C64 alive and kicking!

It's almost a year since my re-entry into the world of Commodore and buying an MMC Replay.
High hopes set for that particular project were only filled by say 40%.
The original goal of making a C64 game console with game saves and such was not achieved due to several reasons.
MMC Replay's (mmcr) freezer newer works. I don't know if it's supposed to work in mmcr mode or not due to the "joke of an" user manual that has very little info and only covers the surface of basic functions.
Last nail in the coffin is .d64 game support.
I estimate that 20% of d64 games work in either mmcr bios mode or with the help of TNT's MMC Browser.
8 and 16k cartridges work but nothing bigger and the .crt plug-in for MMC64 does not work on mmcr and I don't know if that would help anyway.
.t64 games all work with TNT's MMC Browser but the browser only works on mobile mmc cards and not on SD and I got a 4Gig SDhc for the mmcr project so this too is a bit of a setback since I have to change cards if I want to play .d64 or .t64 games. TNT is not going to release an updated version of MMC Browser to support mmcr.
The biggest problem I have whit t64 support is a question to Individual Computers WHY doesn't mmcr support t64 out of the box?

What all this achieves to do is re create the original C64 experience.
Getting a game to run is as good as playing a game. You get the same "rush/high" from both. Although the "vietnam flashbacks" of countless load and syntax errors and endless readjustment of the tape heads azimuth angle just to get a game to work are funny (and traumatic) memories from some 20 odd years ago but they were NOT what I was expecting when I got the mmcr...

Enough bitching and whining!

I looked for some different angles on solving the issues all mmcr user have. I found 2 solutions worthy of trying.
1541 Ultimate is an alternative to mmcr and probably beats it in many categories but there is no mention of .crt support and if your interested I'd look into .t64 support closer just so that there wont be any unwanted surprises.
The price of this device rules it out for me and I see this as an option for people who are looking for this type of device but don't yet have any.
I however already got one and don't want to start selling my mmcr just to solve the .d64 issue so I'm going for the 1541EMU solution.
It requires minimal financial investment from me and is rumored to work very well if not flawlessly.
All you need is a PC running DOS, the 1541EMU app, some 1541 rom images and a special cable.

I popped in my faw' electronics store Elfa and ordered the parts for the type 1 cable. I also ordered the parts for a "pot box". No that is NOT meant for drugs but to make a controller box for Mssiah that I just ordered, JEI!

So I'm hoping to come back whit some user experiences from my 3 new C64 projects:
Retro Replay+1541EMU.
Mssiah software cart.
C64 dual SID synth build project to have a fully functioning C64 game console and a dedicated C64 synthesizer/music station.

Stay tuned.

Worlds first Topfield SDI mod!

Yes folks it's true!
After 3 years of planning it's finally reality and my Topfield TF5100PVRt HDMI has a fully working SDI output.
As usual a full article is on its way with instructions on how you can do it too.
The instructions are most likely aplicable to other Topfield models equipped with HDMI like the tf500pvr model.

C64 will never die!

If you thought C64 is a museum relic from the 80's you were mistaken.
I've been drooling over some Commodore 64 add on cards for a couple of years now. Namely Retro Replay and MMC64 both by Individual Computers. Now the guys at IC have combined the 2 in to a single device called MMC Replay and the price is reduced.
I could not resist anymore, and so I finally ordered it and a clear blue cartridge to fit it in. I guess it payed of to wait. I also ordered a 4GB SDhc card for all my C64 games and software.

Like in the past C64 was the leading edge of technology and my C64 will be the first computer to have a solid state hard drive in my collection. Talk about keeping up with the times, baby!

I also have to make 2-3 cables to hook up my C64 using S-Video for the first time.
This requires 2 different cables for 2 different inputs. 1 with the normal mini-DIN "S-Video" connector and the other with BNC for use with my Lumagen HDQ. I'll make a regular composhit cable just incase I take my new Commodore "gaming console" with me and an S-Video input is not guaranteed.
I'll try to write a Retroruuvaus article once I have the hardware in place.

