AspeQt is a cross-platform, free and open source Atari 8-bit serial peripheral emulator. The name is an acronym for Atari serial peripheral emulator for Qt, Qt being the cross-platform application development framework used by AspeQt.

AspeQt emulates various Atari 8-bit peripherals like disk drives and printers via an SIO-2-PC cable. If you are familiar with software like Sio2Pc, APE, Atari810, AtariSIO etc., you probably won’t have any problems getting used to AspeQt.

Even though AspeQt is not fully mature yet, it is easy to use and, despite its shortcomings, has many features that you may find useful, the highlights being:

• Up to 15 disk drive emulation.
• Up to 6x SIO speed (125,000bps)
• Support for ATR, XFD, PRO and ATX (preliminary) disk images.
• Mount folders as emulated disks.
• Disk image explorer.
• Directly boot Atari executables.
• Text only printer emulation with PC print, save, and ATASCII font support.
• Cassette image playback.
• Multilingual GUI (English, Polish, Slovak, German, Turkish and Russian)
• AspeQt client module (AspeCl) for Atari, communicates with the server and performs a variety of remote operations.

Changelog:

• Updated the English language manual.
• Minor re-grouping of drive slot buttons.
• Added directory print capability to image explorer window (Ray Ataergin)
• Added boot capability from a Folder Image. Simply copy the DOS.SYS and DUP.SYS files from a DOS diskette to a PC Folder, mount the PC folder to drive slot#:1 as a Folder Image and boot your Atari. Currently only Atari DOS has a built-in support. MyDos will be supported on the next release. (Ray Ataergin)
• Dropped ApeTime support from AspeQt. AspeCL is now the only supported Time/Date client
• Remote Control software for AspeQt (see AspeQt documentation for more info) (Ray Ataergin)
• Implemented auto-commit remote toggle capability to AspeCL, it was previously documented as “in development feature” (Ray Ataergin)
• Implemented remote image file creating/mounting capability to AspeCL, it was previously documented as “in development feature” (Ray Ataergin)
• Implemented remote image file mounting capability to AspeCL, it was previously documented  as “in development feature” (Ray Ataergin)
• Tested and fixed AspeCL client SpartaDos X date/time handling (this was not previously tested as I did not have SDX back then) (Ray Ataergin)
• Updated AspeCL client code to accomodate SDX drives 9-15 (Ray Ataergin)
• Updated AspeCL server code in AspeQt to accomodate SDX drives 9-15 (Ray Ataergin)

Download:

• AspeQt v0.8.6 (Windows) (3020)
• AspeQt v0.8.6 Changelog (1273)
• AspeQt v0.8.5 Manual (English/German) (1670)

source: aspeqt.sourceforge.net

The Atari++ Emulator is a Unix based emulator of the Atari eight bit computers, namely the Atari 400 and 800, the Atari 400XL, 800XL and 130XE, and the Atari 5200 game console.

The emulator is auto-configurable and will compile on a variety of systems (Linux, Solaris, Irix).

Download:

• Atari ++ v1.71 (Linux) (1231)
• Atari ++ v1.71 (Win32) (1492)

source: xl-project.com

I received this computer to be repaired for a friend some days ago. The computer displays only a black screen and some times a random character without any sound beep at the startup boot.

I have replaced the PLA IC 324745-01 (UE5) and 324744-01 (UE6) with two EPROM 27C512 70ns (suitably programmed), the Universal PLA adapter was kindly donated by Manosoft.

The computer also had another defect, apparently the fault was not only in the two PLA. The computer starts with the classic beep but the screen remain black, the faulty is the IC 6545 (CRTC) and that was replaced.

This model uses a ROM daughterboard instead of a single 23128 ROM (EPROM 27C128 pinout compatible). I have made an adapter to preserve the original state of 8296 and allow the insertion of the daughterboard after the replacement of the two PLA that are different (in size) to the original one.

Autopsy:

123►

from Wikipedia:

The Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International. A top-seller in the Canadian and United States educational markets, it was Commodore’s first full-featured computer, and formed the basis for their entire 8-bit product line.

