HDTV1080P
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Posts posted by HDTV1080P
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Walter’s Software SpellingAid special edition on a 3.5 inch disk with a large dictionary of words uses around 512K of the memory expander (256K is not enough for that program). Walter Software also has some EOS ram disk software that well allow users to use the entire 1MB memory expander for several different Coleco EOS programs and third party programs that well boot from the 1MB memory expander when its used as a solid state ram disk drive for the ADAM. Turning off the ADAM of course loses all the data in the memory expander.
I like using the 1MB or larger memory expanders with File Manager as a copy buffer. With a 1.44MB 3.5 inch disk or 1.44MB disk image from SD card, one needs a minimum of a 2MB memory expander to make one read and write pass when copying media. A 1MB memory expander is not large enough and the 1.44MB SD media has to be swapped twice when copying the program. Having two disk drives or two SD drives connected at once speeds up the copy process.
To this day I still wish I would have purchased that 2MB Micro Innovations memory expander for the ADAM computer, since I would have used it as a big ram disk and also as a 2MB copy buffer. If someone were to develop a 64GB SDXC card slot on a ADAM memory expander, then large hard drives full of data could be copied into the memory expander with one read pass and one write pass.
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I looked at the connectors on the schematics and they are very limited.
You have Adamnet, Ground + 5 +12 for motors and filter for logic
-5 -12 ect...going off memory.
They are just Adamnet connectors.
The Digital Data Packs are no different than disk drives and only the bios inside the drives themselves has their limitations.
They are tapes that think they are disk drives.
If you read the System manuals they even say that each peripheral has an independent cpu, 6801 I believe, that is on the Adamnet.
The keyboard has one, the printer has one, all the drives have one.
Whatever drive you boot from becomes drive A or 1 and then the next one on the net becomes B, 2 and so on.
The ADAM is an amazing machine for it's time and I have zero clue why no one has expanded the thing way beyond it's designation.
It has plenty of address lines, a place for the modem, memory and that slot number 1 was used for an alternate or expanded Rom in Europe to change the fonts.
Slow by today's standards but I bet I could connect it to my WIFI and control the lights in the house if I seriously wanted to.
Hell, the Roller Controller is nothing but an upside down mouse when mice were unheard of on a home computer back in 1984.
Thanks for the info, its good to know that the BIOS on the Digital Data Drives determine the size of the drive that is reported over ADAMNET. I guess the reason why they did not use the same ADAMNET connector as the Disk Drives is because it would not provide the needed +12 and +5 volts at the amps needed to power the Digital Data Drive. ADAMNET is very neat on the ADAM computer because ADAMNET can be accessed by many different size connectors and at different locations on the memory console. The side expansion module interface is also is able to access ADAMNET and most likely the internal expansion module interfaces can access ADAMNET also.
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Well, if you get an USB-C Power supply that says it's USB-PD or USB 3.1, then they might not have the fallback, as it only needs to support USB-PD and USB3.1 then.
They made a real mess out of USB-C, to be honest.
UL doesn't make sense. It's not needed and costs a lot of money, so unless you think customers want to pay 100 USD+ for this adaptor, it's totally overkill. As you mention: It's optional and not needed. It makes sense for products that are being sold in millions of quantities, but not for something like that. You're free to donate a UL certification, if you like
Why should I put CE and FCC on the product page? I don't have these for ANY products in my shop, and Amazon or any other online shops also don't list CE / FCC. Probably because it's not even allowed to sell them without these, these are mandatory.
And why do you think the logos are not on the box or the product? They are both on the retail box as well as on the product AND the DoCs are included in the packaging as well.
Please don't assume anything you don't even know.
Besides, the ColUSB is not a DC adapter, it's a simple low-voltage power converter.
Yes, DC adapters can potentially be dangerous because these operate with 110 / 220V.
In Germany, these need additional safety tests and certifications, which are very expensive. That's the reason we designed a power converter and not a DC adapter. A low-voltage device operating at 5V without any battery included is NOT dangerous and doesn't need these safety tests.
