28.Aug.2020
Amiga Future (Webseite)
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DIY projects 'AmigaKeyboardUSB' and 'amigakb': using Amiga keyboards on a PC
AmigaKeyboardUSB and amigakb are firmwares for the singleboard microcontrollers from Arduino that turn the SBC into an adapter that connects classic Amiga keyboards with an USB port on a modern computer.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 28. Aug. 2020, 22:33] [Comments: 0]
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27.Aug.2020
a1k.org (Webseite)
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Diagnosis tool: DiagROM 1.2.1
DiagROM is a diagnosis software which has to be burned into an EPROM and then replaces the regular Kickstart-ROM of an Amiga. The tool does not require any driver, IRQs or something like that and therefore should also run on only partly working computers performing hardware tests and identifying problems.
Additional to the "stable" version, the official website also provides "Daily Builds" which are daily updated but still can include bugs. DiagROM is free software, the source code is available on Github.
DiagROM 1.2.1 is the latest stable version of the tool which provides the following changes:
- 2020-07-16: WOW This is a long time since I updated this. And lets be honest. I have forgot what i have changed.
BUT one thing I just been thinking. I have bumped the versionnumber in the
wrong "end".. so as I am working on a new init-routine. I consider this is the "stable" one.
So I bump the serialnumber to 1.2.1. I have been too busy with hardware so I
must confess I haven't coded so much on DiagROM. I have made some minor bugfixes etc.
I must still warn that if a routine is experimental you cannot really trust the tests :)
Anyway in hope for the best in the future. the "daily" will for a while be a little "jumpy" while I
get the new init working. This should be useful meanwhile :)
- 2019-08-13: Long time since last time. New Stable.
Now Diskdrivetest should work on most machines.
Memchecks should now detect nonworking ram better.
Experimental CIA test added that should work on NTSC machines aswell. MIGHT give false
results on TOD-B tests. It will still say that IRQ is needed, this is not true :)
Added RGB Test.
and usual "bugfixes" pressing left mousebutton when chipmemdetect starts skips serial
output and makes startup faster. holding down left mousebutton while doing memscan at
start skips memtests. (good if it hangs during scan. known not found bug yet!)
- 2019-05-04: Updated to tested values if new CIA test that should be more correct.
Also in memoryedit mode (memtest) added pageup/down functions with Q and Z keys.
(or Amigastandard shift+cursor keys) also added official support to execute code
from current locaton using the X key. (this is very much not really useful for most
people)
- 2019-05-03: New experimental CIA test should be working. This I would add much more early but due to
some idiots having the totally wrong way of asking for a function I just simply ignored
the request of having a CIA test that works in NTSC mode aswell. Remember HOW you ask
for functions/features. Do not be a dick. Anyway. it now hopefully works. I have no
real NTSC machine to test on, so please test and report (bugreports@diagrom.com).
remember that result is dependent on current screenmode so OK can be on the PAL side
even on a NTSC machine.
- 2019-05-01: Added a new experimental CIA test. it says however IRQ is needed but it is a lie.
Will be changed when the old test is removed.
it will now show number of ticks intead. and if it is ok or not in both PAL and NTSC
modes. (still remember. pressing space in mainmenu swaps between PAL/NTSC mode on most
Amigas).
- 2019-01-26: Changed some in serial output so tests that are ok are shown in green.
and tests failing are shown in red.
also changed the screen if no mem was found at all that it now shows in rasterbars
bit 31->0 Light green is a working bit. dark green is a bad bit in memory.
Slowly going from Address $400 and up. (4 longwords up every flash).
where I now added a section of 4 parts:
This is a very fast (and not very reliable) memorytest of chipmem.
telling if it seems to have working ram in different blocks of 512k.
so 4 lines= 2MB of ram.
those tests are in realtime so poking around on databits will show you result
in realtime.. This is using Raster-magic coding C64 style. So flicker is normal.
- 2019-01-13: Whopsi. During my tests I disabled parts of the CIA test. now working again.
also changed somewhat at the init output doing chipram detection.
Now it shows binary output aswell. This made detecting MUCH slower.
But I found out that if I write the address being tested only once.
things got much faster. Now it takes longer when there are errors.
I have added (to TEST! might be removed anyday) a function that if you press
left mousebutton, serialoutput is temporary disabled making it go much faster.
- 2019-01-02: Changed memtest pattern so it is different for high/low word
- 2019-01-01: HAPPY NEW YEAR! changed serial output at startup when there
is biterrors. now also showing binary output.
