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CPC Plus cartridge replacement : one more

Started by gerald, 16:39, 01 November 14

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Are you interested in buying a 3D-printed case for the cartridge? Hoe many units? (only vote if you want one or more!)

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178 (85.2%)
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25 (12%)
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2 (1%)
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4 (1.9%)

Total Members Voted: 209

CraigsBar

You need one of these. Pang, navy seals and robocop are must haves.
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

owen2471

Oh yes been wanting an excuse to use my amstrads again.  Waiting list pls.....

dragon

Some people speak( not me). c4cpc is not interesting becaused compared it with MSX equivalent cartridge he can't load dsk images directly from the cartridge.


Only curiosity. Its technically posible make a internal transparent emulator  of the fdd in the cartridge.?

TotO

Those peoples are stupids...
I think that will be deficult, because the PLUS cartridge port lack many signals.


"You make one mistake in your life and the internet will never let you live it down" (Keith Goodyer)

gerald

Quote from: dragon on 10:59, 18 April 15
Only curiosity. Its technically posible make a internal transparent emulator  of the fdd in the cartridge.?
I have no clue on how the MSX cartridge works, but the CPC one is nothing more that a ROM bus : address/data/output enable.
Also most game on CPC access the FDC directly, they need to be patched.
MSX game may be OS friendly so you can hook OS call.
But if some people want's to make such intelligent cart, no problem, just do it  ;D

dragon

Quote from: gerald on 11:57, 18 April 15
I have no clue on how the MSX cartridge works, but the CPC one is nothing more that a ROM bus : address/data/output enable.
Also most game on CPC access the FDC directly, they need to be patched.
MSX game may be OS friendly so you can hook OS call.
But if some people want's to make such intelligent cart, no problem, just do it  ;D

:). And what about roms? it need to be patched  one by one as dsk?.

gerald

Quote from: dragon on 12:12, 18 April 15
:) . And what about roms? it need to be patched  one by one as dsk?.
Extension ROM as the one you put on XMEM still need to be patched since the cart ROM maps from 128 to 159 where the os only scan 0 to 15 (32 when patched).
Also, most game ported to ROM are compressed to take less space. It would be more convenient to have them as a proper cartridge (uncompressed) to speed up starting.

CraigsBar

Quote from: dragon on 10:59, 18 April 15
Some people speak( not me). c4cpc is not interesting becaused compared it with MSX equivalent cartridge he can't load dsk images directly from the cartridge.


Only curiosity. Its technically posible make a internal transparent emulator  of the fdd in the cartridge.?
Those people are ill informed luddites ;)


There is a perfectly good solution (OK for 128k owners only at present) called no$cart


this DOS program will take a standard format DSK file and create a CPR (Cartridge file) that auto boots.  It does have some limitations in that only the standard DATA format is permitted, so you are really stick with the cracked DSK images and not any copy protected originals tat use odd formats. and worse I suppose is that the resulting CPR's require 128k so will not work on a 464plus (Without a ram expansion) or a GX4000 (at all)


However, hopefully a new version will be available soon tat gets around at least one of these, and hopefully both.


for now, as no$cart images are made @arnoldemu is providing an amazing service of patching the CPR's to run on the gx4000 (so long as the controls don't need patching too, so only joypad only games really)


So basically with one small piece of very old DOS programming a DSK can be copied to the c4cpc and work on the 464+ and 6128+.


Craig

IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

CraigsBar

Quote from: manic23 on 15:32, 17 April 15
I think the article on Retro Collect will generate a lot of interest in this device, I just hope gerald can keep up with the demand!
Just wondering if @gerald has let the guys at Retro Gamer aware of this?
I know it might open a whole stack of orders, so maybe something that is not the best of ideas, but it would surely provide some extra coverage for the pluses in RG.


Craig

IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

Guy0me

Quote from: CraigsBar on 16:30, 18 April 15
However, hopefully a new version will be available soon tat gets around at least one of these, and hopefully both.
Good News !  :D a graphic version of no$cart like CPCDiskXp would be perfect..

arnoldemu

I am testing my new no$cart program.

It will be ready soon.

There will be restrictions on what it can and can't do. I will give more details when it's ready.

The program can be built on linux, mac and windows.

A gui version will be available later.
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

CraigsBar

Quote from: arnoldemu on 22:03, 18 April 15
I am testing my new no$cart program.

It will be ready soon.

There will be restrictions on what it can and can't do. I will give more details when it's ready.

