Sponge dishes, with the porous Bakelite (this keyboard) you can also use the rough side of the sponge without any problems. Don’t use the rough side with the plastic.

I have to thank Andrea for giving me this keyboard. The keyboard has replaced the wrong one of my 8296-D.

Crezar 12″ Black & White CRT of the 70′s

March 10th, 2013 8 comments
Crezar Black & White CRT of the 70's

Autopsy:

The Crezar CRT is a portable B/W television with 12 Inches screen format.

The quality of the picture are good even with a non excellent black level stabilization feedback, however was very reliable and almost faultless. Crezar was a little Italian manufacturer of cheap television sets in the 70′s. Crezar was a combination of  “Crespi e Zaretti” from Milano.

Video:

Repairing Console Amstrad GX4000

March 10th, 2013 5 comments

Console Amstrad GX4000 Repaired.

The fault is was caused by a wrong power connection. It was ‘resting’ the power plug of 11v on the power plug of 5v (monitor input).

Replaced parts:

  • 1 x Z80A
  • 2 x RAM 41464P

The components have been recovered from the Amstrad 464+

Repairing MBX Interface Expansion System for TI-99/4A

March 10th, 2013 No comments

TI-99/4A MBX Expansion System Repaired.

The interface MBX Expansion System was dead and the power voltage was in short-circuited. The failure was caused by the filter between the power supply and the 7805.

Video:

(Italian) Articolo sul Blog di Simone sulla riparazione dell’Atari 800XL

March 9th, 2013 No comments

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

Categories: Event(s), News & Rumors, Today

(Italian) Jurassic News numero #46

March 8th, 2013 No comments

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

Categories: Magazine, News & Rumors, Today

Stella v3.81 (multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator)

March 7th, 2013 No comments

Stella release v3.8.1 for Linux, MacOS X and Windows is now available.

Changelog:

  • Added support for TIA RSYNC writes, thanks to Omegamatrix of AtariAge. This allows the recently released “Extra Terrestrials” ROM to run, as well as improving emulation of “Fatal Run” and several other test ROMs.
  • Fixed typo in TIA HMOVE writes, thanks to Thomas Jentzsch. This fixes the constant collision issues in “Kool-Aid Man”, and several other homebrew ROMs.
  • Fixed sound issues on OSX PPC machines (all sound was in little-endian format, but PPC is big-endian).
  • The OSX DMG archive now contains proper modification dates.

Download: Stella v3.81 (1181)

source: stella.sourceforge.net

Javatari v3.10 (Atari 2600 emulator)

March 6th, 2013 No comments

Javatari is a multiplayer Atari 2600 emulator written in pure Java with no external libs.

Features:

  • Unique Client-Server multiplayer mode. Runs great in low-latency networks such as LANs.
  • Cheat and turn off Collisions. Finally discover the ending of River Raid!
  • Complete Save State/Load State functions.
  • Scanlines and TV screen emulation modes.
  • Real Atari console user interface.

Changelog;

  • Better compatibility in Linux and Mac OSX.
  • AdAdded Joystick support (Windows and Linux):
    • Fully selectable axes with deadzone adjustment.
    • Paddles analog emulation with adjustable sensitivity and centering
    • Other console controls can be mapped to Joystick buttons

Download: Javatari JAR v3.10 (Needs Java 6) (805)

source: javatari.org

New donation: Super Riteman C+ a Printer for C64/128

March 5th, 2013 No comments
Super Riteman C+

Autopsy:

Super Riteman C+ is a Printer for Commodore 64/128 donated by Damiano Colombari (Manosoft). Thanks Damiano.

C64 Game: Q-hop +4GD / Assembloids +2HD / Shaolin+ +2HD…

March 5th, 2013 No comments

Sinclair ZX Interface 1 + ZX Microdrive

March 4th, 2013 No comments
ZX Microdrive and Spectrum close-up

Autopsy:

from Wikipedia:

ZX Microdrive

The ZX Microdrive was a magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer. The Microdrive technology was later also used in the Sinclair QL and ICL One Per Desk personal computers.

