a really good expansion interface for the vic

vic user · Post by **vic user** » Thu May 06, 2004 7:07 am

I saw this item up for sale on ebay.

I have this exact kind of expansion interface at home, and it is awesome!

I still think that this manual is the best written manual I have ever read, and I have had no problems at all with this device.

It's a bit pricey for the opening bid, but it's a good thing to have.

Item number: 4129539584

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 39584&rd=1

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Thu May 06, 2004 3:03 pm

Umm.. would that expander for example take an 8K RAM cartridge and by using the switches decide where to map it, overruling the default values?

vic user · Post by **vic user** » Thu May 06, 2004 6:34 pm

if I understand your question correctly, then the answer is no.

say, you have an unaltered 8k cart. and you plug it in to a slot set to bank 5.
the cart. will not work. you will not have 8k in bank 5.

you still have to alter the 8k cart. which the manual explains how to do wonderfully.

this device can be dasiy chained to other cardco expansion devices as well.

this is the expansion device I use when i am writing progams.

i have another expansion device, but that one only lets you select 1 cart. at a time.
it is great for games though, since i can hit the proper button and then hit the reset switch, and off to another game.

chris

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Fri May 07, 2004 12:55 am

What is the point of dedicating a slot to a bank, if the expansion doesn't honour re-routing to that bank? To me that particular feature sounds utterly pointless, although a reset switch, a fuse and on/off switches on each expansion slot could be useful.

The most elegant expansion would have been a 32K memory expansion with its own reset switch, two or three further expansion slots and a button for quick transfer of cartridge ROM contents into cartridge RAM contents.

vic user · Post by **vic user** » Fri May 07, 2004 8:25 am

I don't know, I think their design is very good.

I can decide which slots are banked where, and can run more than 1 slot at a time. or use the all the slots one at a time, or just two of them at a time, etc...

I also like the daisy chaining capability, although I would start worrying about how much power these things want from the vic.

I wish it had 5 slots instead of 3, as i would like to have 3 slots dedicated to RAM expansion and graphics, then 1 slot for the prog. aid, and a free slot for whatever cart. i wanted to use at the time.

chris

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Fri May 07, 2004 8:49 am

But I still don't understand... what is the point of determine which slot runs in which bank (or block), if the expander doesn't make certain that the cartridge attached in that slot actually maps to the selected bank?

Technically, I think it is awfully easy for the expander to reroute (but not patch the code to work) a cartridge to another memory block, since the BLK selector is something like four different pins on the edge connector the manufacturer has selected which one to use.

The only benefit I can see is that you could "detach" an active cartridge by selecting a memory block you know it doesn't respond to, but then it could as well be an on/off switch.

Maybe we are misunderstanding eachother, and it really works in the way I supposed it does, but you thought I mean something more advanced?

vic user · Post by **vic user** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:36 am

Maybe we are misunderstanding eachother, and it really works in the way I supposed it does, but you thought I mean something more advanced?

Maybe.

I can look up the manual when I get home, and attempt to nail it down.

Chris

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:54 am

Or you can take a game or other cartridge, put it in a slot which you dedicate to another block than the normal block 5. Then you turn on the system. The cartridge shouldn't autostart anymore, and you could PEEK your way through the beginning of each block until you find something that looks like CBM80 (which IIRC is the starting string for a cartridge ROM).

Empirical testing is sometimes quicker than reading documentation.

vic user · Post by **vic user** » Fri May 07, 2004 10:02 am

Empirical testing is sometimes quicker than reading documentation.

and more fun!

chris

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Sat May 08, 2004 6:03 am

I can use 6 cartridges simultaneously with my vic1020

/Anders

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Sat May 08, 2004 12:29 pm

They had better be short ones - 4K or so - to fit into memory at the same time, unless they map into "unusual" places like block 4, 6 or 7.

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Sun May 09, 2004 4:35 am

Yes, it's a little overkill, but consider this for example...

1 8k ram cartridge at block 1
1 8k ram cartridge at block 2
1 8k ram cartridge at block 3
1 3k ram cartridge at (is it called block 0?)
1 4k utility rom at 1st half of block 5
1 4k utility rom at 2nd half of block 5

That's 6 cartridges and... they are not smaller than normal...

/Anders

vic user · Post by **vic user** » Mon May 10, 2004 7:29 am

I can use 6 cartridges simultaneously with my vic1020

/Anders

Your 1020 is awesome! And it has its own power for these things, so the cards are not running off the vic?

Chris

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Tue May 11, 2004 11:47 am

It uses the vic20 power supply.

You plug the Vic20's 2-pin power supply cable into the Vic1020, and
out of the vic1020 comes a cable just like it to plug into the Vic20.

The power connection and power switch is exactly the same on the
Vic1020 and Vic20. There even is a hidden control port opening
inside the Vic1020 so they used exactly the same part... The actual
control port isn't there of course, but an opening for it with the
text "control port".

So I suspect that the Vic1020 only works together with the old Vic20
model. (With the two pin power plug)...If the Vic1020 wasn't changed as well when the new Vic20
came... but maybe they just discontinued the vic1020 instead....

/Anders

Post by **Jeff-20** » Tue May 11, 2004 12:49 pm

I want to see pics posted here!