The program can be built on linux, mac and windows.

A gui version will be available later.
Yippee :)


* CraigsBar is a happy bunny.


Once released I'll remake all te No$Cart images I have attached here already, Must keep things working for our GX4000 owning members if at all possible.


Craig

IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

CraigsBar

OK, One more cartridge image that might be of interest...


FW 3.15 English
Basic 1.1
Parados 1.1


clearly only really of use on the plus machines with disc interfaces, will probably crash if no FDC is present.


Enjoy


Craig

IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

TFM

Any chance of getting a version with VaraDOS?

TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

CraigsBar

Quote from: TFM on 19:43, 19 April 15
Any chance of getting a version with VaraDOS?
Yep No worries, see attached.



IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

TFM

TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

CraigsBar

Quote from: TFM on 21:31, 19 April 15
Thanks Craig! You're awesome!  :)
I do try... But Awesome seems to overstate it more than a bit, when you look at the work @gerald , @talrek ,@Prodatron , Yourself, @Bryce etc all put in to this community in your own areas of expertise, what I do is small fry.


Anyway, in case anyone wants a Plus cart with FW 3.15 and the standard Plus AmsDOS 0.7 (with |game, |jeux and |Spiel) then that is here too.


Regards


Craig

IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

opossum

Long time lurker and interested in C4CPC purchase. Just pmd Gerald. :) ;)

Thanks.
Andre

CraigsBar

Quote from: opossum on 00:04, 20 April 15
Long time lurker and interested in C4CPC purchase. Just pmd Gerald. :) ;)

Thanks.
Andre
Welcome Andre :)
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

bobbi

Quote from: CraigsBar on 16:30, 18 April 15
There is a perfectly good solution (OK for 128k owners only at present) called no$cart
*snip*
It does have some limitations in that...  the resulting CPR's require 128k so will not work on a 464plus (Without a ram expansion) or a GX4000 (at all)
Craig

this would explain why i've failed to get any of the BIN files i made with no$cart to boot on either my gx4000 or my stock 464plus, if only i'd discovered this forum sooner i'd have saved myself a stack of hours and a ton of eprom erasing  :)

and talking of discovering this forum, i'm bobbi and i'm new here, joined last week... i tend to lurk on forums usually, but if i see anything i can help with, or that i have experience with, then i'll pipe up and hopefully assist someone... so hi peeps, play nice  8)

bobbi

seanb

Don't know if this has been posted so if it has sorry for the repeat but came across this article today
'C4CPC' Flash Cartridge For Amstrad CPC464 Plus / 6128 Plus / GX4000 Now
Thou shall not question Captain Wrong!

Neil79

Quote from: seanb on 18:51, 20 April 15
Don't know if this has been posted so if it has sorry for the repeat but came across this article today


Lol Retro Collect! Ever since we told them off, they stopped sourcing us altogether  :-\ ( Not that we did an article on the CPC Plus Cart )



The latest in Indie & Retro News!!! IndieRetroNews - Indie Retro News on twitter

seanb

Ooh juicy.
Why'd you tell them off. I really like their site
Thou shall not question Captain Wrong!

arnoldemu

#573
Attached is v1.

use makefile under linux or macosx to build.

nocart and .rom files must be in the same directory.
In the source directory you can find original roms and asm files to patch them so you can see exactly what I have done.

nocart <disk> <cart> <filename>

e.g.

nocart nebulus.dsk nebulus.cpr disc

Next version will be a bit more friendly and a bit more tolerant of errors and will check the disc format to ensure it really is data format.

I have changed the generated cpr.

It does work on gx4000.

page 0 is os
page 1 is basic
page 2 is amsdos
page 3+ is disc contents

(different from no$cart, it has page 3 as amsdos, but with my nocart I can do what I want  :P ).

restrictions:

1. data format disk only (I will support system format in the future)
2. you need to know how to run the disc to put it on the command-line (no auto detect).
3. if you want game to run on 464+ and gx4000 then 64kb compatible games only. (can't fix, game must be patched)
4. if you want the game to be useable on gx4000 you must be able to start it and play it with joystick only. (can't fix, game must be patched!)
5. Games that use direct disc access to load will not work. (can't fix, game must be patched).

Sooo many games require keyboard to start :(

But it has been tested on GX4000 and games do work.

EDIT: I need to do a little bit more "polishing". Seems to work ok. But posted this early for Craig.
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

TFM

Would be great to have such kind of programs on the CPC itself.  ;)
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

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