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#1
A
General Discussion - Introductions / Re: New owner.. old user and p...
Last post by Anthony Flack - Today at 07:33That is a very nice setup indeed. I eventually gave up looking for a 6128 Plus for myself and settled for a 464 Plus and bunged some extra memory in it. It does the trick but the 6128 Plus does look especially smart.
The Joycart is a neat idea. I should probably get a case for my M4 sometime, too.
The Joycart is a neat idea. I should probably get a case for my M4 sometime, too.
#2
Tried with many programmers and non of them work, except Pickit 3.
With PL2303 had sam issues like you.
So try to find if some of your friends have Pickit.
With PL2303 had sam issues like you.
So try to find if some of your friends have Pickit.
#3
General Discussion - Introductions / Re: Hello from New Zealand!
Last post by zhulien - Today at 06:38I grew up in Auckland and we had BBCs at school but probably a good 20% of home computers in 1986 would have been CPCs. I used to regularly go to the Computer Terminal in Highbury and they sold heaps of CPCs.
#4
General Discussion - Introductions / Re: What computer did you have...
Last post by zhulien - Today at 06:35I got a sega sc3000h and c64c after I got my cpc but they weren't successors, that would be an Amiga 500. My cpc is still the most fun computer I have outside of video games.
#5
Amstrad CPC hardware / Re: ULIfAC:Usb Mass storage,Wi...
Last post by linuxkostik64 - Today at 04:06Dear @ikonsgr,
dear CPC friends,
After testing my ULIfAC extensively for a while, I can really recommend it to every CPC user. Basically, the device does what it is supposed to do very well, even if it seems to have a few "teething troubles" here and there, at least in my case. I'll list these little "problems" one by one here:
Firstly: This is version 3 of the ULIfAC, when switching on the screen shows that the device is equipped with version 3b.
The user manual states that automatic activation of USB is activated by default, this is apparently not the case with my ULIfAC and I have not yet been able to find out how to change this. I have copied the ROM configuration 464-to-6128 along with a few games onto a USB stick. The config.txt is created correctly according to the description. After switching on the CPC with the ULIfAC connected and the USB stick inserted, I get a message on the screen that no USB device is present. If I then type |usb, I get confirmation that the stick is now active. If I now press the reset button on the ULIfAC, the CPC boots directly into the 6128-Rom, as desired. Normally this should work automatically, but how do I do this? Is there any way to completely reset the ULIfAC to the default settings?
Since the file ULIFAC_FINAL3b.zip in the dropbox of @ikonsgr was apparently updated, I had the idea to reflash the firmware as described in the current version of the user manual. Unfortunately, this did not work, or I am doing something wrong. I connected the PL2303TA to the ULIfAC as shown in the first attached picture. Windows apparently also recognizes the ULIfAC with usb2serial cable as a device with virtual COM port (COM3), it is listed in the device manager as "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COM3)".
If I now try to carry out the flashing by selecting the corresponding COM port and the baud rate of 115200 bps specified in the user manual and clicking on "Write Device" and then immediately pressing the reset button on the ULIfAC, the process does not start. Instead, the "Tiny Multi Bootloader+" displays the error message "No Device Detected", as can be seen in the second picture. It does not work under Windows 10 or Windows 11. What is the reason for this? Maybe because the same firmware is already installed? Or is the actual bootloader missing on the ULIfAC? As I said, the installed version is version 3b and I haven't done anything to the device yet.
Apart from these rather minor problems, the device has worked pretty well so far. Nevertheless, the problems bother me a little.
Btw: The joyport adapter from @ikonsgr is also excellent. It ensures that my ArcadeR joystick now works properly on the CPC, including auto-fire, even if I rarely use the latter. I am very pleased.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Best regards from Germany
Constantin
dear CPC friends,
After testing my ULIfAC extensively for a while, I can really recommend it to every CPC user. Basically, the device does what it is supposed to do very well, even if it seems to have a few "teething troubles" here and there, at least in my case. I'll list these little "problems" one by one here:
Firstly: This is version 3 of the ULIfAC, when switching on the screen shows that the device is equipped with version 3b.
The user manual states that automatic activation of USB is activated by default, this is apparently not the case with my ULIfAC and I have not yet been able to find out how to change this. I have copied the ROM configuration 464-to-6128 along with a few games onto a USB stick. The config.txt is created correctly according to the description. After switching on the CPC with the ULIfAC connected and the USB stick inserted, I get a message on the screen that no USB device is present. If I then type |usb, I get confirmation that the stick is now active. If I now press the reset button on the ULIfAC, the CPC boots directly into the 6128-Rom, as desired. Normally this should work automatically, but how do I do this? Is there any way to completely reset the ULIfAC to the default settings?
Since the file ULIFAC_FINAL3b.zip in the dropbox of @ikonsgr was apparently updated, I had the idea to reflash the firmware as described in the current version of the user manual. Unfortunately, this did not work, or I am doing something wrong. I connected the PL2303TA to the ULIfAC as shown in the first attached picture. Windows apparently also recognizes the ULIfAC with usb2serial cable as a device with virtual COM port (COM3), it is listed in the device manager as "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COM3)".