The PET 2001 was announced at the Winter CES in January 1977 and the first 100 units were shipped later that year in October. However, the PET was back-ordered for months and to ease deliveries, early in 1978 Commodore decided to cancel the 4 kB version.

Although the machine was fairly successful, there were frequent complaints about the tiny calculator-like keyboard, often referred to as a “chiclet keyboard” because the keys resembled the gum candy. This was addressed in upgraded “dash N” and “dash B” versions of the 2001, which put the cassette tape recorder outside the case, and included a much larger keyboard with a full stroke motion. Internally a newer motherboard was used, along with an upgrade from static RAM to dynamic RAM and 8, 16, or 32 KB, known as the 2001-N-8, 2001-N-16 or 2001-N-32, respectively.

Sales of the newer machines were strong, and Commodore then introduced the models to Europe. The result was the CBM 3000 series (‘CBM’ standing for Commodore Business Machines), which included the 3008, 3016 and 3032 models. Like the 2001-N-8, the 3008 was quickly dropped.

The final version of what could be thought of as the “classic” PET was the PET 4000 series. This was essentially the later model 2000 series, but with a larger black-and-green monitor and a newer version of Commodore’s BASIC programming language.

Commodore tried to update the PET line with a new redesign called the CBM-II series (also known as the B series). These were not as successful and were ultimately abandoned. However, due to demand, the original PET machines were revived and the CBM-II case style was retained. These were known as the SK’s (due to the separated keyboard). They also had a swivel monitor. Originally, standard 8032 boards were retrofitted into these cases. Later the SK models got a new mainboard that already included the 64 kB extension directly on the board and were sold as 8296 or, with a built-in 8250 dual disk drive, as 8296-D.

source: wikipedia

SID Duzz it, it’s a SID Music Editor by Geir Tjelta of SHAPE.

Download: SID Duzz\' It v2.1 (925)

source: csdb.dk

HermIRES it’s a cross-platform hires bitmap (Art Studio 1 format) editor for the Commodore 64.

The format has some restrictions, here are the rules:

• The maximal resolution of the picture is 320×200
• Only 16 fix C64 colours can be used (no gradient either)
• In a 8×8 pixel-block only 2 colours can used to be displayable by C64 (this is detected in HermIRES, but .hbm files can be saved with clashes too.)
• On a real C64 the PAL will blur the screen-content a bit, should check on CRT, or at least VICE emulator’s CRT simulation.

Changelog:

Added:

• Color swapping fast-button – Tilde “`” button (BitBreaker’s idea)
• Show pen-diameter preview circle if diameter is bigger than the default
• *dense (pixel-scale) grid toggleable (in bigger magnifications too).
• *added ‘Deny painting’,'Reuse existing colour’ and ‘Set block colour’ mode to ClashTest – different settings on/off in case clash would happen…
• *showing zoomed area in the preview, allow going to area in zoomed mode when left-clicking on preview
• Showing ongoing progresses by text/graphics (loading/converting/drawing…)
• Selectable CRT emulation for Preview/Grid only… (for faster operation on slow machines)
• Undo step number displayed (should undo history also be saved?)

Fixed:

• Control/shift/alt stucked in Win7 with allegro devpak 4.2… -> using allegro devpak 4.4.2 version instead!
• Reduced overall CPU usage – refined timed and pixelling/detection events
• iI Windows it was slow (especially in CRT emulation) -> wrote optimized software CRT-emul.pixelling for GridDrawer, not relying on hw-acceleration
• *pressing F1..F4 fucked up (enlightens) toolbar sometimes – solution: timing stabilizer / thread safety check solved it
• Preview-zoom title-text was overwritten by Grid-Zoom-text in the smallest resolution mode with 2-digit magnifications
• *there was ‘allegro error #11′ and ‘segmentation fault’ at lower than required resolution – it was logical mistake in resolution-decider loop
• Made dithered and big-pendiameter filled rectangle/circle drawing faster (set the steps according to pen-diameter)
• *allegro filename-extension detection was wrong – if ‘.’ used in filename and no extension given, only the name before was saved to disk! -> used ustrcmp & strcat instead
• *C64-executable format name-tag (caption) now editable (deleting it disables it)

Download:

• HermIRES v1.25 (Linux) (917)
• HermIRES v1.25 (Windows) (1042)

source: hermit.netne.net

Some new games (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups: Avatar, Onslaught, Bad Taste, uppercase Software and Excess.

