@ferociousdesigns @limebar @ChristianBeach supposedly that's how some of the percussions happened on Adamski's Killer. SQ80 to a Yamaha drum machine as I recall from an interview he had done way back.

Reminds me also years ago, after getting an MPU-401 midi interface for my #apple2 computer, I did some experiments driving my Sequential Circuits Drumtraks like that, from melodic lines (but still having a four on the floor kick so it would be somewhat relatable)

The #FlaccidOstrich repository is now public! https://codeberg.org/hkzlab/Flaccid_Ostrich

The Flaccid Ostrich is a clone of #FloppyEmu, a floppy/smartport emulator for #apple2 and #Macintosh computers.

Thanks to #PCBWay for having sponsored the PCBs for this project!

I recreated the schematics to repair my original unit, and while I was at it, I decided to build a clone using THT technology, just in case someone wants some DIY.

EDIT: Sorry, had to pull this. See: https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads/flaccid-ostrich-floppy-emu-compatible-clone.5019/
It was more damageful to community than expected, which wasn't my intention.

Speaking of "collector" ghouls, I almost pissed my pants laughing when one very arrogant twat got scammed for the "original copy" of Akalabeth he kept vacuum-packed and hidden away instead of dumping the disk image.

The guy had paid 4,000 EUR for it. You can find the thread on Vogons. 😂

#RetroGaming #AppleII #Apple2 #Apple2Forever

Out of curiosity, to all the #Apple2 aficionados here, do we have open source smartport controllers for the Apple2, beside the SmartDisk][?

https://github.com/btb/SmartDiskII

#AppleII #hires #applesoft #basic #literateprogramming #apple2
REM HOW TO CALCULATE THE HIRES ADDRESS
REM GIVEN THE COORDINATE OF A PIXEL
https://mmphosis.netlify.app/hires/

Given that it seems to work fine as a Disk ][ P6A PROM replacement, here is my release of the GAL22V10 conversion of said PROM: https://codeberg.org/hkzlab/Apple_Disk-II_PROM_GAL_conversion

It's faster and smaller than an EPROM.

As usual, if you feel like it, throw me a few credits via Ko-Fi ☕. They REALLY help.

My intention would be to design a Disk ][ clone (yes. ANOTHER CLONE!) around this, but I want to do it after I understand if I can replace the 74LS323 with a '299 (not that it is a binding choice in the design: you can use the same footprint and just reprogram the PLD to support one or the other).

#apple2 #disk2

Wait... so the P6 ROM of the #Apple2 DiskII card can fit in a GAL22V10?
Without even having to play clever using the two remaining output pins as feedbacks?

Interesting. These chips are fast and small(ish, still 24 pins instead of the 20 of the original PROM).

I need to design an adapter to test this.

Just for the heck of it, I backported the "NTSC" artifact palette for HIRES mode available to #A2VGA users to #A2DVI.

I did have to study the TMDS format a bit to pull this off.
It is by no means an accurate representation of the NTSC composite artifacts, but I find it much more palatable than the stark, sharp pixels available in the standard HIRES rendering.

A matter of taste, I suppose.

Now, I just need to make this a selectable option in my branch.

#apple2

I know I've been rather silent in the last couple of days. But I've not been inactive!

If you don't know about them, then know that @davbucci made a couple of fantastic #interactivefiction games (and also soundtracks for them!) for several retro (and modern) computers: you can find them here: https://darwinne.itch.io/

I've been working on an Apple //e enhanced (or Delta, provided you put in a 65C02) port of them which you'll be hopefully able to try soon: 80 columns, whole game loaded in RAM, splash screen...

Here is a sneak peek of the current state of The Queen's Footsteps

#retrocomputing #apple2 #indie

I'd still love to find out more about this #Apple2 #AppleII card. It was made by Microvitec and I've heard it called "XRGB" or "MAC 2 Colour Card".
I've read it has a palette of 18 colours of which 16 can be selected. I have a disk but no documentation.
I'm on the verge of desoldering the chips and daughterboard and reverse-engineering it.

#Apple2 FujiNet Team here: Because YellowStone does not support Character-based SmartPort devices, it does not work with the network device on the FujiNet, and we can't recommend it for use with FujiNet, until its firmware is updated.

Thanks to the amazing help by @hkz, I could add the Apple 2 enhanced version of "I passi della regina", the Italian version of The Queen's Footsteps: http://davbucci.chez-alice.fr/index.php?argument=varie/queen/queen.inc This version is interesting because it exploits the 80 column mode and the additional memory, so the game does not need to be split in three parts. #retrocomputing #Apple2e #Apple2 #TextAdventure #Italian

After re-learning how input works on the Apple 2, I think it's all mostly working. :D The memory map is a mess, and it can't be BLOADed. So there's still some work to do. It's currently unclear if it's possible to get the step debugger working as I've never touched irq stuff on A2. I suspect I need to make a bunch of changes. #apple2 #retrocomputing #forth

Ok, I immediately went back to my old nonsense and just tried making an Apple ][ version of SLORTH! It was pretty easy to wire it up to some parts of the monitor ROM + cc65 stdlib, and write up a linker config. Kinda almost worked on the first try! The gets() function seems to just return EOF immediately though. Hrm... #apple2 #retrocomputing

:apple: Spreadsheets Apple II Style.

It is hard to remember a time when no one had a spreadsheet. Sure, you had big paper ledgers if you were an accountant. But most people just scribbled their math on note paper or, maybe, an engineering pad. [Christopher Drum] wanted to look at what the state of the art in 1978 spreadsheet technology could do. So he ran VisiCalc.

https://stonetools.ghost.io/visicalc-apple2/

#apple2 #visicalc #spreadsheet #apple #retro #computing #media #history #tech #news

BurgerDisk devlog: the enclosure

https://makertube.net/w/1xs42Yj6jzMabaYpB3VArp

Playing Silk Dust (https://darwinne.itch.io/silk-dust) on the Delta. Given that it is open source, I modified it so it doesn't need to be split into multiple parts, plus it works in 80 columns mode.

There is a certain pleasure in playing a game you hacked around with, typing on a keyboard you designed, connected to a computer you recovered from a 40y old magazine, reconstructed, hacked and improved upon.

Plus, it's a great adventure.
#interactivefiction #apple2 #homebrewcomputer

@davbucci English version also done.

I have added some input sanitizing code (that might be worth porting to the other Apple2 adventures) that handles the backspace/del keys, so their usage doesn't result in invalid commands.

I'll push everything to a public repo later, and add some description of the (very simple) resource format in the coming days.

Technically, 128k Apple2 are not really necessary: strings could be read from the floppy drive as needed. I imagine it would be unbearable though.

#interactivefiction #apple2 #retrocomputing

EDIT: repo up at https://codeberg.org/hkzlab/Iunnuh2_Apple2e (README minimal, can't be arsed to write today)

Aaand my #apple2 serial card pcb doesn’t work. Even worse, now the prototype doesn’t work. Reflowed, checked schematics.. all seems good. I guess back to drawing board and breadbord. 😩😩😩😩

It's January. Time to think about the next project to test (and potentially release, if working).
Need to buy components and produce the boards, so I picked 4 candidates from my lineup that are more or less ready for testing.

I'll go on with the two most voted ones.

Pad adapter is a modified version of one from @Btb (https://gitlab.com/btb1/nesii) that works fine, but some games like to ignore input if reads return FF (e.g. Maniac Mansion), rendering them unplayable.

The C64 SRAM Adapter is a variation I want to test with an additional latch to fix problems with some VICs.

The others are new projects!
#retrocomputing #c64 #apple2 #c16