C16 / Plus 4 - another member of the family

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
    Quote from Retroscener

    Another issue. Unsure if it's the C16 core or my Chameleon settings. I installed the C16 core, the c16.rom file which I downloaded from the github link given is in the root directory on my SD card as instructed. But when I try boot the core, the monitor screen goes black with the monitor itself (not the chameleon) telling me on the screen "input not supported". I'm guessing it's a video display issue. It's not happening with my other emulator cores. I'm on the latest Chameleon 9p update.

    D64 support is more or less ready, so that will be coming soon.


    It sounds like your monitor doesn't like the 50Hz video output. Most of the other cores default to NTSC mode, so 60Hz rather than 50. Which cores have you tried?

    If you have NES, Megadrive or Master System cores installed, can you try changing them to PAL using the menus, and see if you get the same message?


    Also, just on the offchance that your monitor will tolerate 15KHz PAL video but not the scandoubled, version, try booting hte C16 core and then holding down the leftmost button on the Chameleon cartridge for a second or two - that will toggle the scandoubler on and off.

    Well I know the Victoria core works. Haven't got around to the other cores you've mentioned yet but no luck I'm afraid with the button press. Even tried switching to 60Hz and NTSC. Screen still switches off. Stupid monitor. Am I able to hook it up to my TV? Maybe someone can link me to a suitable cable.

    Quote from Retroscener

    Got it up and running. Fortunately my small TV has VGA input. The core is working fine on this. It’s perfect really as this TV is what I use for my retro systems anyway :)

    That's great news! The C16 keyboard has arrived safely, and basically already works fine out of the box - I just need to selectively disable the keyboard remapping on the Esc, shift and restore keys.

    That’s great. Looking forward to testing it myself, I may temporarily rip out my keyboard from my main C16 for now.


    Especially looking forward to D64 support. Is there or will there be support for a real disk drive eventually? I am thinking of buying the relevant cable here which adds that functionality. This would be very useful as I own a few Plus/4 disks. Shame there seems to be no way to add a physical cassette deck to the TC64 though (wondering If it's possible in the future). Cartridge (.crt) emulation support would also be great.


    This core has so much potential as it's the only FPGA solution I know of for this system. The 264 series are becoming more and more rarer and expensive now due to the chips having shorter lifespans, so this core is particularly important for future preservation. So far I'm very impressed 👌

    Quote from Retroscener

    Especially looking forward to D64 support. Is there or will there be support for a real disk drive eventually? I am thinking of buying the relevant cable here which adds that functionality. This would be very useful as I own a few Plus/4 disks.

    In theory that shouldn't be too difficult to add. I was trying to figure out how to test it, given that I don't have a C64 disk drive - but then I remembered reading in the manual that the Chameleon can be used as a standalone drive emulator: since I have both a V1 and V2 Chameleon, in theory I can use one as a diskdrive while testing the core on the other...


    Quote from Retroscener

    This core has so much potential as it's the only FPGA solution I know of for this system. The 264 series are becoming more and more rarer and expensive now due to the chips having shorter lifespans, so this core is particularly important for future preservation. So far I'm very impressed 👌

    I can't take any credit for the core itself - I merely ported to the TC64, but I agree it's a great core and I certainly have much more appreciation for the 264 series having ported and experimented with it.

    That’s great news, so close now. I had no idea that you could connect two chameleons together. I’m going to buy the cable anyway, as I plan to use a real drive as well as emulation for both the C64 and hopefully the C16. I can test it for you if still possible. The TC is also a nice FPGA alternative if my original systems breaks down. It’s also far more mobile.

    Well it seems I cannot purchase the Mini-IEC cable because I am in the UK due to new Brexit tax laws which means I need a minimum order of £135 which is around €159. The cable only costs €9.05. This is just one reason why I voted to remain.


    Anyone residing outside the UK willing to purchase it for me and then send it to my UK address if I transfer the money including all postage through PayPal?

    Quote from robinsonb5

    but then I remembered reading in the manual that the Chameleon can be used as a standalone drive emulator

    Yeah, I knew it! Was relative easy to implement (we just had to make sure all IEC pins could be both input and output). I predicted, one day that feature would become useful for somebody. Took 10 years before I got the feedback, but there you go ;-)


    I mean the TC has a IEC connector and a standalone power solution, would be kinda silly if it couldn't be used as a standalone drive.

    Quote from pwsoft

    I mean the TC has a IEC connector and a standalone power solution, would be kinda silly if it couldn't be used as a standalone drive.

    Sorry to break in , never noticed this, but this mean i can use the TCV2 safely on my +4 too as drive emulator (?), If so, very nice indeed!! :thumbup:

    Interesting did not know that, indeed something to play with :)

    Well it already took me some time to figure out that I could connect my old 1541

    And copy disks to an image anyway, the chameleon can only do a 1541 right? Not 1571, 1581 drives or images right?

    Quote from Jens

    Only 1541, right. However, that's cycle-accurate, so it will work with any software speeder, even using illegal opcodes in the CPU code.

    I have connected also the sd-iec to the serial bus of the chameleon and can use that for 1581 images tried geos (from the sd-iec) and that worked so not a real big thing for me. Probably the sd-iec is not cycle exact just gives the possibility to use bigger than 170Kb media. Although I do not even have or use floppies for either the vic20 or c16/plus4 it would be nice if other cores can use a real diskdrive (or even printers etc).

    Quote from Jens

    You should look into the demoscene of the 264 series - that's all d64 images :-)

    well d64 images I have enough or easy to find, But I will look indeed.
    I tried to say physical floppies the real black physical 5 1/4" things for the vic20 or c16/plus4 ;-)
    for the c64 I still have these and some that I did not back-up on an SD-card yet or have copy protection I did not
    manage to copy (yet)

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