Amstrad CPC WiFi

[DerSchatten]

Please help.

I have tested my M4 Board today the first time, and the CPC does not accept the netset command.
When i write the Command:

|netset,"ssid=WIFI2, pw=1234Start1234Start1234Start, dhcp=1, dns1=192.168.0.1, dns2=0.0.0.0, name=CPC464" then Comes only a "Type mismatch" back.

It is a CPC464.

what am I doing wrong?

by the way, the "PW", is this the Password from the Router himself or the WiFi-Connection Password? is not the same with me
And can use the M4 Board a AES encryption ?

thanks!

[Duke]

Please help.

I have tested my M4 Board today the first time, and the CPC does not accept the netset command.
When i write the Command:

|netset,"ssid=WIFI2, pw=1234Start1234Start1234Start, dhcp=1, dns1=192.168.0.1, dns2=0.0.0.0, name=CPC464" then Comes only a "Type mismatch" back.

It is a CPC464.

what am I doing wrong?

by the way, the "PW", is this the Password from the Router himself or the WiFi-Connection Password? is not the same with me
And can use the M4 Board a AES encryption ?

thanks!

Because its a CPC464, it probably has basic 1.0, there you cannot pass RSX parameters directly (do yourself a favor and put basic 1.1 and fw3.16 on it once you get m4 up running).

The PW is the password for the WiFi connection. And yes AES encryption is fine.

Do it like this:
a$="ssid=WIFI2, pw=1234Start1234Start1234Start, dhcp=1, dns1=192.168.0.1, dns2=0.0.0.0, name=CPC464"

|netset,@a$

Afterwards type:
|netstat

To see if it went OK.

[DerSchatten]

Very thanks! It works!

[remax]

Just a few words to say i've received mine and it works perfectly so far!


Thank you very much Duke, that's a very impressive piece of hardware...


Gonna be hard to use all the power of it


Now a question : i use a usb cable straight from the USB port of my desktop PC to power the card. It works well (in fact the card works also without additionnal powering when i have nothing else plugged than the M4Board and a Mother4).


I have a phone charger : DC5V, 1000mA. Would it work without frying everything ?

[Duke]

Just a few words to say i've received mine and it works perfectly so far!


Thank you very much Duke, that's a very impressive piece of hardware...


Gonna be hard to use all the power of it


Now a question : i use a usb cable straight from the USB port of my desktop PC to power the card. It works well (in fact the card works also without additionnal powering when i have nothing else plugged than the M4Board and a Mother4).


I have a phone charger : DC5V, 1000mA. Would it work without frying everything ?

Good to hear, thanks.

Yes you can safely use your phone charger.

[Bruce101]

Hi to all!!!

Im a new member on the CPCWiki.

I have an Amstrad CPC since 1986, actually I still have my original CPC 464 in good conditions (was my first computer), and a CPC 6128 too.

Im a retro fun.

Greetings to all.

[Duke]

Welcome!
You came to the right place (cpcwiki.eu)

Hi to all!!!

Im a new member on the CPCWiki.

I have an Amstrad CPC since 1986, actually I still have my original CPC 464 in good conditions (was my first computer), and a CPC 6128 too.

Im a retro fun.

Greetings to all.

[Bruce101]

Thanks Duke.
Im happy...

[DerSchatten]

how does that work with the dsk files? Can the mount?

[Duke]

how does that work with the dsk files? Can the mount?

You simply write:

|cd,"filename.dsk"
cat
run"whatever

Or in case of basic 1.0 :
a$="filename.dsk"
|cd,@a$
cat
run"whatever

Documentation of commands here:
http://www.spinpoint.org/cpc/m4info.txt

[Bruce101]

The card runs with a 5V USB charger, but, is enought a power supply with 2A, or need up to 3A?

Thanks.

[CPC_Fan]

@Duke I have finally found some time to set up my card today. However unfortunately I have not had any success in doing this and I am not getting anywhere with it. For some reason I cannot get the |netset command to work. It doesn't matter how I try to type it, my cpc 6128 just keeps coming back with "unknown command". If I type the |netstat command, I get "unknown command" as well.

Any idea where I am going wrong? It's getting very frustrating and annoying, as I thought that it would be a lot easier to set up the board.

My set up is as follows: CPC 6128, 3.5" second disc drive powered via the cpc's 5 volt supply and Mother x4 board with x-mem, multiface 2 clone board and cpc WiFi card. The Mother x 4 board is powered separately with it's own 5 volt 2.5 amp supply. I am running firmware 3.15 in the x-mem.

