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C64 Game: Flubble & Squij (+Remix) +8HD / Up in the Air Preview 2…

June 30th, 2013 No comments

Some new games (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups: Onslaught, INFERIOR Software InternationalAntarctica and Laxity.

Download:

source: csdb.dk

High Voltage SID Collection Update #59

June 28th, 2013 No comments

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):

  • 747 new SIDs
  • 315 fixed/better rips
  • 7 repeats/bad rips eliminated
  • 629 SID credit fixes
  • 750 SID model/clock infos
  • 9 tunes from /DEMOS/UNKNOWN/ identified
  • 5 tunes from /GAMES/ identified
  • 27 tunes moved out of /DEMOS/ to their composers’ directories
  • 15 tunes moved out of /GAMES/ to their composers’ directories

Download:

source: www.hvsc.c64.org

Sharp MZ-80B and the Magic Smoke of a RIFA capacitor

June 28th, 2013 No comments

We must always remember to remove the filter capacitor RIFA before turning on a computer off for over 30 years. Otherwise it might happen that you can see from the photos and the video.

This time is my fault because i had completely forgotten.

The Magic Smoke of a RIFA capacitor:

 

FPGA Arcade site updated: Replay – ready to ship

June 27th, 2013 No comments

It’s been six long years of Design and Testing of the FPGA Arcade Replay Board and now finally is available for purchase.

Price is 199 Euro for the version without composite/SVHS output, 229 Euro with.

FPGA Arcade Replay features:

  • Very large FPGA with high IO pin count for expansion.64 MByte of DDR memory.
  • Six layer PCB for high performance and stability.
  • 24 bit HD DAC with DVI / HDMI / VGA and legacy 15K monitor support.
  • Video line buffer / filter for highest quality output.
  • 24 bit / 192KHz audio DAC.
  • Flexible clock generator.
  • Small board size, fits in standard itx/atx case.
  • Lots of expansion for custom daughterboards or IO adapters (JAMMA for arcade cab use).
  • Optional dual host USB with dedicated CPU for low latency.
  • Daughterboard with Ethernet, fast USB and optional 68060 processor being designed.
  • Designed from the ground up to support multiple platforms (Amiga, Atari and others)

source: fpgaarcade.com

Categories: Hardware, News & Rumors, Today

Texas Instruments TI-99/4A: diagnosing and fixing motherboard faults

June 22nd, 2013 34 comments

I have received to repair five TI-99/4A with the following defects:

  1. Black Screen
  2. Working but with some dirt on the screen.
  3. Vertical Stripes moving with a deafening sound.
  4. Blue Screen with thin vertical stripes and deafening sound.
  5. Blue Screen with thin vertical stripes and deafening sound.

The first two are repaired with the following faults:

Black Screen Fault: replaced TMS9929A followed by ROM CD2156NL
Dirt on the screen: replaced a 4116 RAM.

The third motherboard was used for spare parts.

The fourth and fifth motherboard with the blue screen have been the most annoying.

I spent 6 + hours to make measurements with an oscilloscope comparing one of the two motherboards with a working one to find the fault but the signals/voltages were absolutely identical.

So i have decided to go for exclusion and with a TI-99/4A Tech Data manual on my hand and 39.5 degrees in my Laboratory i have started to desolder and put a socket of the following components:

  • 1 x TMS9901NL (20 +20 PIN)
  • 1 x TMS9900NL (32 +32 PIN)
  • 1 x TIM9904NL (10 +10 PIN)
  • 1 x TMS 4732/2532 ROM U610 (12 +12 PIN)
  • 1 x TMS 4732/2532 ROM U611 (12 +12 PIN)
  • 1 x 74LS244 (10 +10 PIN)
  • 1 x 74LS245 (10 +10 PIN)
  • 1 x 74LS373 (10 +10 PIN)
  • 1 x 74LS03 (7 +7 PIN)
  • 1 x 74LS138 (8 +8 PIN)
  • 1 x 74LS74 (7 +6 PIN)
  • 1 x 4116 (8 +8 PIN)

After all this work nothing had changed, nothing worked, always BLUE screen.

