I have received from a friend a couple of components that can be used as spare parts for the repairs. Thanks Andrea.

Close-up description:

• 1 x Commodore CBM 4040 Dual Floppy Disk Drive PCB
• 1 x Commodore CBM 8050/8250 Dual Floppy Disk Drive PCB
• 2 x Texas Instruments TI-99/4A PCB
• 1 x Main powersupply of Commodore CBM 4040/8050/8250 Dual Floppy Disk Drive.
• 1 x Sinclair ZX Spectrum+
• 1 x Sony HB-10P MSX

Details:

12►

I have found this RGB mod for the Philips Videopac G7000 console fom the gamesx site and i have decided to build the circuit to see if it works.

This mod is not easy to do, especially if one has no experience in electronics, however the result at the end is spectacular.

RGB DAC Schematics (click to zoom):

Download: Philips VideoPac G7000 Schematics (1852)

source: gamesx.com

The HxC Floppy Drive Emulator is a software and hardware system created by jfdn aka Jeff.

The aim of this project is to replace the floppy disk drive by an electronic device emulating the floppy disk drive (list of supported Computer/Hardware).

There are two differents emulators:

• A USB version which allows to connect the floppy disk drive interface of the computer to a PC via a USB cable.
• A SDCARD version which allows to emulate floppy disks which images are stored in a SDCARD.

Release notes for the HxCFloppyEmulator software v2.0.15.1:

• FAT12 Loader/generator : Default file creation date set to 1985 to avoid issue with non year 2000 compatibles machines (Kawasaki JS30 robots…).
• Apple 2 Sectors generator : End of sector sync corrected, 6&2 GCR encoder corrected.
• Track viewer : Sectors on track boundary display issue corrected.

Download:

• HxCFloppyEmulator v2.0.15.1 (966)

source: hxc2001.free.fr lotharek.pl

The HxC Floppy Drive Emulator is a software and hardware system created by jfdn aka Jeff.

The aim of this project is to replace the floppy disk drive by an electronic device emulating the floppy disk drive (list of supported Computer/Hardware).

There are two differents emulators:

• A USB version which allows to connect the floppy disk drive interface of the computer to a PC via a USB cable.
• A SDCARD version which allows to emulate floppy disks which images are stored in a SDCARD.

HxC Floppy Emulator DOS Disk Image Browser:

The HxC Floppy Emulator DOS Disk Image Browser is a simplified version of the HxC Floppy Emulator software. This version is designed to replace the VFD solution.

Avantages over the VFD solution:

• No driver installation needed.
• Support of 3 mode DOS floppy disk image (1KB sector size) (For PC98 based CNC machines).
• Support of special/custom DOS floppy disk image (2.5MB,4.5MB,6.78MB…)
• Ready to be used on non-windows systems (Mac, Linux,…) ! ;)
• Simple use !

Release notes for the HxCFloppyEmulator software v2.0.15.0:

• New Loader: SpeccyDos *.SDD support added
• New Loader: Apple 2 DOS 3.3 (*.DO) & ProDOS (*.PO) raw file image added.
• New Writer: HFE file with the HDDD A2 support for Apple II (http://www.bootzero.com/HDDD_A2_v1.2/HDDD_A2v1.2.html)
• New Writer: Atari ST MSA file.
• New Writer: TRS 80 *.JV3 file. (Done by David Barr ! Thanks to him :) )
• New Writer: TRS 80 *.DMK file.
• New Writer: PC88 *.D88 file.
• FAT12 Loader/generator: Atari ST 902KB  format corrected.
• FAT12 Loader/generator: Atari ST 4.23MB format corrected.
• HFE File Writer: Track padding function corrected.
• EDE File Loader: edt & edv file support added, ASR 10 gap3 adjusted to 36.
• JV3 File Loader: Sector interleaving correctly implemented.
• IMD File Writer: No allocated sector issue corrected.
• XDMS Lib: UTF8 path support added.
• LIBSAP Lib: UTF8 path support added.
• New Track/Sector support: GCR “6 and 2″ Apple II DOS 3.3/ProDos.
• FAT12 Disk Browser:  Handle freeing corrected
• GUI – Drag & Drop Support: URI type path support added (Linux).
• GUI – Track viewer window: New buttons to enable/disable track format analysis.
• GUI – Log window: New buttons to enable/disable logs messages.

