Speaking of EPROMs and burners and such, I picked up a rather interesting auction this evening. I think I got myself quite the bargain on this one. I saw a single Jason-Ranheim bank switching cartridge go for $40 about two weeks ago. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm going to do with this stuff.

Quote from: gklingerSpeaking of EPROMs and burners and such, I picked up a rather interesting auction[/b] this evening. I think I got myself quite the bargain on this one. I saw a single Jason-Ranheim bank switching cartridge go for $40 about two weeks ago. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm going to do with this stuff.

Cool. Let me know if you're willing to sell one of the PPC-4 cartridges. Non-working is OK as I should be able to fix it.

Wow, that's quite a score! Well, besides the fun you can have with homebrew, you'll also have to build yourself an authentic arcade cabinet to go along with Poker88. I wonder if the C64 was used in any other arcade machines?

Golan, we would all unanimously declare you the AWESOMEST DUDE ON THE FORUM if you'd set a price and sell a few to your fellow loving C128 Alive! comrades. Please?  :ängel:

Is there a circuit diagram for these somewhere? Would it be easy to figure out and draw?

The 'PRB-4 Bank switching cartridge with battery and 8K static CMOS RAM' sounds intriguing, too. So it's basically a Quick Brown Box?

I can't say what's going to happen with everything in that load until it arrives and I'm able to examine and test everything and make an inventory of what's there. I certainly don't need it all so I'l definitely be selling/trading/gifting the majority of it. Don't worry, I'll let everyone know when it gets here. Maybe I can provide some more detailed photos too.

P.S. The BIN on that auction should have been three times higher and he still would have sold it within 12 hours. I guess I was in the right place at the right time.

Most people have no idea what this stuff is worth. I just saw a copy of Telengard for $299.95 BIN in an eBay store!

On the other hand, there's a 512K GEORAM going unsold right now for $60 BIN + $15 shipping.  That seems like a garage sale bargain to me. (Too bad I can't afford it right now.)

Then there are items like the PROMenade which regularly sell for $100, then one goes for half that last week.

You just can't figure out eBay pricing.

Quote from: airship=On the other hand, there's a 512K GEORAM going unsold right now for $60 BIN + $15 shipping.

Not anymore; someone bought it. Mark put that one up for sale because he bought another for considerably less. He and I spend a lot of time watching and talking about eBay and if one of us finds something and doesn't want it, we pass it on to the other. We're like a wrestling tag-team.

You know, it might be a good idea for people to make WTB (want to buy) as well as WTS (want to sell) and FA (for auction) posts to the auctions et al message board. Could circumvent eBay on a lot of deals.

Mine would be a LONG list.

Quote from: airshipOn the other hand, there's a 512K GEORAM going unsold right now for $60 BIN + $15 shipping.  That seems like a garage sale bargain to me. (Too bad I can't afford it right now.)

According to this search, that was the third time that this seller tried to sell this item.  The first two times he listed it as a $70 BIN with free shipping.  This last time it was listed as a $60 BIN plus $15 shipping.  It doesn't say it was sold, but there was one offer, so if Golan says he sold it, then he must have accepted whatever the offer was.

Does this GEORAM cartridge work just like a standard C= REU?  Or will it only work with GEOS?

-Andrew

Quote from: wiskowIt doesn't say it was sold, but there was one offer, so if Golan says he sold it, then he must have accepted whatever the offer was.

Actually, he has (or had) more than one and I don't know how many more he has. I'll ask him later.

QuoteDoes this GEORAM cartridge work just like a standard C= REU?  Or will it only work with GEOS?

I was actually the one that spotted the cheap one and I asked him that very question. He said it only worked with GEOS and since I couldn't care less about GEOS, I passed on it and he bought it.

Geez, I'm giving up all my juicy secrets today.

QuoteDoes this GEORAM cartridge work just like a standard C= REU?  Or will it only work with GEOS?

Here is what TC128's 500 C-128 Questions Answered has to say:

Dan...


113. What is geoRAM?
At the time we are writing 500 C-128 Questions Answered this product has just been shipped. Produced by Berkeley Softworks, it, like the 1750 has 512K of RAM and plugs into the expansion (cartridge) port on the back of the 128. It has one minor and one major difference from the Commodore REU's. The minor difference (as far as 128 owners are concerned) is that it uses low power consumption chips.

While this allows geoRAM to be used with any C-64 without the addition of a beefier powerpack, all C-128's have transformers capable of powering a 1750. The major difference is that the geoRAM product lacks the proprietary Commodore DMA controller chip and therefore will not work with any software outside the GEOS family. The lack of a DMA controller also makes the geoRAM slower in moving block of data in and out of the unit. We strongly recommend the Commodore REUs over the geoRAM product for these reasons.