I do get a blue led staying on, indicating that the board is getting power ok.

My ssid is VM515624-2G if that's any help. I haven't got a clue what my dns server is or where to find out that information? My main pc is connected to my router via Wi-Fi if that makes any difference?

[Duke]

@CPC_Fan
If it says unknown command the M4 board is not initialized.

To rule out a couple of things for starters.

Use the MX4 cable directly plugged into the M4, set the jumper to EXT. Don't connect any external power supply.

Since yours is quite long time ago, I am not sure which firmware is on it, so I suggest you download latest firmware, here:
http://www.spinpoint.org/cpc/M4FIRM_v107.zip

Unpack the files to the root of the microSD card from your PC, insert it to M4 and power up the CPC6128.
You should see the RED led come on (below the blue one) for some seconds, then blue led on WiFi module comes on and some seconds later, it goes off a long with the RED led.
CPC should reset and you should see the message M4 Board V2 displayed.

If you do not see this message, sending netset command etc will not work.

Let me know how this goes, then we can take it from there.

For DNS servers you can just use google dns, which is "dns1=8.8.8.8, dns2=8.8.4.4"

And most likely the M4 board is in conflict with XMEM, this can be solved either by disabling rom board on XMEM or changing the ROM range on M4 once you get it setup.

[Duke]

The card runs with a 5V USB charger, but, is enought a power supply with 2A, or need up to 3A?

Thanks.

The card should run without any charger at all, unless you use MX4 motherboard, in that case a 5V 500mA should be enough.

[Bruce101]

Ok Duke .

Is possible to buy 2 cards with Edge connector???
Or is too late???

Thanks.

[Duke]

Ok Duke .

Is possible to buy 2 cards with Edge connector???
Or is too late???

Thanks.

If you can wait 3-5 weeks, its OK, I am out of edge connectors now too, but I can order some more.

[Bruce101]

Perfect Duke!

I can wait, no problem, you can insert 2 cards with Edge connector for me into the orderlist.

Can you tell me when the cards are ready? and how I pay, (bank transfer, paypal, etc, and final amount, please)

Thanks for all.

[CPC_Fan]

@CPC_Fan
If it says unknown command the M4 board is not initialized.

To rule out a couple of things for starters.

Use the MX4 cable directly plugged into the M4, set the jumper to EXT. Don't connect any external power supply.

Since yours is quite long time ago, I am not sure which firmware is on it, so I suggest you download latest firmware, here:
http://www.spinpoint.org/cpc/M4FIRM_v107.zip

Unpack the files to the root of the microSD card from your PC, insert it to M4 and power up the CPC6128.
You should see the RED led come on (below the blue one) for some seconds, then blue led on WiFi module comes on and some seconds later, it goes off a long with the RED led.
CPC should reset and you should see the message M4 Board V2 displayed.

If you do not see this message, sending netset command etc will not work.

Let me know how this goes, then we can take it from there.

For DNS servers you can just use google dns, which is "dns1=8.8.8.8, dns2=8.8.4.4"

And most likely the M4 board is in conflict with XMEM, this can be solved either by disabling rom board on XMEM or changing the ROM range on M4 once you get it setup.

Thanks for your reply and help Duke. Sorry I didn't mean to come across or sound rude to you. I followed your instructions and I now get the M4 Board V2 sign on message.

So how do I change the ROM range on the M4, so that it doesn't conflict with my X-Mem? Or would it be easier to turn the ROM board function off on the M4?

Also is it possible at all to print directly from my 6128 to my Wi-Fi connected printer, which is on the same network, using Protext? If so, how?

[CPC_Fan]

Sorry another question for you Duke. I have a dual switchable Amsdos/ParaDos ROM that Bryce made for me, as a replacement for the Amstrad 40015 ROM inside my 6128. I have noticed that the M4 Board now seems to be setup and works fine under Amsdos. However when I turn the 6128 off, switch the ROM to ParaDos and switch the 6128 back on, I cannot call up ParaDos with the |drive command anymore. Any idea on what I am doing wrong? Or is ParaDos not compatible with the M4 Board?

[Duke]

Perfect Duke!

I can wait, no problem, you can insert 2 cards with Edge connector for me into the orderlist.

Can you tell me when the cards are ready? and how I pay, (bank transfer, paypal, etc, and final amount, please)

Thanks for all.

