My name is “jaundice” and my last name is “lucky”.  :-)

Why “lucky”? because the battery used in this Amiga was not VARTA but GP, these batteries resist slightly to aging and release less acid.

The only defect of this Amiga 500 Plus was the Floppy Drive which did not read any Floppy Disk, the motor running slower than normal, it was enough replace a 4.7uF electrolytic capacitor to make it work again.

I thank my friend Igor for the donation.

Gallery:

12►

Ikari has released a new firmware for the SD2Snes Flash Cartridge (Super Nintendo/Famicom). The upgrade instructions can be found here.

Changelog:

• Revert S-DD1 bitfile to earlier build which happens to less expose a timing hazard. This will need further examination for a proper fix. Fixes severe glitches with S-DD1
• Fix swapped logic terms in SA-1 and SuperFX RAM write cycles. Fixes severe glitches on SA-1 and SuperFX on Mk.II units; The bug was also present in the Pro firmware but didn’t seem to have much of an effect
• Fix game video mode setting in SuperCIC pair mode.

Download:

• SD2Snes Firmware v1.10.3 (849)

source: sd2snes.de

Some things for Atari 8bit:

• P-COVOX is a very simple device, 4channel, discrete component digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that fits under PIA chip. It isn’t as Hi-Fi as modern sound cards, but it`s perceptiom may be a lot better than a POKEY  – especially playing MODs or NEO files
• Simple Stereo V2 – New version of the Simple Stereo now all in one. I replace my old version of Simple Stereo + U-Switch, the features are the same.
• 64k RAM Module (Replaces base ram of 64KB in all 8bit ATARI, upgrades ram in 600XL to 64KB, PCB thickness is 0,8mm)

The 64k RAM module also replaces Multiplexers, DRAM, Delay Line C060472 and so on in XL series, the Delay Line is no longer available as spare parts.

source: lotharek.pl

This software act as the floppy server with the USB HxC Floppy Emulator.

This program also allows you to convert floppy image files for the SDCard based HxC Floppy Emulator.

Supports many input floppy image file formats: List of the supported floppy image formats.

Operating systems supported:

• Windows 98 / 2000 / XP / Vista / Seven / 10
• Mac OS X.
• Linux.

HxCFloppyEmulator software v2.1.23.1:

• New XML format : Coat-A-Matic 9400 / Robox RC9400 format.
• Amiga Image loader (ADF, DMS,…) : Fix the v2.1.20.1 left sector(s) field regression !
• Update recommended for Amiga users !

Download: HxCFloppyEmulator software v2.1.23.1 (831)

source: hxc2001.com

Ikari has released a new firmware for the SD2Snes Flash Cartridge (Super Nintendo/Famicom). The upgrade instructions can be found here.

Changelog:

• [Pro] fix wrong data ROM size on uPD96050 core -> F1 ROC II track is shown properly.
• [Pro] fix S-DD1 address mirroring -> Star Ocean works.
• [Pro] correct Cx4 core speed from 96MHz to 80MHz
• [All] apply volume boost after FPGA reconfiguration (fixes MSU1 volume boost on Cx4, OBC1, SuperFX, SA-1, S-DD1)
• [All] fix S-DD1 writes going to the wrong address on concurrent MCU accesses (saving not working in Star Ocean)
• [All] avoid potential data corruption on MCU writes (e.g. SPC loading)
• [All] Workaround for Super Nt not booting when CIC enters pair mode successfully.

Download:

• SD2Snes Firmware v1.10.2 (847)

source: sd2snes.de

Hoxs64 written by David Horrocks is a Commodore 64 emulator for Microsoft Windows 2K/XP/Vista/Seven (DirectX 9+)

The emulator substantially reproduces this legacy machine in minute detail.

Changelog (v1.0.19.0):

• Fix track wrap around disk image corruption to the file produced with “Save as D64″.

Download:

• Hoxs64 32/64 bit v1.0.19.0 (780)

source: hoxs64.net

Atari 800 XL (VBXE-RGB/U1MB/Stereo Pokey/Side2) my Favourite Games

My Atari 800 XL Hardware Configuration:

• VBXE (RGB output)
• Ultimate 1Mb
• Stereo Pokey
• Side2 Cartridge

You can buy this additional hardware from this site: lotharek.pl

Favourite Games:

• Bosconian
• Time Pilot
• Scramble
• Popeye
• Bomb Jack
• Ms Pacman
• Pacman
• Pitfall II
• Donkey Kong
• Mario Bros
• International Karate Enhanced Edition
• H.E.R.O.

