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Supersoft HR-40(b) hi res graphics board

Thanks Andy, Ive have had random lock ups & no matter what i did I could not get that SS board to respond to any of the sys commands except the one to activate is. It refused to clear screen or do any of the things mentioned in the manual like horizontal lines etc, so it needs something done anyway. I will get this pet working first as standard first now and then look at getting the SS board working if its possible.
I will have to replace that connector on the ribbon cable that the pins came out of. I wonder if that was tghe problem with it not working because even prising it up carefully, one of th epins in the corner (near hot point) pulled out and then the slightrest touch of some of the others and they fell off. It was quite tight in there so maybe it had been glued in with superglue or something, while the other end came out smoothly and easily.
I will look among a box of random unmarked cbm size chips i have in case the ones i need are in there. If not, is it posible to obtain these again somewhere? I did go though a box of tapes and did find one "SS" branded one but it was named "papermate", ther was tapes "CBM Pet Pack" and there was one branded box and tape marked as "PET Light pen". I will have to sort through them all (most hand written labels) and catalogue everything thats in there.
 
Hi Andy, I put those two roms in you sent me and I am pleased to tell you my PET is now working again. I cant thank you enough for that. I might put that SuperSoft Hi-Res board back in some time but before I even consider that can you tell me what extra software is available to run on this board? Is there things like slide shows and games etc?
 
Hi Jon,

Great, glad it works now. The Only software I know of is the machine code and basic programs I have been using to produce the images on my Flickr page. I will send the code to Steve after I have catalogued it for inclusion with the project he has ongoing.

I wonder, based on the fact that you have a light pen and tablet, if there is software in one of your boxes that uses the SS board in combination with one of those items ?

You are welcome to whatever code I have but i guess it depends on what you want to do .... it’s nice to produce graphics one would not normally associate with the capabilities of the Commodore PET but it isn’t always straight forward. The Spirograph stuff is basic code so easy to adjust, but the animation stuff is more complex to create from scratch, though each animation i have shown is essentially a self contained piece of code than you can just load and run. I have the PETSD to load and save programs.

I am not aware of any games.

Andy
 
HI Andy,
Something still puzles me about the SS board and that is the chip that was soldered (piggy back) on UF8 chip. Its strange because it has a hole drilled through the middle of it. What was this chip and why the hole?

cheers
Jon
 

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Hi Jon

The SS board needs to get access to the video address lines and uses this piggy back chip to do so. It has been drilled out to stop it from working as an actual IC and becomes a simple piggy back chip.

Mine is covered over so can not compare the actual IC but the ribbon cable is soldered to the same pins as yours.

This looks entirely normal...

On the 40/80 Universal motherboards it piggy backs off the address lines from the CRTC chip.

Andy
 
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This probably warrants a new thread but wanted to keep it all self contained.

Steve Gray sent me one of his Multi-EditorROM + 40/80 Column Switcher boards which I built up and interfaced it to the Supersoft HR-40 high res graphics board so I can not only switch between 40 and 80 column configurations on a 8032 PET but also still use the high res graphics board. I also added the Paradox 64k add-on board for the large image animation routines.

I have updated my Flickr page with photos.... I had to use link wires from the 'BA' strip on the motherboard to the 40/80 column switcher board (makes it a little bit untidy) and also had to raise the height of the Supersoft board using a 24 pin DIL socket.

A custom EDIT rom was also made, merging the Supersoft HR rom with an Edit rom that will work with the business keyboard in 40 column mode.

This HR-40 board will not work properly in 80 column mode as a different configuration is required.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138413235@N02/with/47688489241/

Thanks to Steve for letting me have some of his boards to build up.... they are really cool.

http://www.6502.org/users/sjgray/projects/multied4080/index.html
 
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Just a small update, Steve suggested try also using the Comspec 40/80 clone board as an alternative solution ... using the multi edit rom part of the combo board too switch edit Roms.

I had to install a socket on the ss high res board and use a ribbon cable to link it to the Edit rom socket. Makes for a cleaner installation and Still a tight fit, but photo one is of the Comspec 40/80 clone board installed and photo two is with all boards installed.

