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#1

Other retro / Re: What's the console or comp...

Last post by eto - Today at 07:44

I used to own an Amstrad PC 1512 back in the day with a BW screen and had plenty of joy playing CGA Sierra adventures. 

Do you mean the Hercules monochrome screen? CGA would not work well with a monochrome display as it's TTL level and could not create a greyscale image. The later PC2x86 models had a VGA greyscale monitor but the PC1512 came with either Hercules (mono) or CGA (colour) display.

Weren't "ugly" 4 colors games supposed to be displayed on a black and white monitor, making them much more elegant and generally a whole different thing altogether?

CGA was always meant to be in colour (Colour Graphics Array). As mentioned above it doesn't even support greyscales and I have never seen a greyscale monitor being used with a CGA card.

#2

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Other retro / Re: What's the console or comp...

Last post by cwpab - Today at 07:42

Yeah, that's a great first-hand example from back in the day... Thanks.

It's just a piece of the puzzle of a question I would like to have an answer for: did computers playing CGA games in the 80s usually have a black and white monitor?

#3

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General Discussion - Introductions / Re: I feel like I am on a diff...

Last post by cwpab - Today at 07:41

I can understand French and Spanish too so I am planning to dig into French and Spanish adventure games too. Other than that I would say classics like Arkanoid are always nice to play especially if you have some nice joystick. Any recommendations?

That's great! Understanding French and Spanish is going to make your CPC game journey MUCH better, especially for adventures.

Try the Spanish text adventure Megacorp (also available for the C64). As a Spaniard, it's my favorite Spanish game of all time! It's a rare case of an 80s adventure with actual fair puzzles that never get too easy or too hard. The sci-fi setting is pretty cute too. I also highly recommend downloading and reading the disk version Spanish manual (tape manual is the same, but looks worse) where they explain you must use imperative ("abre" for "open") instead of infinitive ("abrir").

Oh and don't be distracted by the girl in the loading screen... It never appears on the game!

#4

Technical support - Hardware related / Re: Disc Missing and Bad Comma...

Last post by eto - Today at 07:28

Not saying this is your problem but may give you some ideas.

I'll have a look at that signal. Thanks

#5

Technical support - Hardware related / Re: Disc Missing and Bad Comma...

Last post by eto - Today at 07:20

id say the floppy issues is something to do with your cable...i remember them symptoms from when i setup a 3.5in drive and it was a wrong pin used on the cable..

I resoldered all pins and it also happens on Drive B if Drive A is not connected.

it seems the pins of the PIO to the "LK" links isnt connected right

They are set to "Schneider". That's why I think it is relevant in this case. As I get into BASIC, can execute commands but Floppy access is not possible, scrolling does not work and the system thinks it gets the wrong value from the LK links, I got the feeling that there is something involved which is not a typical cause of the "Bad command" problem. 

#6

Technical support - Hardware related / Re: Disc Missing and Bad Comma...

Last post by Rabs - Today at 06:25

I have a CPC 6128 here where I got the infamous "Disc Missing" and then the "Bad Command" symptoms.

Floppy could be ruled out as it also happens with a known working GOTEK.

When I switch to drive B (another GOTEK) the whole system hangs and after a soft reset the boot process stops before the "BASIC 1.1" message until I turn it off.

I already replaced almost everything related to the FDC part of the motherboard: AMSDOS, u765, all LS-ICs (with the IC numbers 2xx). The only ICs that have not been replaced are the 74HC161 and the FD9216 data separator (as I don't have replacements for them here).

Weirdly enough now the logon message is no longer "Schneider" but "ISP". This makes me wonder if something completely different is the actual culprit...

any idea? The firmware maybe?


EDIT: I can enter commands and even BASIC but when the cursor crosses the screen border it simply vanishes without scrolling. BASIC seems to stop working as command have no effect any longer. The only thing that still works is a soft reset.

I had a 664, a while back, which resulted in a hang before the BASIC prompt. This was related to ROMDIS problems and a broken track on the disc controller side of the PCB. Not saying this is your problem but may give you some ideas. Appears your problem has more subtle symptoms.

In my case,

IC205 PIN 2 AND gate input was floating high, should have been held low by IC212 PIN 5.
IC205 PIN 1 AND gate input is connected to A15
IC203 PIN 3 AND gate output is connected to ROMDIS

Every time A15 went high, the ROM was disabled and hence the hang before BASIC.

Hope this helps, Rabs.

#7

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Technical support - Hardware related / Re: old model 464 with garbled...

Last post by salvogendut - Today at 05:59

Would this kind of chip be ok as a replacement? I am trying to order some beforehand

#8

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Technical support - Hardware related / Re: Disc Missing and Bad Comma...

Last post by Brocky - Today at 05:54

id say the floppy issues is something to do with your cable...i remember them symptoms from when i setup a 3.5in drive and it was a wrong pin used on the cable..

as for the schneider vs isp... it seems the pins of the PIO to the "LK" links isnt connected right... ISP is 0,0,0 on the 3 links (LK1, LK2, LK3)...schenider is set to 1,0,1

the issue under ya edit is a totally new one to me!..never seen that!

#9

Games / Re: Turrican (128K)

Last post by XeNoMoRPH - Today at 05:52

Is there a version please that works with the Dandanator Elite + please?

I have no idea what is a Dandanator Elite+ and, at this point, I'm afraid to ask!
Can't you just drop the Turrican Files in a folder on your SD card, just like with the Ulifac or M4 ?

Dandanator Elite + . is a device that uses exclusive removable cartridges with a retro design paying homage to the 3-disc, each cartridge has a capacity of 512Kb in internal Flash memory.

#10

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Games / Re: Turrican (128K)

Last post by spikemorrissey - Today at 02:58

Is there a version please that works with the Dandanator Elite + please?

I have no idea what is a Dandanator Elite+ and, at this point, I'm afraid to ask!
Can't you just drop the Turrican Files in a folder on your SD card, just like with the Ulifac or M4 ?

This is the link to it - do not be afraid! https://rancanuoteam.com/producto/cpc-elite/

I can send .dsk files up to 190k on to the rom generator however it won't add for example pinball dreams which is 419k in one version and in another two disks each of 209k.