Gallery:

Download: my Favourite Atari Games (757)

This Amiga 2000 is arrived in my lab in very poor condition in April 2016, the computer has been repaired and stored in an antistatic envelope.

Tested after almost 3 years, the computer does not show signs of life.

Having no video output, i have used the Chucky DIAGROM which through a serial connection i was able to identify 2 different problems with the RAM’s.

Defect:

• Black Screen

Repair:

• Rebuilt track on the 68000 DX side near resistor pack RP900 (previously good)
• Rebuilt track RAM U529 signal CAS (previously good)
• Replaced RAM LM 33256 U501 with TMS 4256 (previously working)

Below some random photo of the repair.

Gallery:

First of all i have to thank Filippo Santellocco (Philsan) for this unexpected gift that i really appreciate.

AVGCART – SD multicart for 8bit Atari features:

• Supports CAR files up to 1MB (most bankswitching types are implemented)
• Supports XEX files.
• Supports ATR files (read/write) – support is limited due to cartridge port constraints.
• SIDE emulation (works with U1MB and SpartaDOS X)
• Firmware is upgradeable via SD card.

Keyboard reference:

• arrows to navigate the list, with CTRL jump to beginning/end of page/list
• BACKSPACE for parent dir
• ENTER and letters choose item
• TAB to select multiple ATR files (right cart button to cycle them afterwards)
• ESC disables cart and resets Atari
• / for recursive search, use ESC to return to full navigation
• SHIFT-S enables SIDE CCTL registers and resets

Use left cart button to return to file selector (after reset), right cart button resets current cart’s bank (also cycles ATR files)

Titles of the songs in the video:

• AC/DC – Back in Black
• Narada Michael Walden – Tonight I’m Alright
• Kungs & Cookin’ On 3 Burners – This Girl
• Sucker Punch (Dubstep Remix)

The songs are complete from beginning to end but for reasons of length of the video i have cut the songs.

The video can be only downloaded, because Youtube and Facebook have blocked the video streaming for copyrighted content, really ridiculous as the audio tracks are not complete and certainly not faithful to the original.

My personal note; the only two home computers that i follow with passion are Commodore & Atari.

…have a good listening

Download: AVG Cartridge PDM Player Atari Video (1054)

source: atariage.com

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:

• Championship Wrestling +3D
• Two Days to the Race Preview
• Race Through Space +2HD
• Hook [georam]
• Rock ‘n Roll Trivia Volume 1 +D
• Hook
• Rock ‘n Roll Trivia Volume 5 +D
• Rock ‘n Roll Trivia Volume 4 +D
• Rock ‘n Roll Trivia Volume 2 +D
• Rock ‘n Roll Trivia Volume 3 +D
• Pool of Radiance [georam]
• Two Days to the Race V1.6 +D
• Monopoly Preview V2 +D
• Space Hunter +
• Secret Tunnel +4
• Super Toboggan Challenge +1HD
• Boulder Dash Junior II++ (The Final Dig!)
• Super Toboggan Challenge
• PSI 5 Trading Company +FMD
• PSI 5 Trading Company +FD
• Rock ‘n Wrestle +6DH
• Bop ‘n Wrestle +6DH
• Super Galax-I-Birds
• Turrican II [1581]
• Turrican [1581]
• Super Galax-I-Birds +4MF
• Beach Bar +4D
• Starfysh Remix
• Scooby & Scrappy Doo +6DGMI
• Starfysh Remix +6HD
• Multiplan V1.07 +F
• Beezarro
• B-Ball +F
• Power Station +5
• Championship Wrestling +3D
• Yie Ar Kung Fu +4HD
• Sidelines +2
• Griddy Pixels Preview
• PSI 5 Trading Company +DF
• Tenebra Macabre [16kb cartridge]
• Tenebra Macabre +4D
• Griddy Pixels Preview 2 +1D
• Flock +2
• Bruce Lee – Return of Fury +
• Bruce Lee – Return of Fury +2D
• Bruce Lee – Return of Fury
• Bruce Lee – Return of Fury +1D
• Bruce Lee – Return of Fury +2D
• Labyrinth [all drives]
• Labyrinth
• Parsec
• Toyshop & Lollipops +D
• Bruce Lee – Return of Fury +2HD
• Spitting Image
• The Original Tetris Game +2
• Pacman II +4
• Pacman +3
• Zig-Zag +2DG
• Griddy Pixels Preview 3 &FD
• Knight Lore V1.10 +D
• Knight Lore V1.10

Download: All Games in One Archive (7027)

source: csdb.dk

Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.

