Commodore.news

New HardSID products | There are two new HardSID products available. Both products (HardSID Uno and HardSID Uplay) are connected via the USB and do not need an external power supply. In both devices there are two SID sockets available. The HardSID Uplay has the extra option to select the SID through software. Prices are HardSID Uno 149,-- Euro and HardSID Uplay 169,-- Euro. The HardSID 4U is available for 399,-- Euro.

SIDstick | Jeff Ledger designed a portable SID player called the SIDstick. This device can play the entire HVSC collection wherever you are. Technical Details: 31kHz Sample rate. 16bit Resolution. Full filter support. Full envelope support. Supports all 4 waveform types. 16 steps main volume. Waveform reset bit works. Ring modulation. Oscillator synchronization. On Jeff's web page you can order a kit to build your own SIDstick.

AmigaOne X1000 | The company A-EON has announced a new hardware platform for running Amiga OS4. The hardware has the following specifications: ATX Formfactor, Dual-core PowerISA v2.04+ CPU, Xena, 7.1 channel HD audio, 4x DDR2, 10x USB 2.0, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 2x PCIe x16, 2x PCIe x1, 1x Xorro, 2x PCI, 2x RS232, 4x SATA 2, 1x IDE connector, JTAG and Compact Flash. Visit the web page of A-EON for more details.

Brain Innovations | Jim Brain has introduced a new web-shop. Jim Brain is well known for his innovating products for Commodore Computers. At the moment the following products are available: The µIEC/SD, a replacement for the 1541 disk-drive that uses a modern memory card for storage. JiffyDOS, the original DOS replacement for serial disk-drives. The µIEC/SD daugther board. The 64NIC, a C64 module with Ethernet connection. The ROM-el, a replacement / adaptor for Commodore ROM chips.

PS/2 keyboard for CBM/PET | Johannes Eggers made a small interface that makes it possible to connect a PS/2 keyboard to your Commodore CBM or PET computer. You can even reset your PET/CBM by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del on the keyboard. Visit his blog for all the details.

VIC-20 Game/Dev cartridge | A new cartridge is available for the Commodore VIC-20. The cartridge contains a EPROM, a memory decoding circuit and selection switches. The games can be burned in a EPROM and selected with the 5 switches. This means that you can put 32 games inside the EPROM. For developers all the cartridge connections are available for testing and custom memory decoding is also possible. Visit the web page for all the details.

xum1541 | Nate Lawson has released a beta version of his xum1541. The xum1541 is a device that makes it possible to connect a Commodore 1541 disk drive to a PC with the help of a USB connection. The xum1541 can be made with a Atmel AT90USBKEY developer's kit. Software is available for Windows and Mac OS X.

C-One - Minimig 2.0 | For the C-One is a new Minimig core (v2.0) available. Tobias Gubener ported Jakub Bednarski's sources of September 2009 to the C-One. The features include: Emulation of four floppy drives (DF0: to DF3:), Emulation of two hard drives (4GB), FAT16 or FAT32 supported for the CF memory card, Long file names for ADF images allowed. Memory 11.5MB: 2MB chipmem, 1.5MB slowmem, 8MB fastmem. For this core you will need a C-One with FPGA extender.

1541U-II News | Gideon Zweijtzer release news about the 1541U-II. The new version features are: The PCB is 30% smaller. MicroSD connector, instead of a full-size SD. Real-time-clock function, for correct file time and date. Larger FPGA, which enables the implementation of more features. USB Host port, which can be used to connect USB-sticks. There are plans to make an suitable case for the device. Visit Gideon's web page for more details and pictures of the 1541U-II.

VIC-20 Final Expansion v3.2 | The VIC-20 Final Expansion v3.2 is an cartridge for the Commodore VIC-20. The features are: RAM expansion up to 512 KB. Also available: 3 KB, 8 KB, 11 KB, 16 KB, 19 KB, 24 KB, 27 KB and 35 KB. Each RAM section can be write-protected to simulate a ROM. 512 KB Flash EEPROM memory that can be flashed by the VIC-20. Up to 2 GB mass storage media by using modern SD-cards as a reliable floppy replacement. Real time clock. Connector for an external LCD display. Cartridge Configuration. Reset key.

Extreme A600 | Christian Krenner has made a web page about upgrading his Amiga 600. His A600 is equipped with: Motorola 68030/40 MHz, 34 MByte RAM, 32 GByte Compact Flash hard disk, PCMCIA network, USB ports and a Indivision ECS. Take a look at Christian's page for all the details.

OpenCBM - XU1541 update | A new version of OpenCBM is available for the XU1541. In this update problems with opening the LPT port are fixed. The program is now also Vista compatible. With the XU1514 you can connect a Commodore (serial) disk drive via USB to a PC.

XU1541 | The XU1541 USB Adapter is now available. This adapter is the modern version of the parallel port X1541 cable but now with USB capabilities. Allowing modern PC's and laptops to use the Commodore range of disk drives such as the 1541 etc.

NatAmi | The first NatAmi board is assembled. The goal of this hardware project is to produce a next generation Amiga computer with an up-to-date design. The NatAmi project is designed and developed by Thomas Hirsch. You can follow the progress via the web page and forum.

Minimig firmware update | Jakub Bednarski released new firmware for the Minimig.
ARM firmware: MMC/SD/SDHC cards, FAT16/FAT32 filesystems, Long File Names, Up to 4 virtual floppy drives and 2 hard files emulations.
FPGA: Improved system timing (blitter, CIAs, ROM), Improvements CIA access, INTREQ, Support for two virtual hard disks, Kickstart 1.2 can be used.