Writes address only once, this dramatically also as a bonus
improves detectionspeed when memory is good. Slight
different coloroutput now. (might be changed)
- 2018-11-17: Added a RGB Test showing a R G and B bar. for the moment only in OCS, AGA will come.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 27. Aug. 2020, 22:29] [Comments: 0]
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27.Aug.2020
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Turrican: Limited new edition as "Anthologies" and "Collector's Editions"
The publisher "Strictly Limited Games" distributes old or so far only digitally available games as boxed editions including some "goodies" - in strictly limited quantities. In co-operation with Factor 5 now the Turrican games - at least those ones of which Factor 5 holds the rights - will be republished.
The games are divided into two "anthologies" which can be seperately purchased. Additionally, a "Collector's Edition" as well as an "Ultra Collector's Edition" are available - all for Nintendo Switch or Playstation 4.
At least the Mega-Drive and SNES versions of the games are also available as real cartridges for the original devices. Currently it is not clear if this will also apply to the Amiga games: At the moment the official webshop is often updated, new Turrican products are added.
For 35 Euro the "Turrican Anthology Vol. 1" includes the following games:
- Turrican (Amiga)
- Turrican 2 (Amiga)
- Super Turrican (SNES)
- Super Turrican Director’s Cut (SNES)
- Mega Turrican Score Attack (Mega Drive)
"Turrican Anthology Vol. 2" (available also for 35 Euro) includes:
- Turrican 3 (Amiga)
- Mega Turrican (Mega Drive)
- Mega Turrican Director’s Cut (Mega Drive)
- Super Turrican 2 (SNES)
- Super Turrican 1 Score Attack (SNES)
The "Collector's Edition" for Nintendo Switch or Playstation 4 costs 100 Euro:
- Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 Game for Playstation 4 or Nintendo Switch
- Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 Game for Playstation 4 or Nintendo Switch
- Collector’s box with magnetic latch
- Turrican Documentary (BluRay)
- Soundtrack
- Art Book
- Sticker Sheet
- 4 Acrylic Art Cards
- 2 Large reversible Posters
- Enamel Pin
- Signed Postcard (Print)
Finally the "Ultra Collector's Edition" can be purchased for 200 Euro:
- Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 Game for Nintendo Switch or PS4
- Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 Game for Nintendo Switch or PS 4
- Collector’s box with magnetic latch
- Turrican Amiga Outer Box
- 20 cm exclusive Turrican Figure
- Turrican Documentary (BluRay)
- 4 CD Soundtracks
- Art Book
- Sticker Sheet
- 4 Acrylic Art Cards
- Manual
- 4 Amiga Coaster
- 2 Large reversible Posters
- Acrylic Diorama
- Enamel Pin
- Signed Postcard (Print)
- Authentication Certificate
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 27. Aug. 2020, 21:59] [Comments: 0]
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27.Aug.2020
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Preview videos: 'RESHOOT PROXIMA 3' and 'Boss Machine'
The former "Amiga Joker" editor Richard Löwenstein is working on his third Shoot'em Up. After RESHOOT and RESHOOT R currently he creates the game "RESHOOT PROXIMA 3". On his Patreon site Löwenstein publishes updates and background information on the game, for example an official trailer which should have been released on the Gamescom.
For the Shoot'em Up "Boss Machine" there is a video showing one of the final bosses - currently without own intelligence. Kevin Saunders, the developer of the game, also has a Patreon site.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 27. Aug. 2020, 21:25] [Comments: 0]
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26.Aug.2020
Amiga Future (Webseite)
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PDF magazine: REV'n'GE 113 (Italian/English)
The PDF magazine REV'n'GE ("Retro Emulator Vision and Game") is available in Italian as well as in an English-language translation. REV'n'GE compares and reviews games and programs on vintage computers.
Among others the latest issue includes Amiga articles about the multi-directional shooter "Detector" and the multimedia software "Time Table History: Science and Innovation" (Amiga CDTV).
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 26. Aug. 2020, 19:43] [Comments: 0]
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25.Aug.2020
Amiga Future (Webseite)
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Open source design: EPROM adapter for A500 motherboards of revision 5
The Amiga 500 ROM Adapter allows the usage of EPROMs in an Amiga 500 of motherboard revision 5. Compared to previous versions of the mainbord, this generation has a bug which normally prevent using regular EPROMs. Additionally, some resistors are missing which can cause stability problems.
