Preorder open for C64 Reloaded MK2

[+OLD CS1]

 

Yes similar to what I see, cleaner picture and without banding. Assuming it will be the same way for older/newer PAL VIC-II as mentioned in that video.

 

Might put the 6567 back in there just for the "authentic" feel

[+remowilliams]

Might put the 6567 back in there just for the "authentic" feel

 

Haha, I'm all about the real iron but not that hardcore!

[+wood_jl]

 

I don't understand what you're saying here. You can easily do 4:3 pillarboxing on a standard 16:9 HDMI-centric display. In fact, that's what most modern classic console recreations with HDMI output do.

 

Personally, I'm all in on HDMI, so I prefer that rather than having to convert anything. Native is best.

 

Greetings, Bill.

 

I'm pretty sure you know a lot more about HDMI than I (and gaming in general, seeing that collection you have!)

 

But what I was thinking of may or not me relevant, but I was assuming that it is.

 

I have always preferred Sony TVs, and in the CRT days, they may have been superior. In the LCD days, probably not, but I still sort of like 'em.

 

On my Sony (a few years old) LCD, when I connect with HDMI, I don't get an option for 4:3. As a matter of fact, I never do. All you get is (upon hitting the "WIDE" button which should read "ASPECT RATIO" (but doesn't,), is "WIDE ZOOM", "NORMAL", "FULL", and "ZOOM."

 

Using those options and a Sony Blu-ray player I bought at the same time (several years ago) and hooked up through HDMI, the f-ing thing always stretches the picture. No choice. I WANT the "pillarbox" when watching old 4:3 DVDs. I was frustrated, then (long time ago) I decided to hook an old composite cable from the player to the TV....BOOM! "NORMAL" aspect ratio then correctly pillarboxed the old 4:3 DVD, correctly. Great! Except for the fact that I don't want it hooked up that way. I want the highest common denominator, and then I get shit-stretched video when viewing old "fullscreen" (4:3) DVDs. It really pisses me off, to this day. Evidently, the TV "assumes" that if I'm using HDMI, I want widescreen. It's not that big of a deal, because I actually prefer a small CRT for C64/A800 etc, anyway.

 

Would a 4:3 Commodore display stretch, or allow for pillarbox 4:3? Who knows? But S-video hooked to a 13" JVC TM-A13SU....

 

 

....will leave no question, and give an awesome display that looks correct (even better for the time since this is a relatively high-performance monitor relative to the age of the C64) for the time period, and it is that which I prefer.

 

I am not "against" HDMI; it is rather natural for systems that support 720p or greater. Those systems suffer on an old CRT. The C64 and Atari 800 (etc...etc..) shine on this CRT.

 

That is what I was attempting to convey.

 

[bradhig1]

what does this board have that the original doesn't have?

[carlsson]

I think more modern power supply is one of its strongest points.

[+remowilliams]

what does this board have that the original doesn't have?

 

 

 

The Commodore 64 Reloaded MK2 includes the following on the board:

• 128k S-Ram chip
• flash rom for Kernal, Basic, Character and your own sets of ROMs
• clock generator equivalent to the CSG8701 chip with two custom crystals
• PLA equivalent to the CSG 906114-01 chip
• Stereo-SID circuit configurable for three different popular addresses
• S-Video and 3.5mm stereo outputs
• USB to serial link for configuring the board with a terminal program
• high-efficiency power conversion for operation from a single 12V supply
• Power switch with integrated reset function
• six all-black high quality ZIF sockets

[+sm3]

what does this board have that the original doesn't have?

 

The MK2 board is different from the MK1 in a number of ways, the main benefit for me was it's easier to configure. You no longer have to set jumpers, or worry about voltages or anything like that. Just mix and match the chips you want from a 64 or 128 (CIA or SID) and you are good!

 

You'll need to supply the following chips to make it work of course:

 

CPU

2 CIA

VIC-II

1 or 2 SID

 

Of course these are not the only new features. Have a look at the iComp site for more information.

[bradhig1]

2 sids would that mean stereo sid music?

[+OLD CS1]

2 sids would that mean stereo sid music?

 

It is configurable to stereo SID with the second SID at $D420, $D500, both, or $DE00, OR mono single SID but switchable between the two. In the latter configuration you could have a 6581 in SID #1 socket and an 8580 in SID #2 socket and switch between them at your whim.

[+sm3]

Seems the MK2 is out of stock now. Hopefully everyone that wanted one was able to purchase one.

[+OLD CS1]

Seems the MK2 is out of stock now. Hopefully everyone that wanted one was able to purchase one.

 

I would like to think there will be another run. iComp just about lived up to the promise of being able to fulfill orders through the end of the year. Pretty damn close.