I redid the measurements, but nothing, everything looked the same.

At this point there are only two static memories MCM6810P but that i don’t have investigated for what are used, because already on the motherboard are 8 x 4116 RAM Memory shared between Memory program and Video memory.

… anyway … i have tried to unsolder and put a socket.

So we add:

  • 2 x MCM6810P (12 +12 PIN)

Et Voilà the two MCM6810P are both dead! both!

Obviously i don’t have this component in my laboratory, then i try to recover from the motherboard for spare these two RAM hoping that they are not faulty which however these RAM can be purchased online at a very low price.

The fifth and last motherboard that had the same defect of the previous one did not have the faulty ram MCM6810P.

To repair i had to replace the following components:

  • 1 x 74LS04 (7 +7 PIN)
  • 1 x TMS9900NL (32 +32 PIN)

C64 Game: XOR +7DS / Tork Fighter-8 + / Outbreak Preview

June 19th, 2013 No comments

Flashback 2013: C64 – Official demo party results

June 12th, 2013 No comments

This is the official demo party results from Flashback 2013 (Top 3 Entries only). See also the CSDB Flashback 2013 section for more informations and download.

C64 Demo:

  • Famous Australians Vol.1 by Fairlight, Offence, Prosonix

C64 Music:

  • Back2_V_arsity by Viruz
  • Night by NioByte
  • Resurgence by Triton
    • Flashback zero-thirteen by Genesis Project

C64 Graphics:

  • Party On, Fishbone by iLKke
  • Knock by rexbeng
  • Seafarer by Senex

Download: Flashback 2013 full Party stuff (1082)

source: csdb.dk

Sharp X68000 ACE-HD (Gray/Black) PSU repair,Cleaning,Cover repair

June 9th, 2013 No comments
Sharp X68000 ACE-HD (Gray/Black)

Autopsy:

I have repaired the PSU with the failure of stanby mode of the Sharp X68000 (gray version). The failure was caused by two electrolytic capacitors and the voltage regulator 7805 in short circuit.

I have also tried to repair the external case of the Sharp X68000 (gray version) that during the first transport in Italy many years ago was destroyed.

from Wikipedia:

The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, is a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The first model was released in 1987, with a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU (hence the name), 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive; the last model was released in 1993 with a 25 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU, 4 MB of RAM and optional 80 MB SCSI hard drive. RAM in these systems is expandable to 12 MB, though most games and applications did not require more than two.

The X68k ran an operating system developed for Sharp by Hudson Soft, called Human68k, which features commands very similar to those in MS-DOS (typed in English). Pre-2.0 versions of the OS had command line output only for common utilities like “format” and “switch”, while later versions included forms-based versions of these utilities, greatly improving their usability. At least three major versions of the OS were released, with several updates in between. Other operating systems available include NetBSD for X68030 and OS-9.

Early models had a GUI called “VS” (Visual Shell); later ones were packaged with SX-WINDOW. A third GUI called Ko-Windows existed; its interface is similar to Motif. These GUI shells could be booted from floppy disk or the system’s hard drive. Most games also booted and ran from floppy disk; some were hard disk installable and others require hard disk installation.

Since the system’s release, Human68k, console, and SX-Window C compiler suites and BIOS ROMs have been released as public domain and are freely available for download.

Early machines use the rare Shugart Associates System Interface (SASI) for the hard disk interface; later versions adopted the industry-standard small computer system interface (SCSI). Per the hardware’s capability, formatted SASI drives can be 10, 20 or 30 MB in size and can be logically partitioned as well. Floppy disks came in a couple of different formats, none of which are natively readable on other platforms, although software exists that can read and write these disks on a DOS or Windows 98 PC.

source: wikipedia

A large donation of Z80 (CPU/CTC) and TTL 74XXX Series

June 7th, 2013 No comments

Today a friend, that i thank him immensely, gave me a large amount of chips.