Some years ago a detailed description of the problem Henryk Richter supplied. Using the documents of 'RetroNynjah', published on Github, an adapter board can be built which removes the mentioned obstacles.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 25. Aug. 2020, 00:56] [Comments: 0]
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24.Aug.2020
amiga.org (Webseite)
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Demo scene: Interview with Bifat / The Electronic Knights
On amigalife.org interviews with memebers of the demo scene are published. Currently an interview with 'Bifat', member of the group 'The Electronic Knights', is online.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 24. Aug. 2020, 23:17] [Comments: 0]
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24.Aug.2020
Amiga Future (Webseite)
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UAE-based Amiga virus scanner for Unix systems
amiga-uae-virus-scan is a batch script for Unix systems which checks single files or complete directories for Amiga virus using FS-UAE. ADF images are supported as well. Some Amiga programs and libraries are required from the Aminet which the script could download.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 24. Aug. 2020, 00:16] [Comments: 0]
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24.Aug.2020
a1k.org (Webseite)
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Diagnosis software: Amiga Test Kit 1.12
Keir Fraser's "Amiga Test Kit" is a software-based solution for checking diverse components of an Amiga. The download archive includes a bootable disk image as well as an executable file which can be started from the harddrive.
"Amiga Test Kit" is free software. The source code is available on Github under a Public-Domain licence.
Direct download: AmigaTestKit-v1.12.zip (133 KB)
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 24. Aug. 2020, 00:06] [Comments: 0]
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23.Aug.2020
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Aminet uploads until 22.08.2020
The following packages have been added to Aminet until 22.08.2020:
redpillgamecreator.lha dev/misc 1.9M 68k Game Creator with AGA support
UAEGfxForOS4.lha driver/vid 5K OS4 UAEGfx/UltraHD for UAE/OS4
MCE.lha game/edit 2.9M 68k Multi-game Character Editor
MCE-MOS.lha game/edit 3.3M MOS Multi-game Character Editor
MCE-OS4.lha game/edit 3.4M OS4 Multi-game Character Editor
ZDOOM_AGA.lha game/shoot 3.2M 68k Amiga port of ZDOOM
ZDOOM_RTG.lha game/shoot 2.9M 68k Amiga port of ZDOOM
BackdPattGener.lha gfx/edit 41K 68k Create your own backdrop patt...
AmiVms.lha misc/emu 3.1M 68k Simulates OpenVMS commands
CopyMemAIO.lha util/boot 2K 68k CopyMem which autoselects bes...
UAETools.lha util/cli 3K 68k UAEVersion, UAEUptime (FIXED)...
CTLG2CT.lha util/conv 14K 68k Decompiles catalogs back into...
UberCassette.lha util/conv 407K MOS WAV to T64/UEF/TZX converter
zmakebas_mos.lha util/conv 63K MOS BASIC Text to ZX Spectrum/ZX8...
GEMImageDT.lha util/dtype 40K OS4 DataType for GEM pictures (IM...
ReportPlus.lha util/misc 594K 68k Multipurpose utility
ReportPlusMOS.lha util/misc 702K MOS Multipurpose utility
ReportPlus-OS4.lha util/misc 754K OS4 Multipurpose utility
newmeter.lha util/wb 17K 68k Shows free RAM and storage as...
(snx)
[News message: 23. Aug. 2020, 07:23] [Comments: 0]
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23.Aug.2020
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OS4Depot uploads until 22.08.2020
The following packages have been added to OS4Depot until 22.08.2020:
mce.lha gam/uti 3Mb 4.0 Multi-game Character Editor
claws-mail.lha net/ema 56Mb 4.1 An email client for AmiCygnix
claws-mail-src.lha net/ema 4Mb 4.1 Sources of Claws-Mail and relate...
gnumeric.lha off/spr 53Mb 4.1 A spreadsheet for AmiCygnix
gnumeric-src.lha off/spr 4Mb 4.1 Sources of the Gnumeric 1.10.17 ...
abiword.lha off/wor 54Mb 4.1 AbiWord 2.8.6 r4 for AmiCygnix
abiword-src.lha off/wor 7Mb 4.1 Sources of the AbiWord 2.8.6 r4 ...
reportplus.lha uti/mis 754kb 4.0 Multipurpose utility
(snx)
[News message: 23. Aug. 2020, 07:23] [Comments: 0]
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23.Aug.2020
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 22.08.2020
The following packages have been added to MorphOS-Storage until 22.08.2020:
SDLPoP_1.21.lha SDLPoP is an open-source port of Prince of Persi...
