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#11
Technical support - Hardware related / Re: M4 board - Drive A disc mi...
Last post by GUNHED - Yesterday at 16:59Switch on your B-drives PSU!
#12
Is possible to make CPR version of Xyphoes Fantasy and Space Gun?
#13
Quote from: eto on Yesterday at 16:244) I recently made a CPC2VGA adapter that plugs into the monitor port: https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/hardware-related/cpc2vga/msg235888/#msg235888Awesome. Thanks! 4 sounds like a perfect solution. RPI pico is not so big.
I used a male DIN plug and just made sure, the holes in the PCB are big enough to make it fit ;-) Works fine for my use case with such a small PCB however, for a version with a Raspberry Pico that setup might be too large.
For this project, I would prefer option 3. Especially when the PCB is inside a 3D printed case, it shouldn't matter that the cable is soldered directly and I can decide the optimal length of the cable for my personal set-up. However 1) is also fine as I would expect that I always can solder the cable directly to the footprint of a connector.
If PCB is going to go vertically on the back of Amstrad, then I just need to design PCB in such a way that it does not interfere with other ports on the back of Amstrad, but that should be doable. Overall pcb size will be about RPI pico x 2. Usb cable may just be in some weird place, like on the top. Maybe I can just add separate power port in more convenient place, and use usb only for software update.
If not then maybe I could also go with something like 1+3, I mean female din-6 socket, plus some solder pads to easily solder cable if needed.
#14
4) I recently made a CPC2VGA adapter that plugs into the monitor port: https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/hardware-related/cpc2vga/msg235888/#msg235888
I used a male DIN plug and just made sure, the holes in the PCB are big enough to make it fit ;-) Works fine for my use case with such a small PCB however, for a version with a Raspberry Pico that setup might be too large.
For this project, I would prefer option 3. Especially when the PCB is inside a 3D printed case, it shouldn't matter that the cable is soldered directly and I can decide the optimal length of the cable for my personal set-up. However 1) is also fine as I would expect that I always can solder the cable directly to the footprint of a connector.
#15
General Discussion - Introductions / Re: Amstrad CPCnext: Would you...
Last post by GUNHED - Yesterday at 16:23Quote from: zhulien on 19:11, 15 May 24No, MFace2 does exchange the lower ROM, 8 KB SRAM are banked in, BUT at a fixed address. And there are 8 KB used for MF2 ROM. It's different.Quote from: GUNHED on 14:15, 07 February 24BTW: About CPC and RAM-Banking you did forget to mention some feature...I think multiface 2 does that
8 KB of expansion RAM can be banked in at every multiple of &2000, this enhances banking quite useful! No other computer has that nice little gem. That's what I call Nova-Blast!
#16
Guys,
Thanks for all the advices, but I need one more
I am just trying to design PCB, and I have no good idea how to make connection to Amstrad. VGA is simple - I will just put a socket. The same with power - micro usb on pico. But connection to Amstrad is more problematic. I was looking for male din-6 socket (or even din-5 because I don't need luma signal) to install on pcb and plug it directly to Amstrad and I think it just doesn't exist Other possible options are:
1. Female din-6/din-5 socket on pcb that would be connected to amstrad with male-male din-6 cable. Simple, but when I looked for such cables they are like $10-$20 so IMO a bit expensive.
2. Some other type of socket - maybe "din-6 to something else" cable would be cheaper.
3. Just connect cable with DIN-6 plug directly to pcb (solder it to pcb, or use terminal block or some socket like on GBS), and mount cable it with some clips to make it more stable. Then the pcb would have 2 sockets - power and vga and a cable with a plug that goes to Amstrad. That would look a bit ugly, but that would be cheap.
4. Some other option?
Besides that I am getting close to finish this project, so I hope I will publish it in a couple weeks. In the meantime I managed to get rid of most of the artifacts - flickering pixels, screen moving a bit to the sides. I no longer use Vsync/Hsync but only CSync. There is a 50/60 hz switch. I tested it on 2 different monitors and old tv and it works in both modes on monitors and 60hz only on TV (so not 100% smooth scrolls). I also tested it on couple more games. Prehistorik II was problematic, but now scrolls are 100% smooth at least in standard mode. There is still a couple small issues to fix, and of course much more testing that will probably find more issues.
