USIfAC II, technical problems & support [MERGED with Plus-related posts from original thread]

[dmuscat]

Thank you again for the ULIFAC, it has been a lot of fun tinkering with it.
I have it pretty much set up the way I want it now, unfortunately I have found its compatibility with some 128k games to be limited.
Rtype 128k, Pinball Dreams and Prehistorik 2 all don't work on my setup (CPC464 with ULIfAC). I have tried running as a 464 and as a 6128 using the appropriate ROMs, they refuse to work. Pinball Dreams starts to load, but hangs, Rtype never gets to the first load screen.
I assume this is something to do with the way the additional memory is mapped / accessed from the ULIfAC? These games all work from a DDI5.

Any tips would be appreciated.

[GL]

Hi John,

I think I found the problem why 464 hangs on startup and whenever the usb is active, after some intensive investigation and Usifac source code studying I think the problem is in FDC IO request code (that's why all 6128's do work ok)

Code Select Expand

      cont100:
          CLC4POL = 0x80
    UNPAUSELOOP2:
            if IORQ=OFF Then
              GOTO UNPAUSELOOP2
            END IF
          CLC4POL = 0x00
          GOTO RESTART
You are missing intoff and inton operators there like it is in other places in the code. Basically what is happening if there is USART interrupt after 'CLC4POL = 0x80' then the BUSY becomes inverted, IORQ goes high, then the interrupt and after return from interrupt the loop continues already on then next IORQ which is not related to Ulifac and freezes in the loop till cpc reboots.

I assume the Ulifac code is very similar to Usifac code, can you please fix that and I can test on 464 ? (I have two with 40007 and one with 40010 gate arrays)

[GL]

Also I would like to suggest to put another CLC cell in between CLC4 and BUSY pinout to implement 'unfreeze' logic by forcing BUSY high then switch it back to normal mode. Unfreezing BUSY by inverting it is not very good idea. It generates low spikes just after IORQ/MERQ goes up and also is source for 'hanging' issues.

[eto]

I would be happy to help testing this on my 464s which are all not compatible with the Usifac.

[GL]

For clearer picture here is scope shot. Pink is the IORQ and yellow is BUSY generated by CLC logic. The second low spike is the moment when BUSY is inverted, It's kind of OK, but would be ideal to not have it (some changes to unfreeze algorithm must be made)

[Brocky]

i wonder if this is ever going to be acknowledged by the creator...  

[Gryzor]

i wonder if this is ever going to be acknowledged by the creator... 

Really, your first post is a facepalm one? Great job... 

[Brocky]

maybe if there was proper support for an item we paid good money for, i wouldnt need to make facepalm posts 

3 weeks and not a single word from the creator? not even a simple, "im looking into it"? 

and an admin defends this position?  

[Gryzor]

Not defending his position, haven't even followed the thread. But this attitude will get you nowhere. 

[CaptainRon]

Brocky, I just received one of the M4 boards Duke makes and it seems like a really great board. Doesn't the M4 essentially do everything the USIfAC II does except without these strange bugs and support issues? I know every time I have messaged Duke he has responded promptly. Might be worth looking into the M4 as an alternative. just my two cents

[Brocky]

Brocky, I just received one of the M4 boards Duke makes and it seems like a really great board. Doesn't the M4 essentially do everything the USIfAC II does except without these strange bugs and support issues? I know every time I have messaged Duke he has responded promptly. Might be worth looking into the M4 as an alternative. just my two cents

i have an M4 board too that works great and ive never had an issue with it.
but thats beside the point, i pay for a device, i expect it to work as advertised, or get some support.
Currently, usifac is essentually an overpriced paperweight

[eto]

@ikonsgr have you seen the investigation a few weeks ago? This could potentially be the root cause of the problems some 464 owners experience. If there is a fix I can offer to test it on 2 or maybe even 3 machines that are not working with the Usifac at the moment. 

[ikonsgr]

Hi everyone,

First i want to apologize i didn't answer earlier on the thread, i had some issues in the last few weeks and i didn't follow cpcwiki very often.
You can also easily find out that this was NEVER happened before, i usually respond in 1-2 days at most. In anycase, if you see that you don't get a prompt answer, you can always send me a pm or email to notify me, and get a faster respond by me.

