p64 begins

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:53 pm

The P64--I'm still working on the name.
I'm back from the rocky horror convention in vegas where, in a rare moment of sobriety, I picked up a couple DTV units. (cali shops are too cool to carry them). Since I'm a little spent from my trip, today was the ideal time to start this. Lets just say this was a good day for quiet, indoor projects with lots of coffee and asprin.

lets hope my other forum lets me link a pic. let me know if it's broken.

issues:
video noise--it's pretty bad. I thought I had her grounded well enough, so maybe the power comming off the battery is dirty. Or maybe I picked a bad spot on the psone monitor to get 5v. and I never found a spot for that video ground...

keyboard--always on the lookout for a tiny ps/2 keyboard. if you know of one let me know. Also, can usb keyboards be converted to PS/2 just by using that adapter?
portable storage--c64 storage, that is the trick, isn't it? I may switch to one of the PAL units when they come out. (2mb onboard flash)

*o* · Post by ***o*** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:02 am

USB KEYBOARDS CAN BE CONVERTED USING AN ADAPTOR!!! AHHH CAPS LOCK!

thats better

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:45 pm

bad news, the itype2 usb keyboard/controller, and all usb keyboards will not work in ps/2 with just the usb to ps/2 converter (supplied with mice). (I checked first on the c64, and confirmed it on my PC. since it doesn't look too terribly complicated to sort out, I will keep looking for ways to use this keyboard.

(mainly because I can't think of another small keyboard solution, and this one has macro support)
macros are very good...
type 'load "$" 8,1' every time I boot my rear...

however the itype2's keyboard is a true USB keyboard (I'm typing this message with it) so for all those working on PC portables, it is your best option too.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:52 pm

I went to Gamestop today (where I got my Radica like two months ago or more), and after not seeing the DTV on the rack of plug-n-plays, I asked the guy. He looked somewhat shaken, a 16 year old asking about technology that predates everything in the store (except for the flashback, which they did still sell).

He said he had never seen the DTV sold there, so I left.

The hunt goes on, after Walmart also being a negative (I think I saw it there like 6 months ago, probably didnt), I fear I must resort to ebay, which will be a task as I'm not even supposed to be on the computer.

vb_master · Post by **vb_master** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:11 am

KBToys, they have a lot in stock.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 2:44 pm

The one in the Gamestop/Radioshack plaza in town closed down a while ago, I'll have to go the other end of the next town over. How much are they at KB?

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 3:04 pm

kb has them for $10-15 if they have it (call first)
toysrus has them for $20 also if they have it.

oddly the KB units are in pyramid shaped boxes while the toysrus version are in octagon shaped boxes...

one of the hidden games is the best on the unit. it's called minima reloaded. a cute little RPG that's nearly on par with dragon warrior 1 on NES. I played it for HOURS last night

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 3:05 pm

Hidden? So there are more than 30 games? How many more?

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 3:10 pm

that depends on your definition of "game"
there are a lot of eastereggs and hidden 'mini' games in the unit
but minima reloaded is the only one I looked at for more than a minute or two. (there look to be about 5-6 others, I haven't finished trying them yet)

there's also a 5-screen entropy scroller demo hidden in there...because no commodore is complete without a scroller demo.

aside from that there are hidden docs, pictures, etc.

some of them are directly in the easter egg faq, the others you discover along the way:
http://jledger.proboards19.com/index.cg ... 1104435234

minima reloaded is fantastic though. It has multiple background tunes, level advancement, cities/shops--nice game. I've never seen anything like it on c64. it's on par with a (lousy) nes game

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 6:53 pm

http://www.networktechinc.com/cgi-bin/k ... ps2-r.html
well, it solves my mini keyboard problem, but...
$125!?...they have to be kidding. I'll be breathing into a paper bag for the next hour.
that's more than my entire project costs.
I could probably buy a million chimps, breed them into a 'chuman' army and have them build me a mini ps/2 keyboard for that price

has anybody seen a cheaper usb-ps/2 solution (that isn't the worthless, tiny plug that comes with mice)? or better yet, just a small ps/2 keyboard.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 6:58 pm

Wow, thats a pretty penny, or uhh 12500 of em.

MM007 · Post by **MM007** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:06 pm

Maybe you could call it the SX64p.

The official "portable" commodore 64 was called the SX-64 (the one with dual disk drives was called the DX-64, though it is even rarer).

If you want to make fun of the PSX and n64, call it the pSX64.

Also, if you must have such a keyboard, buy one of those foldable plastic ones and rebuild it from that. They usually have a small solid area for the chip, and flexible traces. You could probably build your own tiny keyboard with it.

Unfortunately, the keyboard for the C-64 is a "PET" format, isn't it? It'd be different from normal modern keyboards anyway, right?

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:16 pm

nope, they'll work. the c64dtv has a slot for pure PC/AT or PS/2 keyboards. if I recall the original was actually compatable with them too. I seem to recall stumbling over a couple hacks to get them working on old hardware.

the reason I like the itype2 is that at about 3.5", it's smaller than the folding ones (even just the center segment of them) and it has macros. I'd kill to know what's in that $125 box. every time I search for others, I only get ps/2 into usb connectors.

vb_master · Post by **vb_master** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:18 pm

Yes you can put a keyboard and IEC port on. Jeri said you could when she started to design it.

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:14 am

well, I picked up a new keyboard. fits palm m500/m505 and came from the $0.99 store. I seriously doubt I'll be able to use it as it is now, but it has a handy little test point on the back of each of the keys. (backside of the board) with a long afternoon of soldering, it's thinkable that I may be able to connect it to whatever chip is in a ps/2 keyboard.

now I just have to steal one of those from the 'closet of garbage' at work...

and I'll need a smaller screen...