The ColecoPlug retail box pictures in this thread and the pictures of the ColecoPlug in this thread do not have the CE and FCC logo, and that is why I mentioned the logo does not appear in the specs or pictures. Now if I order the actual finished product and it has the CE and FCC logo then that is real cool. I am just use to looking at pictures of adapters on Amazon and other websites that have those official safety logos on the product.
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It was mentioned earlier that the ColecoPlug is not UL listed which is an optional safety certification for the USA. However in this thread it has been mentioned that the ColecoPlug is CE safety approved for Europe and FCC approved. If that is true then why is the CE and FCC logo not appearing on the product specs on the official website and also why not list the CE and FCC logo on the retail box and/or plastic case of the ColecoPlug? That is a selling advantage to advertise the product as CE and FCC approved. Also all external DC adapters that get CE and FCC approval have the symbol placed somewhere on the product.
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That's correct, but these are then not following official specs then, as official specs say they should provide 5V if no communication between it and the device.
It's not uncommon for cheap products to not follow the specs properly.
Perhaps the specs for USB-C chargers changed again. I have seen some high-end models with all the fancy worldwide safety certifications only output zero voltage unless the connected device requests 5 volts DC or higher. This might have something to do with the DOE mandated energy efficiency level VI requirement in the United States on all external power adapters manufactured or imported into the United States starting in February of 2016. Outputting zero voltage when the product is not being used is much more efficient then outputting 5 volts or higher 24 x 7.
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Is this product now shipping?
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As posted in my previous post, only chargers that don't follow the official specs do that.
The proper ones have a fallback and provide 5V power (which is safe for any existing USB device) unless the device requests a different voltage.
So a good and proper charger is backward compatible - but that can't be said for all the cheap chinese ones (even a lot of normal chinese USB plugs are out of specs, sometimes only providing 4.5V... that's why we made a second revision of the ColUSB Plug that converts anything between 4 and 20V to a stable 5V first)
So the latest ColecoPlug being released well convert any DC voltage between 4 -20 to 5 volts DC. That is amazing. I guess you did that in case a USB-C charger malfunctions and outputs 20 volts DC instead of 5 volts DC.
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No, that's not the case. A proper fast charger / quickcharger (for example, the ones that come with Samsung phones) work like normal USB power supplies and provide 5V unless the device requests the higher voltage.
Of course, that's not necessarily the case with all of them (I know the ones from the GPD Win don't work), but AFAIK it's even part of the Qualcomm fast charge specs, so all these will work.
So in your experience the ones that do not work, it must be because they are not offering 5 volts, and instead sending 0 voltage. It makes since that some of these adapters would output zero voltage if no connection is detected. Why else would they not work? It has to be becuase the voltage is dropped from 5 to zero. The plug is the same size.
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The power supply never stops the charging - the battery controller is handling all that, and it's in the device.
Otherwise, all devices would overcharge and could catch fire if you use a dumb charger to charge, and that doesn't happen.
But the reason why some chargers with 5 different voltages do not work, is because the charger outputs 0 volts until the connected device requests a voltage level. There are advantages to having a charger that outputs 5 volts, 9 volts, 12 volts, 15 volts and 20 volts. One charger could be used for several different computers. And then the adapter on the USB-C cable for one computer system could request 12 volts, 9 volts for a different computer system, etc.
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Ahh, no, there are also dumb USB-C ports without any protocol. Those simply expect 5V power, without any handshake. That's what we did here (including a full USB-C controller would've increased the cost a lot).
That's why I mentioned that some quick-charge power supplies don't work. Some of them provide 5V if they are connected to a dumb device, but not all of them do that. So some quick-chargers don't work.
These quick-chargers are expensive anyways - and here you can use any cheap power supply for 2 - 5 EUR and it'll work.
However a USB-C charger needs to stop charging a battery when the battery on a electronic device is fully charged. If there are some USB-C chargers/adapters that 100% of the time output 5 volts DC and never receive a data signal to go to zero voltage, then the connected device would need to automacally disconnect the electrical circuit when the battery is fully charged.
Then it sounds like only USB-C chargers that offer only 5 volts DC well work since they are always on. Most multi-voltage USB-C chargers will not work with your ColecoPlug since the ColecoPlug well never tell the adapter to go from zero voltage to 5 volts DC.