Thanks for all the help, Guys.
Thanks for all the advices, but I need one more
I am just trying to design PCB, and I have no good idea how to make connection to Amstrad. VGA is simple - I will just put a socket. The same with power - micro usb on pico. But connection to Amstrad is more problematic. I was looking for male din-6 socket (or even din-5 because I don't need luma signal) to install on pcb and plug it directly to Amstrad and I think it just doesn't exist
Other possible options are:1. Female din-6/din-5 socket on pcb that would be connected to amstrad with male-male din-6 cable. Simple, but when I looked for such cables they are like $10-$20 so IMO a bit expensive.
2. Some other type of socket - maybe "din-6 to something else" cable would be cheaper.
3. Just connect cable with DIN-6 plug directly to pcb (solder it to pcb, or use terminal block or some socket like on GBS), and mount cable it with some clips to make it more stable. Then the pcb would have 2 sockets - power and vga and a cable with a plug that goes to Amstrad. That would look a bit ugly, but that would be cheap.
4. Some other option?
Besides that I am getting close to finish this project, so I hope I will publish it in a couple weeks. In the meantime I managed to get rid of most of the artifacts - flickering pixels, screen moving a bit to the sides. I no longer use Vsync/Hsync but only CSync. There is a 50/60 hz switch. I tested it on 2 different monitors and old tv and it works in both modes on monitors and 60hz only on TV (so not 100% smooth scrolls). I also tested it on couple more games. Prehistorik II was problematic, but now scrolls are 100% smooth at least in standard mode. There is still a couple small issues to fix, and of course much more testing that will probably find more issues.
Thanks for all the help, Guys.
#17
Technical support - Hardware related / Re: CPC 6128 - white screen, b...
Last post by McArti0 - Yesterday at 11:40Quote from: mmldrm on 20:44, 20 May 24found my mistake. I connected pins 2->3 and 3->4, making them all the same input. It should have been 2->4 and 3->4. Will try again with it corrected.It really doesn't matter at all.
#18
Technical support - Hardware related / Re: CPC 6128 - white screen, b...
Last post by McArti0 - Yesterday at 11:36Check whether when you short both 74LS02 inputs, pin 5,6 to ground, the CPC freezes.
You can add a second gate to the output by connecting PIN13 to Pin1 and pin11,12 to the group of pin2,3,4. 74LS02
If this does not work stably, we will add support with a diode pin 20 to pin 24 as before.
You can add a second gate to the output by connecting PIN13 to Pin1 and pin11,12 to the group of pin2,3,4. 74LS02
If this does not work stably, we will add support with a diode pin 20 to pin 24 as before.
#19
Quote from: lmimmfn on Yesterday at 01:37As I said, it was a typo. instead of mode 0 I wrote mode 1 so my argument became stupid. Of course you're right my friend. Cheers.Quote from: dodogildo on 15:37, 20 May 24Having a dislike of Mode 0 and its garish colors, I liked both this choice of mode 1 and the melancholic color palette.I'm not understanding your post? Mode 0 colours are not garish, they are the same as mode 1 colours except there are less colours available in mode 1.
I'd like to see more of this style in future.
For years we've ben exposed to flamboyant, unplayable, low resolution mode 1 games (with no music) as a pseudo-remedy to terrible speccy ports (which stand on the other end of the spectrum*). I feel both extremes were terrible.
*yeah, spectrum
Low resolution mode 1? It's the same resolution as the speccy in terms of pixel size only the CPC is higher resolution simply because the screen size can be larger on the CPC?
#20
Sorry, typo. This should be
"For years we've ben exposed to flamboyant, unplayable, low resolution mode 0 games "
😅
"For years we've ben exposed to flamboyant, unplayable, low resolution mode 0 games "
😅