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Archive for the ‘News & Rumors’ Category

Commodore 64c Red case with translucent keycaps

September 25th, 2023 1 comment

Commodore 64c Red case with translucent keycaps

Follow me for the other keys replacements ;-D

Gallery:

Kung Fu Flash Cartridge Firmware Update v1.48

September 24th, 2023 No comments

A new version of the firmware for the Kung Fu Flash Cartridge by Kim Jørgensen is released.

Changelog:

  • Improve disk emulation to support saving high scores in Lode Runner. Thanks DWStaley.

Download:

source: github.com/KimJorgensen/KungFuFlash

Categories: Firmware, News & Rumors, Today

C64 B.G.Pack: Stinger +2DG / The Last Ninja Remix +8DI / Dig Dug …

September 10th, 2023 No comments

NEW TAG: C64 BIG GAME PACK

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

Titles:

  • Retroscape64 Preview +1D
  • Stinger +2DG *Hokuto Force*
  • Labyrinth 3D Preview &D
  • Blocrun 250 V1.1
  • Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade +11DGHI *Hokuto Force*
  • Pac-Man +2D
  • Keiko’s Adventure Hardcore +2H [seuck] *Hokuto Force*
  • Chaluul’s Curse
  • Keiko’s Adventure +2H [seuck] *Hokuto Force*
  • Harem II: Mallagor +GM *Hokuto Force*
  • WinGames
  • Der Fluch des Chaluul [german]
  • Dig Dug Revival +D
  • Dig Dug Revival +
  • Dig Dug Revival +3D
  • Pong 2023 +TD
  • XCB Tic Tac Toe
  • Beyond Castle Wolfenstein +9DM *Hokuto Force*
  • Dig Dug Revival V1.1 +3D
  • Cloak of Darkness V1.2 +S *Hokuto Force*
  • C64-RPG-June-2023 Preview
  • Tron-Kernal
  • C64-RPG-June-2023 Preview 2
  • Walls Prewiew
  • TSIED64
  • Jump’n'Run
  • Haunted Hill +2
  • Los 3 Investigadores y el Misterio de la Falsa Herencia
  • Lancess Priya +
  • Lancess Priya +1D
  • Break-Out +1
  • Bowling +
  • Cowboy Solitario +1T
  • Lancess Priya
  • Skaermtrolden Hugo [cartridge]
  • Hopman +3
  • Night Mission Pinball +1HDG [us version]
  • Miniadventure &DS
  • Galacticon
  • Richthofen’s Revenge +2
  • Lunar City +4D
  • Lunar City
  • Escape Room V1.0 +2
  • Teacher Busters +3TD
  • Mega Wizards Preview
  • Mafia English +1DG
  • GP Cars +8H
  • Cricket Maths +D
  • Vager 3 +4DH
  • Arkanoid Air Doh
  • Dig Dug Revival V1.2 +3D
  • Escape Room V1.1.2 +2
  • Basic Snake
  • Primary Maths
  • Logos 2023 V2.02 +G *Hokuto Force*
  • Petaxian +2HDG
  • GP Cars +8H
  • Pixner II +
  • Trobots +2D
  • I-Ball +6DHMP
  • Puzzle Mania &H
  • Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure +1D
  • The Last Effort Preview +1D
  • Escape Room V1.4 +2
  • Pssst +
  • Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure +6D
  • 1Pong +1GJM *Hokuto Force*
  • A Bee’s Trip +1D
  • Did You Just Teleport Into My Bed?
  • Parallax +4DG
  • Pssst +F
  • Eagle Empire +4DGHM feat. Galaga!
  • Escape Room V1.4.1 +2
  • Blockheads DX Preview +2
  • Masters of Time +2D
  • JJ Pacman! +
  • MotoAGPX Preview & Making Of +T
  • Monkeybuilder +1D
  • Pssst [EasyFlash]
  • In The Dark +1D
  • Project Mutiny Preview
  • Red Max +5D
  • Night Mission Pinball +1HDG [us version]
  • H.E.R.O. (2 Buttons)
  • The Last Ninja Remix +8DI *Hokuto Force*
  • Cards 64 +3
  • Octopus +
  • Thud +
  • Dog Fight
  • Eddie’s Jet Shoes +
  • Gun-Fight
  • Lone Zoner +
  • Galaxian Artillery
  • Hustler’s Revenge
  • Kanyargo +2
  • Crazy Bomber
  • Grand Prix +3
  • 64 Snake Master
  • Sea Hunt +
  • Pearl Diver +2
  • Repto Compiler
  • JJ PacMan! V1.1 +
  • C64-RPG-June-2023 Preview 3
  • Archon
  • Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure V1.2 +6D
  • Fizz +D
  • Black Magic KrakPak
  • Fizz +DI
  • Night Mission +J
  • Light Cycle Duel Preview
  • Kidelyneen +2
  • Light Cycle Duel Preview +
  • Rocket Landing +1D
  • Balls Preview
  • TSI Maze Man +3MG *Hokuto Force*
  • Feunos
  • Monster Hunter Preview
  • C64-RPG-June-2023 Preview 4
  • Doomed PETSCII Pacman
  • Super 8 Football +D

