#c128

[computermagazines]

Ad for the Epson QX-10 computer - Byte Magazine, Febuary 1984

[commodorez]

Commodore stuff, including one with a piano keyboard! - VCF Midwest 18

[mingos-commodoreblog]

RetroLoader128 V0.6.11 - RetroLoader is a browser for Commodore 128 capable of loading and run Commodore 64 programs directly from the mode 128

[koney-scanlines]

8-Bit Rigs ArE cooL

[vgperfection]

C128 component mod is back

C128 component video mods are back in stock, flashed with the new firmware that fixes issues with the handful of games that used the 2mhz hack in C64 mode (Elite 128, AlleyKat, Morpheus) -

[smbhax]

Temple of Apshai Trilogy (C64/128 / Atari 8-bit)

[www-love80s-ru]

Commodore 128: компьютер «2 в 1»

статья об интересном техническом решении популярного 8-битного компьютера 80-х!

[jecepede]

Yippy ! My own #TestHarness for the #Commodore64. With thanks to Mr. Bill Pelton for providing it. As a special deal, it also came with a #1541 TestCartridge... #Retro #RetroComputing #RetroComputer #RetroGaming #RetroGame #Commodore #C64 #C64c #C64SX #C128 #Commodore128 #WorldOfJani https://www.instagram.com/p/ChHnW4dIGM4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[indieretronews]

[halt-kun]

Hunter x Hunter Chapter 128 - 10th September (5)

Today we begin Volume 14

definitely one of the best covers, at least for now it’s my favourite one

Seeing the chains surrounding Kurapika’s arm, the blood

It’s weird it illustrates the beginning of Greed Island

The tank top is good too but I think I prefer the topless version

I think it must mean some good players are also watching or maybe it’s not worth watching the entry points for them even if it’s Tsezguerra. After all a returning player doesn’t have any spell card

Gon will win janken

YAYYY Let’s GOOOO

Killua, don’t worry nothing of importance

GAME ON

I’m sure Tsezguerra left the main cards to his pals

Do all spiders get buried with Saint Peter’s cross

Rest in Piece : Pakunoda 

have fun playing

Shalnark is so intriguing I never know why he wants to do stuff 

I agree they’d be safer for this week in which they are supposed to die

Gon’s superior senses are always impressive

So he used a spell to move to the entrance point

because he couldn’t have any knowledge of Killua and Gon for now

Maybe it was drift since he doesn’t seem to know where he is

Wait, no not possible, drift only takes you to unvisited places

This guy just wants to know where all players are at, all the time

Kind of pointless knowing if they leave, the effects are lost

But most players aren’t able to leave

I guess it can improve his safety

Just cool drawing

Poor Killua

Bad move indeed my guy

WELL BYE BYE MY MAN

[computermagazines]

Ad for the Dimension computer - Byte Magazine February 1984

[commodorez]

I still believe the craziest form of computer program storage format from the 1980s is the cassette tape. Logical I get it but to store entire programs on little tape (that I only remember using to play music) is just crazy to me. Idk

Agreed, cassette tape for data storage was really clever. The concept had its heyday was the 1970s in a wide variety of encoding schemes for different computer platforms. It did persist into the 80s, mostly in Europe, while the US switched to floppy disks as soon as they were available for systems. The majority of my Ohio Scientific software is on cassette.

Talking with UK vs. US Commodore 64 users in particular will highlight the disparity in which storage mediums that were commonplace. I've got a few pieces of software on tape for mainly the VIC-20, but I rarely bother to use it, because it's slow and annoying. To be fair, Commodore's implementation of data storage on tape is pretty rock solid relative to the competition. It's considered more reliable than other company's but Chuck Peddle's implementation of the cassette routines are considered quite enigmatic to this day. He didn't document it super well, so CBM kept reusing his old code from the PET all the way through the end of the C128's development 7 years later because they didn't want to break any backward compatibility.

