Commodore B Series SID Jukebox?
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Commodore B Series SID Jukebox? |
by Bill Degnan - 03/05/2016 08:11 |
 Commdoore B-128 reading off a uIEC SD card disk drive. Ah modern conveniences. Click for larger image.
 Directory listing of the SD card in the uIEC drive. These are files I use with my C-64, they are not compatible to run on the B-128, but the point was to make the connection. I was able to load and run 10TO8.PRG which re-assigns the drive number.
This thread will document my efforts to turn a Commodore B-128 into a SID jukebox. The B-128 has a SID chip just like the C-64 with the big difference being that it can run it 2x the speed, like a built-in SuperCPU. Step 1 SID Mass Storage: Today I got my B-128 to talk to a uIEC SD drive. Not sure if anyone has done this before using the Anderson Fast Bus. The docs say that it only works with a 1571 or 1581, but I guess the uIEC is compatible enough for the Fast Bus to access the drive and at run programs from it. This will allow me to store a lot of SID files! Plus, now I can work on the jukebox programming on my modern PC and transfer to the B-128 for execution vIA SD card. Without this I would be required to either write the software on the B-128 itself, or add a bunch of in-between steps to copy programming files to the IEEE bus using the Zoom Floppy. For mass storage I still will use the D9090 hard drive but they're a sketchy piece of hardware, even when new. For more info see Steve Gray's page about http://www.6502.org/users/sjgray/computer/cbm2/. Unfortunately the link he provides to Michau's CBM-II.COM site is dead, supposedly Michau was able to get the uIEC to work, or something like it. The Anderson Fast Bus System is documented here. NEXT, find a good SID file music player for the C64 and edit it to use the B-128 memory map. If possible find a player that is compatible with the SuperCPU. Reply |
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Vintage Computer Festival East 3.0 June 2006
Commodore B Series Prototypes July 2006
VOLSCAN - The first desktop computer with a GUI? Oct 2006
ROBOTS! - Will Robots Take Over? Nov 2006
Magnavox Mystery - a Computer, or? Jan 2007
The 1973 Williams Paddle Ball Arcade Computer Game Feb 2007
The Sperry UNIVAC 1219 Military Computer May 2007
VCF East 2007 - PET 30th Anniversary June/July 2007
The Electronic Brain August 2007
Community Memory and The People's Computer Company October 2007
Charles Babbage's Calculating Machine December 2007
Vintage Computing - A 1983 Perspective February 2008
Laptops and Portables May 2008
From Giant Brains to Hobby Computers - 1957 to 1977 August 2008
Historic Computer Magazines November 2008
World's Smallest Electronic Brain - Simon (1950) December 2008 - Feb 2009
Free Program Listings Spring 2009
Computer Music Summer 2009
Popular Electronics Jan/Feb 1975 - Altair 8800 Fall 2009
Early Microcomputer Mass Storage Summer 2010
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