FE8CDFCE-0CAC-4DB1-8EA0-2FCA954F587E.jpg

7F3B5BAE-DB2E-46A1-8AE5-0C93194634C5.jpg

My Flickr page has been updated for higher resolution photos ... it’s really nice to have the capability to switch between 40/80 columns and still use the high resolution board when I want.

Thanks to Steve again for the bare boards.
 
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Ral-Clan said:
Are Steve Gray's 40/80 switcher boards available for sale to the general public?
Click to expand...

The first batch of Comspec 40/80 clone boards had a small error which will be corrected in the next batch. If you just want a blank board please contact me directly... i have a few left. The Multi-EditROM 40/80 also has a couple small errors that will be fixed in the next run. I do not have any left. If you are interested in the next run please contact me. I am hoping to sell these boards and others online in the near future. Blank boards will be about $5-$10 CAD plus shipping. I am still deciding about selling assembled units. I guess, basically if you have interest in any of my boards please drop me a line so i can judge demand!
 
Final Post on this subject - I got hold of a couple of Steve's MultiRom Boards and replaced the Multi-Edit Rom 40/80 board which makes for a much cleaner installation. Then used the other one to create a custom character rom that works with the Supersoft board (had to invert all bits).

In this ROM I added the HAL PCG-6500 character Roms for Galaxians, Rallyx, Mole and Slot. I then converted the games to work on a BASIC 4 CRTC machine (originally they were for BASIC 1 & 2 versions).
See Mike's webpage for more information on the HAL PCG6500

http://mikenaberezny.com/hardware/pet-cbm/hal-pcg-6500-graphics-board/


My Flickr page has been updated with photos.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138413235@N02/

48081356932_cfc7700b04_o.jpg
 

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AndyG said:
Final Post on this subject - I got hold of a couple of Steve's MultiRom Boards and replaced the Multi-Edit Rom 40/80 board which makes for a much cleaner installation. Then used the other one to create a custom character rom that works with the Supersoft board (had to invert all bits).

In this ROM I added the HAL PCG-6500 character Roms for Galaxians, Rallyx, Mole and Slot. I then converted the games to work on a BASIC 4 CRTC machine (originally they were for BASIC 1 & 2 versions).
See Mike's webpage for more information on the HAL PCG6500

http://mikenaberezny.com/hardware/pet-cbm/hal-pcg-6500-graphics-board/


My Flickr page has been updated with photos.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138413235@N02/

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Very nice! Its amazing how you are able to adapt and combine different boards!
 
Thanks Steve.

I have also heavily patched the HAL PCG6500 Pac-Man game which dynamically changes the characters in the Rom as the game plays. Changes had to be made to how it displayed the various dynamic objects.

I therefore had to make a compromise character Rom but the game plays with these limitations.

At least you can see what it would have looked like. My Flickr page has been updated with a video of the demo play for those interested. It’s the best looking version I have seen on the PET. It now runs on Basic 4.0

I haven’t videoed me playing (I am not that good)
 
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Thanks ... I have patched the Pac-Man game further to include additional animation in the ghosts.

In particular, their movement including change in direction of their eyes.

A video has been uploaded to my Flickr account.

I will pass on the code to Steve G who will upload to the Supersoft GitHub project file where you can find the other games and high res drawing programmes. All work in Basic 4 only

The HAL PCG6500 was a very neat design .. shame the concept never got integrated into the PET
 
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Final post (I hope).

There is now a final patched version of the HAL PCG6500 PACMAN game with audio (Note: It is difficult trying to play the game and video at the same time, so I tried to show the various game functions rather than demonstrate my gameplay)

The ghosts eyes now move with the direction of movement (even after they have been eaten) and the moving objects do not cause the walls to flicker.

To replicate the bonus fruits, another 26 characters are required which are not available in the rom, so only the cherry has been used.

I have past the code to Steve G and hope it will be available on Github shortly.

My Flickr page has been updated with two new videos - one of the demo and one of actual gameplay (with sound).
 
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Just got a HR-80 installed in the PET 8032-SK I am working on and surprisingly it seems to work

Some oddities though

The sys hr,cl command works in that it clears the graphics screen, but throws up a syntax error (edit doh, RTFM, its C not CL)

The CRTC seems to be set in 'business' display with blank lines between each of the rows, I seem to remember this can be reset but I can't remember how

Anyway, it works !

Just need some snazzy programs now
 
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