(snx)
[News message: 23. Aug. 2020, 07:23] [Comments: 0]
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23.Aug.2020
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WHDLoad: New packages until 22.08.2020
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 22.08.2020:
(snx)
[News message: 23. Aug. 2020, 07:23] [Comments: 0]
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22.Aug.2020
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Lemon Amiga Forum: Several user accounts hacked
In the English-language forum of "Lemon Amiga" obviously several user accounts have been hacked for advertising for certain versions of DOOM. The team of Lemon Amiga wrote:" Its going to take us a month to remove all of this crap manually, and also longer to change everybodies passwords and protect the site.
It seems this was a brute force attack on weak passwords "only". The server was not compromised. Apparently, many of these weak accounts had passwords the same as their user name. So it was not hard to open up the door. Other weak passwords included: "passsword", "123456", "pa55w0rd" etc."
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 22. Aug. 2020, 22:15] [Comments: 0]
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22.Aug.2020
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Game Construction Kit: RedPill 0.8
RedPill developed by Carlos Peris is a Game Construction Kit written in AmiBlitz2, which can help developing games of diverse genres - see our little review of two games. RedPill is compatible to AGA and ECS, the "player" requires 1 MB Chip as well as some Fast RAM.
Changes of version 0.8:
- Added action trigger Net Connect to connect to a remote machine and have a
multiplayer network game. One machine in server, the client needs to enter the server IP. In a LAN, just
need to type the internal IP. In different networks you can use external IP, probably port forwarding is
needed to find the target machine in the local LAN. REDPILL uses port 6666.
- Added condition trigger On Net Connection to detect when a connexion has been
established or if it is disconnected.
- Added condition trigger Is Net Remote to check if one player is remote or
local.
- Pong project has been updated to support two player network game
- Added action trigger Set Map Cols to activate/deactivate Object collisions.
- Added action trigger Norm Spd45 to adapt speed x and y when object is moving
in diagonal direction.
- Using Tooltype NTSC in Game icon (or -NTSC parameter in the CLI) will force
the game to be launched in NTSC mode.
- Screen width now can go from 320 to 256, to allow for fast ports from other
platforms.
- Input system has been simplified.
- Frame control redone again to avoid flickering issues and horizontal lines.
- Objects of type shot now follow better the direction of the objects
instantiating them.
- Small change in cursor color.
- Input fields for Object width and height.
- Input fields for HUD object pos X and Y.
- Speed on col trigger now works on angle motion objects.
- When Speed on col is negative does not stick the objects to the ground
anymore.
- In Settings screen, now it is possible to select the Light theme for REDPILL
user interface.
- FIX: When using grid slice the frame offsets will be assigned automatically
the grid offset.
- FIX: Follow object was always following object 0.
- FIX: Only Vars from page 1 were accessible in the HUD screen
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 22. Aug. 2020, 21:54] [Comments: 0]
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22.Aug.2020
Amigaworld.net (Forum)
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Legal dispute: Intellivision and Cloanto seeking for settlement
After Cloanto has taken legal action to protect the brand Amiga with regard to the console "Amico" developed by Intellivision (amiga-news.de reported) "this proceeding be suspended for 90 days to allow the parties to continue their settlement efforts" (PDF file).
(snx) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 22. Aug. 2020, 11:05] [Comments: 0]
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22.Aug.2020
a1k.org (Webseite)
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Adapter: SmallyMouse2 and "USB mouse module" support USB mice
Simon Inns' SmallyMouse2 uses a microcontroller to convert signals of common USB mice into a format which computers from the 1980s and early 1990s can "process". Additional to the Amiga also the Atari ST, Acorn Archimedes and BBC Micro are supported. All required data and documents for recreating the adapter, Inns has published under a free licence.
The "USB mouse module" distributed by Centurion Technologies is a commercial version of SmallyMouse2 which completely replaces the original mouse port of the A1200. Variants for the A1200 motherboard revisions 1D* and 2B are offered. The product description also explains how to install the adapter in the computer. The "USB mouse module" is available for about 34 Euro plus shipping.
Hint of the editors: Centurion explicitely has listed a version for the motherboard revision "1D*" and implies that the installation instruction in the product description - not including any soldering or mechanical changes at the A1200 motherboard - is valid for all previous revisions of the A1200. In our experience, only revision 1D4 has a seperate mechanical port (picture). In previous versions (Pictures: 1D1, 1D3) the mouse port is firmly attached to the motherboard - in our opinion soldering and machanical operations are required.
(cg) (Translation: dr)
[News message: 22. Aug. 2020, 00:48] [Comments: 0]
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