 

I got mine and I hope others can get theirs; now I am looking forward to the A1200 Reloaded.

[+sm3]

 

I would like to think there will be another run. iComp just about lived up to the promise of being able to fulfill orders through the end of the year. Pretty damn close.

 

I got mine and I hope others can get theirs; now I am looking forward to the A1200 Reloaded.

 

Oh yes, I'm waiting for the A1200 Reloaded as well.

 

It seems he still has SIDs left though, in case anyone ordered a MK2 and missed the SIDs.

[Laner]

Got notification that mine hit the states today. Scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday; same day I'm leaving town for a week. Oh well - I guess I can wait a week longer

[+sm3]

Got notification that mine hit the states today. Scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday; same day I'm leaving town for a week. Oh well - I guess I can wait a week longer

Yes, if it was like my shipment, USPS will take another week to get it to you anyway. It seems to sit there in NY forever.

 

I'm glad you were able to purchase one though, they are quite nice! Did you get some SIDs too?

[+sm3]

It seems sales for the MK2 will resume in January. Maybe they were just stopping the sales during the holidays. That is good to know, I was thinking of picking up another myself.

[Laner]

Yes, if it was like my shipment, USPS will take another week to get it to you anyway. It seems to sit there in NY forever.

 

I'm glad you were able to purchase one though, they are quite nice! Did you get some SIDs too?

 

Amazingly, it arrived an hour after my post. It's a Christmas miracle!

 

Works great, though apparently two of my spare VIC-IIs were duds. With the remaining good VIC-II I'm still noticing some slight vertical banding. Not a huge deal - much less noticeable than the banding on the C128.

 

I did order an 8580 with it to put in the second slot; I have a couple of extra 6581s to populate the first slot. For whatever reason Law of the West and the 8580 don't play nicely together - the bass track is silent.

 

Once I get the kids situated this evening I'll mess around with the kernal/charset options.

[+sm3]

 

Amazingly, it arrived an hour after my post. It's a Christmas miracle!

 

 

Wow, that is great news!

[hlide]

 

 

 

 

The Commodore 64 Reloaded MK2 includes the following on the board:

• 128k S-Ram chip
• flash rom for Kernal, Basic, Character and your own sets of ROMs
• clock generator equivalent to the CSG8701 chip with two custom crystals
• PLA equivalent to the CSG 906114-01 chip
• Stereo-SID circuit configurable for three different popular addresses
• S-Video and 3.5mm stereo outputs
• USB to serial link for configuring the board with a terminal program
• high-efficiency power conversion for operation from a single 12V supply
• Power switch with integrated reset function
• six all-black high quality ZIF sockets

 

- What is the point to have 128KB SRAM? I mean C64 only used 64KB.

- Extra 8/16 KB ROMs through FLASH: definitely a good point. I was able to put a JiffyDOS ROM in one and set it as the default kernel.

- NTSC/PAL clock: definitely a good point.

- No PLA chip needed: definitely a good point as long as it doesn't have a compatibility issue.

- Double SIDs: totally great to get stereo or ability to select a different SID. Minor issue: some non-genuine SID (like swinSID) may not be detected properly and so work.

- S-Video and 3.5mm stereo outputs: really? is that the reason that motherboard is so expensive? cheap solution because VIC-II is already giving those signals. Not even any tweaking solution as Lumafix 64 is integrated in the board. Adding Lumafix 64 is not working because motherboard probably doesn't detect it properly. Bad point.

- USB serial: definitely a good point but you cannot use it in parallel with an SD2IEC on cassette port (I had to cut it so I could be able to plug a USB cable while an SD2IEC is installed.

- 12V supply: definitely a good point.

- third position to allow a special action like soft/hard reset or SID-switching on the power switch: sure not a bad point.

- Key RESTORE has a programmable action, toggling SID selection by default: a good point to test your SIDs on the fly.

- ZIFs are also definitely great.

 

But still too expensive for what it gives:

- no SD2IEC facility?

- PLA emulation but no CIA emulation?

- no Lumafix 64 trick?

 

And so on.

 

And it doesn't sound that you can develop on the terminal side to add some goodies like using USB to connect a virtual PC2IEC for instance.

 

I'm happy to have it but less happy about the lack of features and improvements it may benefit in regard to its price.

 

 

[+OLD CS1]

- What is the point to have 128KB SRAM? I mean C64 only used 64KB.

My guess would be that is shared between the C64 and the firmware OS running the system.

 

- Double SIDs: totally great to get stereo or ability to select a different SID. Minor issue: some non-genuine SID (like swinSID) may not be detected properly and so work.

There is nothing on the official support page about this. Maybe Jens can fix this?