This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.

The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick

The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports: + many more….

USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Floppy Emulator Firmware v3.1.32.1a -> v3.1.38.2a cumulative changelog:

• More customization options:
  • Raw file image/disk format selection.
  • You can now define your raw file image/disk format !
  • Floppy Interface modes.
  • https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/
• More customization options:
  • 16 different oled graphic fonts available.
  • New oled screen models supported (128×32,128×64, SSD1306, SH1106…).
  • Default raw system selection.
  • And many more new options: sound volume, auto select delay, …
• New raw formats support: Coat-A-Matic 9400 / Robox RC9400 (*.IMG/*.DSK) (289KB)
• Fix Track 00 issue (v3.1.34.1a regression).
• AutoSwap support enhanced/completed (sub-folders in normal mode supported).
• Internal optimizations.
• Direct access mode : Some fixes for the auto disk swap (“AutoSwap”) support.
• Direct access mode : New functions
• Select mode (0×5):
  • Mode 0 – Flash sector access mode (Default)
  • Mode 1 – Plain text browser, Entries format : “IIII;T;SSSSSSSS;File name\r\n”
  • IIII = Object ID (ASCII HEX Number).
  • T = Type -> ‘F’=FILE, ‘D’=DIRECTORY
  • SSSSSSSS = File Size  (ASCII HEX Number).
  • Mode 2 – Slot list mode.
• Change Objects list ID base (0×6) (Plain text browser).
• Select/Enter Object (0×7) (Plain text browser – Image/Directory selection or File tranfert mode).
• Set file base offset (0×8) (File transfer mode).
• Get current selected image (0×9).
• Select file with path (0xA) (Select image with a plain text file path).
• MFM & FM support. (see the customization page : https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/)
• With these new direct access API functions small file selector/browser/swapper/loader can be developed without the need of any FAT32 library on resource-limited machines. The protocol specification document will be updated soon at this address : https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/SDCard_HxC_Floppy_Emulator_Direct_Access_mode.pdf
• First online-customizable firmware available !
  • Fill up the form on the page to https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/ customize the firmware.
  • The firmware will be recompiled/rebuilt following your requests and sent to the provided email some minutes later.
  • This is a fully automated and free service so don’t hesitate to play with it ! :).
  • More and more options will be added on the customization page.
• Fix v3.1.34.1a regression : Disk density selection issues with some raw formats. Please update.
• Files & Folders names starting with ‘.’ are now hidden.
• Firmware memory size reduced once again : More tables size optimizations.

This is only a little part of the changelog. The original one is very long and you can read it here. (instruction manual here)

Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.1.38.2a (1047)

source: hxc2001.com

This is the official demo party results from Fjälldata 2019. See also the Fjälldata 2019 section for more informations and download.

Demo:

• 1. Space beer/Fossil
• 2. Monomania/Offence
• 3. Omg got balls!/OMG
• 4. They say so much/Mahoney
• 5. New faces/TRIAD
• 6. Party scroller/Atlantis
• 7. Purple planet yo/Proxima (VIC-20)
• 8. Stolen properties/TRIAD
• 9. Madademo/GP + HMF
• 10. Jeroen tel/Brøst
• 11. Crapman/Latex
• 12. Fjällkingen/Esløv

Music covers:

• 1. Coffee zone/Dane
• 2. DeepaSIDo/Steel
• 3. Nightcall/Fegol
• 4. I want to love/TDM
• 5. Doris/Qdor
• 6. Dragonwars/Steel
• 7. Jeff forfan/Musicman
• 8. Slicka en flicka/TDM

Music:

• 1. The unusual/Stinsen+Linus
• 2. Tac2sintolerant/Fegol
• 3. I love you son/Steel
• 4. I can’t ESC/Spider J.
• 5. Trippy trappy/Jammer
• 6. Laserloop/Båtsman
• 7. Compotune/5bot

