Commodore.news

VIC-20 flash memory expansion | Petri Häkkinen is developing a flash memory expansion for the Commodore VIC-20. At this moment he has a working prototype. He uses a 256K x 8 flash memory chip, three 74HC541 8-bit tri-state buffers and an ATMega32A micro controller. You can follow the progress of this project on Petri's blog.

C64FC | Stian Søreng is developing a Flash cartridge for the Commodore C64. After a few problems Stian has now a working cartridge. The AVR microprocessor can now write the cartridge image to the RAM and the Commodore C64 can read the RAM. The next step is to write the firmware.

Vampire 600 | Mfilos tested the new Vampire 600 FPGA accelerator for the Amiga 600. The Vampire 600 is developed by Majsta and has recently become available. On mfilos blog you can read about installing and configuring the new accelerator.

HerMIDI / SID-Wizard | HerMIDI is a MIDI interface for the Commodore 64 made by Hermit. The devices has only a few components and you can built it yourself. The schematics, firmware and PCB are available. The device works together with the SID-Wizard program.
Hermit also released a update for SID-Wizard. Changes in this version: MIDI-in, 2SID (stereo), 324 new instruments, new Bare player, Sound-FX support, and much more.

C64 Power adaptor | MAD Scientist made a new power adaptor for the Commodore C64. He uses a standard power supply from the PC with a Molex connector that has 5 VDC and 12 VDC. His adaptor makes 9 VAC from the 12 VDC and together with the 5 VDC it is connected to the Commodore C64. You can follow the progress on the Forum64.de web page.

Reproduction of the SX64 parts | Erwin van Betten has successfully reproduced the handlebar caps and the keyboard clips for the Commodore SX-64. Erwin uses an CAD program to design the parts and a 3D printer to make the parts. The parts are printed with an LulzBot TAZ 3D printer equipped with a Budaschnozzle 2.0 w / 0.35mm nozzle.

Chameleon 64 - 8i | An new core is available for the Chameleon. Changes in this core: Multimode resonance filters for the SID emulation and 6581 / 8580 selection. Improved CPU IO registers access at address 0 and 1. Improvements for the file browser and better support for Easyflash ROMs.

Arcade Evolution Joystick | The company AmigaKit has a new joystick for sale. The features are: Micro switches for two fire buttons and the four directions. Metal shaft and base plate. The dimensions are 20 x 20.5 x 5 cm, the front lip is curved for additional comfort and the cable has D-Sub 9-pin connector.

TurboFlyer 530 | Elbox Computer will release the TurboFlyer 530 in the next year. The TurboFlyer 530 is a new 68030-based accelerator with integrated FastATA CF/SATA controller for Amiga 500/500+ and A2000 computers. Features: 68030 processor (with MMU) @ 40MHz, 16MB fast 32-bit DRAM. Visit the Elbox web page for more details.

ACA500 | The ACA500 turbo card from Individual Computers will be available at the end of this year. The ACA is connected to the expansion port of the Amiga 500. The features of the new product are: 68EC000-10 CPU @ 14 MHz, 2 MB RAM, two CF-card connectors, compatible with internal memory expansions, expansion port, clock port, Kickstart 1.3 and 3.1 ROMs and the ACA500 is WHDload compatible.

Amiga keyboard | Amedia Computer has now a new keyboard for sale. This keyboard has all the keys that are on the Amiga computers. The logos on the keys not sticker but printed on the keys. The keyboard is connected with USB and is available in black or white and as QWERTY or AZERTY.

Plipbox | Plipbox is an device that allows to connect Amiga's via Ethernet to your local network. The device uses a an Arduino and connects to the parallel port. Changes in this version: Automatic MAC address. Automatic connection to Ethernet module. Improved parallel line protocol. Added: Full duplex Ethernet, flow control and an error log system.

Hayesduino | Hayesduino is device with an Arduino micro-controller that is a bridge between the Internet and small devices, such as the Commodore 64, Apple II and the Atari 800. The Hayesduino emulates a Hayes compatible modem. One of the applications of this device could be BBS (Bulletin Board System).

VIC-20 flash memory expansion | Phvic is developing a flash memory expansion for the Commodore VIC-20. The following features are planned: The VIC will see the flash memory as a ROM. Auto booting from the flash memory. A micro-controller will control the memory and the expansion port. At the moment the device is still in development. You can follow the progress on the Denial forum.

PET/CBM Editor ROM | Steve Gray is working on a project to build various Editor ROMs for the Commodore PET/CBM computer models. The Editor ROM is responsible for all video initialization, screen output, keyboard input, full-screen editor and IRQ handling. You can read more about this project on Steve's web page.

Amiga Drive | The Amiga Drive is a replacement for the disk drive in the Amiga. This device is developed by Maurizo Ramondo and uses an Raspberry Pi mini computer and a small interface. Maurizo has written a program for the Raspberry Pi that will emulate the disk drive. The Amiga diskette images are placed on the SD card. You can read all the details on the web page of Maurizo.

