Posts by jab76

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.

    I just wanted to chime in to say that the hassle of figuring this out (due to my ignorance how cartridges work on the Chameleon) and subsequently working with this also slightly annoys me and I would be grateful if this is somehow easier to work with.


    The game I'm currently playing with this approach is Lykia. You can also not overwrite a "save"/ROM which leads to a long list of saves...


    A game that maybe is an option to test with is Boxy Moxy. It's available on itch.io for free, although you might want to donate something or state that what you are using the game for if you decide not to donate. You only have to play the first level to see if it saves.

    You are aware that the minimig AGA core for TC64/TC64V2 supports the C64 keyboard when in cartridge mode? This was implemented quite some time ago. So you can use your joystick in port 2, use the C64 keyboard and a PS2 Mouse for the Amiga core. Keyboard works for various other cores aswell. Like VIC20 and AtariST core. Makes for a very practical setup.

    Yes, I am aware. And it's a great improvement. But using a C64 keyboard for Amiga use doesn't give me the same feeling as using a real Amiga keyboard though. That said, as I have moved my MiSTer from the desk to the shelf underneath the CRT to play arcade and console games, I will probably soon be playing The Shadows of Sergoth on the Minimig core of the Chameleon. It needs 2MB ram and my Amiga 500 doesn't have that (and no, I am not interested in raising it to 2MB ATM).


    I was just trying to give some insight in my usage owning both the Chameleon and the MiSTer to help decide what to get. At this moment it is a bit different I guess, because of the limited availability of the De-10 Nano.


    If I had to choose between the Chameleon and the MiSTer, I would choose the Chameleon anyday!

    I have both a TC64v2 and a MiSTer. The Chameleon is connected to a real C64 (with a C64 reloaded btw). I prefer the Chameleon for C64 use because it gives me more of that authentic feel because it's connected to the real deal. But I guess I could easily match that feeling by putting my Keyrah into a C64 case.

    I do like the video output of the Chameleon more than the MiSTer C64 core. It's indeed softer and nicer to look at on a LCD monitor. On a CRT I don't notice much difference.

    If you plan on getting a C64 reloaded at anyone time, you might be better off with a Chameleon because of the added benefits for a real C64.


    For Amiga use I prefer the MiSTer, but that's more because of convenience. I don't have a PS/2 keyboard connected to the Cameleon (part of the reason is that it sits in the way of the audio jack) and I have a Amiga 1200 case with a Keyrah connected to the MiSTer. But that's only for AGA use. For most Amiga stuff I use a real Amiga 500.


    Of course the MiSTer has more to offer. I like the Arcade cores and the console cores and the computer cores, especially the ao486 one.

    Hi Tobias,

    Thanks for the reply. That's too bad, but no big problem for me. Good to know that there isn't something that I could do to get an even better image than the TCv2 currently provides. I'm more than happy with my current setup for C64 gaming, which where I use the TCv2 for 99 percent of the time. It's only that I can compare it to the output of the Indivision ECS V2 on my Amiga 500 that I notice a slight inferior image. And I only use it for a rare AGA game that I want to play or a game that requires more than 1MB chip mem.

    Cheers!

    Sorry to necro this thread again.


    I also use a Benq BL702 monitor with my Chameleon 64 V2 and the picture that is shown with the default 800x600@50Hz resolution is very nice. But I also wish a 640x512 resolution would be available and work. Or maybe better yet, a working 1280x1024 resolution with the Benq. Because, although the native resolution of the Benq is 1280x1024 (as it reminds you every chance it gets), whenever I select this resolution, the monitor says that the signal is out of range. At 50Hz it does show an image, but also the out of range message. At 60Hz or higher the screen just stays black.


    Next to the Commodore 64 with the Chameleon, I have a Amiga 500 with the IndivisionECS V2 connected to another Benq BL702. I have the Indivision set to 640x512 and this fills the whole screen and gives a beautiful picture (I only have issues with setting up games with overscan properly, but that's another issue). I wish the screen would also be filled like this on the Chameleon.


    Does anyone have a suggestion how I could achieve this or why the monitor says it's out of range when I select a 1280x1024 resolution.

