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 1.4.2 – Changes and additions:

• Fixes an issue with THEC64: Under some circumstances C64 games may not recognise joystick port 2 when VIC 20 is the default machine
• Adds Dattasette controls for tape files in THEC64 Classic mode Media Access menu
• Adds soft and hard reset hot-keys to THEC64 and THEVIC20 Classic mode
• Adds freeze button support to THEC64 and THEVIC20 Classic mode
• Adds C64 games Barnsley Badger, Soulless, Galencia and Planet of Death, plus VIC20 games Blue Star, The Keep, and Gridrunner to THEC64 North American model
• Adds C64 games Barnsley Badger and Soulless, plus VIC20 games Blue Star and The Keep to the European THEC64 and THEVIC20 “Special Edition THEC64” models
• Adds C64 games Barnsley Badger and Soulless to all THEC64 Mini models
• Fixes Tank Battle on THEVIC20 to support two joysticks

Changes from previous versions:

• v1.3.2 – Increases the length of displayed USB filenames in Media Access and the File loader
• v1.3.2 – Fixes an issue where filename flags are not detected if the USB filename contains multiple dots/periods/full stops
• v1.3.2 – Fixes an issue with the saved states location where multiple spaces are found in the USB filename
• v1.3.2 – Fixes the saved states location used on a USB stick to be unique per filename. Note that this may change the saved states location from previous firmware versions if the filename contains multiple dots/periods/full stops.
• v1.3.1 – Fixes an issue when using Left Shift key and top-left arrow key for opening/closing THEC64 Menu from BASIC
• v1.3.1 – Fixes an issue regarding the current computer model setting and different model requirements specified in a cjm file

Download:

• TheC64/TheVIC20 Firmware v1.4.2 (887)

source: retrogames.biz

The VIC20 – Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.

Advice for “not” purchases. Compulsive shopping syndrome without a shred of a brain.

A person in need of my help of which i have already repaired several devices has contacted me and asked if i could make a repair of one of his Commodore PET with two different trouble.

• The first fault was black screen on power up, meaning no image was displayed.
• The second fault that occurred after a couple of days was a raster video distortion of the CRT monitor accompanied by a smell of burning (see photo)

The first fault was solved by replacing the UD7 ROM (901465-02) with an eprom (2532), the correct functioning test could be done by connecting the LCD monitor that i use for repairs via a video adapter.

The second fault was brilliantly resolved by replacing the voltage regulator installed on the pcb monitor, a 7812 which on the pin output did not always return 12v but rather a mix between 3v, 6v, 10v.

I also removed some pieces of foam rubber (see photo) which due to the glue used has damaged the back of the monitor PCB leaving obvious traces of corrosion and a black sticky stain that i have removed.

I also rebuilt a missing pin of the ROM UF14 (901447-10) that someone had thought to fix in a very rough way (see photo)

Gallery of the repair:

Download:

• BASIC 2 - UD7 ROM (901465-02) (673)

DOWNLOAD FIXED! SORRY

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:

• Flower Man +3TDF
• Cross Shoot V1.3 +2D
• Cross Bomber Preview 2
• Antonio Savona’s ATARI Collection +*H TopScore Editions [CRT]
• Freaky Fish DX V1.1
• Freaky Fish DX V1.1 +3H
• The Great Giana Sisters
• Nalle Äh-Puh [finnish]
• Add & Subtract with ALF &D
• 10Print Racer Revamp +
• Dinosaurs Are Forever +D
• 10Print Racer Revamp
• The Dragon’s Castle
• Party Quiz +HFDMJ
• Dragon &D
• The Dragon’s Castle +2
• Poppy Locky +F
• 10Print Racer Revamp +1F
• Bad Tiling V1.2 +2H
• Brain Bricks
• Shinobi +3D [CRT]
• Granny’s Teeth – 2020 Edition
• Brain Bricks +2
• Granny’s Teeth – 2020 Edition +7D
• Brain Bricks +2
• Spy Story +GMW
• Air Attack Preview +1D
• Totto!
• Squirm +H
• Tristam Island Preview
• Behemoth Preview V2 +1D
• RunNgun Preview +D
• CERT-SE CTF 2020
• Cosmic Chaos +2H
• Revenge of the Flying Balls +2HF
• Wheelie Preview +
• Lolo Turtle Preview
• Vidball XX +3HD
• Loopin’
• Loopin’ +5D
• Loopin’ +1D
• Saltasalta Preview
• Law of the West [english & swedish] [easyflash]
• Saltasalta Preview +
• Infinite Space +2HF
• Infinite Space +2H
• Saltasalta Preview +2
• Infinite Space +2
• Creatures 2 +10DFHIR [easyflash]
• Loopin’ +3HD
• The Duel +2
• Volley for Two [C128 Release]
• The Code
• Survival Messenger Adventure
• Survival Messenger Adventure +SMap
• Down at the Trolls Patch
• Generala +TD
• Alien Storm Preview +2D
• Down at the Trolls Patch (3 Assemblies)
• Survival Messenger Adventure +FSMap
• Focdonz +2T
• Orc Attack +H
• Global Risk
• Top-Hole Golf Preview +D
• Flangry Bird 101 +1HD
• Flangry Bird 101 +
• Flangry Bird 101
• Portris V0.5
• Mayhem in Monsterland +10DFIR [easyflash]
• Filled In V1.1
• Bratwurst +2
• Portris V0.5
• Combat School [lightgun]
• Planet Balls +2DI
• Catboy Office

Download: All Games in One Archive (6341)

source: csdb.dk

This is a Music Collection that can be listened using the BreadAmp v05 and the Ultimate64 by Gideon.

The archive contains the following files in REU format.

Nightfall-01.reu

• The Chainsmokers – Don’t Let Me Down
• David Guetta – Showtek
• Jonas Blue – Perfect Stranger
• Antidote

Nightfall-02.reu

• George Michael – Fastlove
• Siouxsie and the Banshees – Happy house
• Wayward Sisters from the movie: Nocturnal Animals

Nightfall-03.reu

• AC/DC – Back in Black
• Visage – Fade to Gray
• Wish Key – Orient Express

Download:

• BreadAmp v05 Music Collection 22khz/Mono (860)

A new version of the firmware for the AVGCART (SD multicart for 8bit Atari) by tmp is released.

Changelog (v0020):

• Support for optional SIO cable (ATR, ATX, CAS)
• Copy/delete file, template dir
• Autorun redone, added setting shortcuts
• OSXEX renamed to OSXEX2 due to incompatible change (use the one from the update zip)
• Support for playing PDM files (thanks to Xuel)
• Scrolling long filenames (INV)
• Run random file (CTRL-R)
• See manual at https://atari8bit.net/de-re-avgcart/

Download:

• AVGCART [0020] (633)

source: atariage.com

The UnoCart is an Atari 2600 cartridge emulator at low price and open source under a GPL license. It supports cartridges with up to 64k of ROM and 32k of RAM with extensions; BIN, ROM or A26.

It comes with a 3D printed case and it works on PAL & NTSC systems! It will also run on most 7800 machines (but will not run 7800 ROMs).

Most games and demos, including Pitfall II, runs fine on 99% of systems. The firmware has been updated, we are on version 17 released in September 2020 to maker sure of maximum compatibility.

Recent homebrew releases, like Galaga, The End and some others that require DPC or DPC+ commands will not work yet.

Gallery:

Video:

Download:

• DirtyHairy GitHub Repository (1017)
• Complete (PAL & NTSC) - Sorted by company (778)

Atari 2600 UNO Cart Shell: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4580701

Before leaving you to the usual and boring description of the product which, among other things, was taken from Wikipedia, i add my opinion;

Among the many uneasy things to use that i own, the Commodore A570 is in the top 10 ranking. :-D

The Amiga A570 is a single-speed external CD-ROM drive for the Amiga 500 computer launched by Commodore in 1992. It was designed to be compatible with Commodore CDTV software as well as being able to read ordinary ISO 9660 CD-ROM discs.

