Amstrad NC100 / NC150 / NC200

[arnoldemu]

Hm... interesting question... but why wouldn't it?

Well to use the disc you need a lot of power, so it turns itself off when not needed and on when needed.
So to save power, they may have designed it this way.
Perhaps there are some OS functions that will turn it on and off and read from it.

[arnoldemu]

I don't know yet.
The wordprocessor can load files direct from disc.
I am also thinking that it may be possible to put binary files on the disc and transfer them to ram.
So that means ram->disk is ascii only, but disk->ram can be binary.
I will investigate.

You can copy ANY file type from disc into ram and it will be shown in the document list.
But you can't do the reverse without converting to ASCII it seems. There must be an internal tag on the file to make it visible or not in the documents list.
So you can transfer a binary file to RAM, then use BASIC to *LOAD It and execute it.

[arnoldemu]

You can copy ANY file type from disc into ram and it will be shown in the document list.
But you can't do the reverse without converting to ASCII it seems. There must be an internal tag on the file to make it visible or not in the documents list.
So you can transfer a binary file to RAM, then use BASIC to *LOAD It and execute it.

It is possible to load a document direct from disc into the word processor, however it actually reads it from disc, stores it as an internal document and then opens it. So if you don't have much ram free (base NC200 has about 40K free or so for document - well this is according to LOMEM and HIMEM from BASIC), so you don't have a lot to play with.

Question:

I am thinking of getting a card for it. Can I use an adaptor (SD -> Compactflash??).
I know it'll only see 1MB or so, but can I use larger sizes, but it'll just not use it?


BTW, Poking into ram is not a good idea. I did this because I wanted to find location of screen ram by default.
I ended up locking up the nc200, after I finally managed to reboot it I had lost all my stored documents.
Ooops!

[Ygdrazil]

Twitter for the NC200 is this for real?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysretrocomputers/5244630019/in/photostream/

Ygdrazil

[redbox]

Twitter for the NC200 is this for real?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysretrocomputers/5244630019/in/photostream/

Yes, but he's using a RS232 connection to a Linux box.

The Spectrum twitter was more impressive as this actually used it's own Ethernet connection.

[andyt31]

Unfortunately, I dont have the skills to make a ethernet interface. 

[Nilquader]

I am thinking of getting a card for it. Can I use an adaptor (SD -> Compactflash??).
I know it'll only see 1MB or so, but can I use larger sizes, but it'll just not use it?

Compactflash or SD cards wouldn't work because the NC100 only supports SRAM cards which are mapped directly into the Z80 address space. CF cards are flash based and do not work on the NC100.


But you can use larger SRAM cards and the NC100 detects them as 1MB cards.

You can copy ANY file type from disc into ram and it will be shown in the document list.
But you can't do the reverse without converting to ASCII it seems. There must be an internal tag on the file to make it visible or not in the documents list.

Just configure the file selector to display date and time by pressing [Function]X from the main menu to change the file display options and then press [SHIFT][CONTROL]H in the file selector to display hidden files. You can transfer these files to PC or Floppy disk this way. Just don't try to open a binary file in the wordprocessor, because this will destroy your file.

[arnoldemu]

Compactflash or SD cards wouldn't work because the NC100 only supports SRAM cards which are mapped directly into the Z80 address space. CF cards are flash based and do not work on the NC100.


But you can use larger SRAM cards and the NC100 detects them as 1MB cards.

Just configure the file selector to display date and time by pressing [Function]X from the main menu to change the file display options and then press [SHIFT][CONTROL]H in the file selector to display hidden files. You can transfer these files to PC or Floppy disk this way. Just don't try to open a binary file in the wordprocessor, because this will destroy your file.

Thanks!!!

I looked in the rom data and I can see some self test code for disc drive and general NC200 tests.
Do you know of a way to activate them?

Also the sound in the nc200 I have doesn't work. The case seems to have been opened before, so perhaps there is a loose connection.

(I got it for free btw).

[Nilquader]

Thanks!!!

I looked in the rom data and I can see some self test code for disc drive and general NC200 tests.
Do you know of a way to activate them?

Hold [Function][Control][Symbol] and then press the power key. The self test will begin with the general test and then continue with the disc drive test.

[Gryzor]

Hold [Function][Control][Symbol] and then press the power key. The self test will begin with the general test and then continue with the disc drive test.

Hmm, very cool. Does this apply only to the NC200? I added the info here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_Series#NC200_Functionality

[arnoldemu]

Hmm, very cool. Does this apply only to the NC200? I added the info here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_Series#NC200_Functionality

I tried the key cominations last night and they work as expected.
Thanks Nilquader!

