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Post by mrbombermillzy on Mar 5, 2017 17:56:56 GMT
I came across this 'in development' board which is coming soon apparently from Lotharek. I thought some of you may appreciate the heads up. Specs (ATM anyway) are: F7 Accelerator specification (status for today) * external CPU turbo card for C64/128 * WDC 65C816 microprocessor operating at 20MHz, * managed by Xilinx XC95 CPLD device * 512kb of zero waitstate SRAM, * up to 14.5MB of storage ram – socket for external FPM SIMM DRAM, * 512kB of Flash memory (support for fast OS), * working modes controlled by manual switches and software, * external 5V power supply required, connection to cart port Card is currently for sale at 0.99 Euros! LOL! Heres the site for any details: www.lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=109I would recommend that people show some interest to make sure this gets completed.... thats if this is the sort of thing you want. I myself may be interested if the price doesnt end up being too stupid.
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Post by bjonte on Mar 6, 2017 20:57:54 GMT
Interesting, but I'm afraid it is hard to sell a lot of accelerators due to the lack of software. One needs a killer app that everyone wants.
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Post by robertb on Mar 6, 2017 23:53:45 GMT
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Post by robertb on Mar 6, 2017 23:54:44 GMT
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Post by bjonte on Mar 7, 2017 10:45:45 GMT
Back in the day, the killer app for the SuperCPU was GEOS. Definitely. I don't think it is enough today though. There needs to be games but I don't think it is likely to happen. It is basically the C128 all over again. Who will invest in building something for an even smaller user base when it is already small for the C64? As a side note, I tried to get GEOS running when I bought my RAMLink a couple of years ago and the three drive limit feels very limiting. Especially since the REU is treated like a drive as well. I gave up working with it. If it had been more flexible with the drives it would be a big improvement for me.
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Post by VDC 8x2 on Mar 7, 2017 13:31:08 GMT
under the hood, geos can work with 4 drives. the 3 drive thing is the desktop.
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Post by robertb on Mar 8, 2017 7:23:41 GMT
I tried to get GEOS running when I bought my RAMLink a couple of years ago and the three drive limit feels very limiting. Especially since the REU is treated like a drive as well. I gave up working with it. If it had been more flexible with the drives it would be a big improvement for me. Wheels 64 and Wheels 128 did away with the drive limitations of GEOS. In fact, I disliked GEOS because of its inflexibility. I found Wheels to be much, much better; the GEOS apps under Wheels actually became easy to use. Truly, Robert Bernardo June 10-11 Pacific Commodore Expo v13 - www.portcommodore.com/pacommexJuly 29-30 Commodore Vegas Expo NW - www.portcommodore.com/commvex
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Post by bjonte on Mar 8, 2017 12:22:58 GMT
I found Wheels to be much, much better; the GEOS apps under Wheels actually became easy to use. Interesting. I have to attempt to install Wheels later on then.
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Post by mrbombermillzy on Mar 8, 2017 19:23:21 GMT
Games? How about Metal Dust? And maybe the possibility of stuff like Elite, Driller, The Sentinel, etc, running at a good framerate all the way through the game. With the Amiga and ST, because people have the addons, there are programmers modifying old games to e.g. work from HDD or re-time to stop a game running too fast. I believe this would be the same for the 128 if there was a retrofit hardware market. On this subject, I know there are several people who are members of this forum who are actively working on VERY interesting HW/SW projects. Unfortunately, we all have to go to work or do other stuff, and we do not have the same numbers of tech hackers as the ST/Amiga crowd, but rest assured, some great things will happen on the C128. As for GEOS/Wheels, wouldnt a SD2IEC floppy emulator solve a lot of the issues there (along with a GEORAM 512Kb board?)
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Post by Zippy Zapp on Mar 13, 2017 15:54:53 GMT
I seen this before. I don't think I would hold my breath as the prototypes have a 2013 date on them. Seems like a dead project or perhaps it has faded to the backseat...
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