Download:

• S-Blox v1.0 (935)
• Octron (986)
• KAH - Kill All Humans (944)
• Heng - HiRes Engine (928)
• Sigma Wing Preview (929)
• Helikopter Jagd + (982)
• Super Mario Bros Preview (1001)
• All Games in One Archive (2387)

source: csdb.dk

NAV, is a new file browser for the C64. NAV can use a mouse in Port 1, joystick in Port 2, or the keyboard. NAV can work with up to five drives and has been tested with the following drive types:

1541, 1571, 1581, uIEC, IDE64

Browsing through directories and disks is just point and click! Drives like the uIEC that can store gigabytes of software can be tedious and frustrating to navigate. NAV lets you easily work with D64/D71/D81/DNP/M2I disk images as well as “real” Commodore disks and the IDE64. Up to five drives at a time!

Just click a drive to browse it!Pressing the “@” key brings up a command line that acts just like the good ol’ DOS Wedge. In addition, there are a few additional commands that can be entered on the command line. Just type “@HELP” to get the complete list.

Download: NAV (D64) (1007)

source: commodoreserver.com

Have been replaced 4 tantalum capacitors short-circuited with 4 electrolytic capacitors. The computer has been tested and works perfectly.

This is a calendar in PDF format made by Marcin Dworaczek (a.k.a. mOOnie / MSB) for the new, 2013 year.

All the graphics were presented on the latest SV2k12 edition, and come from the following authors: Piesiu, Ripek, Rocky, Ooz, Ukko, Templeton, Odyn1ec and Bracket.

Download: SillyVenture 2013 calendar (1360)

source: sillyventure.eu

Altirra is an Atari 8 bit Emulator on the Windows/DOS platform. Altirra emulates several models of the 8-bit Atari computers. This includes the the 800, 800XL, and 130XE versions.

It has a lot of options, and compatibility is decent especially given the emulator’s early stages. It also supports some copy protected games properly in emulation.

Download: Altirra v2.20 (914)

source: virtualdub.org

Some new games (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups: Genesis Project, TRIAD, Really Proud Lamers and Laxity.

Download:

• Tone-Loco + 100% [pal/ntsc] (1143)
• SRogue v1.0 &D (938)
• Tone-Loco (924)
• Gorf [max machine] +2D (961)
• Blok Copy PETSCII Edition +3H (964)
• Computer TitleBout +D [ntsc/pal] (956)
• S-Blox (Beta 2) (950)
• All Games in One Archive (2343)

source: csdb.dk

After 3+ years of suffering and curses, some days ago i have leave one of the worst (cheap) shared web hosting on the net.

I’m talking about Dreamhost.

The site Nightfallcrew.com / Retrocomputermania.com / Retrothings.org now runs on a dedicated server virtualized with Proxmox (KVM).

HermIRES it’s a cross-platform hires bitmap (Art Studio 1 format) editor for the Commodore 64.

The format has some restrictions, here are the rules:

• The maximal resolution of the picture is 320×200
• Only 16 fix C64 colours can be used (no gradient either)
• In a 8×8 pixel-block only 2 colours can used to be displayable by C64 (this is detected in HermIRES, but .hbm files can be saved with clashes too.)
• On a real C64 the PAL will blur the screen-content a bit, should check on CRT, or at least VICE emulator’s CRT simulation.

Download:

• HermIRES v1.2 (WINDOWS) (917)
• HermIRES v1.2 (LINUX) (850)

source: hermit.netne.net

Commodore Free Magazine Issue #66

Free to download Commodore magazine dedicated to Commodore Computers.

Download:

• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #66 (D64) (985)
• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #66 (PDF) (1224)
• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #66 (TXT) (1302)

source: commodorefree.com