@dmuscat did you try these games from the "WORTH TO PLAY AND CLASSIC" collection from here?

@GL, Thanks my friend! I really have passed 100s times  this specific piece of code, and never noticed that the required intoff/inton are missing! This is indeed the main "unpause" code for dsk function for both USIfAC II and ULIfAC. I will make the changes and try it with a couple of dsk games that mysteriously hang up upon loading, this might resolve the problem! 

@Brocky i see that you've only made 3 posts in cpcwiki forum, and ALL are about making accusations and malicious comments about the boards i make...Hmmm, now that rings a bell about a similar behavior early this year, from... "down under" 

@CaptainRon Μ4 board has more that 7years of development and debugging, moreover it costs more than TWICE the cost of USIfAC II, and it lucks a TRUE low level 765 FDC controller emulation like USIfAC/ULIfAC has, meaning that you CANT load MANY dsk games that don't use AMSODS routines.I had a pretty well experience of using a M4 board myself, and here you can find my small review. In 2 words, although M4 is really an outstanding piece of hardware for Amstrad, still, it has also some issues and limitations. Btw, i don't suppose you are the SAME person with @Brocky right?   

[poulette73]

Brocky, I just received one of the M4 boards Duke makes and it seems like a really great board. Doesn't the M4 essentially do everything the USIfAC II does except without these strange bugs and support issues? I know every time I have messaged Duke he has responded promptly. Might be worth looking into the M4 as an alternative. just my two cents

My two cents...


I have the M4 Board, and also two USIfAC II (as well as I have two CPC 6128).

We cannot compare the M4 Board and the USIfAC II.
These are two completely different interfaces, each with different functionalities.
The M4 Board can do things that the USIfAC II cannot, and vice versa. Each has its qualities and its shortcomings.
They are complementary, not competitive.

Now to talk about my personal experience.
I wrote dozens and dozens of PMs to John (@ikonsgr). Each time he answered me, took the time to offer me solutions and suggest ideas.
USIfAC II is not really cheap (it's one of the cheapest interfaces on the market on Amstrad CPC !!), @ikonsgr is absolutely not doing it for the money but he's passionate.
He provided me with up-to-date EPROMs for free, gave me a friendly price for the second interface, and was extremely helpful.

I don't encounter any malfunctions at home, everything works : USB mass storage support, DSK and SNA support, Direct Access, Wifi, FDC emulation, Parados, Writing DSK, copying files, etc. and all RSXs are operational.

An important detail, and not the least : it's the only interface whose FDC emulation is perfect !! All the games, demos, originals work ! (while on the M4 Board I only have 50% of the DSKs working... Those programs which use internal FDC send datas to the internal drive A and crash... Originals with protections or special tracks do not not working, and many more...)

Now I find it disrespectful to post a first troll message.

This isn't in the spirit of the Amstrad community, and creators who provide us with great extensions in their free time.

[Amagni]

For what it's worth, my Ulifac stopped working the other day so I emailed John and a few hours later he got back to me with instructions to reset it.  It's back up and running now!

[Brocky]

Hi everyone,

First i want to apologize i didn't answer earlier on the thread, i had some issues in the last few weeks and i didn't follow cpcwiki very often.
You can also easily find out that this was NEVER happened before, i usually respond in 1-2 days at most. In anycase, if you see that you don't get a prompt answer, you can always send me a pm or email to notify me, and get a faster respond by me.

@dmuscat did you try these games from the "WORTH TO PLAY AND CLASSIC" collection from here?

@GL, Thanks my friend! I really have passed 100s times  this specific piece of code, and never noticed that the required intoff/inton are missing! This is indeed the main "unpause" code for dsk function for both USIfAC II and ULIfAC. I will make the changes and try it with a couple of dsk games that mysteriously hang up upon loading, this might resolve the problem! 

@Brocky i see that you've only made 3 posts in cpcwiki forum, and ALL are about making accusations and malicious comments about the boards i make...Hmmm, now that rings a bell about a similar behavior early this year, from... "down under" 

@CaptainRon Μ4 board has more that 7years of development and debugging, moreover it costs more than TWICE the cost of USIfAC II, and it lucks a TRUE low level 765 FDC controller emulation like USIfAC/ULIfAC has, meaning that you CANT load MANY dsk games that don't use AMSODS routines.I had a pretty well experience of using a M4 board myself, and here you can find my small review. In 2 words, although M4 is really an outstanding piece of hardware for Amstrad, still, it has also some issues and limitations. Btw, i don't suppose you are the SAME person with @Brocky right? 