The donation amounts to:

  • 70+ Z80 CPU.
  • 14+ Z80 CTC (Counter / Timer Channels)
  • 200+ 74XXX TTL chips.

Amstrad CPC 664 Repair Keyboard Membrane

June 6th, 2013 1 comment

I ran the repair of the membrane that had a micro interruption, i have used a micro-drop of vinilic glue mixed with the graphite that i have scraped from the pencil ikea, i made a thin film on the microfracture and now it works.

There were other problems, including: graphite consumed in some keys and the keyboard connector (pcb side) don’t work very well.

Repair & Cleaning a rusty Motherboard of a Commodore CBM 8032

June 2nd, 2013 1 comment
CBM 8032: PCB - Before and After

I have received this motherboard of a CBM 8032 to repair from Rossano T.

The motherboard was devastated by rust, many components are short-circuited due to rust that was abundant on the pins side of the chip. Unfortunately the computer was turned on to test it, causing the total breakdown of more components.

I have installed 40 socket because some components are rusty other are dead, however some traces under the chips are eaten by rust and and i had to rebuild.

The repair and cleaning took me a very long time and a lot of patience, it took me about 10+ hours.

Components Replaced:

  • 1 x 4650 (6845P) CRT Controller
  • 3 x 4116 RAM
  • 2 x 2114 Video RAM
  • 5 x 74LS244
  • 3 x 74LS74
  • 1 x 74LS02
  • 1 x 1uf 100v Capacitor

Phases of the repair:

C64 Game: Trance Sector CE +8HD / MArkanoid +4HD 101% …

May 27th, 2013 No comments

Apple IIe & Apple Monitor /// Cleaning and small Repair

May 25th, 2013 No comments

This gallery shows some stages of cleaning the computer Apple IIe and the Apple Monitor ///.

I have also made minor repairs which i describe below:

  • Fixing the keyboard connector on keyboard side (some keys not working)
  • Adjusting the yoke of the CRT tube (the screen is lightly rotated)
  • Replaced the LED of power-on (CR1) of the Apple IIe (LED was off)
  • Removing the RIFA filter capacitor (the capacitor was exploded)

SID Duzz’ It v2.1.6 by SHAPE

May 19th, 2013 No comments

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

Download: SID Duzz It v2.1.6 (963)

source: csdb.dk

Regenerator disassembler v1.3 by n0stalgia

May 16th, 2013 No comments

Regenerator is an interactive disassembler for C64 binaries. Regenerator will load any standard C64 .PRG file (or VICE snapshot) and disassemble it for your convenience.

There are a few options you can choose to change the output and a few tools to make the output look better and more useful to programmers. Regenerator runs under M$ windows and need .net 3.5 (or 4.0) runtime.

New in version 1.3:

  • Added REMOVE command to remove part of the data from dissasembly.
  • Added EDIT BLOCKS window to Edit all the DATA, TEXT and REMOVED blocks manually.
  • Added COPY to Clipboard functionality (insert key) with FULL or CODE only modes.
  • Added possibility to add user-defined COMMENTS to the code. This can be done as a FULL line comment or as a SIDE comment!
  • Added USER LABELS – you can now add a label to any address and it will be used in the disasembly. If there should be an automatic label generated for it then it will be overriden. Also added USER LABELS editor which is part of the old Label Prefixes window. You can add/edit and remove user labels within this screen and have a general overview of the user labels.
  • Added high and low partial references to immediate opcodes. This means that code like LDX #$A0 STX smwhr LDX #$BB STX smwhr+1 will be disasembled as LDX #<pBBA0 STX smwhr LDX #>address STX smwhr+1. This includes loads and stores in different order and with different registers. There is also a context menu command that lets you disable this on a currently selected address (if auto creation fails). NOTE: excluded address in STA opcodes will not be generated like this!
  • Fixed the Add BLANK LINE and Remove BLANK LINE so it actually works as it should.

Download: Regenerator disassembler v1.3 (946)

source: csdb.dk