Commodore Floppy Drive 1541 (1540050) Repair #1
Defects:
- Drive access problems (IEC): drive resets but the computer freez with a “searching for”
- The RED led flashes twice times then stops and start again and motor runs continuously.
- The RED led flashes repeatedly every second without stopping and motor runs continuously.
Replaced parts:
- Replaced 6522 (UC3)
- Replaced 6522 (UC2)
- Replaced 901229-03 ROM (UB4)
Commodore Floppy Drive 1541 (251830) Repair #2
Defects:
- The RED led flashes repeatedly every second without stopping and motor runs continuously.
Replaced parts:
- Replaced MOS 8713 [74LS04] (UC6)
The Return of the HybridSID Player PCB rev v2.0 by Xad/Nightfall & Gianluca Renzi (RetroBit Lab). Based on the Project and Hardware Schematic by Markus Gritsch released in the years 2011-2015 on the forum dangerousprototypes. Thanks Markus.
After the first revision of the PCB we are realized that there were some design problems and consequently of a correct functioning.
Below is a brief description of the fixes and improvements that have been made for the new one version of the SID Player PCB.
PCB rev v2.0 St.Valentine’s day version:
- OLED did not turn off when the power switch was off.
- Wrong pinout of the ALPS switch and consequently the PCB could not be powered via the USB power supply/power bank.
- Removed Zener diode.
- Added two new jumpers to select (AB – BA) for the rotary encoder.
- Rotary Encoder 20 steps, the previous one was wrong.
- Removed circuit for the switch of the two LEDs to visualize what SID is used for playing the song.
- Remapped the two SID LED switches on two MCU pins (RB15 – LED SOCKET # 1, RB12 – LED SOCKET # 2)
- Removed the possibility of using OLED 0.96″
- Aligned OLED 1.3 “on the line of the ZIF Socket.
- Moved reset signal that was used by OLED 0.96 on free pins connector.
- Fixed the holes for the OLED 1.3 “
- Remapped the following pins (RD5 – SID_RW, RD6 – SID2_CS, RB9 – KEY_FFWD, RB10 – KEY_PAUSE) to free 5v tolerant pins.
- Added two new pull-up resistors for PAUSE and FFWD key.
- Redesigned the entire amplifier stage for the headphone output using TPA6111A2 and NE5532.
- PCB tracks optimization.
- Facilitated the CPU DEBUG by creating a “frame” where each PAD corresponds to a pin of the MCU.
A new version of the firmware for the Kung Fu Flash Cartridge by Kim Jørgensen is released.
Changelog:
- Support VICE v2.0 CRT file format (C64 and C128)
- Support WarpSpeed 128
Download:
source: github.com/KimJorgensen/KungFuFlash
NEW TAG: C64 BIG GAME PACK
Some new games or tools (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups.
Titles:
- Swooper +
- Boulder Dash Junior VII +2H
- Got Milk +1D
- Swamp Attack +1D
- Buck Rogers – Countdown to Doomsday [EasyFlash]
- Sonic the Hedgehog [REU]
- Sonic the Hedgehog +4 [REU]
- Pool of Radiance [EasyFlash]
- Boxed Away – Search for Mr. Skatla
- Curse of the Azure Bonds [EasyFlash]
- Pax Pac-Man V1.1 +1D
- Scramble Infinity
- Secret of the Silverblades [EasyFlash]
- Sonic the Hedgehog +5 [REU]
- Sonic the Hedgehog V1.1 +5 [REU]
- Santa’s Rats Issue V1.0.0 +3
- Champions of Krynn [EasyFlash]
- Sonic the Hedgehog V1.1 [REU]
- Tenebra
- Death Knights of Krynn [EasyFlash]
- Tenebra +3
- Tenebra &DP
- Tenebra +1P
- CT-Fishing Mini Game Preview +
- Gyro Shoc Preview +2
- Scramble Infinity +4
- GøbLiИ Preview
- Sam’s Journey Season Special
- Giana Sisters +9DFH
- Santa’s Rats Issue V1.0.3 +C
- GøbLiИ Preview +2
- Spilldown 2 +1D
- Sam’s Journey Season Special +
- Doomball
- Beach Head II +HD [IDE64]
- Sonic the Hedgehog V1.2 [REU]
- Santa’s Rats Issue V1.1.0 +4H
- Scramble Infinity +7DH [EasyFlash]
- Santa’s Rats Issue V1.1.0 +3
- Lift +3
- Scramble Infinity V1.2
- Tenebra +4P
- Retaliate CE V1.0 (Community Edition)
- Sonic the Hedgehog V1.2 +5
- Scramble Infinity V1.2 +7D [EasyFlash]
- Retaliate CE +3
- Apeshit
- Scramble Infinity V1.2 +4
- Apeshit V1.01
- A Space Game +2
- Cosmic Combat DX V1.1 – Final [seuck]
- Apeshit V1.01 +
- Frankenstein +D
- Boxed Away – Auf der Suche nach Mr. Skatla V1.01 [german]
- The Nightland
- Boxed Away – Search for Mr. Skatla V1.01
