AMSDAP - Amstrad MSx aDAPter - connecting any MSX I/O hardware to the CPC

[LambdaMikel]

It's a fair question. I only have the V9K and a MegaFlashRom for the MSX... Personally I'd say the V9K makes this worth owning alone, but of course for non MSX owners, there is the native CPC V9K...

Right, and I have that Powergraph card already. But maybe I'll change my mind when / if other cards are coming out soon.

What I would buy though - any kind of MIDI or synthesizer or sound card stuff, especially with dual SID or the like. I believe MSX Yamaha had an FM synthesizer extension board... CM5 or something. But one would need CPC software (for native OS, also please!) for all these things, at least rudimentary driver support is necessary IMHO.

[TMTLOGIC]

the AMSDAP only supports I / O base hardware
MSX memory boards or other memory cards do not work.

the MSX IO address 0x00 - 0xFF is placed in the address range of CPC 0xFF00 - 0xFFFF
This does not mean that this whole series is occupied.
Only the addresses that a card uses are active



I have asked some MSX users to come up with ideas. to use interesting MSX cards on the CPC
indeed the MSX has a lot of sound cards or midi cards

[TMTLOGIC]

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[GUNHED]

Great I take one, will Email too. 

[keith56]

the AMSDAP only supports I / O base hardware
MSX memory boards or other memory cards do not work.

Yes, I assumed that would be the case, but I thought I would ask, Thanks for the clarification

[WORP3]

Concerning MSX audio interfaces, there are several to choose from:


-FM-PAC based on a YM2413 opl chip
-Music module based on a Y8950 opl chip
-OPL4 or moonsound based on a YMF-278B-F chip including wave and FM voices
-Some MIDI interfaces
-And off-coarse my own MIDI-PAC v1 and v2 which translates YM2413 and AY8910 soundchip behavior into realtime MIDI data so a full blown synth, keyboard or module can play the sound/music.
-The new Supersoniqs Darky dual PSG with effect processor is also coming up.


So there's lot's to choose from.

[GUNHED]

Well, if we get MSX cards, we should all choose the same cards of a kind, so it's more easy to do software for it. At the moment you find some support for SymbOS as far as I know f.e. MP3 cards (like seen on the last Mittwinter meeting).

Which cards make the most sense for the CPC then?

[WORP3]

Well, if we get MSX cards, we should all choose the same cards of a kind, so it's more easy to do software for it. At the moment you find some support for SymbOS as far as I know f.e. MP3 cards (like seen on the last Mittwinter meeting).

Which cards make the most sense for the CPC then?

Honestly I don't know all the details of the CPC, kind of new here, but the YM2413 based sound cards (FM-PAC) do have a nice sound to them, software is easy and there are several clones build of that FM-PAC wich is good for the availability. The MIDI-PAC will just take in the I/O stream that is going to that sound chip and translate it to MIDI which gives you two things for one effort 

[Shining]

Is there an actual source for buying such FM-PAC clones ?

[jvaltane]

Is there an actual source for buying such FM-PAC clones ?

Bit late but... At least FM-PAQ:s are available: http://www.ebsoft.fr/shop/en/hardware/14-fm-paq-lite-with-audio-out.html

[GUNHED]

The AmsDAP can be powered by an USB cable. Can you tell me please what do you use for it? Which kind of PSU?

[Prodatron]

I am using a 9W one. Cool thing about the Amsdap is, that it is using the big slave plug (typ A to B), which is very robust. No idea if this is overkilled, but I really like it (compared to other filigree plugs).

[GUNHED]

Ok, thanks, I'll get one too. Think you're right about stability. Better some mm more than a broken card. 

At the moment my Amsdap works with M4, PlayCity and a 4 MB RAM expansion, the power comes from the 6128 (color) and seems to be enough. But I want to use MSX cards too (that's the purpose of it  ). So a PSU is nice for sure. Maybe I find something well on ebay...

[Kris]

Hi all,


is there a 3D case for AMSdap available ?

[Kris]

Reply to myself : As no one seems to have drawn such a case, I did it !Design is based on the "expansion board holder" by Rambler.
STL file attached

[TMTLOGIC]

Wow cool

[CraigsBar]

Can this AMSDAP be used to dump MSX cartridges? I have a Ghost cartridge that I would love to play on my phone under emulation. I also have the steam version so I can play that on my Retro Games PC but when I am on the go I'd love to have this on my Raspberry Pi and Phone.


If this were physically possible would anyone be able to code an AmsDOS or SymbOS program to dump the Game Cart rom to Mass Storage (M4 or XMASS)


Craig

[LambdaMikel]

Nice!
We don't have a 3d printer yet.. are any of these inexpensive ones in the 150 $ good? Can you recommend one below 300 $?

[GUNHED]

Can this AMSDAP be used to dump MSX cartridges?

That's an interesting question. As far as I know the MSX RAM cartridges can not be used with the CPC because they have different banking (IIRC). But however, can you please provide a link to such a cartridge you're talking about? I'm not familiar with MSX world that much. 

[CraigsBar]

That's an interesting question. As far as I know the MSX RAM cartridges can not be used with the CPC because they have different banking (IIRC). But however, can you please provide a link to such a cartridge you're talking about? I'm not familiar with MSX world that much. 

Pretty much any Japanese MSX game as they got carts, whilst the Europeans got speccy ports on tape!

The one I would love dumped for emulator use is this one.

http://www.matranet.net/boutique/msx/card/ghost/ghost.php

Some technical details here.

https://www.msx.org/wiki/MSX_Cartridge_slot


Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

[GUNHED]

Maybe it's more easy to open the cartridge and read the ROM/EPROM using an programmer. But I don't know if this is an good idea...


Do we know which pins the AMSDAP provides for the MSX slot?

[CraigsBar]

Maybe it's more easy to open the cartridge and read the ROM/EPROM using an programmer. But I don't know if this is an good idea...


Do we know which pins the AMSDAP provides for the MSX slot?

Certainly not a good idea it's not socketed and a surface mount eprom!

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[GUNHED]

Well, can the MSX computer be used to read the EPROM?

[Prodatron]

I am pretty sure about this.

[CraigsBar]

Well, can the MSX computer be used to read the EPROM?

'afraid not, cartridges that boot directly cannot be dumped on an Msx without a hot swap. And I don't fancy doing this with such a good game!

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