Download: All Games in One Archive (3086)

source: csdb.dk

i miss the old days

September 9th, 2023 1 comment

I have nothing else to say except that i miss the old days. :’(

LCR-T7 Multifunction Tester

September 1st, 2023 No comments
LCR-T7 Multifunctional Tester

I wanted to try this cheap fucking tester on offer on Aliexpress.

I don’t have much to say, it works quite well, i tried to make some measurements of a couple of electrolytic capacitors and making the comparison between LCR-T7 and the PEAK ATLAS ESR+ (paid almost 15 times more) the measurement result it’s almost identical.

Surely the positive side of this small and fragile object that will surely stop to working one day to another :-D which allows you to measure/test a fairly vast category of components.

Example:

  • Diodes
  • Zener diodes
  • Resistors
  • Potentiometers
  • Electrolytic/Tantalum Capacitors
  • Ceramic/Polyester capacitors
  • Inductors
  • SCR
  • Triacs
  • Transistors (N-E-MOS,P-E-MOS,N-MOS,P-MOS,N-JFET,P-JFET,N-IGBT,P-IGBT)
  • Transistors PNP,NPN
  • Battery (max 4.5v)

It also has an infrared remote control decoder which i find absolutely useless.

The microcontroller used in the LCR-T7 is a clone of the ATMEL ATMEGA328, the Lucky Green LGT8F328P which is practically identical to the ATMEL but with additional capabilities such as higher speed and has a higher resolution for converting analog signals and having a digital-to-analog converter as well.

Below are the photos of the inside.

Download: LCR-T7-Manual (655)

Replaced the first C64 with the colored keycaps

August 26th, 2023 No comments

Replaced the first C64 with the colored keycaps.

Follow me for the other keys replacements ;-D

Gallery:

High Voltage SID (HVSC) Collection Update #79

August 23rd, 2023 No comments

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):

  • 920 new SIDs
  • 45 fixed/better rips
  • 9 repeats/bad rips eliminated
  • 211 SID credit fixes
  • 32 SID model/clock infos
  • 3 tunes from /DEMOS/UNKNOWN/ identified
  • 1 tunes from /GAMES/ identified
  • 21 tunes moved out of /DEMOS/ to their composers’ directories
  • 5 tunes moved out of /GAMES/ to their composers’ directories

After this update, the collection should contain 57,576 SID files!

Download:

source: www.hvsc.c64.org

Kung Fu Flash Cartridge Firmware Update v1.47

August 7th, 2023 No comments

A new version of the firmware for the Kung Fu Flash Cartridge by Kim Jørgensen is released.

Changelog:

  • Drive emulation: Allow files on the SD card to be opened as SEQ. Thanks Chagizzz.