Firstly im sorry youve had issue the last few weeks, and sorry that ive called you out.
But as the developer of addons, you need to be prepared for disgrunted users when things dont work as advertised.

I havent wanted to post much about the issues as ive read about what happened to the other guy in the main usifac thread who brought these issues up.
The 3 week wait between any communication from you when an issue had been shown in detail was a bit much, as for 3 posts, it would have only been one, if admin didnt throw his useless 2cents worth in. It was just as useless as my first post! I was hoping my comment would just bump the thread and get ikonsgr to see it.

Accusing people of impersonating others is NOT the way to handle this. There are multiple people with the same issues, lasting more than a year now, but nothing is being done about it other than accusations and recitation after recitation of the usual "fixes" (clean edge connector and higher amperage powersupply).
Of course im going to give negative comments/reviews when the device doesnt work like it should. How can i give anything other when its failed all the usual fixes?

Im sure usifac is a great device, when it works as described, thats the entire issue here, it doesnt work as described, we'd like it to work, but nothing is being done, I feel like ive been scammed

You need to look at this from our (multiple users who are having issues) perspective. These issues have been going on way to long with nothing done about fixing it. Of course people are going to be negative.

Can you please just look into this fix so we can try it and hopefully turn our negativity towards the device around?

[CaptainRon]

I understand there are differences, and these all seem like solid points. To be fair and clear, I don't have the USIfAC II , I have an old Schneider 464 one of our awesome members sent from Germany to me here in USA. After reading over the issues others had with their 464's and the USIfAC II, I decided to take the safe route and ordered the M4 instead. I can't really speak to the USIfAC II first hand, and only know what I have seen in this and another thread on the subject.

@ikonsgr I have seen others bring up issues and even provided diagnostic information and offered to help test and troubleshoot the issue like ETO and GL. But after your absence for the last several weeks I told someone that if they are having problems with bugs and lack of support with your project he might want to walk away and try another project, no big deal. I get it, we are all here as a fun hobby, its not like this thing is a job, people walk away from projects all the time.

However, instead of giving the others who have issues or who can help fix them the attention they deserve, like Eto who is a well respected member and has offered multiple times to help, you gloss over the response to them but go on to spend the majority of you post patting your own back telling me me about the superiority of your project. Then to add insult to injury have the gall to accuse me of some sort of impropriety. "BTW, I don't suppose you replied to me and accused me of being someone else in an attempt to discredit me because I said he may have luck with someone else's project instead, right?" The absurdity of it... I am a real person and live in Florida, USA. You can ask Duke, Dragon, or SkulleateR, who have all mailed items to me in the past. 

I'm offended and shouldn't have to explain myself, who I am, or who can vouch for me. I am not the one who was ignoring supporters of his project.

That said, I forgive you and will put it behind me. Hopefully we can all continue in a civil manner without making uncalled for accusations of each other.

[Gryzor]

@Brocky : I am sorry and my post was useless

Also Brocky, seconds later: not sorry, and let's offend the admin while at it.

Keep at it and find out.

[ikonsgr]

Ok, let me say 2 words and "put it behind":
The people with issues since late 2020 where USIfAC II board debuted,are no more than 4-5 individual persons,and considering that there are ~500 USIfAC/ULIfAC boards out in the world, it means that "issue rate" is less than 1% ....
@CaptainRon, obviously you don't have knowledge of the "behavior issues" we had in the forum early this year, regarding a specific person (admin Gryzor can confirm what were dealing with...)
  Anyway, if i'm not mistaken, it was YOU that you clearly discredit my boards and support, suggesting the indeed great M4 board that "essentially do everything the USIfAC II does except without these strange bugs and support issues" (although  "forgetting" to mention that M4 is a MUCH older board since 2016, and has more than double the USIfAC II price...), when at the same time, you admit that you never had a USIfAC board!!
In any case, i think the best answer to your comments, is what poulette73 wrote just above...