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USB-C devices are more complicated for engineers when compared to standard power supplies that do not have handshaking communications issues. For example, I like the specs on this 65 watt USB-C power supply that has both Energy Efficiency Level VI and is also UL listed for $16.99 with free shipping. This 65 watt USB-C power adapter can output 0 volts, 5 volts, 9 volts, 12 volts, 15 volts, and 20 volts at up to 3.25amps. That is 5 different voltages that can be outputted over USB-C by the adapter (only one voltage requested can be sent at a time). The connected USB-C device over the data lines on the USB-C cable tells the power adapter to send either 5 volts DC, 9 volts DC, 12 volts DC, 15 volts DC, or 20 volts DC over the cable. Zero voltage is sent over the cable by the USB-C charger if the device does not request a voltage.
Now this ColecoPlug adapter that people are pre-ordering must have been designed to always request 5 volts DC from the USB-C power supply/charger when handshaking. Technically it’s possible to make USB-C cables with a miniature circuit board in the cable that requests what voltage is needed, however so far it’s always been the USB-C device that is connected to the cable that requests the proper DC voltage that the device needs and not the cable itself. So the ColecoPlug adapter instead of requesting 12 volts DC from the USB-C power supply and then down converting the voltage to 5 volts DC and -5 volts DC for the other pins, is instead requesting 5 volts DC from the USB-C power supply and then up converting with capacitors the 12 volts DC that is needed. I realize older models of USB-C power supply/chargers do not offer 5 different voltages and only send 5 volts DC, so that must be the reason why 5 volts DC was used on the ColecoPlug instead of 12 volts DC.
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Brief Coleco ADAM Memory Expander history
For the 1983 ColecoVision ADAM Family Computer System, Coleco in 1984 released a 64K memory expander to increase the computer’s memory from 80K to 144K. After Coleco stopped making videogame and computer systems in January 1985, soon after third party companies started making 64K and larger Coleco ADAM compatible memory expanders. 256k, then 512K, then 1MB, and then 2MB Coleco ADAM memory expanders started to appear on the market. Many different third party hardware developers had between 64K to 1MB memory expanders for the Coleco ADAM computer including E and T and Micro Innovations. As far as I am aware only Micro Innovations offered a 2MB memory expander for the Coleco ADAM in the late 80’s or early 90’s. In addition, 2MB expanders was the largest memory expander that was offered for the Coleco ADAM. However, 1MB and lower was more common to own. I never had the opportunity to own a 2MB memory expander, since I think those 2MB memory expanders were only offered for around a year. By the time I was ready to purchase one I found out from Micro Innovations that the 2MB memory expanders for the ADAM had been discontinued. I was told that certain ADAM computers had problems with 2MB memory expanders, and it is my understanding that the Coleco ADAM printer power supply on some peoples systems had problems powering all 8 SIPP chip modules when a system is already loaded with many expansion cards already. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s it was very rare to own a third party power supply for the Coleco ADAM computer system. Those that did own a third party 230 watt PC style power supply for the ADAM computer had plenty of power for a 2MB or larger memory expander.
The following is a picture of a 1MB E and T Memory expander that was upgraded to a 64MB memory expander that uses 4 X 16 SIMM modules (However the problem is it well not physically fit in a ADAM computer unless the memory card is made from scratch)
I had a 1MB E and T Memory Expander lying around that uses 4 SIPP modules. Since 30 pin SIMM modules are 100% electrically compatible, higher capacity, and cheaper in price. I installed 4 SIMM sockets on a E and T Memory Expander and then placed a total of 64MB of memory on the expander (4 x 16MB =64MB). However, I soon discovered that the modified card would not fit in the ADAM computer because of height and longer length issues of the SIMM sockets. I was able to remove 3 SIMM sockets from the expander and just barely was able to fit the modified expander in my ADAM computer with a very tight fit and the one 16MB SIMM module was registering when running software that accessed the memory expander. But the problem is I had to unplug everything and could not test the full capacity of the 16MB module since everything was too tight. The only way to get SIMM modules to work correctly on the ADAM is to make a memory expander from scratch, then there would not be a space issue since the printed circuit board could be made longer. The E and T memory expander was never designed for the SIMM modules and sockets, but if a memory expander was designed from scratch one could fit 64MB or more memory in their ADAM.