Graphics:

• 1. Random/Prowler
• 2. Lapgods/Fabs
• 3. Danny ja Armi/Twoflower
• 4. Bernie/Redcrab
• 5. Dragonhorse/Facet
• 6. Geldiver/Railslave
• 7. Junglism/Lunix
• 8. Tottes kopp/Creep
• 9. Grandino/5bot

Productions released outside compos:

• Edu-Intro by Triad (Crack intro)
• Toyshop & Lollipops +D by Triad (Crack)
• TRIAD at Fjälldata Disk Cover by Triad (Disk Cover)

Download: Fjalldata 2019 Full Party Stuff (786)

source: csdb.dk

A new version of the firmware for the Ultimate-64 / U2+ / U2 by Gideon is released.

U64 – Differences with previous official release V1.0B:

• Based on Ultimate-II+ firmware Version 3.4
• NTSC mode has been added. The switch can be found in the U64 Specific Settings menu
• Added rudimentary support for USB Floppy disks (not completely done yet; as removal of floppy is not yet detected)
• USB problems with low/full speed devices fixed; no more bus hang-ups in these cases. (No full HID support just yet..)
• VIC collision problem fixed.
• Improved 1541 compatibility; weak bit areas and floppy speed zones are now properly supported.
• LED Strip support.
• Various improvements ‘under the hood’

U2+ – Differences with previous official release V3.3a:

• Added rudimentary support for USB Floppy disks (not completely done yet; as removal of floppy is not yet detected)
• USB problems with low/full speed devices fixed; no more bus hang-ups in these cases. (No full HID support just yet..)
• Improved 1541 compatibility; weak bit areas and floppy speed zones are now properly supported.
• Various improvements ‘under the hood’

U2 – Differences with previous official release V3.2:

• The USB2LAN problem is now fixed. This bug took me over 50 hours to find and fix.
• Improved 1541 compatibility; weak bit areas and floppy speed zones are now properly supported.
• All other under the hood fixes that were done for U2+ and U64 that apply for U2 are backported to the U2 as well.

Download:

• U64/Ultimate-64 v1.10 - U2+/U2 v3.4 Firmware (754)

source: ultimate64.com

Ikari has released a new firmware for the SD2Snes Flash Cartridge (Super Nintendo/Famicom). The upgrade instructions can be found here.

Cumulative Changelog:

• S-DD1 support by Magno! Big thanks to Magno who implemented it and RedGuy who helped integrate the core with the main firmware :)
• Support for sd2snes Mk.III (a.k.a. SD2SNES Pro). This works by adding a new set of support files for the new hardware so the firmware package actually contains two firmwares. This also makes it possible to swap the same card between old and new sd2sneses freely.
• Fixes:
  • Fix memory corruption on BS-X loading. (Hopefully – I could not identify a cause and suspect bitstream file corruption. Please let me know if it works again – it does for me)
  • S-RTC register state is REALLY reset when the console is reset, and also when loading a game.
  • Actually boot on SD2SNES Pro.
• Known issues:
  • Firmware seems to ignore Cx4 speed setting (at least since v1.9.0)
  • sd2snes Pro menu still has the old design
  • Mk.III specific source code changes currently aren’t contained in the GitHub repository. Please bear with me while I figure out a way to integrate them. ;)

Download:

• SD2Snes Firmware v1.10.1 (883)

source: sd2snes.de

SNK Neo Geo MV1a Z-80 Error Repair.

Defect:

• No Sound (Z-80 Error)

Repair:

• Replacement of the Z-80 CPU in PSOP40 format.

Note:

• The error message “Z-80 Error” means everything and nothing, may be faulty the Z-80, SNK MASK-ROM SM1*, SNK NEO-D0 or also the YAMAHA YM2610.

With the Neo Diagnostics bios and with the M1 ROM burned and installed on the CHA Board of any NEO GEO cartridge, the problem can be better identified.

It is said that the error C3/00 that you see in the photos of NEO DIAGNOSTICS (write: C3 but reads: 00) is an almost assured a CPU problem, in fact, in this case it was.

The Z-80 CPU in PSOP40 format has been recovered from a failed SEGA GameGear.

Gallery:

source: neogeo diag