Commodore 64C (ASSY 250469) Repair (1 of 2)

Defect:

• Garbage Screen/Auto Load/Device not Present.

Replaced parts/Fixes:

• 1 x MOS 6526 (U1)
• 2 x Diode 1n4148 (CR9/CR11)
• Rebuilt a pcb track (see photo)

Note:

• As you can see from the photo of the the broken pcb track, evidently someone did a short circuit on the IEC connector on the data lines: SRQin and DATA.

Gallery of the repair:

Commodore 64C (ASSY 250469) Repair (2 of 2)

Defect:

• Black Screen.

Replaced parts:

• 1 x MOS 8580R5 SID in short circuit (U9)
• 2 x TMS 4464 RAM (U10/U11)

Gallery of the repair:

Commodore 64 (ASSY 250407) Repair (1 of 2)

This Commodore 64 has been already repaired in years past.

Defect:

• Grabage screen/Out of Memory.

Replaced parts:

• 5 x MT 4264-15 RAM (U10/U11/U12/U21/U23)

Gallery of the repair:

Commodore 64 (ASSY 250425) Repair (2 of 2)

Defect:

• Black Screen ..then.. Grabage screen ..then (when hot).. Screen out of Sync

Replaced parts:

• 2 x MT 4264-15 RAM (U11/U23)
• 1 x MOS 901227-03 Kernel ROM (U4)
• 1 x MOS 8701 Clock Generator (U31)

Cleaning Tape and User port connectors.

Gallery of the repair:

This is the official demo party results from Gubbdata 2016 (Top 3 Entries only). See also the CSDB GUBBDATA 2016 section for more informations.

C64 Demo:

• 1 – Nothing but PETSCII by Genesis Project
• 2 – Classics by Booze Design
• 3 – Monochrome by Triad

C64 Music:

• 1 – Nothing Compares 2 EU by Fegolhuzz
• 2 – Ruins by X-jammer
• 3 – 2 Days by Magnar Harestad

C64 Graphics:

• 1 – Cock Picture by ilesj
• 2 – Korvsatan by Razorback
• 3 – Elsewhere by Mermaid

C64 Mixed Graphics:

• 1 – Glad Gubbe by Genesis Project, Vision
• 2 – Duelling Invaders by Genesis Project
• 3 – Green Falcon by PVM

Download: Gubbdata 2016 Party stuff (1008)

source: gubbdata.se

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

Titles:

• QWAK 1.2 +4H
• QWAK 1.2 16K Compo Final
• QWAK 16K V1.2 +4HF
• Evil Garden +4D
• Scout +5DGH
• Ghosts’n Goblins Arcade / Commando Arcade SE / Bruce Lee II [easyflash] [bugfixed]
• Munch Load +M
• Zorro in Wonderland 2 Preview
• Color Code
• Sea Slug +3D
• Honey Bee [real sales version] +6D
• Challenge of the Gobots on the Moebius Strip +5DGH
• Deja Vu & Uninvited +1DW [easyflash]
• Excalibur +
• Ocean Ranger [1581,FD,HD]
• Mission Odessa +2DTS
• Excalibur
• The Curse of Sherwood +26D
• V.I.O.S. (Special Edition 2011) +2 [seuck]
• Estados of Brasil
• States of Brazil
• Kabura
• Gunslinger [1581,FD,HD]
• Valhalla +3DMS
• Tycoon Tex Preview +2
• Dorks Dilemma Preview +2
• Kabura +2T
• The Crown of Ariiance
• Breakaway
• Super Jumpkick Preview

Download: All Games in One Archive (3449)

source: csdb.dk

CBM prg Studio Version 3.5.0 is released. There are a lot of new features in this version. I’d really appreciate it if you report any bugs you find or have any suggestions/comments.

CBM prg Studio allows you to type a BASIC or Machine Code program in using a nice Windows environment and convert it to a ‘.prg’ file which you can run on an emulator, or even a real C64 / VIC20 or PET if you’re feeling brave and have the right kit.

CBM prg Studio is the result of merging C64PrgGen and VIC20PrgGen. Adding new features and fixing bugs in two apps which were 95% similar was a bit of a nightmare so merging them made sense.

It was also a good opportunity for a face lift and to add some new features, such as:

• Programs are project based, meaning all related source files, sprite files etc. are kept in one place and multiple source files can be linked more easily.
• Tabbed MDI.
• Syntax highlighting.

What CBM prg Studio isn’t is a front-end for tok64, cbmcnvrt, bastext or any other tokeniser / detokeniser / assembler. It’s all been written completely from scratch.