Will do, please do me a favour and send me a private message with your email address, so I can notify you when the boards are ready, along with payment details.

[Duke]

The easist is to disable ROM board function of XMEM, I think there is a jumper to do that. Other users of both please jump in with details how you arranged it.

You can also move the rom range of M4 Board via the webinterface (type in the IP number to firefox/internet explorer that you get when typing |netstat) under ROMS.
Then you set starting range to 32 (after xmem).
However you also need to move the M4 rom out that range (unless you can map rom7 on your CPC6128).
For that to work you need to upload a proxy rom to XMEM too (which will find the M4 rom out of the 0-31 range).
You can find that rom here: http://www.spinpoint.org/cpc/m4boot.zip 
It's not really upto date, but will work for the basics ( I don't think anyone uses it, so I haven't updated it).
As I do not think there is any software enabling use of 64 roms, it just easier to disable XMEM rom part and upload the roms you use to M4 via the webinterface.

There is no way to use your printer via wifi unfortunately.
And lastly you didn't come across as rude, so no worries

Thanks for your reply and help Duke. Sorry I didn't mean to come across or sound rude to you. I followed your instructions and I now get the M4 Board V2 sign on message.

So how do I change the ROM range on the M4, so that it doesn't conflict with my X-Mem? Or would it be easier to turn the ROM board function off on the M4?

Also is it possible at all to print directly from my 6128 to my Wi-Fi connected printer, which is on the same network, using Protext? If so, how?

[DerSchatten]

Duke, i have a little Problem with the BASIC 1.1 ROM.
When i flash it to Slot 0 (Version v1.2.0, v1.2.1 or v1.2.3) and Reset the System, then the CPC starts with the

BASIC 1.1
Ready

but after that the Screen scrolls indefinitely and the System hangs.

[Duke]

It's important that you upload the corresponding lowerrom too.

Either use the original lowerrom from a 664/6128 or use the moded fw3.16 firmware by Syx And Toto (it'll boot your cpc in mode 2 and display some nice info + init all 32 roms).

For fw316 lowerrom replacement, look here:

GitHub - realmml/FW3.1x: A series of patches over the original Amstrad CPC

Duke, i have a little Problem with the BASIC 1.1 ROM.
When i flash it to Slot 0 (Version v1.2.0, v1.2.1 or v1.2.3) and Reset the System, then the CPC starts with the

BASIC 1.1
Ready

but after that the Screen scrolls indefinitely and the System hangs.

[DerSchatten]

thanks!
what's the difference between FW316UK16.ROM and FW316UK32.ROM ?
Is this the ROM-Socket what i use?
Can the CPC464 use all 32 ROM Slots? I heave hear ther can only use 16 Slots. Or is this only a Limitation from the ROM-Box (X-MEM, MegaFlash NG)
What is the File FW316EXP.ROM ?

[CPC_Fan]

The easist is to disable ROM board function of XMEM, I think there is a jumper to do that. Other users of both please jump in with details how you arranged it.

You can also move the rom range of M4 Board via the webinterface (type in the IP number to firefox/internet explorer that you get when typing |netstat) under ROMS.
Then you set starting range to 32 (after xmem).
However you also need to move the M4 rom out that range (unless you can map rom7 on your CPC6128).
For that to work you need to upload a proxy rom to XMEM too (which will find the M4 rom out of the 0-31 range).
You can find that rom here: http://www.spinpoint.org/cpc/m4boot.zip 
It's not really upto date, but will work for the basics ( I don't think anyone uses it, so I haven't updated it).
As I do not think there is any software enabling use of 64 roms, it just easier to disable XMEM rom part and upload the roms you use to M4 via the webinterface.

There is no way to use your printer via wifi unfortunately.
And lastly you didn't come across as rude, so no worries

Thanks for the information Duke. Hmm seems like a bit of a waste of my X-Mem to disable the ROM board function part of it, but if it's easier to do that rather than turn the ROM board function part off on the M4 Board, then that's what I will have to do.


Shame that I cannot print directly from 6128 via the WiFi part of the M4 Board. Can it be done if someone could write the software to do it, or is it just not possible?


Is the M4 Board compatible with ParaDos by the way? I only ask, as I have a swichable dual Amsdos/ParaDos ROM in my 6128 and when I switch it to ParaDos, I cannot call ParaDos up using the |drive command/rsx.