[Brocky]

can we please stop slinging steaming piles at each other and just sort out the problem? please?!

yes it might be 1%, but that 1% have still paid for a device that doesnt function correctly on their systems. We would like to find a solution,so we can ALL praise your efforts, i dont want to be posting negative comments. Id rather post praise, but im not going to kiss ass when the device is not working FOR ME...

i think there is a bit of miscommunication happening here too, seems iknonsgr and gryzor are getting offended at every little bit of negativity. its not my intention to offend anyone. My only intention is to get the issue, that hasnt been dealt with for far too long, fixed.

[Gryzor]

can we please stop slinging steaming piles at each other and just sort out the problem? please?!

yes it might be 1%, but that 1% have still paid for a device that doesnt function correctly on their systems. We would like to find a solution,so we can ALL praise your efforts, i dont want to be posting negative comments. Id rather post praise, but im not going to kiss ass when the device is not working FOR ME...

i think there is a bit of miscommunication happening here too, seems iknonsgr and gryzor are getting offended at every little bit of negativity. its not my intention to offend anyone. My only intention is to get the issue, that hasnt been dealt with for far too long, fixed.

We do NOT tolerate offensive behavior. We don't get "offended at every little bit of negativity" - criticism is well tolerated, but abuse is not. And you offended both him and me willingly and knowingly so stop hiding behind the "miscommunication" finger. Especially since it's not the Sony or Samsung support you're dealing with, but with people giving their time to bring you something nice for a very low price, or free.

[ikonsgr]

@Brocky, if you are the one that already had an older USIfAC II board and you encounter all kind of technical issues without able to resolve them, and since you seem to take it too seriously for FAR TOO LONG, if you want, send me your address, and i will send you a new USIfAC II board FOR FREE.

[CaptainRon]

@ikonsgr Yes, I believe you are mistaken. I am not one of the people who submitted bug reports to have them go unanswered and ignored. I was addressing the other member in response to the "strange bugs and support issues" that him and other members are still having. As far as your statistics, It seems that Eto alone has at least 2 or 3 CPC 464's that have this issue, but again instead of working with them to resolve the issue, you continue to boast about the superiority of your project.

I have told you before that I forgive you for attempting to discredit me with your accusation that I'm a fake account, and asked that we could put it behind us. I will go a step further, and order one of your boards as a show of support for your project. I paid $50 with shipping to USA for my M4. I would have no problem spending the $20 or so for such a great board and to support your project and test it out on my 464.

[Brocky]

@Brocky, if you are the one that already had an older USIfAC II board and you encounter all kind of technical issues without able to resolve them, and since you seem to take it too seriously for FAR TOO LONG, if you want, send me your address, and i will send you a new USIfAC II board FOR FREE.

thats a nice offer thanks, id like to try GLs fix first tho, i mean the board itself is not very complicated, i dont think the problem lies there, but in the firmware itself, or the PIC itself has some weird things going on. if you want i can build the up the usifac on a breadboard to confirm its not a board issue, if you think that would help.

i have looked into the source code for rev6, made the changes GL reccommended, but i cant workout how to compile the code in MPlab X IDE, (seems im missing a bunch of project configuration settings and cant get the gcb file to be recognised), could you please make the changes to rev 7 with bootloader and upload for us to test.

[ikonsgr]

@CaptainRon, let me get a few things straight:
The technical issues that eto and a few others reported here, are not easy to resolve, and we don't know that they really caused by the USIfAC boards (don't forget that our beloved Amstrad CPC are now ~40years old...)
You see,the problems seem to appear only on SPECIFIC Amstrad CPC boards. For example the board that eto's 3 CPC464 have issues,was tested and worked fine with my CPC464! Moreover, there are 100's of other CPC464 owners were USIfAC/ULIfAC works perfect!
 So,BY NO MEANS we are dealing with general technical issues with the board,but more of rather rare symptoms regarding SPECIFIC combination, of SPECIFIC Amstrad boards with specific USIfAC boards!
I'm afraid that in such occasions, the only thing we can do, is to return the board and send you a new one, just to ensure that there is no tech issues with the SPECIFIC USIfAC/ULIfAC board. In fact i've already done that a couple of times, and problems indeed resolved, the difference was that, these persons decide to communicate with me directly to resolve quickly such weird tech issues, instead of just posting here complaining, and in some cases ,trying to discredit the board in general...