Flyer Network Modem

airship · Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 11:45 pm Post subject:

Here's one vote for the Linux port! Smile

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airship
(Former Managing Editor, INFO Magazine)

dJOS · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:59 am Post subject:

analogkid wrote:

Thanks

Just to be clear as far as drive emulation goes, the Flyer is not a complete hardware level emulation of a 1541 like the 1541UII (which is a really cool device!). Flyer is a software emulation, similar to the uIEC, etc.

Otherwise, the feature set & design goals between the two devices are quite different...

Stupid question time (C64 n00b here), does this really matter if all I want to do is play my c64 Games etc from my server instead of using my 1541? (being able to make d64 files from my 1541 would be great too)

analogkid wrote:

Standard UNC paths won't be supported any time soon, if ever. However, I do have a standalone server application which I'll make available shortly which will make serving disks/programs on your LAN very easy.

It's a standalone win32 executable, written in C++ using the Qt framework so I hope to have OS X and possibly Linux ports following soon after.

Brandon

Sounds great, can you please ensure it will run as a service as I don't leave my 2008 server logged on? Cool

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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

analogkid · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:11 am Post subject:

dJOS wrote:

Stupid question time (C64 n00b here), does this really matter if all I want to do is play my c64 Games etc from my server instead of using my 1541? (being able to make d64 files from my 1541 would be great too)

Many/most disk images you'll probably have in your collection should work fine. You can also copy disk images between a 1541 and a Flyer without issues as long as the disks aren't copy protected or malformed in any way. For example, anything you can copy using CBM Command or DraCopy will work great with the Flyer, and you can then upload them from the Flyer directly to an online server (or soon to a local server Smile

) for archiving.

dJOS wrote:

Sounds great, can you please ensure it will run as a service as I don't leave my 2008 server logged on? Cool

I'll definitely make a note of it. The server is a GUI based app, so I'd have to separate out the core components to run as a service (or just distribute them as two separate apps). The initial release (aiming for the end of this week) probably won't support it however..

Brandon

dJOS · Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:30 am Post subject:

Thanks for the info brandon, much appreciated. Cool

Some GUI's will run as a service using the res kit and something like AnyServiceInstaller.exe so if you could see if this works with your app it would be great? Cool

http://forum.wegotserved.com/i...installer/
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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

c64web · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:04 am Post subject:

Tonight i thought we would introduce the AlienFlash to the Flyer and see if they would play nicely together. After creating a blank disk image on the Flyer using the new disk utils, i transferred a D64 from the PC to the Flyer via USB link using the AlienFlash. A simple drag and drop using the AlienFlash and the Flyer functioned perfectly as a emulated drive.

On a not so important note the Action replay will not format a disk image on the Flyer, the red light flashes quickly then locks the system when you try to format the Flyer using a AR.

Cheers
Shane.
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dJOS · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:53 am Post subject: noob Query

will the flyer mount/play CRT, G64, T64 or TAP files?

if no, any plans for the future?
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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

dJOS · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:01 pm Post subject:

Feature request: Nested directory support for CloudServer. Cool

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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

analogkid · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:07 am Post subject:

dJOS wrote:

will the flyer mount/play CRT, G64, T64 or TAP files?

if no, any plans for the future?

Not currently, but T64 and TAP files are planned at some point.

G64 support could be added, but I would ignore all of the additional raw data and present it as a standard disk, meaning protected games that required G64 wouldn't work anyway since they would rely on custom drive code which Flyer can't support.

No plans for CRT files. They wouldn't be able to be handled transparently by the Flyer as many would need to bank out areas of ROM, etc.

dJOS wrote:

Feature request: Nested directory support for CloudServer. Cool

D'oh! Will be added this weekend Smile

Brandon

dJOS · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:44 am Post subject:

analogkid wrote:

dJOS wrote:

will the flyer mount/play CRT, G64, T64 or TAP files?

if no, any plans for the future?

Not currently, but T64 and TAP files are planned at some point.

G64 support could be added, but I would ignore all of the additional raw data and present it as a standard disk, meaning protected games that required G64 wouldn't work anyway since they would rely on custom drive code which Flyer can't support.

No plans for CRT files. They wouldn't be able to be handled transparently by the Flyer as many would need to bank out areas of ROM, etc.

dJOS wrote:

Feature request: Nested directory support for CloudServer. Cool

D'oh! Will be added this weekend Smile

Brandon

Awesome, thanks Brandon. Cool

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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

analogkid · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:12 am Post subject:

dJOS wrote:

Feature request: Nested directory support for CloudServer. Cool

Added

- you can grab the latest at the same location (http://www.retroswitch.com/products/flyer/). Also includes some bug fixes so anyone using the app should definitely update.

Note that all the disks/programs will still be presented as a flat list to the Flyer. I'll make searching by tag(s) available on Flyer in a future update (just like commodoreonline.com). At that point, it would probably make sense to treat nested directory names in the cloud server as tags.

Brandon

dJOS · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:21 am Post subject:

Thanks Brandon, awesome timing as my flyer arrived today! Cool

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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

dJOS · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:59 am Post subject:

Bug Report:

pressing "restart server" doesnt refresh the list of disks etc, I have to quit cloudserver and re-run it to update the list after changing dir structures etc.