The original designation was A690, and pre-production devices under this name were delivered to developers. The A690/A570 used a proprietary Mitsumi CD-ROM interface. It contained a header for an internal 2 Megabyte fast memory expansion, but this proprietary memory module was never put into production and only a few rare developer examples of this exist today.

It is also notable that by the time of the A570′s launch, the A500 computer had already been discontinued. The Amiga 600 (ostensibly the A500′s direct replacement) was, like the later A1200, incompatible with this external drive. Thus, Commodore were in the position of having launched a CD-ROM drive for a discontinued machine, while a similar device was unavailable for their current low-end Amiga. This move by Commodore marketing department could be justified by the fact that millions of A500 systems existed already, along with considerable demand for Commodore to release a more advanced data storage solution.

The device (like the Amiga A590 hard disk drive that was sold by Commodore for the A500) had no through connector, so it was not possible to connect both an A590 and an A570 to the computer at the same time. The A590, despite having an XT IDE hard disk, also carried a SCSI interface that allowed third-party hard disks and CD-ROM drives to be fitted. While these drives did not carry CDTV emulation, the lack of success of the CDTV format made this a null disadvantage for most users.

Gallery:

A new firmware update for the ARM2SiD/ARMSID has been released by Nobomi.

ARM2SID firmware 3.12:

• Digifix in MOS8580 emulation is now configurable. By the software it can be set to a several levels including inverse polarities.
• The Digifix is controlled by external pin current by default (as a real MOS6581 is). If you miss it, just set it by the configuration program as you want.
• Digifix for MOS8580 is required for example in the Ghostbusters game, but most of the games, demos and music (specially new ones) is not counting with Digifix and can produce some additional noises and hum.
• In this FW is finished the hotfix in noise generation (test bit) from previous FW, now is no sound missing for example in the TestBit_4x.sid.
• Big improvement in 6581 emulation. Fixed inner analog offsets in the MOS6581 emulation. Less distortion in some demos (for example Mahoney – Musik Run/Stop) and no more clicks in some games music (for example Bubble Bobble).
• Fix in tone counter updates during fast changes.
• Fixed setting of the lowest filter frequency for MOS6581 emulation (sometimes the simulation did not match the settings).

ARMSID firmware 2.12:

• Fixed setting of the lowest filter frequency for MOS6581 emulation (sometimes the simulation did not match the settings).
• Remember the “Digifix” update from the previous version, if something sounds different to you on the MOS8580 emulation, please check the configuration.

Previous changelog of ARMSID firmware 2.11:

• Digifix in MOS8580 emulation is now configurable. It can be set to few levels including inverse polarities.
• Digifix is now controlled by external pin by default (as a real SID is). You can change it in config utility.
• Digifix for MOS8580 is required for example in the Ghostbusters game, but most of the games, demos and music (especially new ones) do not expect Digifix and can produce some additional noise and hum.
• Improved noise generation (test bit) from previous FW, no sound missing for example in the TestBit_4x.sid.
• Fixed inner analog offsets in the MOS6581 emulation. Less distortion and no more clicks in some music.
• A small fix in tone counters updates in the fast changes.
• Faster release of the data bus after reading cycle.

Download:

• ARM2SiD v3.12 (665)
• ARMSiD v2.12 (606)

source: nobomi.cz/8bit/arm2sid nobomi.cz/8bit/armsid

CompuThink Disk Drive 800k + Interface (DD DSK CTL P2) + DiskMON ROM seems to be the FIRST EVER disk drive for the Commodore PET Computers ever made in 1979 in the United States, maybe even before the official CBM 2040 drive launched.

I have also a partially working  “clone” or “prototype” (see photo) of this Disk Drive interface that i have posted on the blog some years ago.