- Datafinans [swedish]
- Scramble Infinity +5D
- Tillbaka till nutiden [swedish]
- Scramble Infinity V1.2 +4D
- Black Jack [swedish]
- Skol äventyret [swedish]
- Paper Planes +1D
- Giana Sisters +9DFH Fixed
- Burnin’ Rubber
- War Play
- Top Gun 2022
- Night Drive
- 8bit-Slicks
- Night Drive +1D
- Robot Jet Action
- Robot Jet Action +5FD
- Hide The Pickle
- Miner 2049′er
- Pieces +3FP
- The Final Programme
- Puzzle Bobble
- Commodorolympics
- Puzzle Bobble Preview +2
- Eindeloos +3DG [dutch]
- Rootin’ Tootin’ +4HGD
- Bagman Comes Back V1.0.1 +3
- Lift +4HDG
- Castles & Monsters +2D [seuck]
- Lady Pac V1.0.6 +2
- Olympics 2004 Athens
- The Job (R5)
- Apeshit V1.01
- Curse of the Vampire
- Elasto Mania Preview +1D
- Spool250
- Buccaneer’s Cache (R2)
- Closet of Mystery
- Pub Hubbub
- Tristam Island (V11)
Download: All Games in One Archive (4332)
source: csdb.dk
A new version of the firmware for the Mega Blaster 2 by Aidan Lawrence is released.
The Mega Blaster 2 by Aidan Lawrence is a hardware Sega Genesis/Mega Drive video game music (VGM) player that utilizes the real sound chips.
Changelog from version v0.1 to 1.28:
- 1.28: This firmware update fixes two things:
- The PSG frequency register now updates when only the low-byte is written to. This is uncommon on VGM files for “real” genesis games, but occasionally occurs on some homebrew tracks, causing the PSG to sound out-of-tune or flat out incorrect. Thank you to @natarii for solving that issue and graciously sharing your solution.
- FM channel muting has been fixed. Previous versions were targeting incorrect key-on registers.
- 1.27: Added a new sync-tone feature.
- For users looking to sync-up individual channel audio streams in their external recording software, this update adds a “Sync-tone” feature that may give you a helping hand.
- When the sync-tone feature is enabled, every unmuted FM and PSG channel will emit three tones on and off, 250ms between each key on/off. Then, 250ms later, the track will start. The YM2612/3438 use FM Channel 6 for PCM samples sent to the DAC, therefore, you can sync the PCM track using Channel 6.
- This update is handy for syncing up oscilloscope videos. You can mute all but one sound chip channel at a time, record your ‘scope video, then do the same for each channel. The sync-tone will help you find the starting point of each stream, even if a particular channel is muted at the start of a soundtrack.
- Pro tip: The PSG’s 3rd square-wave channel and noise channel will interact with one another if they are both un-muted at the same time. If both channels are active when the sync-tone is played, the PSG may sound detuned or inconsistent. It’s recommended to only have either the 3rd square wave channel OR the noise channel un-muted at a time.
- 1.26: Fixed DAC stream playback.
- 1.25: Fixes shuffle RNG.
- Music player used to select the same sequence of songs every time. This patch correctly calls the built-in true random number generator (TRNG) on the microcontroller to generate new random sequences of songs on every boot.
- 1.24: New Feature: Individual channel muting for both FM and PSG courtesy of @renedare
- You can toggle each FM and PSG channel individually by going to the new “Channel Control” menu by scrolling down the Main Menu.
- There, you can toggle each individual channel “ON” and “OFF.”
- If you’ve ever wanted to deconstruct a Genesis soundtrack into it’s constitute instruments, this update is for you!
- This feature is experimental, but works quite well already.
- DAC streams and PCM samples are played out of FM Channel 6.
- 1.23: OPTIONAL
- This firmware allows for SI5351(A) variant clock generators to be used. This new firmware will detect if your unit is using a SI5351 or SI5351A clock generator and will configure it automatically. These devices are functionally identical but have different I2C addresses. There’s no difference in performance between these two parts.
- This change was made to allow for component choice flexibility given the current electronics component shortage occurring as of mid-2021.