Cat6 all the way

I got all the network wiring done. Now I have dedicated cat6 lines for my xeox media center, wife's laptop, Topfield PVR with NSLU2 and Lumagen's com port with rj45 adapters :D
The recessed wall sockets came out nice, they look like someone who actually knows what their doing installed them.
MediaLounge has HDMI sockets but I haven't seen any HDMI cable for sale but this is giving me ideas... maybe I'll run HDMI in side the walls.
The antenna outlet for the Topfield is also installed. Now I only need to replace the "wire hack" in the living room with a real chainable antenna socket and make the whole installation look professional.

OK! OK! U got me!

I confess!
I have a life.
Yes! I know. It's shocking and disappointing to others but hey what can I say. I have a wife, 2 kids and a new house.
Time to update this site is non existing. I barely have time for the mandatory projects that would end up on this site. No time to fiddle. That's the state of affairs at this point in time.
I'll try to set up a system so that I can write stories and add pictures from work if I have a slow day, like today.
There are a couple of interesting things in the "back log" that I could and try to post a story on.
Stay tuned.

Don't sweat the Technics

A friend bought 2 old but working Technics SL 1200 mk2 turntables that I promised to check out/fix.
The units are OLD. I haven't decoded the serial number but I estimate 15-20 years. There is a repair date sticker on the bottom of one unit from 1994.
The units have taken some abuse and are missing items that they should not if some one had cared for them.
The biggest defect is a bent tone arm on 1 unit. All the rest is basically normal wear, burnt stylus lamps, loose screws and just plain filth allover and in the units.
A complete overhaul is in order and I'll write a report on that when the project takes off.

In our next episode...

I bought a new dvd player the OPPO DV-970HD http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd.html
To finally get all video processing done by my Lumagen video processor.
I'm having problems with 480i it seems to loose resolution at some point. Avia's 5MHz test is perfect but 6,75MHz is blank.
I promise to write a test report here once I complete all testing.

I also changed my Topfield pvr 5100 to the new pvr5100 hdmi.
As a quick report I can say that image quality is better with HDMI but 480i or 576i are not supported but there is something wrong with the white and black levels resulting from PC and Video level's being somehow wrong.
I promise to write a report on this too.

Panasonic ae700 troubles are gone

YES the Germans finally managed to fix my projector.
It only took 4 months to get it back :) GOD DAMN IT!

"Well was it worth it?" U ask...
Simply put: YES!

I had my fears and doubts but when I opened the box and read the service order, in German of course, I was delighted!
They changed the electronics or repaired them AND replaced the "optical block" witch means NEW LCD panels!!!
Basically the only things not changed were the optics, lamp and the enclosure so you could say its a brand new projector. JIPPII!...I think.
Hoping for the best and fearing the worst I tested my "New" 700 and to my eyes it displayed perfect convergence, or at least very close and A LOT better than the "old one" had!! JIPPII INDEED!!!
The little testing I could do on my own it seemed that the convergence of the 3 lcd panels was indeed perfect while no lens shifting was used.
Using lens sifting resulted in convergence errors but in a very little degree and lowering the projector to be right behind your head and eliminate the need for lense shifing would not be a convenient solution so a compromise must be made BUT this is not an issue since the picture is still a LOT sharper than it was before the repair.

I'm very pleased! Now I can say that I'm truly happy with the projectors picture.
I like it sharp as a razor no "film like" smoothness or any blur of that sort.

I don't have any comparison pictures I'm afraid so you just have to take my word for it.

Trouble in paradice

My Panasonic pt-ae700e projector is suffering from bad "polarizators?" the picture is so bad that it has to be sent in for immediate repair. Luckily I bought this unit from Germany where they have a 2 year warranty and not 1 like in Finland. Local Panasonic repair tech estimated the repair to cost in the 400-600€ region depending how many and what type of polarizators were broken. That's insane! The units "street value" is les than 1000€! We'll have to wait and see what happens and how long it takes to get a working unit back. I'll ad pictures of the error when I take them.