• Raw Loader – Predefined raw formats added:
  • Roland W30/S330/W50/S50/S550 DD Floppy Disk.
  • OS9 1280KB Floppy Disk.
  • Linn/Forat 9000 Floppy Disk.
  • KORG T3 3″5 HD Floppy Disk.
  • Atari ST 3″5 DD Floppy Disk
  • Standard 3″5 DOS ED Floppy Disk
  • Special 2.5MB DOS EXHD Floppy Disk
  • Special 4.5MB DOS EXHD Floppy Disk.
  • Special 6.78MB DOS EXHD Floppy Disk.

• Updated:
  • Ensoniq EPS 3″5 HD Floppy Disk : Gap3 adjusted.
  • Standard 3″5 DOS HD Floppy Disk : Gap3 adjusted.
  • Standard 3″5 DOS DD Floppy Disk : Gap3 adjusted.

Download:

• HxCFloppyEmulator v2.0.15.0 (1543)
• HxC Floppy Emulator DOS Disk Image Browse (1484)

source: hxc2001.free.fr lotharek.pl

This gallery shows some stages of cleaning the Commodore CBM 8050 Dual Drive Floppy Disk. Below the defects and replacement parts.

Defect:

• Died – Status LED: RED (5 Flash) Zero page error.

Replacement parts:

• 1 x 6502
• 1 x 6532
• 1 x 6522
• The connectors of write enable sensors are inserted incorrectly.
• Missing +5v on the PCB of the sensor circuit.
• Dirtiness in the write enable sensor drive 0
• Cleaning floppy drive heads.
• Cleaning belt of the floppy drive.
• Removing the filter capacitor.
• The Analog PCB of the Floppy Drive is not fixed properly.
• The Locking screws of the external box are not original.
• Lost the felt which push the Floppy Disk vs the head.
• Disk is present (Switch Motor) dirty.
• General Cleaning.

Test formatting floppy disk:

Autopsy:

123►

from Wikipedia:

The Commodore 8050 and Commodore 8250 were dual unit 5¼” floppy disk drives for Commodore International computers. They used a wide rectangular steel case form similar to that of the Commodore 4040, and used the IEEE-488 interface common to Commodore PET/CBM computers.

The 8050 was a single sided drive, whereas the 8250 could use both sides of a disk simultaneously. Both used a “quad” density format storing approximately 0.5 megabyte per side. The density of media was similar to later PC high density floppy disks, but the 8050 and 8250 could not use PC high density disks reliably. Since “quad” density disks were rare even at the time, users quickly found that typical double density floppy disks had enough magnetic media density to work in these drives.

These drives were not dual mode, so they could not read or write disks formatted by the more common lower capacity Commodore 1541 or Commodore 4040 models. Some variants of these drives existed. The Commodore 8250LP was the 8250 in a lower profile, tan-colored case. The Commodore SFD-1001 was a single drive version of the 8250 in a Commodore 1541 style case (similarly to the Commodore 2031LP), often used by bulletin board systems for their physical similarity to 1541s and high capacity and speed.

source: wikipedia

CBM prg Studio Version 2.7.0 is released. There are a lot of new features in this version. I’d really appreciate it if you report any bugs you find or have any suggestions/comments.

CBM prg Studio allows you to type a BASIC or Machine Code program in using a nice Windows environment and convert it to a ‘.prg’ file which you can run on an emulator, or even a real C64 / VIC20 or PET if you’re feeling brave and have the right kit.

CBM prg Studio is the result of merging C64PrgGen and VIC20PrgGen. Adding new features and fixing bugs in two apps which were 95% similar was a bit of a nightmare so merging them made sense.

It was also a good opportunity for a face lift and to add some new features, such as:

• Programs are project based, meaning all related source files, sprite files etc. are kept in one place and multiple source files can be linked more easily.
• Tabbed MDI.
• Syntax highlighting.

What CBM prg Studio isn’t is a front-end for tok64, cbmcnvrt, bastext or any other tokeniser / detokeniser / assembler. It’s all been written completely from scratch.

New features:

• Debugger:
  • Keyboard shortcuts.
  • Instruction cycle counter.
  • Overlay files.
  • VICE Snapshot files (for C64 and VIC 20 only).
  • Better execution control, e.g. step over, into etc.
  • Change SP and SR registers.
  • Memory viewer.
  • Much better performance.
  • Updated tutorial.

• Character editor:
  • Edited characters indicator.
  • Copy groups of characters.
  • Scroll the scratchpad.

• BASIC:
  • Batch mode added.
  • Constants can be defined/redefined in code, and use hex values.
  • Auto line numbering inproved.

Bugs fixed:

• ‘£’ was in invalid BASIC character.
• $(nn),y was not being assembled properly, whereas ($nn),y was.
• Casted offsets (offsets which are based on other offsets) were broken.
• Problems renumbering BASIC programs with ON..GOTO/GOSUB with spaces in the line number list.
• PC relative offsets (e.g. bvc *-2) fixed.
• ‘Align’ directive not working.
• Load/save in character editor.
• Multicolour issues with the screen/character/sprite editors.
• Including sprite files (IncBin) into assembly source only generated 63 bytes.

See the help for a complete list of new features and fixed bugs.

Download: CBM prg Studio v2.7.0 (927)

source: ajordison.co.uk

Some new games (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups: Alpha Flight, Nostalgia, Dév, The Mad Scientist, Dinasours, Didi, Unreal, The Hidden Farts and Laxity.

Download:

• Glider Rider +4/D/P/TL (988)
• Arcade Fruit Machine 101% +4DFH (1145)
• Immensity Preview (968)
• Jet Set Willy Bugfixed - TAPES (1011)
• Jungle Jack +2 (964)
• Superbike +P (992)
• Titanic (1023)
• Z-Zone +2 (957)
• Dina\'s Dinosaur Math (952)
• Electra-Ship +2 (968)
• Fetris 100% [pal/ntsc] [bugfixed] (957)
• Chopper Command + (988)
• Schlimeisch Mania (957)
• Schlimeisch Mania +F [pal/ntsc] (951)
• Guardian +2DH (953)
• Trance Sector CE +10HFD 100% [pal/ntsc] (978)
• All Games in One Archive (2477)

source: csdb.dk

Autopsy:

I have to thank my friend Damiano for sending me the ITS Module with a low serial number, which like the previous one (C64SD v2.0) i really appreciate it.

The ITS module is a interface that enables SD2IEC to play .TAP files version 1 and version 2 to a commodore machine. The ITS module was designed to fit into the pass-through tape connector of C64SD Infinity and to be connected to the C64SD by a four wires cable that allows C64SD to manage it.

SD2IEC firmware has been modified in order to add the commands and the routines needed to control the external ITS module without removing any of the original SD2IEC functionalities

Features:

• Play back any V1 or V2 standard .TAP files in order to load them into a commodore machine belonging to the “classic” or “264” series including: VIC-20, VC20, C64, C16, C116, C128 (all
• versions) and Plus/4. Note: some models of C128D doesn’t have the tape edge-card connector, of  course ITS is not compatible with these machines.
• Rebuild the original tape grabbed into all the .TAP version 1 and for most of the version 2
• Work permanently connected between the tape port of the commodore computers and the corresponding datassette (either 1530 white model flat plug or 1531 black model mini-din plug) acting
• As a pass-through transparent gateway or activated in order to play back .TAP files: no need to connect and disconnect the module to use your datassette.
• Play back .TAP content with optimal accuracy and completely in digital format without the hassle of file conversions or level adjustment
• Simulate tape motor activation logic fully so that the play back of the tape is managed as it would be in a real C2N tape. An override button has been provided able to stop the play back of the “virtual tape” at any time when necessary.
• Work with either 1530 (White model, flat plug) datassette recorder as well as with 1531 (Black, mini-din plug) datassette
• Load .TAP with multiple programs recorded one after the other (like the classic tape compilations sold in the 80′s)  

What Can’t You Do:

• Create a .TAP file representing the content of a Tape (i.e. ITS is not a “tape content grabber”)
• Fix the content of a TAP file in case it’s broken. Broken .TAP won’t load on your Commodore box. Since there are literally thousands of utilities to create and manipulate .TAP files there is the possibility to come across non-standard or incorrect .TAP files.
• Play back the content of .TAP of version V0. Use an utility to convert V0 .TAP files to V1 such as TapClean then you will be able to use the converted .TAP file with ITS module.
• Manage programs saved on tape that are based on the tape-counter management or on the time of wind-rewind of the tape.

The ITS Module can be purchased on the Manosoft site.

ITS Tape Loading video:

source: manosoft.it

This is the official demo party results from Silesia Party 7 (Top 3 Entries only). See also the Silesia Party homepage for more informations.