- 1.22: Fixed the following bugs:
- Folders with a large number of files incorrectly reported their index, causing strange out-of-order issues while in the “IN_ORDER” playback mode.
- “SHUFFLE_ALL” and “SHUFFLE_DIR” playback modes had a couple of issues regarding file indexing as well, causing the player to overflow it’s random file history list and subsequently pick invalid file indexes when traversing through the random track history.
- Random track history has been extended to 20 tracks; up from 5.
- 1.21: Prevent writing to the OPN2 test registers (0×21 and 0x2C)
- Some broken VGM files will write to these registers and cause huge distortion issues. This is technically an illegal operation and by blocking these writes, a few common broken VGM packs now function correctly, such as:
- Rocket Knight Adventures
- Comix Zone (also has some minor messed up PCM stuff, but that’s in the domain of the VGM author, not my player)
- 1.2:This new patch fixes a bug that prevented sequential folders beginning with the same substring from being opened correctly. Thanks to Bill over at the SdFat project for the help!
- 1.1: The manifest system has been removed in favor of a dynamic system at the expense of a bit more compute time and RAM usage.
- The manifest system was fairly slow and unreliable, especially when the SD card was filled with lots of files.
- You will no longer have to wait at startup for the manifest to build or verify itself.
- I’ve also put in a check for useless meta folders like System Volume Information and .DS_Store
- If these are found on the root directory, the are removed on boot. If these meta files are found after entering a directory, they will be removed after selecting a track. These may still show up in your file menu temporarily, but should go away after a refresh and never appear again unless the SD card is re-written to.
- 1.0: Double-tap the RESET button and drag the firmware.uf2 file onto the “drive” that pops up on your computer to flash!
- 0.1: The very first firmware release! Here’s to the future!
Download: Mega Blaster 2 v1.28 (600)
source: github.com/AidanHockey5/MegaBlaster2 aidanlawrence.com
The return of the Hybrid Sid Player by xAD/Nightfall & Gianluca Renzi (RetroBit Lab)
Based on the Project and Hardware Schematic by Markus Gritsch released in the years 2011-2015 on the forum dangerousprototypes. Thanks Markus.
Changelog:
v1.18 – 28/1/2022
Fixed:
- When you are in Manual mode of playing SID the timeout timer wrongly are also increased into a variable but this timer works only for the modes: auto/random/intro.
- Wrong STATIC variable for the debug via serial. the serial debug don’t works correctly in some part of the code. %-)
- Wrong variable for the Timeout check if the time is longer then 99 seconds. %-)
Updated:
- Freed and remapped to another destination the MCU pins of PAUSE and FFWD buttons to use them with the CS for the SID #2 and R/W because we needed 2 MCU pins 5v tolerant and there aren’t many left :/
- Described some parts of the source code.
- Added new parameters to the configuration file (config.ini).
- Playback timeout in seconds of the .SID files for AUTO/RANDOM and INTRO modes.
- Configure the best baudrate for the debug via Serial.
- Disable or Enable the visualization of the VU-METER for the 3 sid voices.
Below is an excerpt from the “config.ini” file.
# Serial Debug Baudrate – default: 115200
SERIAL_BAUDRATE=115200
# Set the Timeout in Seconds for the AUTO/RANDOM playing mode – default: 2 minutes
AUTORND_TIMEOUT=120
# Set the Timeout in Seconds for the INTRO playing mode – default: 15 seconds
INTRO_TIMEOUT=15
# Write 0 if you want to disable the visualization of the vu-meter for the 3 x sid voices.
# Default: 1
SID_VUMETER=1
A new version of the firmware for the Kung Fu Flash Cartridge by Kim Jørgensen is released.
Changelog from version v1.21 to 1.34:
- Fix broken mount D64 file option (since v1.33)
- Improve disk drive emulation to support Sidplay64. Thanks Actarus, Fabuseta, mwedmark, and Seni1ix
- Support basic SD2IEC commands.
- Optimized code to make it all fit in flash.
- In this version the following cartridge types will not require the firmware file on the SD card:
- Normal cartridge (8k, 16k, Ultimax)
- Fun Play, Power Play
- Super Games
- Ocean type 1
- Epyx Fastload
- C64 Game System, System 3
- Dinamic
- Zaxxon, Super Zaxxon
- Magic Desk, Domark, HES Australia
- EasyFlash
- Prophet64
- RGCD, Hucky
- Drean
- C128 Normal Cartridge (external function ROM)
- Combined PAL and NTSC firmware.
- T64 support (normal tape files only). Thanks Matthias.