Download:

source: github.com/KimJorgensen/KungFuFlash

Categories: Firmware, News & Rumors, Today

Kung Fu Flash Cartridge Firmware Update v1.46

July 31st, 2023 No comments

A new version of the firmware for the Kung Fu Flash Cartridge by Kim Jørgensen is released.

Changelog:

  • Simple text file reader. Thanks Sebby75, and Magician
  • It is now possible to open small text files from the launcher.

The following controls can be used in the reader:
or Joy:        Page up/down
or Fire left:    Go to first page
or Fire:    Exit text file reader
The reader supports text files up to ~64kB. Larger files will be truncated

  • Support generic cartridge ROM/BIN files. Thanks Magician
  • Display error message if there are problems communicating with the cartridge. Thanks Lamerhouse

Note that only generic C64/C128 cartridges are supported as ROM/BIN files. Other cartridge types must be loaded as a CRT file.

Download:

source: github.com/KimJorgensen/KungFuFlash

Categories: Firmware, News & Rumors, Today

SidPlayer+ – An standalone Psid player

July 19th, 2023 No comments
SidPlayer+ – An standalone Psid player.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to try this nice SID Player by Edu Arana with a very nice design.

Edu Arana used Bakisha opensource code for the SID (only Psid) player, the code also has my own little implementation for the Vu-Meter with three LEDs (thanks Edu for the note printed on the PCB).

I know the Bakisha SID Player fairly well, below you will find several Links of my blog where there are some experiments and implementations i did years ago.

I’m not going to dwell too much on the loyalty of this SID Player, which as i said i know well, all in all it works but we are far away light years from perfection, at least as i understand it, in fact i started another project that you all probably know: The Return of the Hybrid SID Player which in addition to an ‘almost’ perfect CPU emulation including Illegal Opcodes and uses the “Original” or “Clone” SIDs for playing music tracks and other nice and useful features.

The ‘plus’ version of the Edu SID Player differs from the previous one for the implementation of the bluetooth module which however is not supplied.

As you can see from the photos and video i have installed the BlueTooth module and the Battery to make it totally portable, the battery recharge is via USB like a mobile phone.

UPDATE:

I wrote this update because some things i wrote bothered someone.

With the phrase “I’m not going to dwell … it works well but …” i just wanted to say that the emulation of the SID, let’s talk about EMULATION, is not perfect, i’m a purist of SID songs, so for me a SID music plays perfectly only and only using the original chip, however for the price this player is sold it is perfect and also very nice!

Anyway you are always welcome to break my balls, i will always answer you.

Gallery:

Video:

Link:

Categories: Hardware, News & Rumors, Today

C64 B.G.Pack: C.Wolfenstein +8D / Fix it Felix Jr. V1.1 / Mr. Do! +7 …

July 16th, 2023 No comments

NEW TAG: C64 BIG GAME PACK

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

Titles:

  • Grimassenschneider
  • Riddling Snake +
  • Irrweg Meister V1.1
  • Irrweg Meister V1.1 +2
  • Hit-Plane +2
  • Beero-City +TS
  • Relaxator +6 [seuck] (2 Joy-Ports Version)
  • Gateway to Apshai +6DGHM
  • Phoenix Recovered 2022+
  • TextQuest V1.4 +2TG
  • Relaxator +6 [seuck]
  • Jump’n Crate +1D
  • Breakthru [2 button mod]
  • Jump’n Crate V1.39 +1D
  • Space Blaster +2D
  • Speed Snake Preview +1D
  • Cosmoball +2D
  • The Peninsula V2.0 [HF]
  • Leaps and Bounds! &D
  • The Last Defender +3
  • The Last Defender +3D
  • Aztec Tomb Preview +
  • 8MIDAS +6HP
  • Aztec Tomb Preview 2 +
  • Jump’n Crate V1.39 +2D
  • The Peninsula V2.1 [HF]
  • Hunter of the Lost Meme +D
  • Deathflood: Dungeon of Doom +2D
  • Ooze: The Escape Preview +1D
  • Paw Noir Preview +1CDJ [HF]
  • Autotest Simulator +3F
  • Frankie Goes to Hollywood +10D
  • Castle Wolfenstein +8D [HF]
  • Shuriken Preview +2D
  • Total Recall V1 Preview
  • Zornchef [german]
  • Shuriken Preview 2 +3D
  • Totoro64 Preview 4 +3D
  • Ooze: The Escape
  • Mission Germany +1TD
  • Ooze: The Escape +2D
  • The Eidolon
  • Snake Escape 64 Preview +2
  • Wreckers Preview
  • 1942 +8DFH
  • Space Mayhem +3DG
  • Nesterin Trail Preview +D
  • Grey Preview 4 +2D
  • Livingstone Supongo
  • Hans Kloss +5DTF
  • Flappy Trappy +
  • RBS Preview +
  • A Christmas Adventure (Sampler) +DFW [HF]
  • A Started Demo
  • Dragon’n Princess
  • Cave Diver 2 +2
  • Cave Diver +2
  • Mad Monty +1DG [HF]
  • Livingstone I Presume +3D
  • SPACEX Preview +
  • Livingstone I Presume +6D
  • Shuriken Preview 3 +4D
  • TamaDogi
  • Depths Of Zimroel +DG [HF]
  • Advent 101
  • First Strike +DG [HF]
  • Trax +4F [HF]
  • Herisferix +2DFH [HF]
  • Crime and Punishment +D [HF]
  • Escape Rooms
  • Advent 101 +DG [HF]
  • Moggy’s Tomb +3GM [HF]
  • Wooden Ships and Iron Men &D
  • Escape Room Preview +1D
  • Struggle!
  • Shuriken +5DG [HF]
  • Alien Invaders Plus!
  • Fix it Felix Jr. V1.1 +4D
  • Dagons Erwachen [german]
  • Alien Invaders Plus! +
  • Tritopia [austrian]
  • Stick +5J [HF]
  • Odyssey – Kampf mit der Wildnis
  • LoopFire64 +2HD
  • Mr. Do! +7HDG Topscore Edition
  • Dark Defender +1D
  • Boxnightmare Deluxe +2D
  • Escape Room Preview 2 +2D
  • Speed Snake Preview 2 +G [HF]
  • Mr Pilic +5J [HF]
  • Escape Room Preview 3 +3D
  • Moggy V2 +5J [HF]
  • Hey Taxi Preview +2
  • Manky V2 +4GM [HF]
  • WinGames
  • TextQuest V1.70 +4G
  • Skarn’s Keep +IM [HF]
  • Chain Reaction
  • Get High +1D
  • Pac-Man Concept +1D
  • Speed Snake Preview 3 +G [HF]
  • Charade
  • Hamburgers go to Switzerland +
  • Funfair Inc. Preview
  • Treason Preview +
  • Vampire Dungeon +1GJ [HF]
  • Chess +D
  • Turn Around +1G [HF]
  • Mech 64 V.4.0 [HF]
  • Destiny Hunter V1.01 +3D

Download: All Games in One Archive (1714)

source: csdb.dk

Mini Vacuum Cleaner & Blower with Brushless Motor

June 26th, 2023 2 comments

Finally a useful object that works very well and i have tried many.

This mini vacuum cleaner (4hapa) that uses a BRUSHLESS motor (be careful when choosing which model to buy) besides the “vacuum cleaner” mode it also has the “blower” mode and i assure you that it BLOWS and quite a lot (two selectable speeds).

So finally i can finally say goodbye to compressed air spray!!!

The package includes over 4 spare filters (washable), various adapters, the USB battery charger (5v to 9v) and a bag.

The only negative note; Yes! it makes some noise! i’ll get a reason.

Video:

source: aliexpress.com

Digital Display Voltage Meter Bug

June 23rd, 2023 No comments
Digital Display Voltage Meter Rear

Observing these two displays at first glance there are no big differences are noticed.

