KCS PowerPC Board

[scuzzb494]

Hi

I know there are one or two here with a passing interest in the PC emulator on the Amiga and having put together a couple of pages in respect of the KCS PowerPC Board I thought I would provide the link for those that want to read.

http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october17/scuzzblogdoctober17_2601.htm

http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october17/scuzzblogdoctober17_2602.htm

I have to say this board has proved somewhat problematic in its use. From what I have discovered from other Amiga users I am not alone. Interesting to know if anyone ever got one working properly.

[scuzzb494]

I can get the KCS working on a standard A500 but not on the Checkmate. There has always been this KCS icon on the screen but it is inactive and is in error mode. The computer has the 590 attached and that is where the problem lies.. me thinks.

I installed one of the cards tonight and took a whole bag of pictures of the install and probably will post the link to my page tomorrow night. I kinda lose heart with MS-DOS as its an awful lot of trouble just to get to an A prompt. Boring to the extreme. Was the same with the 1060. You get to the prompt and you reflect.. OK what next ? And then you stop. Dunno, maybe just me.

[scuzzb494]

Hi

Here is the board installed with a standard A500. Just the basics.

http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october17/scuzzblogdoctober17_2801.htm

PS There was a lot of information on those two links I gave previously from other Amiga users trying to get the board working with the A590. Not sure if those guys were successful or not. I certainly haven't been able to as yet. I guess I will have another go but this time with another 590.

Key for me is having the original box set with the two original KCS Disks and the three MS-DOS disks that came with it. I also have all the various other disks and the discussions with the makers. Just have to retrace the steps I guess.

scuzz

[scuzzb494]

My board works OK, but I want to use it with hard drive. That part wasn't succefull.

I have Power PC Board v2, wich supports GVP Impact II hd8.

Another guide says that partition size should be max 12mb and be first partition on hard drive. Didn't work for me.

I should test how/whould it work with Gotek wich has a flashfloppy firmware.

I hate real floppy disks and I have zero interest to play with them.

There is quite a good guide within that section of my first post and its very faint sadly but does expalin how to partition the drive using v2. I sense though from reading all the paperwork that there was always an issue with the software and disks were flying backwards and forwards trying to resolve matters.

All I have on the 590 is a busted drive icon that does nothing. There are various PC based utilities on the Checkmate though none use the KCS. I get a feeling the guy gave up in the end. I also think it odd that I have all these sealed cards which I get a feeling were gifted to him as way of an apology. I also was in good communication with another guy who tried and failled with this card. He also kinda gave up. I have lost contact now but have some bits of paper from him that I need to work out the scribbles. Doesn't look promising though.

I don't mind floppies in truth, though you do have to keep several copies of everything and not just trust the one or even two or even three... if you know what I mean.

[scuzzb494]

Turns out that KCS didn't just make PowerPC boards .. they made also Power Cartridges

KCS Power Cartridge

http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october17/scuzzblogdoctober17_3007.htm

Fascinating stuff I have to say. If you like catridges then you make like these.

The anatomy of a cartridge

http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october17/scuzzblogdoctober17_3004.htm

Out of the freezer

http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october17/scuzzblogdoctober17_3003.htm

[scuzzb494]

"No idea" == extender for older Expert carts. Handles programs that does not ack NMIs.

Just flashes a red light when I power up the C64. Has a small button on the top. Hadn't realised just what it did.... says NIC VALLEY PRODUCT.

The Datel is more interesting as you get a LOADER screen and it has a completely different screen colour to the standard C64 boot screen. Again though I have no paperwork on the cartridge. Assuming its a fast loader cartridge. Will try it out.

http://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october17/scuzzblogdoctober17_3004.htm

[scuzzb494]

It doesn't look like the official ESM add on for the expert, but it could be a clone or something. It's use shouldn't just be limited to expert cartridges either.

Freezer cartridges that rely on the restore button can be blocked by getting the CIA to generate an NMI but never acknowledge it. http://codebase64.org/doku.php?id=base:nmi_lock (it's also used to stop demo timing being affected by people randomly hitting restore). What the ESM cartridge does is forcibly drag the NMI line high again so that the CPU will detect the interrupt (IIRC it supplies more current than the CIA can sink to ground). Trilogic produced an addon and included it in later expert cartridges.

The light will flash every time there is an NMI. So if you load up something from the 80's with samples then it will flash every time a sample is played (savage/stormload/turbo outrun intro etc).

Seriously how do you know all these things. I'm not kidding. It totally floors me just how much you guys know. All I see is a flashing red light and then have to spend weeks working out what it is I am looking at.

Many thanks. Makes my investigations that much easier. I found very little on the Net so any bread crumbs are truly valuable.

[scuzzb494]

I may have been wrong, it doesn't look how I remembered the ESM but it looks similar to the artwork from the advert.

http://rr.c64.org/rrwiki/images/e/ec/Your_Commodore_Issue_27_1986_Dec_EC.jpg

Getting there slowly .... What I just read


Trilogic have upgraded their Expert cartridge with ESM.

The compact ESM module is fitted with LED, push button
and connector. It fits between the cartridge post and the
Expert cartridge and, as with most Trilogic systems, it has
no effect on games action and can be left connected but
otherwise ignored.

When a protected program is loaded which needs the
ESM, the LED will glow. To stop the game, simply press
the push-button briefly. The program will be paused and
the Experts machine-code monitor be activated. From
then on, the Expert can be used in the normal way — to
alter, restart or save to disk/ tape as you choose.

[ Not my words ]