If I now try to carry out the flashing by selecting the corresponding COM port and the baud rate of 115200 bps specified in the user manual and clicking on "Write Device" and then immediately pressing the reset button on the ULIfAC, the process does not start. Instead, the "Tiny Multi Bootloader+" displays the error message "No Device Detected", as can be seen in the second picture. It does not work under Windows 10 or Windows 11. What is the reason for this? Maybe because the same firmware is already installed? Or is the actual bootloader missing on the ULIfAC? As I said, the installed version is version 3b and I haven't done anything to the device yet.
Apart from these rather minor problems, the device has worked pretty well so far. Nevertheless, the problems bother me a little.
Btw: The joyport adapter from @ikonsgr is also excellent. It ensures that my ArcadeR joystick now works properly on the CPC, including auto-fire, even if I rarely use the latter. I am very pleased.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Best regards from Germany
Constantin
#6
M
Technical support - Hardware related / Re: CPC 6128 - white screen, b...
Last post by mmldrm - Yesterday at 22:56Quote from: McArti0 on Yesterday at 21:30Yes RAM has been written!!! by 0011 1001 = 39h next this is instruction ADD HL,SP no write to RAM.Fantastic! This gives me some hope. (Even though I already bought the replacement RAM. Oops.)
But why on Pin2 6Fh?
Tomorrow I can do the same test again, and make sure the pin2 result is definitely 11110110 / 0x6F. Maybe I made a mistake when writing the results.
#7
P
Applications (CPC and CPC-related) / Re: SymbOS CP\/M - run CP/M pr...
Last post by prevtenet - Yesterday at 22:15Quote from: d_kef on Yesterday at 21:41They are currently build for Wiznet's W5100S but I think it would be fairly easy to adapt them for CP\/M if for example DNS and socket functions of SymbOS were available at the compatibility layer.Ooh, yes, cool idea. Probably the most trivial way to do this from CP\/M's perspective would be to provide custom BDOS calls for the SymbOS messaging system, which would make most of the OS theoretically accessible, but it should also be straightforward to implement bespoke calls for the socket functions.
Simple printer access should also be fairly straightforward by connecting CP/M's basic "line output" device (which currently does nothing in CP\/M) to the printer daemon, but I didn't have either the code or hardware to actually test this, so future goals
#8
I think the MSX and Enterprise designs put more effort into decoupling the hardware from the CPU. It had the advantage of making it easier to swap out components and change the performance of various bits without causing as much hassle. The downside is that it's harder to exploit the raw performance of the system because you can't really "hit the metal" in quite the same way (or if you do compatibility strikes hard).
The C64 wasn't really like that but the SuperCPU is a weird beast that treats the host machine more like a kind of slave - a bit like Tube processors on the BBC. You could probably do something like that on a CPC, run everything externally and use the "Z80" cycle to allow the external system to write to video RAM but it would feel like a very different kind of machine.
The C64 wasn't really like that but the SuperCPU is a weird beast that treats the host machine more like a kind of slave - a bit like Tube processors on the BBC. You could probably do something like that on a CPC, run everything externally and use the "Z80" cycle to allow the external system to write to video RAM but it would feel like a very different kind of machine.
#9
Applications (CPC and CPC-related) / Re: SymbOS CP\/M - run CP/M pr...
Last post by Prodatron - Yesterday at 22:02Quote from: d_kef on Yesterday at 21:41Now I'm offended. Take a look at my signature man!!!Oh, d_kef, I am really sorry!!
Don't you know that you can use your Cyboard with my port of the KCNet Utilities?
The KCNet utilities run on CP/M Plus as well as on CP/M 2.2
They are currently build for Wiznet's W5100S but I think it would be fairly easy to adapt them for CP\/M if for example DNS and socket functions of SymbOS were available at the compatibility layer.
d_kef
I completely forgot about the KCNet tools, which is funny as this is east german stuff, so somehow I should know it
Of course I love your W5100 based Cyboard, thanks so much, I will never give it away as it is hardware which is still able to do real "multitasking".
Yes, you are right, let's try to do it! I will have a look at it!
#10
It's interesting that this was different for several system:
- CPC: In general it's impossible to increase the clockrate; RAM is 2MHz, so because of the video it limits the Z80 to 1MHz memory access; everything else is connected to the same clock inside the CPC as well
- MSX: Why not? Until today you can double the clockrate from 3,57 to 7,1 MHz with a standard set of parts, which you can still buy
- Enterprise 64/128: You can even choose between original 4,6,8 or 10MHz Z80 speed; works great!
- C64: You could attach a CMD SuperCPU (MOS 65816) running at 20MHz with own memory; yes, not a C64 anymore, turning the original hardware into a zombie system, but some people liked it
- CPC: In general it's impossible to increase the clockrate; RAM is 2MHz, so because of the video it limits the Z80 to 1MHz memory access; everything else is connected to the same clock inside the CPC as well
- MSX: Why not?
Until today you can double the clockrate from 3,57 to 7,1 MHz with a standard set of parts, which you can still buy- Enterprise 64/128: You can even choose between original 4,6,8 or 10MHz Z80 speed; works great!
- C64: You could attach a CMD SuperCPU (MOS 65816) running at 20MHz with own memory; yes, not a C64 anymore, turning the original hardware into a zombie system, but some people liked it