The big thing that really made alot of homebrewers and kit computer owners cozy up to the idea was the introduction of the Kansas City Standard from 1976. The idea of getting away from delicate and slow paper tape, and moving towards an inexpensive, portable, and more durable storage medium was quite enticing. Floppy disk drives and interfaces were expensive at the time, so something more accessible like off the shelf audio tapes made sense.

I've linked two places you can read about it from Byte Magazine's February 1976 issue below (check the attribution links).

You might recognize a familiar name present...

There are a few ways to encode binary data on tape designed to handle analog audio, but the KCS approach is to have 1's be 8 cycles of 2400Hz tone, and 0's be 4 cycles of 1200Hz tone. I say cycles, because while 300 baud is the initial specification, there is also a 1200 baud specification available, so the duration of marks vs spaces (another way of saying 1's and 0's), is variable based on that baud rate. Many S-100 computers implemented it, as do a few contemporary proprietary designs.

The big 3 microcomputers of 1977 that revolutionized the industry (Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and Tandy TRS-80 Model I) each have their own cassette interface implementation. It kept costs down, and it was easy to implement, all things considered. The Apple II and TRS-80 use off-the-shelf cassette deck connections like many other machines, whereas the original variant of the PET had an integrated cassette. Commodore later used external cassette decks with a proprietary connector, whereas many other companies abandoned tape before too long. Hell, even the original IBM PC has a cassette port, not that anybody bothered to use that. Each one used a different encoding format to store their data, rather than KCS.

Here's a sample of what an OSI-formatted tape sounds like.

And here's a Commodore formatted tape, specifically one with VIC-20 programs on it.

I won't subject you to the whole program, or we'd be here all day. The initial single tone that starts the segment is called the "leader", I've truncated it for the sake of your ears, as well as recorded them kinda quietly. I don't have any other tape formats on hand to demonstrate, but I think you get the idea.

You can do alot better than storing programs on tape, but you can also do alot worse -- it beats having to type in a program every time from scratch.

[mingos-commodoreblog]

Philip K. Dick Short Stories C128 80 columns

[sonderwrit]

I Have to Be a Great Villain - Translation Masterpost (ongoing)

Disclaimer: These are casual translation by yours truly, an amateur translator, so take them with a grain of salt. I thought the scanlations were getting too MTL quality (no offense meant!) so I started reading the raws and translating them on my own starting with C89 (near the end of World 2/Apocalypse arc). Putting them here for archive purposes in case anyone wants to read them, lol. Picture is latest banner promo image on the manhua site yay, Wang Yi looks so villainous~

Table of Contents (C89 onwards)

World 2 - Zombie Apocalypse Arc C89: Farewell C90: See you next life World 3 - Crazy Scientist Arc C91: Dr. Wang pretends to be a pyscho C92: Slime! C93: It burrowed into the brain C94: Obsession C95: You knew after opening your eyes C96: Transformation C97: Eat! C98: Familiar face C99: Why C100: Danger C101: Memory C102: I don't understand C103: Date C104: Don't want to let go C105: Harem C106: Wanna try it? C107: Critical juncture C108: Overboard! C109: Mission accomplished? C110: We have to...be together World 4 - Cultivation Arc C111: He'd probably beat me up C112: There's a kitty! C113: Deja vu C114: Somewhat familiar C115: Picture book C116: Rest C117: BUG C118: Heaven's will is merciless? C119: Uncontrollable C120: This is enough C121: Sincerely C122: Protracted battle (posted 4/9/2024) C123: Just you wait, Master C124: This person is not simple C125: Inner demon C126: Safeguard C127: Why did he come? C128: You misunderstood C129: Of course I'm complying C130: Hunger

[vgperfection]

C128 kit update

Based on feedback from the community I've decided to re-flash all our stock of C128 component mods to the new firmware. This should fix any issues with the '2mhz trick' games (Alleykat, Elite 128 etc).

All kits shipping from now on will have the new firmware. If anyone bought a kit and is having difficulty getting it updated post install, please reach out to us.