Read more...
http://testi-3.blogspot.com/2006/12/panasonic-ae700-troubles.html

Sun Ultra 5 for dumb ass's

Today I got my hands on the Ultra 5.
It's a 1999 Ultra Sparc 2i 366MHz 256L2 CPU with 2x128MB memory, integrated ATI display adapter and Sun type 6 keyboard & mouse.
The first thing that astonished me was how clean it is. There is NO dust in side it, none. Not even on the fan blades or in the power supply! I have no idea if this is a spare unit that has newer ben used or used in a "clean room" type environment.
I have to check if any of my memory modules work with this thing. I quickly checked eBay for a 400MHz 2MB L2 CPU but the prices where too high for an 0 budget machine.
I quickly tried what the machine does when powered.
Hawing 0 experience whit Sun systems it's like using a computer for the first time or changing to a Mac. I'll have to look for some type of getting started guide or manual.
I don't like the totally text based non graphic setup program. the "bios" is interesting and appears to be a mini OS in itself but I just hate that it's like using DOS whit out 4dos or colors. Even a Alpha BIOS setup is more graphic but offers les help for the user.
Lets see what I can find and how I get past the network boot loop the Ultra 5 is in after I reset the setup config to factory defaults.
Read more...
http://testi-3.blogspot.com/2006/11/tears-of-sun.html

Sun Ultra 5 confirmed

Today it was confirmed that I'll get a Sun Ultra 5 workstation to my collection.
Not shurre if the keyboard and mouse are included but we'll find out on monday.
Stay tuned...
http://testi-3.blogspot.com/2006/11/tears-of-sun.html

Nice additions to my collection

Lisp machine (LispM)
This would be an interesting addition to my collection. An add in boards for SUN servers (UX-1200) interest me the most because you can get spares for the host server system and wouldn't have to worry about component failure and how to fix it like whit "real" Lisp Machine systems. You also can have as many Lisp Machines in the server as you have expansion slots for the boards.
I doubt that this project will ever be realized since all things LispM are wary rare and sought after by Lisp enthusiasts and hardware collectors.
Check out Wikipedia for more info on Lisp Machines and this site http://fare.tunes.org/LispM.html the reason I decided to do Testi3 in english.

Alpha laptop.
Self explanatory.

Alpha EV68 or EV7 system.
Would be nice to see how these 1GHz and above Alphas perform.

Interesting projects:

Abit BH6 whit Powerleap adapter.
I think you can get something like a 1GHz+ PIII in there.

Xbox FTP server.
Linux with GLFTPD ftp server in the Xbox.

Cluster server.
I do have those 3 dual pPRO servers and I'd like to use them for something.

Server basement.
I want to use my collection for something else than decoration and that means using them somewhere else then the living quarters. 1Gb LAN is a must, so I can use 100Mb NIC teams/bridges.

PL5000 case window mod.
That server is so full of blinking lights and cool stuff that a window is a MUST. I even have a spare case door to cannibalize for this project.

Pentium PRO "coin" collection.
I've been thinking about gathering every kind of pPRO and making a display case, like for coins. That BIG golden core is so cool!

We are go!

Ok, I figured out a way to make this blogging suite my purposes.
I'm stil learning and this site is under constant development.
I hope to keep the momentum going so that this site takes of and might be of interest to other like minded people.

Blogging! WTF is blogging?

It has been my intention to build my own web site, dedicated to my hardware tinkering hobby/lifestyle for at least the past 5-6 years. Maintaining a "real" web page whit out the help of some service is too much of a bother for me and the past 3 attempts to get Testi3 of the ground have failed due to creative differences whit my web designer ;) Now this blogging business looks like it might do the trick, seams easy enough and not too high maintenance and does not involve any coding so I'll give it a go.