In fact one could design a brand new ADAM memory expander that uses a SDXC cards and SDXC cards are much faster than the ADAM computer. Plus with 32GB to 2TB SDXC cards one could turn off their ADAM computer and the data would still be on the SDXC card.
The following are before and after pictures of a modified E and T style memory expander with 64MB of memory installed (This is a example of a project that did not work out because of not enough physical space in the ADAM to fit all 4 SIMM sockets in the ADAM computer, one would have to design the memory expander from scratch to make it fit correctly).
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Ten years? I gather you are right, ironically, because you are wrong. There are moving parts on an SD card, so it may indeed have this short stated lifespan. Incidentally I swapped my Adam keyboard with one of the NOS Archer replacements that show up on eBay from time-to-time, the keyboard looks and functions much better than it had when I used the yellowed original.
A microSD card has no moving parts, the SD card has a lock switch to write protect data and yes sometimes that lock switch can wear out or go bad. However both microSD and SD cards are solid state devices and they have no moving parts to read and write data. So under ideal conditions they can last longer then 10 years.
QUOTE
"An SD card is a solid-state device. This means it has no moving parts in order to function. This is a big improvement over older portable storage devices."
https://computer.howstuffworks.com/secure-digital-memory-cards4.htm
QUOTE
"Data in an SD card is stored on a series of electronic components called NAND chips. These chips allow data to be written and stored on the SD card. As the chips have no moving parts, data can be transferred from the cards quickly, far exceeding the speeds available to CD or hard-drive media."
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I personally think that a drop in replacement for the DD Drive would have been the way to go with built in flash memory that connects to any PC USB port.
Drag and drop all disk and ddp images.
And when I say drop in replacement that it would use the internal connectors of the DD drive as well.
Cost effective?
I know I would pay $200 for that device if the bugs were worked out and the damn screens back light stayed on.
Maybe even a little more.
It beats Ebay gouging for limited original disk drives.
The problem with using the ADAMNET internal Digital Data Drive connectors is that you would be limited to 256K Digital Data Pack images only. If one were to change the operating system inside the ADAM then one could patch the internal DDP ADAMNET connectors to use 1.44MB or up to 32GB size images.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I always thought the ADAM Memory Console operating system using ADAMNET assigned 256K of storage to the Digital Data Drives. If the Digital Data Drives had the capability to communicate with ADAMNET and assign 320K or 1.44MB then the big question is why did Coleco not make the Digital Data Drives with the same ADAMNET cord that is used on the Coleco Disk Drives?
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Speaking of.
What is on the market now that I can use to replace my DD and/or Disk Drives so I can easily transfer my work to a real machine for testing.
I often wondered why there was never an ADAMNET hard drive/IDE interface designed by some 13 year old Chinese kid.
Since 2016 people have been purchasing the MicroFox Coleco ADAM microSD floppy emulator that emulates ADAMNET disk drives up to 1.44MB. This is better then any Disk Drive every made for the ADAM computer and since there is no moveable parts on SD it has the potential to last a decade or more.
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/276315-coleco-adam-microsd-floppy-emulator-user-review/
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I've given up after years of collecting various joysticks of varying quality. I bought one of those Tototek original Playstation to Genesis adapters.
Thanks for the info, I was not aware of the Sega compatible game controller adapter. Its pretty sad when one has to use a game controller designed for another videogame system with a adapter on the Genesis because no third party controller matches the quality of the original Sega Genesis controller. For now I well just use the original Sega brand game controller and perhaps in the future I may try a Sega compatible game controller adapter with a Playstation video game controller. I have never owned any generation of Sony's playstation. It sounds like the original Sony controller is good quality and as long as it works with all the Sega Genesis games that would be a perfect solution.
I wish there was more game controller adapters on the market. It would be ideal to find a high quality game controller and have the ability to use that game controller on many systems like ColecoVision, ATARI 2600, ATARI 5200, etc. Just buy the adapter one needs and stick with the same game controller that one is interested in.
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Even good USB-C-Cables can't always do rapid-charge - as that's a special feature that needs some extra traces (it works with 12V).
No need to get a quickcharge-cable.