Feature Request: searching sounds good but how about adding a DOS with full directory support etc for those of us with hundreds of disks, programs tapes etc (I have well over 600 disk images).
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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

ggizmotigger · Groupie Joined: 18 Mar 2004 Posts: 226 Location: uk

well i only play one game at a time, put your most played on the memory section of your flyer

ggizmotigger

dJOS · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:15 am Post subject:

ggizmotigger wrote:

well i only play one game at a time, put your most played on the memory section of your flyer

ggizmotigger

Im not referring to that, im referring to listing all disks/progs available from my local "cloudserver" so that I can pick the ones I want to download to my Flyer.
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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

c64web · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:02 pm Post subject:

Added a Flyer feature to our search engine and as most files indexed are on FTP sites added a convenient HTTP download area to copy your files to, for downloading directly to your Flyer. simply use the example command below when your ready from your C64/128 etc. Smile

load"http:cloud.cbm8bit.com/public/loderunner.d64, d=loderunner",7
d=loderunner is the disk image name that will be saved to your Flyer.

Pushed some major updated to Commodore 8bit search including a neat addition were calling 'Cloud' you can hotlink files from for posting in your favorite Forum or store your favorite disk images for your Flyer etc.

enjoy
Shane.
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dJOS · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:31 pm Post subject:

Hi Brandon, I'm finding a lot of incompatle d64's lately, I wonder if it would be possible to add a "real 1541" mode ala Vice that can be enabled if desired?
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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

c64web · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:55 pm Post subject:

dJOS Can you give an example and a link to it.

Shane.
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dJOS · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:40 am Post subject:

c64web wrote:

dJOS Can you give an example and a link to it.

Shane.

Here are a handful in my "c64" folder: https://public.me.com/derek.osborn

Btw, i've tried these with and without JD on and it makes no difference so I assume they have built in fancy fast-loaders or similar.

I dont know if the 1541 drive emulator used by Gideon on his 1541U2 Cart is open source or not, but if it is it would be great to be able to select "real 1541" emulation as an option and this would also allow for g64 support iirc. Cool

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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

Sigmoid · Groupie in Training Joined: 05 Mar 2012 Age: 32 Posts: 105

Well I'm more interested in "regular" internet access than cloud storage, but nevertheless I guess you guys might be able to answer my question.

So I see both this and Comet64 are user port peripherals. This looks really cool, because well I guess it's good to leave the cartridge port free for a REU or 1541U or whatever else.
Still, as far as I know the user port is S.L.O.W., as in 2400 bits per sec. That seems like a real taste of the 80s and in no particularly good way. Very Happy

Is that the speed that these NICs provide for the c64, or is there a workaround to multiply that rate up a bit? Very Happy

c64web · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:23 am Post subject:

Sigmoid wrote:

Well I'm more interested in "regular" internet access than cloud storage

I would look at a RRNet or a Nic64+ and this list of Commodore 8bit network programs.
List of network programs on Lemon64. If there is a file not there post and i will add it.

The Flyer is a IEC device and the Comet64 is a User port device. The flyer has onboard disk storage and a recent release of the local network server for windows makes loading images from your local network fast and easy.

This tread on Commodore 64 at 38,400 Baud will interest you. Smile

Hope this helps.
Shane
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analogkid · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:31 am Post subject:

dJOS wrote:

c64web wrote:

dJOS Can you give an example and a link to it.

Here are a handful in my "c64" folder: https://public.me.com/derek.osborn

Thanks, I'll try these out over the next couple of days and see if anything can be addressed in the firmware. However, I will never be able to do true drive emulation with Flyer unfortunately.

Brandon

dJOS · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:44 am Post subject:

Hi Brandon, thank you. Cool

Just out of curiosity may I ask what is responsible for this limitation?
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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy

analogkid · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:57 am Post subject:

Just a couple of quick notes..

I just posted the 1.1.7 firmware update for the Flyer. Mainly fixes and optimizations this time around, but the next planned update should address some missing features such as REL file support, etc

I've also been working on a telnet client for the Flyer in the little spare time I've had recently. It's only for the c64 currently. Anyone brave enough to try it out can load it directly from here... Smile

load"http:retroswitch.com/beta/Telnet",7 (note the case)

All options are set in the connection dialog. There are currently 3 terminal modes: ANSI 40 column, ANSI 80 column, and CBM BBS (40 columns).

The ANSI modes are "mostly" complete telnet terminals and the CBM BBS is more or less a PETSCII "pass through" terminal designed for connecting to standard network-bridged Commodore BBS servers.

Lots of optimizations and additional options planned over time. Definitely open to any and all feedback at this stage Smile

Brandon

analogkid · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:08 am Post subject:

dJOS wrote:

analogkid wrote:

However, I will never be able to do true drive emulation with Flyer unfortunately.

Just out of curiosity may I ask what is responsible for this limitation?

I just don't have the available memory or processing power to do a cycle accurate emulation of a 1541 in the Flyer. It would essentially involve emulating the 6502 and supporting hardware and running the actual ROM code of a 1541. The 1541U2 uses an FPGA to accomplish most of this. It's really an amazing device!

Brandon

dJOS · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:26 am Post subject:

analogkid wrote:

I just don't have the available memory or processing power to do a cycle accurate emulation of a 1541 in the Flyer. It would essentially involve emulating the 6502 and supporting hardware and running the actual ROM code of a 1541. The 1541U2 uses an FPGA to accomplish most of this. It's really an amazing device!

Brandon

Ah that it explains it, I must admit I assumed you'd used an FPGA too - so what powers the Flyer? (cause it is pretty neat, I use it more than my 1541 now).
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64 w/ 1541 Ultimate-II inc Tape Adapter, JiffyDOS, 1541 Disk Drive, 1531 Datasette, C64 Flyer Net Modem, ZoomFloppy