Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

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eslapion
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by eslapion »

mrr19121970 wrote:Correct. Uk1541 can't even load prg files. I do have the uk1541. I can't be bothered converting tap to d64.
Loading prg files directly, with a UK1541, I guess not but then again this is also true of a real 1541 drive. The 1541 Ultimate I/II achieves it because it is connected directly to the cartridge port and even so, only for single file programs and only on the C64 or C128 in 64 mode.

In the case of the UK1541, you have to have your prg files placed in a D64 container which is easy to do with DirMaster. In the case of a genuine 1541, you have to have your PRG files on a 5.25" formatted floppy.

My point being: The UK1541 was designed to emulate a 1541 disk drive without the hassle of dealing with antiquated floppies so it is put to better use when you want to play, run or use C64/C128 games and applications that were originally distributed on disks.

If the usage you have in mind is different then you can't blame the product. Its ability for compatibility with sjload/JiffyDOS is exactly the same as a real 1541 disk drive and it even uses the same firmware to achieve that.

IMHO, the product does what it is supposed to do.

Two products, two very different functionality.
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by mrr19121970 »

My Princess arrived today, playing around with it now. Initial oberservations:

. A bit 'amateurish' built. Poor soldering (ugly, ad unit doesn't sit straight), LEDs (size and brightness) not harmonious, Mixture of hex and cross headed screws
. It works fine with CBM File Browser
. TAP files don't work with BORAY's loader

95 euros including postage, on the high side - but not much other choices available
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by orion70 »

Ugh! Sorry to read this. My unit is a bit earlier (no TAP support, no pass-through), but it was admired by my dear friend - who happens to be an electronic engineer - for its sturdy and precise build and the overall design. Can't explain - maybe the producer got too many orders to fulfill?
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by highinfidelity »

Thanks for having indirectly alerted be about the new batch of Princess that has been produced. I'm going to buy one right away! 8)
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by orion70 »

Irony? 8)
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by highinfidelity »

All right, here we are: the Princess knocked at my door! :mrgreen:

Do I need to configure/structure the SD memory card in some specific way, or is it sufficient to copy on its root directory one (or more) .tap file?

Can't wait to play at that "Zombi" cassette shooter once again! 8) (...and be surely disppointed by the offect of an overinflated "recall bias"... :roll: )
Last edited by highinfidelity on Tue Jun 21, 2016 1:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by orion70 »

IIRC, with the new Manosoft Princess, all you have to do is save TAPs in the SD card, then mount one the very same way of a D64:

Code: Select all

OPEN15,8,15,"CD:FILENAME.TAP":CLOSE15
and finally issue a normal

Code: Select all

LOAD
or

Code: Select all

LOAD"",1,1
:wink:
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by mrr19121970 »

Are you sure about this? Boray's loader doesn't work, and I was assuming the 'mount' for the TAP is wrong. According to the docs it is:

Code: Select all

OPEN15,8,15,”XT:TAPFILENAME.TAP”:CLOSE15
This is why you are 'forced' to use CBM Filebrowser.
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by highinfidelity »

Thanks for the notes, will eventually try both statements. The Princess, however, came with some very basic "quick directions" (3-4 pages in all) that possibly cover the point discussed by you. Will check them carefully.
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by orion70 »

Found Manosoft's extended instructions in Italian, and mrr19121970's version of the statement should be the right one (page 35).
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by highinfidelity »

Thanks again, you saved me the annoyance of searching for them. Printed and bound up.
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by highinfidelity »

Set my VIC up yesterday evening and the Princess worked as a clockwork! Absolutley no problems in having it go, and loading and running the .tap programs (which were multi-load by the way!) was easy and effortless. I confirm that an XT: statement is needed to load .tap files directly form the SD memory card.
mrr19121970 wrote: . A bit 'amateurish' built. Poor soldering (ugly, ad unit doesn't sit straight), LEDs (size and brightness) not harmonious, Mixture of hex and cross headed screws
Frankly speaking, mrr19121970, I don't second your criticism after having had the product in my hands. Of course this accessory is "amateurish": it is made by amateurs for other amateurs! :wink: Anyway, compared to other similar items that I see advertised on retro-computing magazines, which are mostly naked PCBs, the Princess looks to me fairly well finished. Of course a more sophisticated and enclosing case could have been designed, but with all the holes needed for buttons, knobs, connectors and LEDs it would have been a manufacturing nightmare that would have probably shot the price up to the stars. With "ugly solderings" I think you refer to the pass-through solderings of the connectors, because all others are the usual wave-solderings (or whatever technique has outdated wave-soldering in recent years...) and look shiny and perfect. I don't know if you realise that the solderings you mention are hand-made, one after the other (and this, in return, speaks for the thirfty final price of the product; by the way dont' you think that adding the postage charge to your counterings about the price was sort of a "low punch" at the folks that make it?) and from my soldering experience perspective (>30 years) they're really not so bad, as it also has to be taken in consideration that they're made intentionally thick to give some strength to the back-to-back mounted connectors. However, if you believe you have received a defective unit (mine sits perfectly upright even though the Princess was engineered more specifically for the 64 than for the VIC, so I was prepared to bear some tilt due to tolerances among different motherboards / production years) I think you can contact the folks at Manosoft and ask for a refund or a replacement unit.

The point about screws is one I would have never even noticed, hadn't you pointed it out. We're talking about a single bolt wich needed to be of a different length by all others. I bet that bolts of different lenghts BUT with the same head were not easily available locally. I happen to live in the second biggest industrial town of Italy (Torino) and I can confirm that finding specific hardware at retail is basically a nightmare, so it is probably worse or plain impossible in smaller towns. Same goes for nuts used where a spacer would have beeen "cooler". If all this has saved some money over the final price (and again I bet it did) or was the only way to have this revision released in reasonable times, well I can definitely live with a cross-head screw and nuts instead of spacers! :wink:

Then there's the point about the LEDs... That's where we're a bit crossing over to art critique, commenting the painter's choices for an oil on canvas, aren't we? :wink: The LEDs are easily replaced, however, should you prefer different colours for the four actions. Which colours would you choose, specifically, for each of the four? It's something that might be passed over to Manosoft, perhaps they will implement it on the next batch / revision. I thought a bit about it yesterday evening but couldn't devise any obvious colour that could suggest an obvious mental link (say: the pink is lit so the motor is running).
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by mrr19121970 »

In the meantime I have come to terms with the 'beauty' factor of the Princess3 as the function is the important part.
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by highinfidelity »

Fully agree: having the possibility of loading a .tap file so easily and effortlessly on real hardware is a true milestone IMHO. I remember discussing this matter over and over here, with people who did brilliant attempts but could never really figure out a reliable way.

My VIC is really happy now! :D And the fact that the Princess is crossover with the 64 is also a huge huge benefit!

Still, being I slightly obsessive-compulsive (well, not pathologically I mean, but still...), I am really curious to read to which colours for the LEDs you were thinking of.
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Re: Manosoft Princess device (split from: Datasette Questions)

Post by mrr19121970 »

It's not the colours of the LEDs, but rather the shape and size of them. Maybe different manufacturers? But somehow some are longer than the others (and stick out more). Also the blue needs to have a bigger resistor as it is a lot brighter than the others. Ideally SMDs would have been my preference too.
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