BTW: Packaging has arrived.
Now I'm only waiting for the instructions manual as well as the PCBs. Both should arrive within the next few days
Neat looking professional box. I hope this ColecoVision power supply is a success once it is released.
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I never had a single problem with their customer service.
I am seriously unhappy that they ended up the way they did.
I promise you that it had nothing to do with the NES being better either.
You can only imagine how far Coleco would have gone with further generations of the ADAM.
As far as customer service was considered all you had to do was ask and I did.
I asked them to send me some internal copies of critical OS peeks and pokes so I could add them to my basic programs and they did.
It was not until the hackers guide to ADAM came out before I really got deep into the OS.
Your right about it had nothing to do about the NES being a slightly better videogame system. Both the ColecoVision and ADAM computer went out of production in January 1985. Coleco decided to exit the home computer and videogame business in January of 1985. The NES was not even released in North America until October 18th 1985, therefore that is proof that it had nothing to do with it. However Nintendo was smart, with Coleco out of the videogame business, then Nintendo stepped in to fill the void for high end videogame systems at the end of 1985.
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Spectravideo North America 120 volt power supply (Blue Chip model number 108-138)
I just purchased a Spectravideo USA/North America power supply (Blue Chip model number 108-138). This UL listed power supply was made for the Spectravideo SV-318 and SV-328. The only real difference between the Spectravideo European model number 318-201, is that the European model has a input of 220 volts at 50Hz (35 watts) and the USA/North American Spectravideo Blue Chip model number 108-138, has a input of 120 volts at 60Hz (36 watts). Both the USA/North America and European power supply outputs 16 volts AC at 0.8 amps and 9 volts AC at 1.5 amps. Therefore the only difference on the output of the adapters is that the European model outputs 50Hz and the USA/North America model outputs 60Hz. However since internally the Spectravideo computers convert the AC voltage to DC, the 50/60Hz issue is a non-issue and does not matter when it comes to the main computer itself. This means someone that purchased a Spectravideo computer in Europe can use the computer in North America if they buy the correct 120 volts 60Hz AC power supply, or a NTSC North America computer can be used in Europe if they buy the correct 220 volts 50Hz power supply.
The following is a picture of what the UL listed Spectravideo USA/North America power supply (Blue Chip model number 108-138) looks like. Both the European and USA/North America Spectravideo power supplies are unregulated power supplies. For example with no load on the circuit, the power supply was outputting around 18.24 volts AC and around 10.55 volts AC. However, this Spectravideo unregulated power supply puts out around 16 volts and 9 volts when under a load from the Spectravideo computer system. A combination of a special 4 pin power connector with dual AC output makes this power supply the most difficult or one of the most difficult power supplies to replace when it comes to classic 80’s computers.
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Did you try and start up a game of Ms. Pac-Man with the mode button held down on the controller?
Yes I did try and hold the mode button down at the start of the game to switch the third party controller into 3 button mode and for some reason I ended up having the same problem in Ms. Pacman using the 8 direction control pad. Some games also use the mode button during the game itself as a button function.
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And then there's Ms. Pac-Man, a game that seems to not get along with 6 button Genesis gamepads.
In the following thread, I mentioned that the 6 button Hyperkin Sega Genesis compatible controller does not work correctly with the Ms. Pacman game. “…when playing Ms. Pacman, especially during the start of the game, the controller eight directional pad would not respond to up or down actions. In addition, the original Sega controller worked perfectly fine during Ms. Pacman but so far I have not found a third party controller that works ok with Ms. Pacman.”
So I guess I have to either use the original 6 button Sega Genesis controller or original 3 button Sega Genesis controller with Ms. Pacman.
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Far as I know...NONE of the commercially released games ever required a 6-button controller. And the only games to really use those buttons were the fighting games. I use the 6-button because honestly it happens to be connected up to the Genesis and it works. But I will say that I also believe the 3-button to pretty much be perfect in most regards. It is comfortable for long gaming sessions and again, I've never had a 1st part 3-button controller die on me.