- The firmware has been extended to support both PAL and NTSC and this requires the KungFuFlash_v1.30.upd file to be kept in the root directory of the SD card.
- Older firmware will not support this extended format so KungFuFlash_v1.30_upgrade.upd must be used first. This file is not needed after the upgrade process has been completed.
- Fix broken EasyFlash VIC-II/C128 mode. Thanks mrr19121970.
- Improve detection of C64 clock signal.
- Add simple diagnostic tool.
- The diagnostic tool is started by pressing the menu button for 2 seconds (until the LED turns off) and is intended to help debug stability problems on some C64 models.
- The tool can also be started in a USB only mode if Kung Fu Flash refuses to start at all. In this mode debug data is send via USB only and the C64 should start normally (boot to Basic). This mode is started by pressing both the special and menu button for 2 seconds, then releasing the menu button followed by the special button.
- For reference the phi2 clock frequency should be around 985248 Hz for PAL and around 1022727 Hz for NTSC.
- Add support for Drean cartridges. Thanks beatmaster13.
- Add support for C128 normal cartridge. Thanks phako.
- Fix unstable EF3 USB. Thanks dikdom.
- Add support for Super Games cartridge.
- Add support for Prophet64 cartridge.
- Fix broken Fun Play/Power Play cartridge support (since v1.16)
- Add support for RGCD and Hucky cartridges. Thanks Konstantin19.
- Load extensionless files as PRG.
- Add support for WarpSpeed by SvOlli. Thank you.
- Add support for Freeze Frame/Freeze Machine. Thanks gold11-carca.
- Fix bug reading UPD file using FAT16. Thanks cosmo6128.
Download:
source: github.com/KimJorgensen/KungFuFlash
A new version of the firmware for the AVGCART (SD multicart for 8bit Atari) by tmp is released
Changelog (v0024):
- PDS/COV/COS files run PDSPLAY/COVPLAY/COSPLAY
- added ability to select (TAB) CAR files
- selected files (ATR, CAS, CAR) don’t have to be in the same directory anymore, selection is cleared only after returning to the selector
- ENTER on ATR/CAS/CAR file will replace the selection so SPACE was added to run with selected files, ignoring current file under cursor
- search now allows navigation during searching and editing search string
- CTRL-L disables item shortcuts and allows starting search by typing instead of ‘/’
- ESC stops search, exiting search requires 2x ESC (to prevent accidental exit when search stops at the same time user tries to stop it)
- disable cart was changed to SHIFT-ESC
- short filenames should finally (hopefully) have proper case
- filenames longer than screen width should be (finally) properly sorted
- type 57 (2kB) fixed
- right cart button will disable cart for carts <= 16kB (to make some CS turbo carts work)
New keys:
- SPACE – run selected files (ignores item under cursor)
- CTRL-L – toggle key shortcuts
Changed keys:
- ESC -> SHIFT-ESC (disable cart and reboot)
Changelog (v0023):
- [ECI] Auto-enable cart menu after reset (CTRL-SHIFT-E to enable, CTRL-E to disable)
- [ECI] Patched OS for ATR emulation is forced as ROM, not just loaded into RAM under ROM, increases compatibility
- [ECI+SIO] When emulating ATR, HSIO patched OS with inverted OPTION (BASIC off) is forced
Changelog (v0022):
- [ECI] EXTMEM support up to 512kB (CTRL-SHIFT-M to enable, CTRL-M to disable)
Download:
source: atariage.com
Firmware upgrades for THEC64 Mini/Max & TheVIC20 provide new features and/or correct any technical issues.
We always recommend that you use the latest version of the firmware.
Version 1.6.1 – Changes and additions:
- [All models] Adds Commodore 1351 mouse support to the C64
- [All models] Adds support for up to four joysticks
- [All models] Adds support for THEMOUSE
- [All models] Adds support for THEGAMEPAD
- [All models] Adds a new game Space Lords, a multi-player game that utilises the new mouse and multi-joystick support
Changes from previous versions:
- v1.5.2 – [THEC64 European] Fixes inconsistently displayed Blue Star carousel cover image
- v1.5.2 – [All models] Allows the primary C64 joystick port to be switched in-game
- v1.5.2 – [THEC64 Mini] Adds C64 only Classic mode
- v1.5.2 – [THEC64 Mini] Adds disk swapping for multiple disk games
- v1.5.2 – [THEC64 Mini] Adds soft and hard reset hot-keys to Classic mode
- v1.5.2 – [THEC64 Mini] Adds freeze button support to Classic mode
- v1.5.2 – [All models] Adds Commodore REU support with 512K, 2MB or 16MB as filename flags or CJM parameters
- v1.5.2 – [THEC64 Mini] Hessian (C64) and PET Snake (C64)
- v1.5.2 – [THEC64] Hessian (C64), PET Snake (C64), City Crusher (VIC20) and Mine Sweep (VIC20)
- v1.5.2 – [THEVIC20] Hessian (C64), PET Snake (C64), City Crusher (VIC20) and Mine Sweep (VIC20)
Download:
source: retrogames.biz
The return of the Hybrid Sid Player by xAD/Nightfall & Gianluca Renzi (RetroBit Lab)
Based on the Project and Hardware Schematic by Markus Gritsch released in the years 2011-2015 on the forum dangerousprototypes. Thanks Markus.