As far as i could understand this interface works only with BASIC 1.0 and BASIC 2.0 because the DiskMON ROM has the starting address $B000 (SYS 45056).

My PET 2001-32 have the ROM of BASIC 4.0 and the UD5 socket where the DiskMON ROM is installed is already used by one of the BASIC 4.0 ROMs, to test the i had to program the EPROMs with BASIC 2.0. (see photo)

Also before testing the interface i had to replace almost all the tantalum capacitors because many were short-circuited.

Capacitors replaced:

• 6 x 10uF/25v
• 1 x 1.5uF/50v
• 2 x 1uF/35v

Below a video and some photos documenting the full working operation.

Gallery:

12►

Download:

• CompuThink Interface Docs & Roms (565)
• CBM PET Basic2 FULL SET (540)
• CompuThink Interface Internet Photo (556)
• Printout Magazine (First Issue 1979) for PET Users (568)
• CompuThink Interface FULL Docs & Roms by DukeFawks (635)

Video:

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:

• Alien 3 +9DFHI 100%
• QWAK 1.3
• Wyr
• The Pyramid
• Warbot +D
• Cracker in Space
• Penis Attack
• Penis Attack (Import)
• C64 Hunt
• In 80 Days Around the World +4DF
• Fighting Survivor Preview
• Simone Says Basic
• Naddando [seuck]
• Match Up +D
• Bounce 20
• C64Pac Preview 2 +
• C*Base V3.0+ U64
• Astroblitz Deluxe +3H
• Y-Quest +2
• Ski Worldcup +TD
• 105 +3D
• Char Snake 64 Preview 2 +
• Creatures 2 +10DFHIR [easyflash]
• Mercs +7DGHI
• Roulett &T
• LOGITrumps Ultimate
• Bracket
• Brainbreak Preview
• Der Aktivpfad +3TD
• Jump 4K V1.1 +1H
• Jumpin’ Jalopies Extended V1.1 +1H
• Flying Saucers +2
• Flying Saucers Preview 3 +2
• Tile Style Preview +
• Dungeons of Death +D
• Dungeons of Death
• Secret Agent &S &Map
• Flying Saucers
• Flying Saucers +
• Starfire +3
• Stix +5DGH
• Megamania C64 +2D
• Snake 6510 Preview +J
• City Bomber Preview +
• Freaky Fish DX
• Freaky Fish DX +3H
• Planet Balls +2D
• Neptune Lander Elite Preview +
• Kawasaki Synthesizer – Composer
• Planet Balls +2D
• Solar Fox +HG
• Flying Saucers +3
• Cross Bomber Preview
• Fallen +2D
• Candyman +2
• Castle Wars +6MDGT
• Antonio Savona’s ATARI Collection +*H TopScore Editions
• Grand Prix Simulator

Download: All Games in One Archive (5604)

source: csdb.dk

The VIC-Switch allows up to 8 Commodore computers to connect to a single disk drive, printers, plotters etc.

The VIC-Switch keeps track of who is currently using the device and prevents access to all other computers who might be requesting it at the same time.
Once the first computer is done using it, the VIC-Switch will then give access to the next computer.

The peripheral was made in Sweden by Handic and some models carry the Commodore logo but it doesn’t look very Commodore style
and for that reason i think they were branded by Commodore but not manufactured Commodore .

Gallery:

Download: Commodore VIC-Switch by Handic Manual (660)

Philips NMS 8245: The usual melted belt of the Floppy Drive.

Gallery:

Philips Videopac G7000 a little bit Dirty but Working. Nothing to write this time, just needed only a good clean up.

Gallery:

Dirty and Ruined Intellivision *Black Screen* repair.

It would not have been nice to put the intellivision in a very worn state and without a controller inside the spare parts box without even trying it :-)

Obviously the intellivision was not working, black screen.

The repair was simple, i have replaced the AM9114 (U8-B) RAM with a NEC 2114 and everything started working better than before :-)

I have also removed both labels in a pitiful conditions, now it looks better than before.

Gallery of the repair: