Commodore.news

C64xs | Freak is building an extra small Commodore C64. He will use original C64 part and add some extra features: Configurable voltages and extra filters for SID and VIC, S-Video output, ESD protection and multiple kernals and character sets.

Amiga and the 5th audio channel | Stian Søreng has developed a system to add a fifth audio channel to the Amiga computer. He uses the composite video channel to produce an extra audio channel. You can read all about it on his blog.

C64 - The great refurbishing | On the Retrohax web page you can see how to refurbish a Commodore C64. Drygol is refurbishing six Commodore C64 at the same time. He cleans and repairs the plastics parts and the keyboard, and adds a SwinSID NANO and a SD2IEC device to the C64.

GadgetUK164 - VIC20 Penultimate Cartridge | GadgetUK164 made a video about the new Penultimate Cartridge for the Commodore VIC20 from Tynemouth Software.

Vampire 500 v2 | Simo Koivukoski made a video of an Amiga 2000 with the Vampire 500 v2 accelerator. The first test is with RiVA 0.50 and Picasso II (CyberGraphX screen mode 320x240 / gray). The second test is MP3 playing with Amplifier and Delfina Lite DSP.

Mega65 | Paul Gardner-Stephen is working on a FPGA version of the Commodore C65. His goal is to make an 8-bit computer for the 21st century. Most recent updates: GEOS, Disk menu and the Decimal Flag.

New Amiga hardware development | The web page Retro 7-bit is developing new hardware for the Amiga. The IDEA ZII - IDE controller (Zorro II) for the Amiga 2000, Wicher 2000 - turbo card for the Amiga 2000, Wicherek 14/28 - turbo card for the Amiga 500 and the Wicher 5k/1M - CHIP RAM for the Amiga 500.

Vampire600 / Apollo - Silver9 | The Vampire600 turbo card uses the Apollo FPGA-core to emulate the 68000 CPU and the SAGA graphics chip. The changes for Apollo are: Vector instructions, new Bondings, stronger FUSINGs, Little Endian GFX mode for PC emulation and improvements for MUL flags, WHDLoad Branch-Target-Cache, Div 64 Flag and more AMMX instructions.

MixSID | The MixSID is a stereo SID board for the Commodore C64. Features: Stereo channel mixer, pragmatic stereo addressing scheme, flexible IO, audio input, output and digiboost circuits, dedicated stereo output, full paddle compatibility and versatile digital control.

FPGATED | István Hegedüs has developed a cycle exact FPGA core for the MOS 7360/8360 TED chip. The goal is to make a FPGA core that could be used as a drop in replacement for the MOS 8360 chip which is used in the Commodore C16, C116 and the Plus/4.

PET Diagnostic | Tynemouth software has developed a new diagnostic system for the PET / CBM computer. The diagnose system is placed in the socket of the 6502 CPU and runs a number of tests.

Vampire 2 Review | Dan Wood made a review of the Vampire 2 accelerator for the Amiga A600. He demonstrates how to install the hardware and how fast the A600 is with this new accelerator.

VIC MIDI cartridge - VIC-20 | Kevin Casteels (Alterus) made a reviews of the VIC MIDI cartridge with ULTIMEM for the Commodore VIC 20 computer. The VIC MIDI cartridge offers a MIDI-IN, OUT and THRU support, but also 512kB FLASH ROM and 128kB RAM.

Happiga | Happiga is a emulation system that can be used on a very small computer such as a Raspberry Pi. It uses the UAE4ARM emulator to emulate an Amiga 4000 AGA including Picasso96. You can use a real keyboard and joystick via the Keyrah V2. Changes in this version: An update for Raspbian, support for 128 MB Z3 RAM, a new menu and other small improvements.

Vampire600 / Apollo - Silver7 | The Vampire600 turbo card uses the Apollo FPGA-core to emulate the 68000 CPU and the SAGA graphics chip. The changes for Apollo are: Added CHK2, CAS2, CMP2, EXTW/L, FAST-IDE and a HDMI boot-pic. Improvements for BFEXTU, BFEXTS, MOVES, NCBD, PACK, TRAPcc and SUBQ/BNE.

Dual Core C64 | Telmo Moya replaced the standard 6510 CPU of the Commodore C64 with a dual core CPU. The first core is a 6510 and the second core is a Z80. This makes it possible to use CP|M on the C64 without the original CP|M cartridge.