New features in v3.8.0:

• Assembler:
  • Logical operators.
  • Code relocation.
  • Watch labels/addresses.
  • Local character mapping.

• Screen Editor:
  • More export options.
  • Change border colour.

• Sprite Editor:
  • Multiple layers for preview.
  • Invert sprite.

• General:
  • Load VICE palettes.
  • Open a command line.

Bugs Fixed:

• General:
  • Remember ‘close start page’ state.

• Sprite editor:
  • Imported sprites had the same data.
  • Select mode on scratch pad didn’t work.

• Screen code builder:
  • Left arrow generated wrong code.

• Character editor:
  • Export characters as hexadecimal.
  • Multicolour chars flip left/right not working.

See the help for a complete list of new features and fixed bugs.

Note In this version, each target machine can have its own default project directory. If you are upgrading from a previous version (before version 2.5.1) of CBM prg Studio you may be asked to set up your project directories again. Your current projects will not be affected.

Download: CBM prg Studio v3.8.0 (900)

source: ajordison.co.uk

TekTronix DS1000G (NTSC version) Television Demodulator

The television demodulator can demodulate M/N standard television signals to baseband video and audio. In addition, the DS1001G provides the capability of recognizinga GCR signal and applying
correction to the baseband video output.

TheDS1001A/DS1001G covers the tuning range of 55.25 to 801.25MHz. The high performance of the conversion guarantees a measurement-quality signal after demodulation.

Gallery:

Download: TekTronix DS1000G Manual (1070)

…from the author website:

Since the end of 2015, it became clear that the “good old” 1541 Ultimate-II was at the end of its life cycle. Xilinx, the manufacturer of the most important chip of the cartridge, had started to increase the prices of the chip. Also the memory chip started to be harder to get and at higher cost. When the news came that the company that made the black plastic cases for the 1541 Ultimate-II had lost the injection mold tool, it became evident that the 1541 Ultimate-II would be no more.

I have given it some thought. What would be the best way to continue with this project? When the feelings of being upset about the lost injection tool had subsided, I realized that this may be the perfect moment for an upgrade. This is when set backs change into opportunity.

Since then, a lot of work, and I really mean A LOT OF WORK has been done to create a successor: the “Ultimate-II+”.  Why not “III”, you may ask or think. Well, the foremost reason is the software. The install base of the “1541 Ultimate-II” is rather large (>3000 units), and I do not want to let my customers down that have just purchased a unit. This means that in case of new hardware, the same software should run on both the new board, as well as on the older board. So, the new board will offer similar functionality. You could see it just as an upgrade, not an entirely new product.

Although the “Ultimate-II+” is similar, there are also differences:

• No more MicroSD!  (… that needs to be pushed in with something sharp, could fall into the case, … etc)
• More USB ports (… one to compensate for the lost SD, and just one bonus: 3 in total)
• IEC connector moved (… further back to facilitate use on some C128 models)
• Integrated Ethernet (… no more need for an external USB2LAN adapter, and a smaller step to CS8900A compatibility)
• Dual Flash (… no more worry that a software bug or upgrade failure leads to a bricked device)
• Integrated Speaker (… who connects a speaker set to the audio jack for hearing drive sounds??)
• External power supply connector with auto-switch over circuit (… for stand alone mode, and to lower the demand on the power supply of the C64)
• Improved Audio (… audio codec, 24 bit/96 kHz*, for sampled sounds and SID emulation)
• Improved Tape connector (… no more custom board and able that snaps in on the bottom, but standard USB 3.0 cable)
• Improved power supply circuits (… for some reason they seemed to break down relatively often)
• Slightly bigger and faster FPGA, as to control the new features

source: 1541ultimate.net

A new version of the firmware for the interface 1541 Ultimate II is released. This version runs only on the 1541 Ultimate II cartridge (new fpga).

Release notes 3.0 beta 7:

r297 | gideonz | 2016-04-15 21:27:25 +0200 (Fri, 15 Apr 2016)

Download: 1541 Ultimate II Firmware v3.0 Beta 7 (1204)

source: 1541ultimate.net

Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.

This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.

The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick

The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports:

Release notes Firmware USB HxCFloppyEmulator v3.0.8.2a

• HD floppy disk format issue corrected : write buffer size corrected.

Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.0.8.2a (1134)

source: hxc2001.com

Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.

This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.

The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick

The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports:

Release notes Firmware USB HxCFloppyEmulator v3.0.8.1a

• Last selected image save issue corrected.

