Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

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beamrider
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Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by beamrider »

Just come across this which could fulfill all your needs, seems to do the lot..

Looks impressive, I might very well order one myself...

http://www.manosoft.it/
16KVIC20
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Re: Datasette Questions

Post by 16KVIC20 »

I would always recommend the beige VIC 20/C64 version over the black C16/Plus 4 version with adapter. Not only is it the authentic item, but also the adapter is a bit of a weak spot reliability wise.

The secret is getting the tape heads adjusted correctly. I don't know of a VIC 20 program for that, but there is a C64 one. Since adjusting mine, I have not had a single error, ever.
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Re: Datasette Questions

Post by highinfidelity »

beamrider wrote:Just come across this which could fulfill all your needs, seems to do the lot..

Looks impressive, I might very well order one myself...

http://www.manosoft.it/
Please pardon my ignorance, but isn't this indeed a new achievement?

I remember participating into some threads about loading .tap files on real hardware and the best option so far were some experimental .tap to .wav converters that worked so-and-so 50% of the times, if I recall correctly.

This "Princess" gizmo seems to perform that specific task in a very simple and straightforward way, by reading the .tap files directly from an SD memory, isn't it? :shock:
GOD is REAL. Unless declared DOUBLE PRECISION.
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beamrider
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Re: Datasette Questions

Post by beamrider »

Yes, I was a little surprised by the lack of interest - perhaps it merits its own thread under hardware.

"The first SD2IEC in the world with TAP support INCLUDED! "
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Kweepa
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Re: Datasette Questions

Post by Kweepa »

Awesome!
Looks like a Christmas present to me!
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orion70
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Re: Datasette Questions

Post by orion70 »

I just bought one, and must say that although I'm more for the original experience, it works perfectly.
It's a bit tricky because you issue the proper OPEN command for the TAP file, then you have five seconds to type LOAD and hit return and push the PLAY button, which is an arcade game by itself :D .
And yes, the magic box has a PLAY button, you can hear the sound of the program loading, adjust the volume, and also write real tapes from TAPs and vice versa!
Read the manual and grab this toy!
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Kweepa
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Re: Datasette Questions

Post by Kweepa »

Is it easy to make a real disk from a d64 with this?
I would love to make a disk of Doom. I still haven't played on original hardware.
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highinfidelity
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Re: Datasette Questions

Post by highinfidelity »

Orion70, what about splitting these late posts into a topic of their own? Looks like a lot of people has searched for something like this lately, myself included. I'm quite amazed that this important news came out just as a hijack of a thread gone off-topic, isn't it?

The 5 second thing is not clever at all. Does it look like one of those details that can be eventually fixed through a new firmware?

Also, aesthetics are unfortunately questionable IMHO. I like well designed things with a full retro look like the FE3. This one looks like as the VIC20 had a car accident with an Arduino. :?

I'm also surprised by the fact that the maker did nothing to advertise it here. But as I see that it's made in Italy - the least enterprising country of modern times - perhaps I'm not *that* much surprised anymore.
GOD is REAL. Unless declared DOUBLE PRECISION.
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orion70
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Re: Datasette Questions

Post by orion70 »

highinfidelity wrote:Orion70, what about splitting these late posts into a topic of their own? Looks like a lot of people has searched for something like this lately, myself included. I'm quite amazed that this important news came out just as a hijack of a thread gone off-topic, isn't it?
Done. I've also moved the topic to the Hardware and Tech section, which is where the FE3 and Megacart were discussed in the first place.
highinfidelity wrote:The 5 second thing is not clever at all. Does it look like one of those details that can be eventually fixed through a new firmware?
Yes, but I've received it only a few days ago, and didn't update the firmware yet. Maybe this was already fixed there, I don't know.
highinfidelity wrote:Also, aesthetics are unfortunately questionable IMHO. I like well designed things with a full retro look like the FE3. This one looks like as the VIC20 had a car accident with an Arduino. :?
De gustibus non est disputandum :). At least, it was an effort to produce a professional looking device, and it's sturdier than most other IEC devices (all-metal case). I'd have opted for a more retro dress, faux-wood or something.
highinfidelity wrote:I'm also surprised by the fact that the maker did nothing to advertise it here. But as I see that it's made in Italy - the least enterprising country of modern times - perhaps I'm not *that* much surprised anymore.
That's absolutely true. I can't understand why the producer, who really made something, and made it robust, not so expensive, and quickly delivered, didn't spread the word in the vast retro communities over the internet.
It's like being the first country in the ranking of UN World Heritage Sites and ignore tourism as a source of income... oh well...
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Kweepa
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by Kweepa »