C64 Demo:

• 1. “Quadrangulus 80%” Dream
• 2. “B-Land Scrapbook” Samar

C64 4K Intro:

• 1. “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” Samar
• 2. “Big Blue” Vulture

C64 Graphics:

• 1. “S7″ CRRN/Elysium
• 2. “Masks” Questor/Albion
• 3. “Waiting For Silesia” Joodas/Albion

C64 Music (1SID):

• 1. “Human Hunting” Randall/Arise
• 2. “In A Rush” MCH/Genesis Project
• 3. “Cow Anus Fucked” Surgeon/Vulture

C64 Music (2SID):

• 1. “Love Fileosophy” GRG/Shape
• 2. “Last Party” Buddha/Vulture
• 3. “Blank Page, Part 3″ Conrad/Samars.

C64 Sample Music:

• 1. “Sandmonster” MCH/Genesis Project
• 2. “Chemoglobina” Bab00n/Brownhole
• 3. “Kanikurwy” Raf/Vulture

Wild competition:

• 1. “Somar” Elytarium

Download: Silesia Party 7 full Party stuff (1044)

source: noname.c64.org/csdb silesiaparty.pl

Autopsy:

123►

The RGB cable of  Schneider (radiola/philips) VG-5000 computer is compatible with the VideoPac G7200.

from Wikipedia:

The Magnavox Odyssey², known in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000, in Brazil as the Philips Odyssey, in the United States as the Magnavox Odyssey² and the Philips Odyssey², and also by many other names, is a video game console released in 1978.

In the early 1970s, Magnavox was an innovator in the home video game industry. They succeeded in bringing the first home video game system to market, the Odyssey, which was quickly followed by a number of later models, each with a few technological improvements (Magnavox Odyssey Series). In 1978, Magnavox, now a subsidiary of North American Philips, released the Odyssey², its new second-generation video game console.

In Europe, the Odyssey² did very well on the market. In Europe, the console was most widely known as the Philips Videopac G7000, or just the Videopac, although branded variants were released in some areas of Europe under the names Philips Videopac C52, Radiola Jet 25, Schneider 7000, and Siera G7000. Philips, as Magnavox’s Dutch parent company, used their own name rather than Magnavox’s for European marketing. A rare model, the Philips Videopac G7200, was only released in Europe; it had a built-in black-and-white monitor. Videopac game cartridges are mostly compatible with American Odyssey² units, although some games have color differences and a few are completely incompatible. A number of additional games were released in Europe that never came out in the US.

Download: Philips VideoPac G7200 Schematics (1431)

Playing Munchkin game:

source: wikipedia

This is a firmware hack of the version 2.6d build for the 1541 Ultimate Plus (MK1) by Bradon (forum link).

The latest official version for the 1541 Ultimate Plus (MK1) is the version v2.4a.

Note from the author:

After much frustration, I finally managed to get a working build environment for the 1541U firmware.

My 1541U is a MK1 Plus unit (no network). The last revision of the firmware I could compile is 2.6d, SVN revision 131. Starting with 132 it seems that the content is too much for the older FPGA. I started to look into removing cart ROMs I don’t use and gave up realizing this would be too much to do in my spare time, since their offset locations are hardcoded.

I removed the “too old” warning check so it will boot up without having to dismiss a warning.

So far it seems to work correctly. I don’t know if the FPGA revision check really matters for this revision or not. It would appear Gideon has no desire to continue supporting MK1 units since building for them is not possible with the latest revisions. This is of course fine with me (I don’t expect he will forever and ever try to make it work on older units), I just wanted the most recent build possible.

Changes:

• Added F3 help screen to show 1541U commands.
• Modified the file viewer so that scrolling will not advance past the last line.
• Added F1 and F7 page up/down to the file viewer.
• Modified behavior of the file browser so that when you cursor-right on an item with no children, the context menu is brought up as if you pressed return.

Download: 1541 Ultimate (MK1) v2.6d.o918r4 (1267)

source: 1541ultimate.net

I have decided to repair my two ColecoVision consoles bought like non-functioning many years ago. Below a description of the defects and of components being replaced.

Defect: black screen

• 1 x 2114 (VRAM)
• Joystick port # 1 broken (replaced with the joystick port of a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A)

Defect: black screen

• 1 x 2114 (VRAM)
• 3 x 4116 (RAM)

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

Download:

• Up in the Air Preview 2 +4 (924)
• Triangle +1D (969)
• Ball Preview (953)
• Flubble & Squij (+Remix) +8HD (1006)
• Gold Quest 5 (993)
• All Games in One Archive (2421)

source: csdb.dk

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:

• HVSC Update #59 (1262)
• HVSC Complete #59 (1446)

source: www.hvsc.c64.org