SYMBiFACE III in development

[Prodatron]

That's the most crazy CPC setup I have ever seen!
I didn't know, that it is possible to connect so much hardware to the expansion bus at the same time over such long distances.

[Pollo]

It looks like this card is pretty much the ultimate CPC expansion card.
I wonder why nobody talks about it.

[poulette73]

I presented it on a French forum a few years ago.
https://cpcrulez.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6886

It was my modest contribution...

I had so hoped that, with all its built-in features, it would interest a community of Z80 developers... because there could have been incredible new network games, using the 2 MB of memory/USB storage/USB mouse/Integrated Wi-Fi/RTC clock/all audio formats decoded/VOIP/rombanks/MIDI synthesis/web radios, and so on...

But hey, we're not forcing anyone to be interested/invest in this RSF3, it's just voluntary work : you have the desire, the time, or you don't. 

[eto]

Can the RSF3 still be bought? 

[poulette73]

Yes, I certainly think so.

Just contact Hans on his website (TMTLOGIC) : http://www.tmtlogic.com/contact.html

At the time, he had produced several in advance... he must have some in stock.
He discontinued the RSF3, but continued with the RSF3 Lite, which offers almost the same features (the ones removed from the original RSF3 were ultimately little used).

[poulette73]

Contact Hans to find out the current price. 

I don't produce them, so it's not up to me to announce a price...
Especially since it's likely to change depending on the cost of components, demand, etc.


Just making an RSF3 requires Hans about 4 hours of work... (and the unit tests...) !

[St-BeidE(DE/GB)]

Sadly, I have no time at the moment to enjoy that
wonderful piece of hardware.
But I can agree with the previous speakers!
It is the ultimate utility for the CPC.

Stefan 

[GUNHED]

I'm not familiar with all the features of the PicoCPC (I haven't really looked into them).

But the RSF3 / RSF3 Lite basically supports also TMTNET networking (@TMTLOGIC)!
Which allows between computers :
- multiplayer gaming.
- real-time text messaging.
- real-time voice communication (like Skype or Teams)
- all between different machines : Amstrad CPC, MSX, Enterprise 64 and 128, Amstrad PCW, Sega SC-3000, Philips P2000 !

And also a TFT touchscreen, with a stylus, to launch applications or settings.


I don't think you can compare RSF3 and PicoCPC...

Hi,

I see here that SymbFace3 is under dev since 2018.

PicoCPC is 3 month of dev and can do :
-  RAM/ROM (464/4128)
- Floppy emulation with protected games images (.dsk)
- Start basic program from the SD
- Startup setup screen (Overscan graphic mode)
- C3 mode to transfrom a 464 to a 6128 (SymbOS work on a 464 with 300KB of RAM)
- Cardridge emulation on plus

I think it is nice to say not bad for a 3 month developement work....

I don't know, compare a 10 years + dev vs 3 month make no sens at all.

Audio is present and not coded yet.

Have you tried FutureOS on 464/664 with &C3 RAM mode? 
This test will show you if your &C3 mode really works. 

[FreddyV]

I'm not familiar with all the features of the PicoCPC (I haven't really looked into them).

But the RSF3 / RSF3 Lite basically supports also TMTNET networking (@TMTLOGIC)!
Which allows between computers :
- multiplayer gaming.
- real-time text messaging.
- real-time voice communication (like Skype or Teams)
- all between different machines : Amstrad CPC, MSX, Enterprise 64 and 128, Amstrad PCW, Sega SC-3000, Philips P2000 !

And also a TFT touchscreen, with a stylus, to launch applications or settings.


I don't think you can compare RSF3 and PicoCPC...

Hi,

I see here that SymbFace3 is under dev since 2018.

PicoCPC is 3 month of dev and can do :
-  RAM/ROM (464/4128)
- Floppy emulation with protected games images (.dsk)
- Start basic program from the SD
- Startup setup screen (Overscan graphic mode)
- C3 mode to transfrom a 464 to a 6128 (SymbOS work on a 464 with 300KB of RAM)
- Cardridge emulation on plus

I think it is nice to say not bad for a 3 month developement work....

I don't know, compare a 10 years + dev vs 3 month make no sens at all.

Audio is present and not coded yet.

Have you tried FutureOS on 464/664 with &C3 RAM mode?
This test will show you if your &C3 mode really works. 

Yes It work.

[Prodatron]

But it is by the same person that did the Symbface 1, 2, Since 2006

The CPC-IDE ("SF1") was developed by Dr.Zed in 2004.
The SYMBiFACE II was developed by Dr.Zed in 2005.
The SYMBiFACE III was developed by TMTLogic in 2018.
The RSF3 was developed by TMTLogic around 2023.

So, they're two different persons. We simply call them both SYMBiFACE, since the first one was a SymbiosiS (our scene group) production. The SF3 was, in a way, the successor to the SF2, as it's again multifunctional hardware, offering many components that are also very useful under SymbOS. However, they're not compatible and were built by two different hardware developers (I simply supported both projects and helped with shipping).

[Gryzor]

Thread cleaned. Posts were moved to https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/re-symbiface-iii-in-development/ (which I'm tempted to delete but anyhow).

[Gryzor]

Thread cleaned. Posts were moved to https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/re-symbiface-iii-in-development/ (which I'm tempted to delete but anyhow).

Why delete my posts? The manual I uploaded was downloaded by 7 persons already! Please keep them accessible. 

Apologies, maybe I removed something in mistake. Send me a pm with the direct link to that post and I'll look at it when home!

It's the third post from the link you provided.

Oh right, I split it not because it was offensive but because it contained part of the flame. Since I removed the rest, that couldn't be hanging here...