New multi purpose board:512K RAM Expansion/32x Rom board/256K Ram+2X Rom board

[ikonsgr]

This new multi purpose board:

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Is a compliment to USIfAC II board that offers amazing new features:

-512K RAM Expansion (default mode, should work with other boards too,like M4, DDI interfaces etc.)
-32X Rom board mode (supports both lower and upper roms)
-256K Ram expansion + 2X Rom board mode (supports both lower and upper roms)
 It can also act a "mini" MX4 board, as it offers a 50pin female connector + edge connector to plug USIfAC II and other boards.

You can check these small presentation videos:

Board would be especially useful for Amstrad CPC 464, as it will, not only allow to run games that require 128k Ram, but also, using the special "Dual mode", you will have amsdos/parados rom (for fast access of dsk image files, like with CPC6128) or CPC6128 firmware+Basic (to use all new features and conveniences of CPC6128  BASIC 1.1), along with 256K Memory expansion!
Anything you will need can be found here, including a small user guide too (readme.pdf). Use "RAM-ROM_old_usifac.zip", if you have a USIfAC II with older than v6 firmware.

Price for the board is 29 euros including registered/tracked postage
Extra edge connector ribbon cable costs +3euros, Centronics cable +5euros.


Anyone interested, please contact at: ikonsgr745@hotmail.com

[ikonsgr]

Btw, if you already have an edge/centronics ribbon cable, you can use it with RAM/ROM board and plug USIfAC II (or other boards) directly to the 50pin connector:

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[d_kef]

It seems impressive !!!

email sent.

d_kef

[GUNHED]

WoW! Great hardware for an even greater price!!!

In dual mode the great board provides 256 KB of RAM, so 256 KB would be left for ROMs (16 ROMs of 16 KB).
But the PDF states only 2 ROMs. Is is a typo, or another reason?

Cool to see, that the USIfAC II fits on the board too!

[Prodatron]

That looks great, eMail sent!

[xesrjb]

Great, send a Email...

xesrjb 

[ikonsgr]

WoW! Great hardware for an even greater price!!!
In dual mode the great board provides 256 KB of RAM, so 256 KB would be left for ROMs (16 ROMs of 16 KB).
But the PDF states only 2 ROMs. Is is a typo, or another reason?
Cool to see, that the USIfAC II fits on the board too!

No, it's not typo, supporting 16 Roms in dual mode would require extra logic (more ic's) and more complex curcuit, but i wanted the board to be as cheap and simple as possible. So, initially there was only one rom supported in dual mode, and then using a trick (with only an extra diode and a resistor) i manage to add a 2nd rom too   The good thing is that both low and upper rom supported, so you can have CPC 6128 FW+BASIC 1.1 on a cpc 464 (along with 256K ram expansion) and get rid of the crappy Basic 1.0   
 Nevertheless, having full 16roms support + 256k ram  in dula mode, is something i intend to make for the next ULIFAC (or USIFAC III) board, which will merge USIfAC II  + RAM/ROM board into one board! 

[Philippe Lardenois]

Hi, E mail sent too. Seems great.

[WacKEDmaN]

excellent!.. gonna have to grab one..after i fix my cpc

it would be nice to have a backup battery (button cell) on the SRAM, then ya could "edit" roms and keep them "alive" between reboots/power cycles..maybe something for v2!

also the dual mode, is that hardwired for one rom in lower rom slot? i already have the 1.1 Basic rom installed, so would like to use one slot for ams/parados and the other for another standard rom..

[GUNHED]

Thanks for the update Iconsgr. Awesome piece of work!!! 

[wolfgang]

Hi,

this is really great, so its possible to actually upgrade a CPC464 to a CPC 6128, right?
Would it be possible to make it run CP/M or even CP/M Plus on it?

Will the ULIFAC/USIFAC III be (more less) the size of an USIFAC II board or bigger? I try to not grow my CPC too much to the back (as my Desk is already quite full with computers)

kind regards

Wolfgang

[ikonsgr]

excellent!.. gonna have to grab one..after i fix my cpc
it would be nice to have a backup battery (button cell) on the SRAM, then ya could "edit" roms and keep them "alive" between reboots/power cycles..maybe something for v2!

Well,i suppose you can use the external power supply connector for that, just plug a 5v psu (and remove the internal power jumper otherwise it will power amstrad too  ) that would retain sram data and current mode/rom configuration. Although loading process of prepared rom schemes is quite easy and fast (check the 5roms video presentation to verify this).  You can easily create your own rom loader and rom configuration basic programs, and execute them in a few seconds. In small user's guide, i provide the small basic listing for loading rom files and the few OUT commands needed to configure roms as you like 

also the dual mode, is that hardwired for one rom in lower rom slot? i already have the 1.1 Basic rom installed, so would like to use one slot for ams/parados and the other for another standard rom..

Nothing is "hard wired", the 1st rom slot 0 can be used as either upper or lower rom, and the 2nd rom slot is only for upper rom. Of course you can map roms to any rom slot you want, and also, activate/deactivate them, using simple OUT commands.
That's the "beuaty" of using Microcontroller with CLC's, instead of  a CPLD and have dozens of switches to do all the needed... "hard rewire"!

[ikonsgr]

Hi,
this is really great, so its possible to actually upgrade a CPC464 to a CPC 6128, right?

Exactly, with CPC6128 Firmware and Basic 1.1, 464 will behave like a CPC 6128 (that's what the "6128.BAS" program does, check user's guide for more info).

Would it be possible to make it run CP/M or even CP/M Plus on it?

You can load amsdos/parados rom in dual mode, and also have 256k ram expansion. Then, i suppose you can mount any cpm dsk image and use it directly with floppy drive emulation (|FDC). I have prepared utilities to do exactly that ("464PARAD" and "464AMSDO")

Will the ULIFAC/USIFAC III be (more less) the size of an USIFAC II board or bigger? I try to not grow my CPC too much to the back (as my Desk is already quite full with computers)

The development board i designed for ULIFAC is ~10cmX10cm but i expect the final board to be a bit smaller, as i intend to use SMD 512K sram chips, instead of DIP, as they are much smaller, cheaper  and easier to find.

[GUNHED]

Dobbertin- and Vortex-pachted CP/M Plus runs well on CPC464 with at least 128 KB of RAM.

[wolfgang]

Hi,
this is really great, so its possible to actually upgrade a CPC464 to a CPC 6128, right?

Exactly, with CPC6128 Firmware and Basic 1.1, 464 will behave like a CPC 6128 (that's what the "6128.BAS" program does, check user's guide for more info).

Would it be possible to make it run CP/M or even CP/M Plus on it?

You can load amsdos/parados rom in dual mode, and also have 256k ram expansion. Then, i suppose you can mount any cpm dsk image and use it directly with floppy drive emulation (|FDC). I have prepared utilities to do exactly that ("464PARAD" and "464AMSDO")

Will the ULIFAC/USIFAC III be (more less) the size of an USIFAC II board or bigger? I try to not grow my CPC too much to the back (as my Desk is already quite full with computers)

The development board i designed for ULIFAC is ~10cmX10cm but i expect the final board to be a bit smaller, as i intend to use SMD 512K sram chips, instead of DIP, as they are much smaller, cheaper  and easier to find.

Wow, perfect I will order one as soon as it is available (any idea when taht could be :-)?

[SkulleateR]

Hi,
this is really great, so its possible to actually upgrade a CPC464 to a CPC 6128, right?

Exactly, with CPC6128 Firmware and Basic 1.1, 464 will behave like a CPC 6128 (that's what the "6128.BAS" program does, check user's guide for more info).

Would it be possible to make it run CP/M or even CP/M Plus on it?

You can load amsdos/parados rom in dual mode, and also have 256k ram expansion. Then, i suppose you can mount any cpm dsk image and use it directly with floppy drive emulation (|FDC). I have prepared utilities to do exactly that ("464PARAD" and "464AMSDO")

Will the ULIFAC/USIFAC III be (more less) the size of an USIFAC II board or bigger? I try to not grow my CPC too much to the back (as my Desk is already quite full with computers)

The development board i designed for ULIFAC is ~10cmX10cm but i expect the final board to be a bit smaller, as i intend to use SMD 512K sram chips, instead of DIP, as they are much smaller, cheaper  and easier to find.

Wow, perfect I will order one as soon as it is available (any idea when taht could be :-)?

It's already available, just write him an e-mail (See first post)

[ikonsgr]

Wow, perfect I will order one as soon as it is available (any idea when taht could be :-)?

I currently have ~20boards left, but only 10 ram chips, so i can make another 10 boards.But i've ordered another 10 ram chips, so i believe i will have another 10boards available in a month or so.

[Takis Kalatzis]

Great work ikonsgr!

I have a couple of questions:

1. What are the dimensions of the board (including the Edge connector), I do not have very much space behind the 6128 and I would like to know if it fits

2. Has anyone tested yet that it works with an M4 board? Does SYMBOS work running from M4's SD card with this configuration?

Best regards,

Takis

[ikonsgr]

1. What are the dimensions of the board (including the Edge connector), I do not have very much space behind the 6128 and I would like to know if it fits

Dimensions are ~10cmX7cm

2. Has anyone tested yet that it works with an M4 board? Does SYMBOS work running from M4's SD card with this configuration?

I test Symbos, and it works on CPC6128 and 512K Ram mode,recognizing 576K total ram: https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;attach=35088

[trocoloco]

Very nice card! email sent 

[leexus]

Great, but can it be used with cpc 6128+ computer also?
I know that the fw basic 1.1 is unnecessary to me, but can I use the mem. expansion on Mx4 port?
If yes, what is the max. expectable memory and in which mode can be accessed?
Thanks!

[ikonsgr]

Great, but can it be used with cpc 6128+ computer also?
I know that the fw basic 1.1 is unnecessary to me, but can I use the mem. expansion on Mx4 port?
If yes, what is the max. expectable memory and in which mode can be accessed?
Thanks!

Unfortunately i don't have an amstrad plus to test the board, but if mem configuration is the same with CPC (same port and ram modes), then i can't find any reason not to work.
Maximum available memory is 576Kb when use the deafult 512k ram expansion mode.

[d_kef]

Great, but can it be used with cpc 6128+ computer also?
I know that the fw basic 1.1 is unnecessary to me, but can I use the mem. expansion on Mx4 port?
If yes, what is the max. expectable memory and in which mode can be accessed?
Thanks!

Unfortunately i don't have an amstrad plus to test the board, but if mem configuration is the same with CPC (same port and ram modes), then i can't find any reason not to work.
Maximum available memory is 576Kb when use the deafult 512k ram expansion mode.

As soon as I receive mine I'll test and report back.

d_kef

[leexus]

email sent, ordered one

[wolfgang]

Hi,
this is really great, so its possible to actually upgrade a CPC464 to a CPC 6128, right?

Exactly, with CPC6128 Firmware and Basic 1.1, 464 will behave like a CPC 6128 (that's what the "6128.BAS" program does, check user's guide for more info).

Would it be possible to make it run CP/M or even CP/M Plus on it?

You can load amsdos/parados rom in dual mode, and also have 256k ram expansion. Then, i suppose you can mount any cpm dsk image and use it directly with floppy drive emulation (|FDC). I have prepared utilities to do exactly that ("464PARAD" and "464AMSDO")

Will the ULIFAC/USIFAC III be (more less) the size of an USIFAC II board or bigger? I try to not grow my CPC too much to the back (as my Desk is already quite full with computers)

The development board i designed for ULIFAC is ~10cmX10cm but i expect the final board to be a bit smaller, as i intend to use SMD 512K sram chips, instead of DIP, as they are much smaller, cheaper  and easier to find.

Wow, perfect I will order one as soon as it is available (any idea when taht could be :-)?

It's already available, just write him an e-mail (See first post)

No, I wait until the ULIFAC (combination of USIFAC II and RAM/ROM board is available, I need top save space on my desk.