CPC Mainboard Versions

[JMD]

Hello nocash,

I just posted on cpc wiki a pictutre of my CPC6128 QWERTY.
As I remember, first serie of french 6128 was qwerty and it works exactly as UK ones with | caracters.
The text on KB was in french (and not a sticker on drive).
This one is just the same I had younger.

The serial of mine is 219910 K32-5X

Note : I made quickly the picture so I can do better if you want

[Grim]

About the AWERTY CPC keyboard, I think the Q and A keys were just swapped too. No way this thing could possibly exist otherwise! There's already enough variants! :)

Just noticed, the french keyboard and french charset ROM don't have a "|" symbol?

Yeah, that's the most annoying and stupid change they made to the French charset. Many software manuals or mags were referring to |CPM, |USER,5 and all that RSXs stuff with the pipe symbol that was not on the French keyboard! Very confusing (esp. if you had never read the CPC User Manual before). On a side note, it also screws up all attempt at ASCII Art (along with the missing backslash \ too).

[nocash]

Just removed the following dummy entries from http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Keyboard_Versions
  french 664 with AZERTY
  german 664 with post-schneider logo
  spanish 664 with Ñ key
  danish 664 with Æ,Ø,Å keys
assuming that the 664 was discontinued before local keyboards were invented.

If the english 6128/6128+ don't show up soon, I guess they should be removed, too :-) to me, it looks like a myth that english users ever had 128K models :-) Kevin, are you sure you haven't dreamt it? Maybe you have gray-imported german schneider models? They have "english" qwerty keyboard, too.

Apropos german models. Did somebody ever see german CPCs after the amstrad-schneider partnership ended in 1988? I have no clue how they looked like - still with german text on 6128 disk drive and grey keys on 464 keyboard - or were they just normal english models?

PS. JMD, thanks, for confirming the french 6128 qwerty! And thanks for the photo, looks perfect!

[Devilmarkus]

I added the German Amstrad CPC 6128 today.
http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Keyboard_Versions#German

[nocash]

> I added the German Amstrad CPC 6128 today.
Great, thanks! Now the only missing pictures should be
- German 464 with amstrad logo
- Danish 464 with danish keys
and, of course, those ominous english 128K models.

PS. I think I have solved the riddle about the Triumph brandname in the CPC BIOS rom! Most likely, it dates back to the german typewriter manufacturer, http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Triumph imagine having the triumph logo on the CPC keyboard :-)

[Gryzor]

I still don't get what's ominous or mysterious about the UK 128k models? I can say for sure that these are the ones that were sold in Greece - and therefore quite a few are available...

[nocash]

Yeah, probably the 128K UK models do exist... at least outside UK, like in greece :-) anyways concerning photos in internet they really do not exist - do what you want, you won't find any pictures of them - only hundreds of pics with spanish/french/german 6128 & spanish/french 6128+ models.

Good that you mention greece models. I've been wondering if there were further localized versions in greece, italy, belgium, usa, and wherever else CPCs were sold? Even if the keyboards were english, the text on the case and tape/disc drive may have been translated (?)

Whoops, deepfb just told me that spanish 6128 (and maybe also 464/664) were localized in that fashion before the 472 and Ñ key were invented. So that model(s) are still missing on http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Keyboard_Versions, too.

[arnoldemu]

Yeah, probably the 128K UK models do exist... at least outside UK, like in greece :-) anyways concerning photos in internet they really do not exist - do what you want, you won't find any pictures of them - only hundreds of pics with spanish/french/german 6128 & spanish/french 6128+ models.

I have an English CPC464, CPC664, CPC6128, 464+ and 6128+, so are they worth a lot of money because the pictures are not on the internet and they should not exist? 

[nocash]

I bet so. Quite possible that you have the only two existing english 128K models :-)

[arnoldemu]

I bet so. Quite possible that you have the only two existing english 128K models :-)

Really I know you are joking with us and you know 100% that 128k cpc's existed in the uk. 
I am sure you are sitting and laughing at your computer and having fun. 

