A new version of the firmware for the interface 1541 Ultimate II is released.

Some major fix:

• Update fixed => C64 should be taken out of reset otherwise keyboard won’t work.
• RTC speed correction implemented.
• Screen flicker removed by not clearing the screen upon “draw()”
• Double file name fixed at create D64.
• C64 kept in reset to avoid basic screen before cart screen.
• C1541 rom load fixed.
• Delete file implemented.
• Sorting of dir entries (DIR first) still needs to be tested.
• REU Filetype added.
• Double filenames fixed.
• Rename fixed (I think!)
• Error handling improved, error strings added.

download: 1541ultimate.net

Contiki is a small, open source, highly portable, multitasking computer operating system developed for use on a number of memory-constrained networked systems ranging from 8-bit computers to embedded systems on microcontrollers, including sensor network motes.

The name Contiki comes from Thor Heyerdahl’s famous Kon-Tiki raft.

The Contiki 2.x contains only very little assembler coding and even less target-specific assembler coding. This allowed for easy porting to targets beside the C64 namely the C128 and Apple II. Porting to other cc65 targets wasn’t done due to missing Ethernet hardware.

Contiki 2.4 is the first 2.x release to contain the following programs:

• Dhcp client.
• Web server.
• Web browser.
• Wget.
• Smtp client.
• IRC client.
• Twitter client.

Beside lots of other improvement especially the following issues were fixed:

• Malfunctioning DNS lookup.
• Missing PETSCII conversion for the smtp credentials.
• Incorrect fixing of all disk I/O to drive 8.

source: lemon64.com wikipedia cbm8bit.com

from Engadget homepage:

Commodore USA announces the PC64, an Atom-powered PC in a replica Commodore case.

We have a fondness for Commodore computers (as you’ve probably noticed by now) and we are psyched that Commodore USA is still flying the flag for the once-ubiquitous brand, but as they always are in this biz, things are a little… complicated.

We were first contacted way back in March when the company shared the news that it had acquired the rights to sell PCs under the name. Then what happened? Turns out this was not exactly the case… although CEO Barry Altman assured us that they were on their way towards hammering out a deal.

And here we are, in possession of a press release saying that indeed, Commodore USA, LLC, and Commodore Licensing B.V. have finally come to an agreement, meaning that your subsequent purchases will at least come with a Commodore decal. But that ain’t all! This also paves the way for the company’s newest offering, the Commodore PC64, an Intel Atom-powered PC featuring 4GB DDR3 memory, SATA 1TB HDD, HDMI output, optical drive (either DVD/CD or optional Blu-ray), and more — all in “an exact replica” of the original beige C64 chassis. …more

source: engadget.com

The Pocket 1541 is a emulator for the 1541 disk drive. Pocket 1541 uses a SD card to store your data, supported formats are: D64, M2I, PRG, D71, D81 and P00.

The firmware is based on the open source SD2IEC firmware. The device has four buttons and a LCD screen that can be used to navigate to the required files on the SD card.

source: commodore-gg.hobby.nl pocket 1541 homepage

A new Game by Jeffrey Daniels for Commodore VIC-20.

• Pillow Fight. An action game where you bounce off the boundaries. (no memory expansion required)

source: Denial (The Commodore VIC-20 forum)

This document contains instructions to set up your build-environment, to build your own 1541 Ultimate-II software and FPGA.

source: 1541ultimate.net

Program that detects type of your hardware in Commodore 128.

Also added recognizing 64HDD drives / SuperCPU / JiffyDos and a better detection of MMU and RAM size, not works correctly in VICE.

Optimized for 80 columns mode. Thanks to Christian Johansson.

source: mirkosoft homepage

A new version of the firmware for the interface 1541 Ultimate II is released.

Some major fix:

• Added: Built-in flash protection to avoid more units to ‘die’.
• Fixed: Joystick Right on PRG file still crashes UltimateII.
• Fixed: Mount & Run starts disk mounted Write Protected.

download: 1541ultimate.net

Finally! after a long time the new version of the Firmware for the interface SIO2SD is realesed under GPL Open-Source.

The SIO2SD is a device that allows you to load games/applications into any 8-bit Atari XL/XE computers via SIO interface from SD/MMC cards.

Changelog:

• Configuration is now available from Atari Screen – press K3 key (no need to disconnect the cable from the SIO).
• Loader for the executable files has been replaced with a new version.

source: sourceforge.net sio2sd.gucio.pl marcinprusisz.pl

With this tool you can convert anything into MUIFLI (interlaced) or NUFLI (static), such as seen in Crest Slide Story , Carrion’s OLDSCHOOL Pixels 100% or BluREU.

This tool run under OSX/Win/Linux (BSD).

source: download mufflon

SD2IEC is a hardware mass storage device using an SD/MMC card and interfacing with the IEC bus. It is based on the ATmega644 microcontroller from the Atmel AVR microcontroller family.

The most prominent use of SD2IEC is emulation/replacement of a Commodore-1541 disk drive for a C64. Hardware and the microcontroller’s firmware is available as open source (GPL).

Changelog:

2010-08-06 – release 0.10.0pre1

• GEOS 2.0 support (d64/d71/d81 images only)
• File-based M-R emulation.
• Removed “oldnkc” configuration.

source: sd2iec.de gitweb forum thread c64-wiki

Snake Oil Software presents Snake on a Plane for Commodore 64. It’s inspired by a fake game cover for an Atari 2600 game based on the film Snakes on a Plane.

source: noname.c64.org

Some new Games & Utility for Commodore VIC-20.

• Raw tape transfer 1.0. Tool to transfer files from tape to disk, including tape headers. Useful for analysing original games. Can transfer any memory region on an unexpanded vic.
• TGA – The Great Adventure. Conversion from the Commodore 64 of a classic Italian multiple-choice text RPG written by Alessandro Castellari in 1983. Try it on your VIC with the nice graphics of hi-res and multi-colour screens.

source: Denial (The Commodore VIC-20 forum)

iAN CooG Site has been update with a new version of the Generic C64 prg Unpacker v2.23 (Source included).

History:

v2.23 – 2010.06.12 – 2010.07.30

• Found a Time cruncher hack expecting registers set by JSR $FD15 ($31/$30/$ff), now it’s handled correctly in pass 1.
• In verbose mode, now also number of iterations and total cycles taken by the simulated CPU are printed, just to see which is the slowest&fastest unpacker.
• Raised max iterations to support VERY intensive unpackers like ALZ64, worst testcase I found needs 27097007 (0x019D77AF) iterations to finish unpacking. This cruncher isn’t really meant for crunching programs ranging from $0801 to $ff00 due to its slowness, but still has to be supported even when abused =) New max value is set to 0×02000000, should be more than enough for anything that actually reaches end of unpacking, and won’t cause too much delay with programs that can’t be really unpacked or with endless loops.

Read more…

SD2IEC is a hardware mass storage device using an SD/MMC card and interfacing with the IEC bus. It is based on the ATmega644 microcontroller from the Atmel AVR microcontroller family.

The most prominent use of SD2IEC is emulation/replacement of a Commodore-1541 disk drive for a C64. Hardware and the microcontroller’s firmware is available as open source (GPL).

Changelog:

2010-08-02 – release 0.9.3

• Bugfix: Extension hiding works again with names >12 characters.
• Bugfix: Increase data hold time during standard TALK.
• Testing aid: card detect-to-LED function.

source: sd2iec.de gitweb forum thread c64-wiki