 

- S-Video and 3.5mm stereo outputs: really? is that the reason that motherboard is so expensive? cheap solution because VIC-II is already giving those signals.

Seriously? (Emphasis mine.)

 

- USB serial: definitely a good point but you cannot use it in parallel with an SD2IEC on cassette port (I had to cut it so I could be able to plug a USB cable while an SD2IEC is installed.

True, but for the most part once the system is configured that USB port is unnecessary.

 

But still too expensive for what it gives:

- no SD2IEC facility?

Maybe a licensing issue? Or maybe not really the target demo?

 

- PLA emulation but no CIA emulation?

The PLA is a nasty chip which was accounted for about 3/4 of my system failures and does not seem to be readily available in its original form. The CIA fails, as well, but these do not seem to be as difficult to find. It seems the primary idea of this design was to use original chips. Otherwise Jens could have easily just replicated everything in FPGA, including VIC-II.

 

- no Lumafix 64 trick?

Not a big deal to me. The LumaFix has to be adjusted to match each chip so that would be an additional configuration or amount of tweaking. When I put the 6567 in my Mk2 I saw the lines but replacing it with an 8562 eliminated them. Even so, the lines are not a big bother for me or a lot of people.

 

And so on.

Like?

 

And it doesn't sound that you can develop on the terminal side to add some goodies like using USB to connect a virtual PC2IEC for instance.

 

I'm happy to have it but less happy about the lack of features and improvements it may benefit in regard to its price.

One thing you can do is upload a ROM and have it configured in the cartridge space.

 

I suspect there might be additional features coming for the firmware, but you can never tell. The system might not have hit your sweet spot but it surely suits mine. I did not want an emulator on a board (or replication in FPGA): those already exist. I wanted a fresh main board, the ability to use real chips and I got the bonus to use all sorts, support for the stereo SID simple hack, compatibility with my original hardware like disk drives, CMD hard drive, REU, and others (have not tried it with the BI-80... you know, just for fun.)

 

If you have not already check out the Ultimate 64. Plans are for that to have the 1541 emulation available. Looks pretty neat.

[hlide]

Price of C64R Mk2 + 2 x CIAs + 1 x CPU + 2 x SID + 1 x VIC-II? Price of a SID is quite insane today (around €50). You'd better buy an old C64 and cannibalize it to get its chips. The cheapest CIA on eBay is around €24,99 (shipment fee included) and you need two, VIC-II is around €40. Just add them. While I do understand CPU, SID and VIC-II may be genuine in regards to their different characteristics, I see no reason CIAs need to be so.

 

As for nano swinSIDs, they appear not to work in a C64R Mk2: a fellow tried it on his C64R to no avail but they work on his genuine C64s.

 

"Like?" some goodies like HDMI, the ability to choose between a genuine chip and a "replicated" one as a fallback. Anything which may make the price worthy.

Edited December 25, 2017 by hlide

[+OLD CS1]

I get it. But you bought one, right? If you decide you no longer want it let me know.

[+OLD CS1]

Doing some research tonight on the 82S100 used for the PLA in the C64 I found a mention that the SwinSID has timing problems when used with a SuperPLA by Jens. The SuperPLA is integrated into the C64 Reloaded so this is likely the source of the incompatibility.

 

As well, a good argument for not supporting the SwinSID on the 'Reloaded, anyway:

 

From https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/SwinSID

 

Both revisions of Commodore's SID did double duty as the sound chip and as the control chip for input devices that rely on analogue resistors. Such devices include paddles and mice. As such a SwinSID equipped C64 will lose this functionality.

 

[hlide]

Doing some research tonight on the 82S100 used for the PLA in the C64 I found a mention that the SwinSID has timing problems when used with a SuperPLA by Jens. The SuperPLA is integrated into the C64 Reloaded so this is likely the source of the incompatibility.

 

As well, a good argument for not supporting the SwinSID on the 'Reloaded, anyway:

 

From https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/SwinSID

 

 

That's the case for SwinSID Nano. I ordered two SwinSID Ultimate but they appear to have issues with Chinese component providers so I have no ETA for them . They told me they work with C64R MK2.

 

Here is the link to what I read about Ultimate version:

- https://ilesj.wordpress.com/2016/04/24/swinsid-ultimate/

- http://kompjut0r.blogspot.fr/2016/04/c64-sid-shootout-part-4-sid-8580-vs.html

 

Edited December 31, 2017 by hlide

[+OLD CS1]

Good to know, for sure. Once you get those please let us know how it works out.

[Laner]

Soo... anyone had trouble with their Mk2 spontaneously rebooting after 10-15 minutes? I thought at first it was ICs overheating, but they're all cool to the touch, and I've swapped them all out as well, with no luck.