EasyFlash | EasyFlash is a cartridge for the C64 expansion port. In contrast to traditional cartridges, this one can be programmed directly from the C64. EasyFlash is a 1 MByte Flash EPROM card with multiple configurations and banks possible. It does not use traditional UV-EPROMs, but Flash memory. This makes it possible to burn the cartridge using your C64, no EPROM programmer is needed.

1541 Ultimate II | Gideon has developed a successor of the 1541 Ultimate. The new version will include: MircoSD instead of SD cards, Tape emulation, Real-time clock, Significantly improved audio output and there will be a case available. The Ethernet option will not be available on the new version. Visit Gideon's web page for all the details.

6540 ROM Replacement | Matthew D'Asaro has developed a 6540 ROM replacement. The 6540 ROMs are inside the PET / CBM computers. An original EPROM is very hard to get but the 2716 EPROM can replace it. But to make the replacement possible Matthew developed a little adapter, you can build it yourself or order a complete adapter with programmed EPROM.

Multiple Classic Computer Platform (MCC) | A new FPGA product is in development. The FPGA board can emulate classic computers from Commodore, Atari, Sinclair and Amiga. At the moment the Commodore 64 / 1541 core is finished. The FPGA makes it possible to improve the C64, for example: 48x42 16 colors sprites, 16 MHz 6510, double SID etc.

C-One C64 core v0.29 | Peter Wendrich has compiled a new FPGA-64 version. It has swapped joystick ports and has a workaround that fixes the X/Y pot swap on the C-One PCB. Just as with the latest Chameleon core, with this release 1351 type mouse or paddles can be used with the C-One. It also contains the latest VIC-II emulation code from Chameleon. It needs the NewBoot bootloader, but can work without the extender board.

JiffyDOS | Jim Brain is working with Mark Fellows to finalize a licensing agreement for JiffyDOS. Next to the hardware ROM Jim Brain will also offer a software version for the 1541 Ultimate, C64DTV and the emulators. Jim is working on a flash ROM adaptor with JiffyDOS that can replace the EPROMs in the computer and disk drive.

1541-III JiffyDOS | Jsaily released JiffyDOS for the 1541-III. Jsaily has been working on it for a couple of weeks with the help of Jan Derogee, Unseen and 1570. There is now a beta-version available for testing, and if you find a bug please send in a bug report.

Minimig update | Jakub Bednarski released new firmware for the minimig. The new features are: Improved compatibility. Support for 2 floppy drives. Hard disk emulation for the ARM mini-board. 28 MHz CPU turbo mode. Fast blitter mode. PAL and NTSC mode selection via OSD menu. support for 2 MB of Chip and 1.5 MB of Slow RAM. Scan-line emulation effect. Jakub also made an article about expanding the RAM of the minimig with 1 Mbyte.

64NIC+ | Jim Brain developed a new cartridge for the Commodore 64. The 64NIC+ cartridge is a Retro Replay/TFE compatible ethernet cartridge. You can pre-order a unit at the cost of 50,-- US$.

C64 - Purse | Jeri Ellsworth is going into the fashion business. Jeri developed a purse with a C64-DTV, LCD-screen and two joystick controllers. You can watch a video about the game-purse on the Engadget web page.

C64 Laptop | Benjamin J. Heckendorn made a laptop of a Commodore C64. He used a modified C64c motherboard, original keyboard, 15 TFT screen and a 1541-III DTV. Ben also made the case for the laptop. The most work was to get the C64 motherboard and keyboard fit inside the laptop. Take a look at Ben's web page for all the details.

GVP products | Software Hut is selling GVP products. This are newly made original products. The available items are: GVP 4MB and 16MB 60ns RAM Module, GVP 4060DT, GVP A2000 060 Accelerator, GVP Spectrum Graphics Board and the GVP Typhoon A1200 030 40MHz Accelerator.

Indivision, A600 memory expansion | Two new products are available from Individual Computers. With the Indivision AGA you can use a modern monitor with the Amiga 4000 and CD-32. Indivision AGA can display PAL at more than 60Hz, flicker-free and 24 bits. The A600 memory expansion has 1M additional chipmem, real-time clock and a clockport. There is also a socket for installing Indivision ECS.

MMC2IEC / SD2IEC | This German-language web page gives a complete overview of the MMC2IEC and SD2IEC devices. These devices are a replacement for the IEC disk drive and store the data on a memory card instead of a diskette.

XS-1541 | A new interface cable is developed for the Commodore disk drives. Besides the IEC disk drives (1541) this cable also supports the parallel IEEE-488 bus (8050). The XS-1541 is connected to the serial or USB interface of a PC. All commands are send with a terminal program on the PC. You can use any operating system (Linux, Amiga, Windows, DOS) as long you can use a terminal program.

OmniFlop | OmniFlop is a 'universal' floppy disk reader, writer, and tester for the PC which can handle floppy disk formats not normally supported by DOS, Windows and Linux. With OmniFlop it is possible to read and write Commodore 1581 diskettes. Omniflop can read more than 100 other floppy formats like: CMD FDD, Atari ST, Tandy CoCo, etc. The program is available for Windows from NT to Vista. Also a version for MS-DOS and Win-95 is available (OmniDisk).

RetrObright | A major problem with collecting old computers is that the computers get yellow. Many people tried to remove the yellow but without success. Last year a solution was found. The colouring can be removed with a mix of chemicals. Take a look at the web page for the details and examples.

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