Release notes Firmware USB HxCFloppyEmulator v3.0.8.0a

• “Autoboot”/ File selector mode :
  • Fast backward/forward mode : Keep the button pressed to speed up the image change.
  • Press both buttons in the same time to jump the autoboot/file selector image.
• Indexed mode :
  • Fast backward/forward mode : Keep the button pressed to speed up the image change.
  • Press both buttons in the same time to jump the DSKA0000 image.
• Up to 1000 indexed images (DSKA0000-DSKA0999).

Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.0.8.1a (992)

source: hxc2001.com

Laboratory Bench Transformer for repair Commodore CBM/PET series 2001/30xx/40xx(not fat – 8032 motherboard)

Transformer Output Pinout:

• PIN: 4 – 6 = ~16VAC
• PIN: 4 – 5 = ~8VAC
• PIN: 5 – 6 = ~8VAC
• PIN: 7 – 8 = ~16VAC
• PIN: 9 – 10 = ~16VAC

Input:

• 110v

Gallery:

Thanks to Andrea Pierdomenico for this great donation made some years ago.

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

Titles:

• Split Second [seuck]
• Matador ’16 [seuck]
• The Uni-Games Preview
• Super Monaco GP +6DG
• QuarxProbe
• Voidrunner +4DH
• Space-Games +
• Oligofrenico +2T
• Rock Star Ate My Hamster +2DG
• R.I.O.T. Preview +
• Knightshift Preview
• Polar Pierre +2D
• Toddlerplane Preview
• Slavia 2
• TasWord 64 [dutch]
• Pickle’s Pod Patrol +7H
• QWAK +4HF
• Icicle Race +2M
• Platman +7H
• Granny’s Garden &DGIS
• Xenophobe +3DFR
• Donald Duck’s Playground [dutch]
• Psytron [dutch]
• Shotgun +
• Shotgun
• Pentagram
• You Go Squish Now! 003 – Barney the Dinosaur
• The Happiest Days of Your Life +3DM &Map
• KGB Agent +4DH
• Workman +5H
• Here & There with the Mr. Men &D
• Nightshade +3DFH
• QWAK +3
• Warp Drive +3
• Pentagram V1.10
• Ski or Die [1581]
• Scare Bear +4DGH

Download: All Games in One Archive (3466)

source: csdb.dk

Hoxs64 written by David Horrocks is a Commodore 64 emulator for Microsoft Windows 2K/XP/Vista/Seven (DirectX 9+)

The emulator substantially reproduces this legacy machine in minute detail.

Changelog:

• Fix VIC where a write to the raster compare register was causing a raster IRQ to occur one clock too soon. This fixes “Vandalism News #64″

Download:

• Hoxs64 64 bit v1.0.8.9 (876)
• Hoxs64 32 bit v1.0.8.9 (861)
• Hoxs64 Ansi Win98/2K v1.0.8.9 (814)

source: hoxs64.net

DirMaster is a Windows-based GUI application designed to help Commodore enthusiasts explore and manage their disk image collections.

DirMaster supports common (and uncommon) emulator disk image formats (such as .d64, .d81, .d2m, etc), almost every native Commodore archival format (such as .arc, .sda, .lnx, etc), and many native graphic formats (such as koala, doodle, amica, etc).

DirMaster was designed to give users a perfect blend of familiar appearance (e.g. natural looking disk image contents using the PETSCII character set) and modern GUI functionality (e.g. drag and drop, opening multiple disk images at once). The first version of DirMaster was released in 2006.

v3.1.1 addresses a few bugs reported by users:

• Issue opening NAT partitions (.dhd)
• .dhd performance (no md5, .dhd BAM)
• Horizontal BAM display (.d71)
• Disk initialization when unzipping a 1-4! zipcode set when dragged from Explorer.

Download: DirMaster v3.1.1 (1278)

source: style64.org/dirmaster

Scene World is a C64 magazine on disk dedicated to various activities of both C64 scenes.

“Both” means, that we are supplying information and texts of both scenes; NTSC and PAL.

Download: Scene World #26 (1062)

source: sceneworld.org

Ikari has released a new firmware for the SD2Snes Flash Cartridge (Super Nintendo/Famicom). The upgrade instructions can be found here.

Changelog:

• SD2Snes folder is always hidden again.
• Fixes:
  • Fix garbled time on initial clock setting (new unit or battery replacement)
  • Fix BS-X not booting/booting incorrectly after soft reset.
  • Fix OBC1 being always disabled.
  • Fix firmware crash when saving after using the serial command line.

• Full Changelog here.

Download: SD2Snes Firmware v0.1.7b (908)

source: sd2snes.de