Amstrad 6128: Are there any external cassette drives ?

[Cholo]

I bought the din plug which Shaun M. Neary and LambdaMikel told me, now I am waiting for a cassette game. I tried to run cdt files, which I downloaded, with an app called tapdancer but it doesn t seem to work. Maybe Im using the wrong command.

Finding the right sound volume can be a bit tricky (source usually need to be quite high, but depends on the hardware). Also i strongly suggest at first only use unprotected games like the Elite or Amsoft brand games like Ghost & Goblins, 1942, Ikari Warriors, Oh Mummy, Fruity Frank, Bomb Jack.


to load type:


|tape   .. and press ENTER.


run"    .. and press ENTER.


You will then get a "press PLAY then any key" prompt .. and press ENTER again.
Then press Play/start on your audio device.


Here is an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NUGmLj3GXQ


Troubleshooting:
- not getting a name but getting Error A or Error B messages? the volume is probably a bit too low, but you are close to the right volume.
- Getting the File name on screen but also Error A/B? If the errors is very frequent then the volume is probably nearly right, try upping it a tiiiny bit (or lower). Also it could be the CDT that is simply bad. (CDT are made by random people so perhaps the CDT works with their system or emulator but is slightly off on your system). Better try a different game/cdt then.
- how do you know that your REM port is working on your data recorder? This one is easy as if you have everything hooked up then the cassette shouldnt be running untill the moment you press Enter at the "Press PLAY then any key"-prompt. Thankfully the REM port isnt "mandatory" but if that or one of the other 2 ports dont seem to work it probably a good idea to clean em. Also ive had time where after years & years of un/plugging jack stick they kinda become somewhat loose & would have to "jiggle" the plug a bit untill it got proper connection.

[blackdalek]

If for whatever reason you have a tape player connected to your CPC6128 which has no automatic motor control facility, the most obvious way to know when to manually start and stop the tape playing is to listen for the click of the tape motor relay switch inside the 6128. This method only becomes tricky when the "click" to stop and "click" to start are very close together, so you may miss the click to restart the tape playing.