I found that a disc had to be in the drive for the disc tests to function so I added this note to the wiki.
I also added your note about how to make the hidden files visible

So, I found that the sound doesn't work in my nc200, I hope it is just a bad connection.
I am still planning to make a small game for nc200, perhaps a platformer like manic miner.

[Nilquader]

Hmm, very cool. Does this apply only to the NC200? I added the info here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/NC_Series#NC200_Functionality

This applies to all NC models, not only the NC200.

[arnoldemu]

I finally got my nc200 to display a string with my own font, and a masked sprite moving over a background.
I've got a long way to go to make a game on this platform

[robcfg]

Great work!


How are you doing with the poor refresh of the LCD? I guess it's not good for a scrolling game... Or you can simply say it's Hardware-accelerated real-time blur


Looking forward to see something running, my NC200 is program-hungry!

[loftcat]

A platform game for the NC series sounds very interesting!

Has the project gone any further?

[Cosi]

Hello friends,
I've just become an owner of a cute little NC100. To be honest, this is my very first "physical" contact with Amstrad computers, but I'm planning to get familiar with it soon and start discovering this marvelous piece of hardware really thoroughly
I hope that the NC community is dormant, not dead Am I right? Do you switch your notepads on sometimes?
Regards,
Cosi

[TFM]

So welcome in the Amstrad World!
May you like some of them:
http://books.google.com/books?id=6vP5WtCdApgC
http://www.ncus.org.uk/index.htm

The NC is a fascinating machine and very reliable :-)

[redbox]

The NC is a fascinating machine and very reliable :-)

Apart from the nightmare keyboard clashing (but the CPC suffers from this too).

[Cosi]

May you like some of them:
http://books.google.com/books?id=6vP5WtCdApgC
http://www.ncus.org.uk/index.htm

Already found them, waiting for the machine to be delivered But I'm digging deeply to find as much as possible on the Net. I'm a fan of vintage palmtops and, since these are often forgotten, there's usually little useful information on them remaining. (For instance Atari Portfolio: a real market hit then and now you may only find pages mentioning John Connor cracking ATM with the Portfolio ) So patience is the key when searching the Internet for some vintage palmtop stuff I also hope that NC users still play with their toys sometimes and there's a chance for a revival of these outstanding computers.

The NC is a fascinating machine and very reliable :-)

I know I want to tweak it and hack it as much as possible, maybe write a little bit of software for it, and write about it on my blog from time to time. I'm also thinking about utilizing it as a tool for my everyday work - as far as I've checked, it's a nice and comfortable "typewriter". And there's no deconcentrating Web browser installed

One thing (among lots of others ) that intrigues me is the similarity between Cambridge Z88, NC100 and several other models (usually licensed clones). I wonder how far the compatibility goes...

[Cosi]

Apart from the nightmare keyboard clashing (but the CPC suffers from this too).

I've already noticed it, but that's weird, given that the NC was meant to be a word processing machine.

[redbox]

I've already noticed it, but that's weird, given that the NC was meant to be a word processing machine.

It uses the same (cheap) chip that was found in the CPC range.


If you type 3 keys at once, the circuitry produces a fourth key input based on the last 3, annoying if you type fast.


I have read of people using the NC series as a day-to-day processor because you have the ability to upload files from it by a serial link.  If you then write some formatting scripts at the PC end to decode the control characters etc, you can easily turn the files into RTF or something.

[Cosi]

If you type 3 keys at once, the circuitry produces a fourth key input based on the last 3, annoying if you type fast.

Aaah, I thought you were talking about mechanical clashing. The keys need to be pressed directly in the middle or else the character may not show up. That's annoying as well.

If you then write some formatting scripts at the PC end to decode the control characters etc, you can easily turn the files into RTF or something.

You don't have to

[redbox]

You don't have to

Oooh, it does Protext documents too.  Nice find. 

[Cosi]

You're welcome Besides, since Protext file format is not that much complicated, it would be easily possible to write converters to other popular formats. Or reverse converters. What I've been thinking since a few days is a PDF->Protext converter (of course as much simplified as possible). Imagine that: converting a book/an article/whatsoever to Protext, sending it to the notepad and using the machine as an ebook reader

I'm serious.

[redbox]

Imagine that: converting a book/an article/whatsoever to Protext, sending it to the notepad and using the machine as an ebook reader

That's a cool idea.


You might need to buy a lot of batteries though