    OK here's a new core and a new OSD file to go with it. The core contains new boot code written in C, which should deal better with following cluster chains than the old ASM code - or at least be easier to debug if it's still not working correctly. There is also a new OSD file - the only difference between this and the previous version is that the location of the stack has changed.


    (The old OSD file will still work, but its stack overwrites the boot code (which is quite a bit larger than it used to be), so when the Chameleon is reset it will lock up and fail to reboot.)

    robinsonb5 I've tried this core and OSD file and I can confirm that now Fast RAM works for me. Also, Zeewolf 2 plays a lot faster.

    With this OSD file though, if I select scanlines, they do not appear to be working. I think they worked in one of the previous combinations, but I'm not sure.

    robinsonb5: I've flashed both cores to the Chameleon and did some testing with the memcheck file. The first core resulted in the same blue screen as before. With the second core all went black. I will try this again, but I haven't got the time right now.

    With the large osd file both resulted in the red screen and with the small osd file fast ram wasn't recognized.

    robinsonb5 : thank you for providing the other cores. I've tried them out, but with the non-working OSD_CA01.sys file. Both also result in a red screen.


    When I remove the non-working OSD_CA01.sys file both cores do show a blue screen, but of course, there's not much to see then.


    I am using the TCv2 in cartridge mode connected to a C64 Reloaded MK1 with the power supply that came with it. I've also tried it in stand alone mode powered through a laptop. There's no difference with the cartridge mode.

    Furthermore, I've tried unpacking the non-working OSD_CA01.sys file with another program (WinZip), but that made no difference.


    I've tried the two cores with the working OSD_CA01.sys file and then they work fine, but Workbench still doesn't show any fast RAM.

    I've also tried Zeewolf 2 like that, but that doesn't seem any quicker. Certainly not in cartridge mode. I cannot test this in stand alone mode very well, because I don't have a docking station and therefore cannot connect any joysticks.


    Finally, with these two cores the video settings aren't garbled like the first core. I've saved a configuration and when I load up that configuration with the first core first and then access the video settings, then they aren't garbled. Of course this is all with the working OSD_CA01.sys file.


    Weird that I get a red screen with the non-working OSD_CA01.sys file and others don't seem to.

    You're right, it didn't run as smooth as in the video. I'm not familiar with the game, so I didn't know how smooth it runs with more ram.

    robinsonb5 : Certainly.


    I've enabled fast RAM and booted into Workbench. Both 1.3 and 3.1 and with kick 1.3 and 3.1. I didn't notice anything not working. I did think that the memory was displayed weird though as I'd enabled fast RAM, but avail didn't show any (not even after a reset).


    Oh, and I played some Zeewolf 2 and that also seemed to work.


    The strange this was that after I had accessed the video settings and the screen had scrambled up and the system had frozen on me, I waited for about a whole minute and after that I could read the items in the list and change them. The rest also would work fine again. Only now the file browser was all garbled.

    I've managed to get a hold of a PS2 keyboard and now I can access the OSD and load up an adf with the MiniMig core. That all works great!


    However the VIDEO settings in the OSD all looks garbled. Is that a known issue? Does anyone else have this?


    btw, I'm using the OSD file that Tobias posted earlier (Cores ported to Chameleon V2), as I get a red screen when using the one from Retro Ramblings (Cores ported to Chameleon V2).

    I did just that of course, but forgot to mention it. Sorry. The one from retro ramblings is 68.91 kb and the other one is 57.36 kb. Hope that helps. Thanks!

    Using the sys file that Tobias posted did the trick. It also is different in size from the one from the zip file from retroramblings. Now to find a proper keyboard that works :)

    Thank you for your quick reply. I tried a different SD cart like you suggested, but that didn't make any difference. Also with the new .rbf file the same issue occurs.


    Maybe, I'm doing something wrong? I'm quite new to this ;)


    This is what I have done:

    I've put both the menu software and a kick.rom file in the root of the SD card.

    I have flashed the core in slot 1 (B) with the ChaCo software, while the TCv2 was connected to the C64 and the SD Card was removed. I didn't select any other options in the ChaCo software. After the flashing was done, I turned the TCv2 off.

    After turning on the power of the C64, I started the core with pressing B. If I go to the menu of cores, I see the core listed, but nothing happens when I press return.