Wrong! the Display where you reads V2.0 (updated version of the previous one), also works perfectly if inserted very close to the PCB of a Switching Power Supply, the other one instead at Random resets and displaying 888 just move it 10 CM away from the Switching Power Supply PCB and it works perfectly.

I wanted to share this news because i’m not the only one with this bizarre problem.

Gallery:

U64 (Elite)/U2/U2+/U2+L v3.10j (Core: v1.42) Firmware Update

June 22nd, 2023 No comments

A new version of the firmware for the Ultimate-64 (U64/U64E) / U2 / U2+ / U2+L by Gideon is released.

This release has again some significant changes for the firmware upgrade. Please read the manual before installing 3.10i.

Background:

If you would take some time to check the commit history of the repository at GitHub, you may find over 500 commits since the last released version, 3.10a. This is a lotttt more than it usually takes to release a next firmware version. The version is still 3.10, so there are not many functional changes. Yet, files have been touched, updated, or just made compatible with the new Ultimate-II+L hardware. It was more difficult than expected to get the Lattice FPGA to work correctly and keep compatibility with the existing hardware platforms.

On top of the new introduction of the Ultimate-II+L, there is still a need to support the “good old” 1541 Ultimate-II (or simply: U2). There have always been issues with the Microblaze processor and the compiler from Xilinx. Every version of the Xilinx compiler had different bugs that caused the Microblaze based firmware to be broken in one way or another.

Since the U2+L runs well on the Risc-V, it was decided to upgrade the CPU inside of the U2 and ditch the Microblaze forever. Unfortunately, the CPU that was chosen to run inside of the U2+L did not fit in the same space as the Microblaze clone, so I decided to write my own Risc-V compatible CPU. This is the CPU that will be used from now on in the 1541 Ultimate-II.

General Fixes:

  • [Important] Fixed ExFAT filesystems with 128kB clusters (Fixes failing D64 mounts from some ExFAT thumbdrives)
  • [Facebook Discussion] EasyFlash save function now saves all chip chunks to support incomplete CRT files
  • [Issue-271] GEORAM at boot (MarkusC64)
  • [Issue-279] Support for 2 MHz operation for any cartridge, including EasyFlash
  • [Issue-246] Fixed: Virtual Printer crashes when file cannot be created.
  • [Issue-234] Deleting last item in directory makes selection invisible
  • [Issue-236] Confirmation modal asking a question only gives ‘OK’ instead of ‘Yes/No’.
  • [Issue-R17] Added mapping of ESC key to RUN/STOP.
  • [Facebook Request] Added: Leave menu on mount (can be selected per drive)
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Fixed starting Kingsoft Business Basic cartridge
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Allow Maverick (and others?) to write wrong sector headers on MFM tracks.
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Unable to select GeoRAM. Is now a mode of the RAM Expansion Unit.
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Fixed color palette not loaded at boot (U64 only).
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Fixed USB sticks not recognized
  • [Messenger Report]: Improvements to palette file read. Rejects faulty files. Fixes hang-up
  • [Messenger Report]: Fixes ‘Create DNP’ when run from Telnet. Turned out to be a stack overflow.
  • [Email Discussion]: Adds EEPROM segment to GMOD2 when it is missing in the CRT file

U64 core fixes:

  • Multicolor graphics side border bug (core version V1.41 => V1.42)

Modem fixes:

  • ACIA NMI pulse extension to extend over bad line. This allows the 6502 to see it always.
  • Performance optimization ACIA / Modem
  • Allow spaces after ATDT command.
  • Minor fixes in the modem emulation layer from Scott Hutter (xlar54)

Cartridge Support:

  • [Issue-314] Added support for Blackbox V9.
  • Additional C128 cartridge variant that allows banking and offers some RAM (U2/U2+/U2+L only).