I love the look, so yeah, to each his own. :)

As for advertising, I suspect he's making them as quickly as he can...? Maybe he doesn't need to advertise. I'm sure he gets a lot of orders from C64 owners!
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orion70
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by orion70 »

Agree, I tend to forget how many potential customers are out there owning a C64 :).
To answer your question, I don't think you can produce a real disk out of a D64 with this device. For this purpose, I use an old MMC64, of course coupled with a real C64 and a 1541. There's a special plugin called D64 writer, and I use it both with VIC and C64 disk images to produce real disks.
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by hawui1 »

Hi All,

I'm the person that designed the additional electronic and the firmware portion that handles TAP file in the C64SD Princess. I read your comments and yes.. you're right.. sometimes we're too inclined to the understatement :D .. I also read about the "5 seconds thing".. actually it's not necessary for you to deal with it if you use CBMFileBrowser, just launch FB, select your TAP file and FB will do the rest. OPEN statement is there just in case there's a protected program that is so picky that it doesn't run unless your Commodore box is completely clean when you start to load, we found two cases in all of our tests on C64 but we literally tested thousands of tapes. In all of other cases you can easily rely on FB to select/launch your TAP file.

For what concerns .D64 disk creation Orion70 is correct, you can't produce a real disk out of a D64 with C64SD. C64SD is an SD2IEC plus tape emulation/grabbing.

If there are questions about the card I'll be more than happy to answer. :wink:
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by orion70 »

Hello Hawui1, and welcome to the friendly forum :). Thank you for writing here. First of all, congratulations for this wonderful achievement. I don't know if the device is selling much even without advertising. Hope so. Original tapes grow older, more and more become unreadable, so this toy is a giant leap towards the preservation of all VIC software. I didn't realize that File Browser can directly load TAP files, I'll try as soon as I get back home tonight.

Just out of curiosity, are you Italian too?
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by hawui1 »

yes, I'm italian too :wink:
yesterday evening reading the comment about the "5 seconds" I had an idea on how to get rid of it, so I made a change in the firmware and it seems to be working quite well, it will go through our usual sequence of tests and if everything looks ok it will be released. This way even using the OPEN command the card will wait till LOAD command is issued on Commodore box before starting to playback TAP content.

For what concerns the tapes yes, they're getting very very old and actually, the ones that were not properly stored are, most likely, already damaged. Of course the grabber can't do miracles but from our tests seems to be quite effective. We've to say also that many of the datassette C2N around are no longer working reliably, best ones, to grab cassette content, are the black ones (C2N-1531) sold with Commodore 264 computer series (C16,C116,Plus/4 etc) because they're "younger" and they have better internal circuitry, this makes usually a great deal of difference. Then there is the (in)famous azimuth setup.

One interesting thing is that for what concerns grabbing the card is a sort of "standalone" in the sense that any Commodore computer can be used to grab the content of cassettes built for any other Commodore.. In other words, for example, you can use a VIC-20 to grab cassettes created for C16, Plus-4 or C64. Of course the .TAP file created will work only on the target machine the tape was created for, but if you have C64 cassettes and you own a VIC you can grab the content of C64 cassette to a tap file, copy the TAP file to your PC and then play the games on the VICE emulator for example..
this could be useful in some situations.


With the "mastering" function then, you can write back the content of a .TAP to a real cassette so, if your original is no longer working, there are good chances you can bring it back to life. Of course this will work only if the tape in your original cassette is not physically damaged. This is however the case, most of the times, tapes are dying because of phenomena like leak of magnetic intensity due to heating/aging, or inter-spiral magnetic transfer.

If you've questions or suggestions you can contact me here or use the address hawui1 at hotmail.com
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by orion70 »

Thanks again. I've tried with the unexpanded VIC loading tap files via CBM File Browser, and works flawlessly, to the point that wife had to shout at me because the dinner was getting cold :D .

I can't wait to create a tap from a real tape.. Will list my cassettes here soon, maybe I have some unpublished ones, who knows?
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