Microdrives used tiny (44 × 34 × 8 mm including protective cover) cartridges containing a 5-metre (200-inch) endless loop of magnetic tape, 1.9 mm wide, driven at 76 cm/second (30 in/second); thus performing a complete circuit in approximately 8 seconds. The cartridges held a minimum of 85 kB when formatted on a ZX Microdrive (exact capacity depended on the number of “bad” sectors found and the precise speed of the Microdrive motor when formatting). The data retrieval rate was 15 kB/s, i.e., 120 kbit/s. It was possible to “expand” the capacity of a fresh microdrive cartridge by formatting it several times. This caused the tape to stretch slightly, increasing the length of the tape loop so that more sectors can be marked out on it. This procedure was widely documented in the Sinclair community magazines of the 1980s.

ZX Interface 1

A peripheral from Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer, the ZX Interface 1 was launched in 1983. Originally intended as a local area network interface for use in school classrooms, it was revised before launch to also act as the controller for up to eight ZX Microdrive high-speed tape-loop cartridge drives. It also included a DE-9 RS-232 interface capable of operating at up to 19.2 kbit/s — a rare instance of Sinclair using an industry-standard connector. At hardware level it was mainly a voltage adapter, the serial protocol being implemented in software by bit-banging. This led to problems when receiving data, but not when transmitting.

A wedge-shaped device fitting underneath the ZX Spectrum, ZX Interface 1 contained 8 kB of ROM comprising the control software for the Microdrives, RS-232 port and network interface. This extended the error handler in the Sinclair BASIC to allow extra keywords to be used. As this became an official standard, other developers quickly used this mechanism to create language extensions to Sinclair BASIC.

Download: ZX Microdrive and Interface 1 Manual (PDF) (1052)

source: wikipedia

CBM FileBrowser v1.5 by NBLA000

March 3rd, 2013 No comments

This program works as a program launcher for Commodore machines. Even if it was originally intended for a device with sd2iec firmware, it works also with any CBM drive (without sd2iec functions of course).

It is a multi-system version derived from the discontinued sd2brwse v.0.6 by Hannu Nuotio (fork() of sdbrowse v.0.7)

The Vic-20 Mega-Cart Installer is based on sys.asm sources of mega-tools by Daniel Kahlin, sort routine by Michael Kircher.

Current supported machines:

  • C64.
  • C64DTV.
  • Vic-20 unexpanded.
  • Vic-20 +3K RAM.
  • Vic-20 +8K RAM or plus (for FE3 use this version)
  • Vic-20 with Mega-Cart.
  • C16 / C116 / Plus4.
  • C128 in 64 mode.
  • C128 80 Columns.

Changelog:

  • v.0.1 – 01-Sep-2009 (Start of project, C64/C64DTV only)
  • v.0.2 – 21-Oct-2009 (First working version for Vic-20 +8K RAM)
  • v.0.3 – 06-Jan-2010 (Added memory config auto-detection for Vic-20 selected program)
  • v.0.4 – 19-Jan-2010 (Added support for Vic-20 with Mega-Cart and manual start mode)
  • v.0.5 – 10-Feb-2010 (Added support for Vic-20 unexpanded and Vic-20 +3K RAM)
  • v.1.0 – 05-Mar-2010 (First public version, minor issues fixed, C64 and Vic-20 supported)
  • v.1.1 – 22-Jun-2010 (Added support for D41 and DNP file images, sd2iec firmware v.0.9.0 or higher required)
  • v.1.2 – 09-Oct-2010 (Added SJLOAD speed-up option to the manual mode of the Mega-cart version)
  • v.1.3 – 31-May-2012 (Added support for C16/C116/Plus4, Sort directories, cosmetic changes)
  • v.1.4 – 19-Jul-2012 (Added JIFFYDTV speed-up support for C64-DTV, Clear screen before RUN)
  • v.1.5 – 03-Mar-2013 (Added support for C128, and uppercases disk images D64,D81,D71 etc.)

Download: CBM FileBrowser v1.5 (3656)

source: vic20.it/cbmfilebrowser

Enterprise 64 & Archimedes 310: A few things to repair for a friend.

March 3rd, 2013 No comments

A few things to repair for a friend.

  • Enterprise 64
  • Archimedes 310

Defect: unknown.

Atari 800XL repaired for a friend

March 3rd, 2013 1 comment

I have repaired an Atari 800XL for a friend. The failure was caused by a faulty cpu, the computer freezes after 10 minutes of operation, using an oscilloscope i have noticed that the clock pin of the cpu did not give me more signal but when i have used the synthetic ice spray on the cpu has resumed to work.

This type of cpu (Atari customized 6502 – C014806-12 Sally) is not easy to find but fortunately a friend of mine (Carlo) has found a spare part for me.