Post by David Murray on Dec 13, 2004 8:56:27 GMT -5
I don't have a DTV yet.. but I'm going to get one. I hope they don't run out soon. Any word on if they intent to make more after the first lot sells?
I've noticed that a lot of people want to hack the DTV. I do too, but possibly for reasons others haven't considered. First of all, my Commodore collection doesn't get used much because it takes up too much space. So I use an emulator most of the time. The cool thing about the DTV is that it seems to be the logical next upgrade that Commodore shold have made.. Instead of making the C128 that requires a special 64 mode, the machine has been upgraded to include more RAM and 256 colors. So naturally, this is like a programmer's dream. More powerfull than the C64, but will work with the same great programming tools and environment that we are all used to, and the price is right.
I'm thinking of making an ITX project like some others I've seen. But here are many questions I haven't seen addressed yet.
1) How exactly does the 256 color mode work? If you had a regular linear 256 color mode like standard VGA mode on a PC, that would require 64K of RAM just to hold the video image. So I'm guessing it still works on some kind of color-cell format like the regular VIC. Exactly how are the 256 colors used? Has anybody written any documentation on this subject? I did see the article on linear mode, but I don't think I'd use it unless the program was going to be DTV specific, otherwise you'd loose compatibility with regular C64.
2) Is there any way to connect an RS232 device to the DTV? I've seen mention of the commodore serial, S-Video, PS/2, and joystick ports. But was about user-port? I'd be interested in a project that required networking several of these together.
3) Is there any way to access the main databus where more peripherals could be attached.. say, like game cartridges, Swiftlink, extra SID chip, things like that?
4) How is the extra RAM accessed? Is it just additional banks, like the C128 or is it accessed like a ram expander on a C64?
5) I heard this CPU chip might possibly be the 16-bit version of the 6502 (can't remember what the number is) like the one used in the Apple IIGS, or the C-One motherboard.. but somebody said it was clocked at 1 Mhz. Is there any way to clock it faster? Can it use 16-bit registers or directly access more RAM as a result of of this newer chip?
Does anybody have any speculation on where this might go if the DTV sells really well? Maybe a more powerfull version? Maybe one with different games? Maybe a small little system instead of a joystick? (One with ports and everything?)
--DavidM
I've noticed that a lot of people want to hack the DTV. I do too, but possibly for reasons others haven't considered. First of all, my Commodore collection doesn't get used much because it takes up too much space. So I use an emulator most of the time. The cool thing about the DTV is that it seems to be the logical next upgrade that Commodore shold have made.. Instead of making the C128 that requires a special 64 mode, the machine has been upgraded to include more RAM and 256 colors. So naturally, this is like a programmer's dream. More powerfull than the C64, but will work with the same great programming tools and environment that we are all used to, and the price is right.
I'm thinking of making an ITX project like some others I've seen. But here are many questions I haven't seen addressed yet.
1) How exactly does the 256 color mode work? If you had a regular linear 256 color mode like standard VGA mode on a PC, that would require 64K of RAM just to hold the video image. So I'm guessing it still works on some kind of color-cell format like the regular VIC. Exactly how are the 256 colors used? Has anybody written any documentation on this subject? I did see the article on linear mode, but I don't think I'd use it unless the program was going to be DTV specific, otherwise you'd loose compatibility with regular C64.
2) Is there any way to connect an RS232 device to the DTV? I've seen mention of the commodore serial, S-Video, PS/2, and joystick ports. But was about user-port? I'd be interested in a project that required networking several of these together.
3) Is there any way to access the main databus where more peripherals could be attached.. say, like game cartridges, Swiftlink, extra SID chip, things like that?
4) How is the extra RAM accessed? Is it just additional banks, like the C128 or is it accessed like a ram expander on a C64?
5) I heard this CPU chip might possibly be the 16-bit version of the 6502 (can't remember what the number is) like the one used in the Apple IIGS, or the C-One motherboard.. but somebody said it was clocked at 1 Mhz. Is there any way to clock it faster? Can it use 16-bit registers or directly access more RAM as a result of of this newer chip?
Does anybody have any speculation on where this might go if the DTV sells really well? Maybe a more powerfull version? Maybe one with different games? Maybe a small little system instead of a joystick? (One with ports and everything?)
--DavidM