X-bEnCh v0.91F | X-bEnCh can be used to replace the Workbench when you only want to load games with WHDLoad. You can use X-BENCH with all Amiga's, OCS or AGA and with 68000 to 68060 CPU's. Changes in this version: Improvements for Xinit and Xsetup. This version will end the Beta status of X-bEnCh, and is the first stable version.

A story about the introduction of the C128 | Bil Herd tells a story about the introduction of the Commodore C128 on the Consumer Electronics Show. The CES is one of the most important expositions for new computer hardware. The team from Commodore had many problems with the C128, but with a few tricks and hard work they managed to demonstrate the C128 to the public.

Chameleon 64 - 8h | An new core is available for the Chameleon. Changes in this core: Improvements for the Funplay, C64GS and Easyflash cartridge, POT X/Y, VIC-II emulation and SDRAM. Removed errors in Rename, hex and text viewers, loading crt files of type 5, insert & clr/home and the SD-card file system. You can download the new core from the Chameleon Wiki page.

Wireless Motion-Sensing Gaming Glove | Leif Bloomquist is using a glove to play games on the Commodore C64. The glove has motion sensors, a microprocessor, a battery and a XBee transmitter / receiver. You can watch the demonstration video, or use the glove at the World of Commodore 2013 meeting in Toronto, Canada.

Commodore C64 printer buffer | David wanted to share a printer between several Apple II computers. He used an Pacemark iiEasy Print system. But he needed a small secondary system to make everything work. The iiEasy Print is connected to an Commodore 64. The C64 is used as a controller for the printer buffer. You can read more about this project on his blog.

SD-BOX Cartridge | The SD-BOX is a cartridge for the Commodore C64 with an SD card interface. The cartridge has the following features: View contents of SD card or disk drive. Coping of files between SD, disk drive and Datassette. Cassette coping with buffer for coping protected games. And the Exos v3 turbo system is included.

Commodore userport USB | André Fachat is working on a USB interface for the Commodore user port. The interface can be used on a PET, VIC20 and the C64. The interface is a client and a host. The parts are a MAX3421 USB interface chip and some small parts. You can follow the progress on the 6502.org web page.

Mini Commodore C64 & 1541 | Davenunez made a mini Commodore C64 with 1541 disk drive with his 3D printer. The disk drive uses 1 floppy disks :). He also made stickers for the logos, and an realistic looking polystyrene and cardboard box. You can download the 3D printer files and logos for the C64 / 1541 and the box.

C64 S-Video | Arto made a S-Video connector in his Commodore C64. He removed the standard video connector and replaced it with an S-Video connector. The modification also includes an resistor to adjust the chroma signal. He also disconnected the RF sub-circuit to improve the picture quality.

Prisma Megamix | A-EON Technology released the Prisma Megamix. The Prisma Megamix is an multi-format sound card for the Amiga. The card will work with a Zorro slot or the clock-port (A2000, A3000, A4000 and A1200). The card can encode: MP2, MP3, WMA, OGG, LC-AAC, HE-AAC, FLAC, IMA and WAV PCM. The card is developed by: Michael Böhmer (Hardware), Ian Gledhill (Software) and Matthew Leaman (Concept).

Mediator PCI 3000Di MK-II | The company Elbox has made an pre-order available for the Mediator PCI 3000Di MK-II. The Mediator PCI 3000Di MK-II is an daughter board with three PCI and three ZIII slots for Amiga 3000D in the standard desktop case. Features: 66/33MHz PCI clock, 32-bit, 4GB, DMA, Interrupt controller, Compatibility with all A3000 processor card models. Support for: Radeon, Voodoo, TV tuners, Sound Blaster, Network Sana-2 and much more.

3 chip computer - 6502 | Stian Søreng is working on projects for the Commodore C64. Because he was waiting for the C64Flash cartridge pcb, he had time to developed a 3 chip computer. This small computer is made of a 6502 CPU, RAM chip and a ATmega16 micro controller. You can read more about this 3 chip computer on his blog.

Real Time Clock / SD - C64 | Luigi Di Fraia is working on two new projects for the Commodore C64. The first project is a Real Time Clock. With this small device you can always have the right time in your C64. Even if you switch the C64 off and on. The second project is an interface for an SD memory card for your C64. Luigi made YouTube videos about his latest projects.

DRAM testing | Axlecrusher was repairing a Commodore C64. He found out that it was one of the memory chips. He replaced them all and the C64 was working again. But he wanted to know which of the 8 memory chips was faulty. He built an testing device with an AVR microprocessor to test each individual chip. You can read all about it on his blog.

Cassiopei - TAP Player | Jan Derogee demonstrates in this video that the Cassiopei is also a TAP player. When loading games from tape, lot's of things can go wrong. Fortunately, the Cassiopei saves the day. In this demonstration Jan uses the C16, but all other Commodore computers with a cassette port can use the Cassiopei for loading TAP files. The project will be presented on the next Commodore meeting, 19 October in Maarssen (The Netherlands).

USBhost-64 | Luigi Di Fraia has now added TAP dumping to his USBhost-64 device. He can now transfer the data from the cassette in TAP format tot her USB drive. In the video you can see that he is using a DC2N, but you can use a normal Datassette. Luigi is also experimenting with slow motion video on the C64 with the help of the USBhost-64.

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