Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

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Kweepa
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by Kweepa »

Serial number #53 arrived this morning, just in time for Christmas!
With it I was finally able to play Doom on real hardware. :)
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majikeyric
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by majikeyric »

Arf, I'm still waiting mine :lol:
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beamrider
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by beamrider »

s/n: 00048 sitting on the desk here, unfortunately I haven't had time to test it yet. Hopefully, tomorrow..
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joshuadenmark
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by joshuadenmark »

Has had the model without tap. support for a couple of years and it works like a charm, can recommend this beauty 100 %
Kind regards, Peter.
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orion70
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by orion70 »

Hi there, reviving the thread because I can't figure out how to grab a cassette. Following the Princess manual, I connect the Datassette, put the cassette inside, and issue OPEN15,8,15,”XF2:NAME.TAP”:CLOSE15. It should then flash the blue LED, the the red one when PLAY is pressed. Nothing happens, but the red LED flashes instead, as if an error was encountered. I unplugged other daisy-chained devices (notably the printer) before the attempt.
Any suggestion?
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majikeyric
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by majikeyric »

No suggestion yet but I received mine today (serial number:54) :)
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orion70
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by orion70 »

Great, glad for you. So please try grabbing a cassette into a tap file, and tell me if you succeed at least in beginning the process... TIA!
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beamrider
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by beamrider »

It worked for me - I did have to type "close 15" on a separate line though.
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Jeff-20
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by Jeff-20 »

I'm looking at the C64SD V3.0 Princess. Do I need to get the "Universal Kit" to use this with my VIC?
High Scores, Links, and Jeff's Basic Games page.
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hawui1
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by hawui1 »

Nope Jeff,
it's not necessary that you buy the universal kit, unless you plan to use the Princess with other CBM 8bit computers in the future (C16, Plus-4, C128 etc)..
Once you have the card you'll be able to plug it behind your VIC with no additional cables. The base kit comes also with a small adapter needed to connect the datassette on the back of the Princess so that you can use it in "pass-through" mode without having to remove the card and allowing you to create your own cassettes from .TAP files or to dump your originals cassettes content to a .TAP file. Keep into account that with VIC and Princess you'll be able to master or dump any tape belonging also to other Commodore computers (like C64, Plus-4, C16 etc..) but of course not to load them into your original hardware (you can use Commodore emulators on your PC anyway with these files)

I suggest you to have a look to the manual here:

http://www.manosoft.it/wp-content/uploa ... .9-ENG.pdf

But in case of any technical question you can also reach me at info-eng at manosoft.it or using hawui1 at hotmail.com (change "at" with @ of course)
Last edited by hawui1 on Sun Jan 11, 2015 7:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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hawui1
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by hawui1 »

OPEN15,8,15,”XF2:NAME.TAP”:CLOSE15
If the red led flashes after sending this statement it could be because:

1 - You still have the old version of the Firmware that did not support XF2 command (here please make sure you've the newest one=version F before going any further)
2 - the SD card is write protected
3 - SD card space is exhausted
4 - a file named NAME.TAP already exists on SD card
5 - SD card is not (fully?) inserted into the slot
6 - SD Card is not formatted or not formatted with FAT32 filesystem

Firmware is available here:

http://www.manosoft.it/?page_id=1050

Download the file labelled as: Latest firmware C64SD V3 Princess – download – note: 0.10.3.F (date 17 Dec 2014) and follow the instructions to carry out the upgrade.

If you want to discover why the error happened, in the manual there is a fragment of code you can run to see exactly what the error code and error description are

The above statement can be given as single command unless NAME.TAP is so long you cannot fit the whole command inside 4 lines in the screen.
In case you would like to shorten troubleshooting path however you can also try to use the VIC-MENU program that is making all the process automatic. VIC-MENU program is available in the package downloadable from manosoft.it site. Grabbing using the menu works (for all Commodore machines) essentially as visible in this video

http://www.commodore16.com/additional-g ... -princess/

In case of any further issue if you wish you can contact us at the above email addressee (see at the end of previous post) and we will sort it out. If you prefer you can continue to post here and I'll try to followup asap.

We're always available in case of any issue :wink:
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majikeyric
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by majikeyric »

orion70 wrote:Great, glad for you. So please try grabbing a cassette into a tap file, and tell me if you succeed at least in beginning the process... TIA!
I have just tried. I grabbed successfully a tape with MENUVIC or the direct command : OPEN15,8,15,”XF2:TEST.TAP”:CLOSE15.

But when I try loading the TAP file, I have a load error, it must be because my SD card is slow. I will have to retry the TAP grabbing with a faster one (class 10 as suggested in the manual).
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hawui1
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by hawui1 »

Just to know, what type of card did you use ?
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majikeyric
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by majikeyric »

A sandisk ultra II 2Gb, I don't know the speed but it is a old card.
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hawui1
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Question

Post by hawui1 »

Ultra II were probably class 4 and they have yet inside a very old and slow architecture, that card is definitely not going to work for grabbing, you can stay on the same brand and get one new Ultra like this

https://flashmemo.co.uk/media/catalog/p ... 211096.jpg

It costs around 7-8€ and it will work as a charm

Of course any other class 10 30Mb/s or better will work as well.
If you wish send me your .TAP file and I'll give it a look.
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