Changelog:
v1.17 – 31/12/2021
Added:
- Change visualization status of the LED for Socket #1 and Socket #2 available on the Olimex Development Board and the SID Player PCB.
- A configuration file (config.ini) for some important settings of the SID Player. The file will be loaded during the boot and must be present in the ROOT of the filesystem of the USB key.If the file is not found, the player will configure itself with the default values. Thanks to Gianluca Renzi (RetroBit Lab) for his lite INI file parser.
Below is an excerpt from the “config.ini” file.
# Select the Sid model for the Tune played by the SID Player on the Socket #1 or Socket #2.
# Specify the socket which you want to play the sid tunes (example for SID_8580_SOCKET write
# the number 2 if you want it to be played with the SID 8580 installed on socket #2)
# This configuration makes the use very dynamic for everyone. – default: socket #1,#1,#2,#2
TUNE_UNKNOWN_SOCKET=1
TUNE_6581_SOCKET=1
TUNE_8580_SOCKET=2
TUNE_BOTH_SOCKET=2
# Use Armsid with Auto Switching (0:Disabled – 1:Socket #1 – 2:Socket #2) – default: 0
# Note: When you use the auto detection and switching of the SID model with the ARMSID this can be
# used only in one of the two sockets, the other socket is completely ignored and can remain empty.
ARMSID_SOCKET=0
# Brightness of the OLED. (0 … 255) – default: 127
OLED_BRIGHTNESS=127
# Brightness of the OLED in IDLE mode. (0 … 255) – default: 10
OLED_BRIGHTNESS_IDLE=10
# Enable the serial DEBUG. (1 Enable | 0 Disabled) – default: 0
SERIAL_DEBUG=0
The High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC) is a freeware hobby project which organises Commodore 64 music (also known as SID music) into an archive for both musicians and fans alike.
The work on the collection is done completely in the Team and contributors’ spare time and is proudly one of the largest and most accurate computer music collections known.
This update features (all approximates):
- 681 new SIDs
- 26 fixed/better rips
- 1 repeats/bad rips eliminated
- 279 SID credit fixes
- 100 SID model/clock infos
- 12 tunes from /DEMOS/UNKNOWN/ identified
- 0 tunes from /GAMES/ identified
- 20 tunes moved out of /DEMOS/ to their composers’ directories
- 12 tunes moved out of /GAMES/ to their composers’ directories
After this update, the collection should contain 55,067 SID files!
Download:
source: www.hvsc.c64.org
Another cool production by Mr.SID, Sonic the Hedgehog for Commodore 64. This game requires memory expansion (REU).
Credits:
- Code: Mr. SID of HVSC Crew, Megadesigns Incorporated
- Music: Encore of Kollektivet, Undone
- Graphics: Veto of Oxyron, PriorArt, Tristar & Red Sector Inc.
- Loader: Krill of Plush
- Help: JackAsser of Booze Design
- Test:
- Encore of Kollektivet, Undone
- JackAsser of Booze Design
- Retroluzzer of Excess
- Veto of Oxyron, PriorArt, Tristar & Red Sector Inc.
Download:
source: csdb.dk
A new firmware update for the ARMSiD has been released by Nobomi.
News features and fixes in FW 2.13:
- Further optimization of code speed and size. Also bus operations are faster, finally “paddles” are successfully read on NTSC machines even with the oldest HW versions of ARMSID (with components on top) !
- ARMSID start is also faster. Instead of hundreds of milliseconds, ARMSID is fully functional in less than 15 milliseconds after power-up !
- Added the possibility to “fix” the so-called ADSR bug, i.e. a bug in the envelope generator, which is inherent to the original chips and is reproduced in ARMSID too. This is not needed in the C64 for compatibility reasons, but if you use ARMSID in synthesizers, you might be interested in this feature.
- Slightly modified quality (Q) of filter circuits for even more faithful reproduction of MOS8580.
Download: ARMSiD v2.13 (532)
source: nobomi.cz
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