JiffyDOS chip arrived <sigh> no instructions

[save2600]

After spending 10 minutes searching the net (UGH!) not a single JiffyDOS resource explains what location to install the damn chip! And of course, it didn't come with instructions.

I have I.C.'s located at U3, U4 and U5. I don't really feel like playing multiple choice here! lol

[save2600]

Thanks both! Didn't think Jim would have that - and his site is a pain to navigate (IMO). U4 was all I needed to know  :-)

Cheers Tone007!  I'll be sure to write how fast or not this thing is. I'm sure its old hat to you guys, but it's brand new to me. Haven't an 8-bit Commie since the 80's, nearly shat myself at how slow stuff loads into it! I thought there was something wrong with all my systems... lol

[save2600]

Jim is actually authorized to distribute JiffyDOS now, whereas most other "distributors" are pirating it.

JiffyDOS is definitely nice to have with one of Jim's uIEC devices.

Shoot, the one I just bought was from Basicwayne on ePay - out of MI. Hopefully he's legit. Looked like a professional enough kit. $25 shipped or thereabouts.

So, ummm, yeah.... just got through installing her and the switch. WOW! I'm floored. This little upgrade has got to be one of the more important mods you can do for the C64. Simply incredible. I'm aware of the function key calls - haven't used them yet, but damn does this thing load FAST now. I'm super happy with it.

And lastly, gotta tell you... since deciding to get back into the older systems, a year ago with the Atari 8-bit... nearly game for game; the graphics, sounds, text and overall "feel" of the Commodore experience BLOWS away the A8. There's a huge argument over on Atariage where some hardcore Atari people are getting into the nuts and bolts of the hardware - what it's capable of, etc. Totally missing the point. It doesn't matter what something (or somebody for that matter) is capable of - if it was never implemented, it doesn't mean a hill of beans! Every single arcade conversion I've seen/played yet between the two, the C64 wins hands down.

Bottom line: I can't believe it took me this long to get back into the C64. SID is even more awesome than I remember. Most A8 games look like Atari 2600 games compared to the C64. Single coloured sprites, thick, chunky/blocky graphics and unlike the 2600, the A8 has drab colours. Blech.

Anyone wanna buy a mint Atari XEGS after that fine endorsement? lol  I still like my A8's and (think) I will be keeping one, but...  lol

[save2600]

Don't forget to pick up a C64 video to S-Video cable (if you haven't already).  I can't believe how good my C128 looks on a 42" screen using the S-Video in.  

Yeah, I should. And I've got a real nice 1702 with that input also. I have noticed something kinda strange about the video though on my breadbox C64. Half the time you turn it on, you can see faint vertical bars - very light striping of sorts. Other half, the picture is solid blue. What gives? During games though, the faint striping seems to go away. Plenty of heat sink compound on that chip and I've left the shielding in there. And oh, I am using the a/v out with the 1702 currently.

Another quick question: what's going on inside that chip that allows the port to act so much quicker? Ditching some verification routines or something else?  

And Tone007, shoot - was afraid of that. Just my luck  :-(

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Really? I discovered the exact opposite. Nearly every single game I used to like back then looks and sounds better on the Atari. I think there are only 2 or 3 C64 games that are worse or unavailable on Atari.

I think this is because most of the 8-bit games I liked were made in 82-84. Most of the popular C64 games were made after 1985 and by that time I was losing interest in 8-bit. After that, I moved to Amiga - which gave me that old Atari feeling of amazement that the C64 never did.

R U fricking kidding me? Do you require screen shots and/or glasses?

I don't mean to be a smart ass, but you'd have to be blind not to recognise and see the difference between the two.

Name one arcade translation (graphics and sound) that's better on the A8 than the C64.

Really quick here and from what I've played, ALL of these are leagues ahead of the A8 conversions:

Tapper
Joust
Moon Patrol
Star League Baseball
Gorf
Wizard of Wor
Space Invaders
Donkey Kong - r u flacking kidding? a comparison?!? lol
Juno First
Gyruss
Popeye
Q*Bert - another obvious one
Robotron

...even Minters shite Defender/ESB clone (revenge of mutant camels) is better on C64.

What else do you want, screen shots of both side by side? lol  That can be arranged... lol

I'm talking mostly about the sprite graphics. How they're multi-coloured. Even the 2600 in most instances has multi-colour player/missiles. In arcade conversions, seems like lazy programming techniques on the A8. Either that or the machine just wasn't cut out for it.

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Sorry to get all heated up on you last night mr_a500. Wasn't aware until now you don't care about most of the titles I mentioned. When doing comparisons, how convenient! lol  Okay, okay, it's all good. I toned down my original post and talked about the sprites or "player/missile" graphics. Like you mentioned, there was a difference timeline wise in software. Well, same with the hardware really - so makes sense one machine would be better at doing something than another. But I wasn't talking about the past, relative to feelings of nostalgia. I'm talking about looking at most conversions (arcade or otherwise) today - side by side, which I've done. But sure, there's always going to be the exception and you have already pointed many of them out. I'll have to give the games you listed a try on both! I do have Ballblazer on the 7800 - incredible gameplay, graphics and sounds there  :-)

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A shot of my JiffyDOS enabled C=64 system, RAMlink .5mb ram, a 1541, 1541II, 1581 disk drives. Use to have it running GEOS just before I found Amiga.

Now that's quite the system (and mess!) lol   I too had GEOS for a short stint in the 80's. Incredible and impressive "operating system" for the time. And yeah, like you - I got an Amiga soon after. But jeez... GEOS really kept the C64 in contention as a "serious" computer, but did many people use it? I could see where people could have been happy with it for a while, but having a taste of a GUI such as that, I wonder if most quickly ditched it for an Amiga or ST? I didn't mention Mac because seems unlikely the average C64 user would go that route. Those were just really interesting times for computing in general though.