Quote from: C128RETIRED

QuoteDoes this GEORAM cartridge work just like a standard C= REU?  Or will it only work with GEOS?

Here is what TC128's 500 C-128 Questions Answered has to say:

..........The major difference is that the geoRAM product lacks the proprietary Commodore DMA controller chip and therefore will not work with any software outside the GEOS family..........

Well, I don't agree with that statement. There are non-Geos programs that support the GeoRAM like Novaterm 9.6,

There's also geoRAM wedge.prg  - Make the C128 FETCH and STASH commands to work with the geoRAM expansion
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/geos/non-GEOS/index.html


For C64 users there's also GeoRAM drive!
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?id=56251

How about a C128 version of GeoRAM drive?

Is there a recommended speed for the EPROMs to be used with Commodore hardware?  The seller here http://www.arcadecomponents.com/page/page/2251646.htm has EPROMs that range from 95 - 250 ns.

QuoteIs there a recommended speed for the EPROMs to be used with Commodore hardware?

Commodores run too slow, any speed EPROM will work.

Dan...

Quote from: MangeloreFor C64 users there's also GeoRAM drive!
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?id=56251

How about a C128 version of GeoRAM drive?

That would be great. Does anyone know anything about that program? I wonder how well it works. I've started to think it might be nice to have a RAM disk...

You've got to get on board the 'RAM disk express', Golan. I couldn't live without my 1764, even though it's only 256K. I've also got a 1700 that's sitting here waiting to be Frankensteined into at LEAST 512k, if not a couple of megs.

BTW, I was WRONG (yes, I said it) about the $7 Bulgarian programmer I mentioned in the first post in this thread. It's for 24xxx series EEPROMs. So I'm glad you bought the other one, Payton! :sjuk:

Yeah, I went and checked out the docs before I bought it.

Just as a general forum rule, you're allowed to say "You're wrong, Mark" if you have irrefutable documentary evidence. But not otherwise.

I've got a 1764 here that I've never used. Maybe I should experiment with it and see what how well a RAM disk fits in with the way I work. My worry is that I'll forget to save to disk the contents of the RAM disk before I turn the compute off. Maybe I'll have to start looking for a RAMLink.

I purchased the Willem Dual Power Eprom programmer off eBay but it didn't come with an AC power supply. I was looking at the Radio Shack 3-12v 1000 mA AC-to-DC power adapter.  Will this work with the Willem programmer?  I wanted to check since the manual only talks about a 200 mA power adapter.  Can it handle 1000 mA?  It has a 7805 5V regulator and I believe these are rated up to 1 amp.

My Willem has a cable that draws power from the USB ports of the computer .. did you not get that cable with it ?  Does it have the square USB connector on your Willem ?  If so just get a cable from your local shop to plug into it (USB printer cables work .. square to flat)

(sorry don;t know the proper name for the USB connectors :-)

Mark

Thanks for the reply Mark.  My Willem programmer has the flat USB port.  So I could use a flat-to-flat USB cable but the manual suggests that the USB power supply may be insufficient for programming some chips.  I did get a reply on the Willem forum that states the Radio Shack adapter I mentioned should work fine.

"Hi,

It turns out that a 200mA power source isn't sufficient for a PCB3 based design.  The step-up regulator can draw more than that just to generate VPP.  A safer current rating would be at least 400mA; higher for low quality adapters.

The input voltage should be VCC plus approx. 4V; 12V @1A is good.

HTH,
Dennis "

Well, I bit the bullet. I bought this 'Willem' EPROM Programmer on eBay:

[ebay]360088156968[/ebay]

I hope it works. Now to pick up some 27C's and set them in the sun (if we ever get any) for a couple of days.

I've got some I2C Serial EEPROMs I can practice on (for my BASIC Stamp 2) in the meantime.

Woo-Hoo!

Edit: Just added this EPROM eraser, too. Might as well go nuts, right?

[ebay] 140180235676[/ebay]

I'm still looking for a nice assortment of 27C EPROMs.

My wife finally gave up on trying to guess what I'm doing with all this stuff !

I bought a Willem V5.0 programmer and got it yesterday.
Also got a 25M-25F cable and a RadioShack 'Universal AC Adaptor' goes from 1.5 to 12 V @ 300MA. Seems to work pretty good - should have gotten the 1000 MA , but they were out.

Hint - be sure to set and check - and recheck the jumper settings.  My version of the board didn't quite match up with the manual.

After looking at the manual about 5 times, i was able to read the binary file from my servant chip. 

Then i made the mistake of comparing it to one of the bin files on the PD sites (maybe even this one!). the code was way different. . .  what a fun hobby!!

Anyway, i bought some chips from arcadecomponents.com and we will see what happens next.  I though the prices and shipping was pretty good - and they have LOTS of commodore chips.