Additions:

  • Firmware target added: Ultimate-II+L; the Lattice version!
  • System Information page (F4) now shows elaborate version info.
  • GEOS support functions from MarkusC64

Download:

source: ultimate64.com github.com facebook

Categories: Firmware, News & Rumors, Today

U64 (Elite)/U2/U2+/U2+L v3.10i (Core: v1.42) Firmware Update

June 11th, 2023 No comments

A new version of the firmware for the Ultimate-64 (U64/U64E) / U2 / U2+ / U2+L by Gideon is released.

This release has again some significant changes for the firmware upgrade. Please read the manual before installing 3.10i.

Background:

If you would take some time to check the commit history of the repository at GitHub, you may find over 500 commits since the last released version, 3.10a. This is a lotttt more than it usually takes to release a next firmware version. The version is still 3.10, so there are not many functional changes. Yet, files have been touched, updated, or just made compatible with the new Ultimate-II+L hardware. It was more difficult than expected to get the Lattice FPGA to work correctly and keep compatibility with the existing hardware platforms.

On top of the new introduction of the Ultimate-II+L, there is still a need to support the “good old” 1541 Ultimate-II (or simply: U2). There have always been issues with the Microblaze processor and the compiler from Xilinx. Every version of the Xilinx compiler had different bugs that caused the Microblaze based firmware to be broken in one way or another.

Since the U2+L runs well on the Risc-V, it was decided to upgrade the CPU inside of the U2 and ditch the Microblaze forever. Unfortunately, the CPU that was chosen to run inside of the U2+L did not fit in the same space as the Microblaze clone, so I decided to write my own Risc-V compatible CPU. This is the CPU that will be used from now on in the 1541 Ultimate-II.

General Fixes:

  • [Important] Fixed ExFAT filesystems with 128kB clusters (Fixes failing D64 mounts from some ExFAT thumbdrives)
  • [Facebook Discussion] EasyFlash save function now saves all chip chunks to support incomplete CRT files
  • [Issue-271] GEORAM at boot (MarkusC64)
  • [Issue-279] Support for 2 MHz operation for any cartridge, including EasyFlash
  • [Issue-246] Fixed: Virtual Printer crashes when file cannot be created.
  • [Issue-234] Deleting last item in directory makes selection invisible
  • [Issue-236] Confirmation modal asking a question only gives ‘OK’ instead of ‘Yes/No’.
  • [Issue-R17] Added mapping of ESC key to RUN/STOP.
  • [Facebook Request] Added: Leave menu on mount (can be selected per drive)
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Fixed starting Kingsoft Business Basic cartridge
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Allow Maverick (and others?) to write wrong sector headers on MFM tracks.
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Unable to select GeoRAM. Is now a mode of the RAM Expansion Unit.
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Fixed color palette not loaded at boot (U64 only).
  • [Facebook Bug Report]: Fixed USB sticks not recognized
  • [Messenger Report]: Improvements to palette file read. Rejects faulty files. Fixes hang-up
  • [Messenger Report]: Fixes ‘Create DNP’ when run from Telnet. Turned out to be a stack overflow.
  • [Email Discussion]: Adds EEPROM segment to GMOD2 when it is missing in the CRT file

U64 core fixes:

  • Multicolor graphics side border bug (core version V1.41 => V1.42)

Modem fixes:

  • ACIA NMI pulse extension to extend over bad line. This allows the 6502 to see it always.
  • Performance optimization ACIA / Modem
  • Allow spaces after ATDT command.
  • Minor fixes in the modem emulation layer from Scott Hutter (xlar54)

Cartridge Support:

  • [Issue-314] Added support for Blackbox V9.
  • Additional C128 cartridge variant that allows banking and offers some RAM (U2/U2+/U2+L only).

Additions:

  • Firmware target added: Ultimate-II+L; the Lattice version!
  • System Information page (F4) now shows elaborate version info.
  • GEOS support functions from MarkusC64

Download:

* Temporarily revoked due to one report of bricked unit.

source: ultimate64.com github.com facebook

Categories: Firmware, News & Rumors, Today