But I think maybe your use of smileys needs some practice 

EDIT: A google images search shows me lots of english cpc6128's, but most of the pictures are not good enough for wiki.

http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/Amstrad-cpc6128.jpg
http://koti.mbnet.fi/~oju/retro/CPC6128.jpg
http://bilgisayarlarim.com/Amstrad/CPC6128/CPC6128_08.jpg
http://www.retrotrader.com/catalog/images/retroaaa%20006.jpg
http://www.jonathanen.com/pages/Computers/Amstrad/CPC6128/cpc6128setup.jpg
http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/pictures/amstrad-cpc6128-large.jpg

[nocash]

Whew! First time I've seen a english 6128. Most pics really aren't too good quality. But the http://bilgisayarlarim.com/Amstrad/CPC6128/CPC6128_08.jpg picture shows that it seems to have english 'key numbers' text on it.

Now I've seen how it looks like... there are further differences: Upper-case DISC DRIVE in upper-right (german has Disc Drive) and CPC6128 in lower-right (german has 128K Colour Personal Computer in that place).

Great, that should help to identify english 6128 models even if they are shown only in lowres thumbnail form. Won't work for the 6128+ unfortunately since the english/spanish/french Plus models look nearly identical.

[Grim]

Not sure if this is the right thread to post that, but anyway:
About the brand Saisho in the Amstrad Firmware, according to an interview with Cliff Lawson, it was in fact a sub-brand owned by Dixons, the famous UK retailer.

[nocash]

Yup, read that interview, too. Mmmmmh, at the moment, the Saisho pages "Saisho is an own brand formerly used by Dixons stores" should that be rephrased (any idea how best)? It's still a bit unsorted, just started to collect info.

Uh, is there a problem with the Triumph page, http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Triumph ?
Just asking because somebody deleted most of the page, both the "fun" part, and and "serious" part with LK Link references (I've undone the delete), and aside from triumph adler, only the side-note on the 2007 company remained. And the fun part wasn't just fun - it also pointed out that there are many different companies using Triumph as brand name. Anyways, if it that information shall be removed from cpcwiki, I can put it on my own webpage.

[Gryzor]

@Grim: I bet the japanese-sounding name had lots to do with some "let's-do-some-Japanese-marketing" idea

@nocash: yes, there still is a problem with the Triumph page. The problem is that we all know there's no way the underwear or the motorcycle manufacturer entered the electronics arena, so it makes no sense to mention them. But even if you insist on mentioning them, there's still no point in showing boobage or motorcycles. You can just do that - mention them.

[Devilmarkus]

@nocash: yes, there still is a problem with the Triumph page. The problem is that we all know there's no way the underwear or the motorcycle manufacturer entered the electronics arena, so it makes no sense to mention them. But even if you insist on mentioning them, there's still no point in showing boobage or motorcycles. You can just do that - mention them.

I totally agree here with Gryzor.
That was the reason why I removed these things from Triumph page...
I am sure, when we use "g**gle" we will also find hundred results for "Orion" (e.g. german sex-toys brand "Orion") But do we post it in a "Orion" page?

[nocash]

> yes, there still is a problem with the Triumph page.
I just liked how the pictures are arranged :-(

> The problem is that we all know there's no way the underwear
> or the motorcycle manufacturer entered the electronics arena
Maybe that's why the LK setting was never used :-)

> so it makes no sense to mention them.
Well, the idea there was that people coming to that page are likely wondering "what the hell is triumph? is that electronic brand name at all?" So showing that it isn't (only) electronic makes sense to me. Asides it's interesting that so many companies are using the same brand name. I think it's because the companies were founded more than hundred years ago. Like nowadays you couldn't easily found a company that makes "small soft chewing gums", and call it Microsoft Gums.