The following thread has a list of Sega Genesis games that use all 6 buttons or more than 3 buttons. What is interesting is that people are mentioning that with certain brands of 3rd party Sega Genesis controllers that certain games like Ms Pacman well not work correctly if it has 6 buttons. This is also what I experienced on the Hyperkin GN6 Sega Genesis controller with Ms Pacman. If there is a problem with many 6 button 3rd party Sega Genesis compatible controllers with game playability, then does anyone make a third party Sega Genesis compatible controller with 3 buttons instead of 6 buttons? All I see is the original Sega Genesis controller with 3 button option.
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/216133-6-button-games/
For some reasons I am very good at finding problems and bugs in products without even trying. Which results in hours and days of testing and researching to try and solve the issue. Everything is so time consuming anymore.
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I personally only use original 1st party Sega controllers with my Genesis systems. I find that the original 3-button controller is about the best more reliable controller pretty much ever made with a d-pad on it. I like using the 6-button more but I do think the original 3-button is the most reliable bar none. I've never gotten a bad used 1st party 3-button sega controller and I've got a lot of them. I've had 2 bad 6-button controllers. But they were the crappier Majesco era released versions that came with the model 3. They are thicker and just feel horrible to me to use. And they aren't aren't very reliable either. Not sure what fails in them as it isn't the cabling...but something on the main board within them.
Also I must be pretty lucky in that I can usually find 1st party sega 3-button controllers for about $4 locally and the 6-button version for between $4 - $8. I've not actually tried the hyperkin 6-button controller but I know that is all the retro stores around me will sell new.
Thanks everyone for all the useful information. At this time I have decided to only use the original new and used Sega Genesis controllers plus the spare Pioneer Laseractive Sega controllers that I own. It is my understanding that certain games use more then 3 buttons and require a 6 button Sega controller. So I might only purchase 6 button controllers in the future.
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The very best third-party controller right now is the Hyperkin you didnt like. FWIW the GN6 has been good for me so maybe you got a dud. Every other one (including Retro-bits current line) is total trash.
If you want something else wait for the licensed ones to come out or wait for the 8bitdo M30. At this point I wouldnt expect the licensed ones to ship before January even though they were supposed to be out last month.
I do not need a wireless Sega Genesis controller and prefer wired. However that is real cool that a wireless Sega Genesis controller is being released in white and black for $24.99 next year. If it ends up working good it should be a popular product.
https://www.amazon.com/8Bitdo-Wireless-Gamepad-Original-Genesis-Drive/dp/B07HB1XFQW?th=1
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Coleco ADAM microSD Floppy Emulator (user review)
in ColecoVision / Adam
Posted · Edited by HDTV1080P
Using SD cards is better then disk drives (Faster, more storage, and more reliable). The advantage of having two Coleco ADAM microSD Floppy Emulator’s, is that it saves time on media swaps when copying or accessing the media. Just like it’s nice to have two Disk Drives or two Digital Data Drives, it is also nice to have two SD drives.
You can always start out with buying one Coleco ADAM microSD Floppy Emulator, and then in the future you can purchase a second one as long as they are still being made years down the road. In the rare case that one were to break 10 years from now, having a second one is ideal as a spare to read the SD and microSD cards on the ADAM computer.
Coleco never used any copy protection technology on the ADAM or ColecoVision, which allowed consumers to make a fair use backup copy of any Coleco program purchased at the store. Other companies like Walter Software used copy protection for the ADAM computer in the later years. However some (actually many) Coleco supergames were designed to only run from Digital Data Pack. For example try making a backup copy of Buck Rodgers the Superagame from DDP to another right hand directly DDP, and the backup copy well work perfectly as long as Digital Data Drive #1 is used. However try copying that Buck Rodgers the Supergame to a Disk Drive or SD card and even though a perfect backup copy is made, the program well not run since it was designed to only run from a Digital Data Drive #1. Walter’s Software was able to modify all the Coleco supergames so that they would run from disk back in the mid 80’s. In late 1984 the latest Coleco games coming out for the ADAM were offered on Digital Data Pack and Disk, and Coleco started to make games so that they would run in any drive including Digital Data Drive #2 and Disk Drive #2 without any modification needed. It was mainly those first 1983 ADAM supergames that only ran from Digital Data Drive #1 since the game programmer never considered the game being ran in Digital Data Drive #2 or a Disk Drive until sometime in 1984.