WonderVIC | MCes is working on a modified Commodore VIC20. This modification includes a full expansion RAM (37K) and an alternative kernal. And the cartridge expansion is still available for the user. Configuration is done via the function keys, and no extra switches are required.

Retro Academy - MiST | Francesco Sblendorio wrote an review about the MiST. In this review he writes about the hardware, connections, configuration, performance, compatibility and a field test. The English translation is from Ignazio Palmisano.

Check64 | Thomas developed a new test-system for the Commodore C64. The test-system will be available as a kit: printed circuit board, electronic parts and a EPROM (programmed). The available tests are: C64 Dead Test ROM, C64 Diagnostic ROM, 1541 DIAG (worldofjani.com) and C128 Diagnostic ROM.

New Amiga 1200 cases | After a very successful Kickstarter campaign by A1200.net (Philippe Lang) and with the help of a number of sponsors such as Scoopex, it is for the first time in almost 25 years that Amiga cases are being manufactured again.

Sum firmware update | For the Sum devices is new firmware available. Changes in this version: Saving LED states for Capslock, Numlock and ScrollLock keys, improvements for key-repeat, RESET key-lock for CD32 and other minor enhancements.

DiagROM - Amiga | DiagROM is a diagnostic tool for the Amiga computers. When you power-on your Amiga the diagnostic software will star. The diagnose software will try to send information to the serial port and the screen.

Ultimate-II+ | Gideon has announced a new version of the Ultimate II cartridge. The new specifications are: More USB ports, but no more MicroSD, integrated Ethernet, dual Flash, loudspeaker, external power supply connector, improved audio, tape connector and a faster FPGA.

The story of the Commodore Amiga in pixels | Chris Wilkins started a new Kickstarter Project for a new book about the Amiga. The book is planned to be 268 pages in length. A few examples of people in the book: Archer Maclean, David Lowe, Boys Without Brains, Jez San, Stoo cambridge, Mevlut Dinc, Andy Nuttal, Allister Brimble, Anthony Ball, David Mowbray, Dino Dini, Martin Edmodson, Steve Crow, Peter Johnson, Simon Butler, Tim Wright, Mark Hellewell, Francis Lionet, Ash Hogg, Andrew Hewson, Jim Sachs, Roman Rath, Barry Leitch and more...

Clone-a-Dore: C64 Micro ATX | David Maurer is working on an replacement for the Commodore C64. The features will be: USB keyboard, dual SID chip support, internal IEC header, cassette port, RAM expansion, Amiga clock port, Ethernet and much more.

SX64 keyboard cable | Flowerking made new connectors for the Commodore SX64 keyboard cable with his 3D printer. Besides the plastic shapes you will need the pins and some cable. Flowerking made more 3D designs for the Commodore and Amiga: C64 keyboard mounts, Amiga disk drive button, 1541 disk drive handle, etc.

Gotek HxC - A600 | Mfilos wrote a blog about installing a Gotek HxC in his Amiga A600. You can follow step by step how to install it. The modification includes a normal floppy disk drive together with the Gotek HxC.

Jp-Mouse | The Jp-Mouse is an USB Mouse adapter for the Amiga and the Atari ST. The adapter is based on the Cocolino and is compatible with USB mice with the PS2 protocol and with 27MHz wireless mice. The price of the adapter is 16 Euro.

The MOnSter 6502 | This project is a working 6502 processor built with transistors. The 6502 is used in the Commodore PET, VIC20 and the Commodore disk drives. Specifications: 12 x 15 inch (305 x 380 mm), 3218 transistors, 1019 resistors and a few other components.

VIC20 Diagnostics Cartridge and Test Harness Kits | Tynemouth Software has new diagnostic kits available for the Commodore VIC20. The software runs through a series of tests, identifying any faults with your VIC20. You can choose between two different diagnostic cartridges.

ZIF Socket C64 | On the Breadbox64.com web page you can see a ZIF socket modification for a Commodore C64 motherboard. When you try to repair an C64 it is possible to change a few ICs when they are placed in a socket. But most of the time they are soldered in place. This motherboard has now almost all ICs in ZIF sockets.

Vampire600 / Apollo - Silver5 | The Vampire600 turbo card uses the Apollo FPGA-core to emulate the 68000 CPU and the SAGA graphics chip. The changes for Apollo are: Support for big partitions (>4Gb) on internal IDE and improvements for SFS, HDToolBox, SD-card, screen resolutions and VBRControl.

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