> there's still no point in showing boobage or motorcycles.
Come on, the pics are carefully choosen, showing the different more popular (and more exotic) company logos, and the bras - it's an underwear manufacturer, so of course they have bras in their logo/banner. No porn or sexism in that, it doesn't even show panties. And, if the triumph-adler relation is correct, I don't see why the typewriter picture was deleted. It's not a computer, of course, but wasting a few kilobytes for historic background, is that wrong?

---

PS. finally found a piczure of a CPC 6128 plus. Came accross it while searching for german schneider 6128 with upper case text on the disc drive.

[nocash]

No, Orion is much clearer. As brand name it seems to be only used by the japanese company. I've also found it mentioned being used as brand name by Tungsram (hungary), but I would assume that this could be an "official" partnership between the japanese and hungrarian company. And Orion is also mentioned in the above interview as "far east" company, that probably means japan. And finally, Amstrad *has* worked with Orion. No way that the cathode ray tubes were manufactured by a "german sex-toys brand" as you suggested :-)

EDIT: The only german-relation I could find was ISP KG being the german Orion distributor (from 1975 up to today). That might also explain the "Isp" in the BIOS ROM. Though as far as I know ISP only sells Orion-branded products, and never (?) rebadged them as ISP products.

[Gryzor]

I just liked how the pictures are arranged :-(
...
...
but wasting a few kilobytes for historic background, is that wrong?

There's a problem with all that, though I'm not going to argue with your point: it's got nothing to do with the CPC...

[nocash]

What? No I am unsure... what was my point? EDIT: It's ALL a problem? :-(

[Devilmarkus]

I think the brand name "Triumph" was designed to be used in US for importing CPC's there.
Later then, probably the US concern denied or Amstrad cancelled the co-operation with them.
(Don't forget: the ROMs contain 9!!! brand names!)
We know:
- Awa has been used in Australia
- Schneider in Germany (And I think in the Netherlands, too)
- Amstrad in all other European states

So, where had the other names been used?

[nocash]

> I think the brand name "Triumph" was designed
> to be used in US for importing CPC's there.
Errr. The US company was founded in 2007. Didn't you read that part? I just mentioned so that people will NOT get trapped... but didn't help as it seems :-) Or do you mean there was another/earlier US company with same name??

> (Don't forget: the ROMs contain 9!!! brand names!)
Whoops, I always thought the 3bit value allowed only 8 names.

> Awa has been used in Australia
Thank you, I was afraid that you'd want to delete that page, too.

> So, where had the other names been used?
As far as I know, they haven't been ever used (*) but netherless it'd be CPC-related to mention that amstrad planned to use them for optional partnerships with this or that company.

(*) Only exception would be Solavox. It seems that Indescomp (planned to) export Solavox'es to USA, but did then sell them in spain. For the most confusion Solavox seems to be a UK brand, so it <should> have no relation to USA nor spain :-)
Does somebody know more about Solavox, or about americanCPCs?

[Devilmarkus]

Little no$xmas present for the wiki:
(Maybe you want to use them to setup a "branding names" site in the Wiki)

The ninth name was "Arnold" and is not selectable because the ROM adds + 1 to the selected value (from LK bridges)
Would be cool to get a ROM file of the CPC prototype!

[nocash]

> (Maybe you want to use them to setup a "branding names" site in the Wiki)
No, thanks, not really. But would be a good idea in general. At the moment the brand names are summarized (and sorts of hidden) somewhere in the middle of the 8255 page (=PPI chip). So go ahead, make that page yourself!

[Devilmarkus]

So go ahead, make that page yourself!

My wiki pages look like crap
You know the wiki syntax better than me.

[nocash]

Okay, but please don't delete it if you don't like it.
Should it be "Brand Names" or "Branding Names" or just "LK1 LK2 LK3"? Latter one would be clearest, so nobody mis-uses it for other brand-names (like dk'tronics). Uh, except Indescomp & Patisonic should be probably mentioned on that page, too.

NB. best way to learn the cpcwiki syntax is to start writing some text, and if it doesn't look as desired: Click EDIT on another page that has the desired formatting. Of course without editing that page, just to view its source code.