Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 4:47 am Post subject: Flyer Network Modem
Check this out at Retroswitch.com . It is a disk drive emulator that works with a server whether your own or a cloud. The gentlemen's name in Brandon and a fellow Commodore Club member.
Snips off the web site. Been looking forward too grabbing one of these! If it only had a option for a case oh well without will have too do
Flyer provides both IEC and IEEE-488 interfaces and supports a wide range of Commodore computers, from the PET to the Commodore 128. Once connected, Flyer provides you with two new peripherals - an internet modem and a disk drive emulator which currently supports D64, D71 and D81 disk images. While no additional software is required to use Flyer, it includes a useful configuration program built in (loaded from the Flyer itself) which allows you to easily configure network settings, cloud server configurations and more.
Flyer allows seamless loading and saving of programs and disks to websites which support Retroswitch's cloud server protocol. It even provides the flexibility to develop your own custom solutions utilizing Flyer's built-in support for HTTP and TCP protocols.
Flyer includes 3.5MB of flash memory for storing disk images locally. You can also create new disk images on the fly, and either discard them when finished or upload them to the cloud to save them for future use. You can easily switch between locally stored disks using the button on the Flyer.
Firmware updates are safe and easy. A simple LOAD command will update your Flyer to the latest firmware release over the internet. If anything should ever go wrong, the Flyer includes a recovery procedure which will reset the device to the exact state it was in when you first received it.
* Dimensions - 4 7/8" x 3" x 7/8" (WxDxH)
* Interfaces - 2 x IEC, 1 x IEEE-488, 1 x Ethernet RJ-45
* 8 x 2 character backlit display (removable).
* Power supply - 2.1mm power jack, center positive. 9VDC 1.5A recommended.
* Front panel button for easy selection of disks and other options.
so this is almost same thing like http://www.commodoreserver.com/ but it works with all 8 bit commodores? it's only about storing files online? looks great anyway.
The Flyer has on-board storage too keep your downloaded files! and will load as well as "save" files from your local network. The Flyer can function as a "standalone drive" just like a real 1541 something the 1541U II still does not do and the fact that the Flyer works with other cbm8bits is a massive feature should you own any other commodore besides a C64/128.
This is the next step up the evolutionary ladder for network drives for the Commodore and with on-board storage it encroaches into the other storage solutions market, i don't doubt there are others hot on it's tail.
As with other storage solutions released it will take time too become as feature rich as more mature devices such as the uIEC and so one.
This is an exciting platform and in the immortal words of Big Kev!
Joined: 10 Jan 2010 Age: 34 Posts: 1188 Location: Surrey
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:52 pm Post subject:
I'm a big fan of c64 internet devices. I must say this looks really good. Design is fantastic and price even better.
BUT
It's about storing your files on internet cloud, sort of iCloud for C64.
Do you think your files will be safer on that server than on your disks, hard drives or sd cards?
I know Apple ICloud will be there in 10 years, are you sure commodoreonline will be there too?
For me it would be useful if I could download games let's say from Gamebase or CSDB straight into that device. No PC involved, only Commodore. That would be awesome.
For now I'm out. _________________
BUT
It's about storing your files on internet cloud, sort of iCloud for C64.
Do you think your files will be safer on that server than on your disks, hard drives or sd cards?
I know Apple ICloud will be there in 10 years, are you sure commodoreonline will be there too?
Your going too be able too to create your own local server too store and share your files in the mean time using these free "cloud" servers is not an issue. Unlike the uIEC a very mature and feature rich device the Flyer has just hit the market let's give it it's opportunity too shine.
Once i have a local server setup i will post how i went about doing it, this device is in no way locked too a particular network and does store files onboard should you wish too go offline and standalone.
Watch this space some real exciting stuff will come from this little device and the cloud servers being developed for it.
p.s
You can setup your own cloud now but it's not well documented just little hints here and their. My hope is they will release a server software suit you can install on your Linux or windows box or someone else does.
Joined: 10 Jan 2010 Age: 34 Posts: 1188 Location: Surrey
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 11:23 pm Post subject:
You know we are spoiled for choice here in c64 community. But other 8 bit commie users must be excited to see this device. I like that LCD display a lot. _________________
Joined: 21 Mar 2009 Posts: 585 Location: Florida, USA
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:03 am Post subject:
I'm really tempted to order one and probably will shortly. My one "nit to pick" is the SDK for setting up my own local server. That would completely rock as I could finally have a shared storage device for all things "commie"!!! _________________
Please call My C=ult BBS
maraud.dynalias.com:6400
AABBS 128 12.5c on a C128 and Rear Admiral Hyperdrive
For me it would be useful if I could download games let's say from Gamebase or CSDB straight into that device. No PC involved, only Commodore. That would be awesome.
For now I'm out.
With Flyer you can download games or any d64, d71 and d81 disks (games, utilities, etc) from other websites just like you want. The documentation for Flyer is pretty awesome and tells you how to do just this exact thing and directly from your Commodore computer. You should grab the PDF documentation from the Flyer product page which will explain how to do this.
the first thing i'd check is wether it _IS_ running sd2iec - because that is the logical thing to do for such a device
I personally know the hardware/software developer for Flyer and can confirm 100% it's not using the sd2iec code. All code for Flyer has been custom written from the ground up.
Flyer isn't tied specifically to one website. http://commodoreonline.com/ is the official companion website for Flyer, but other cloud sites are in the works as well that will work with Flyer. An example is http://www.commodorelive.com/ however you don't need to store your disks on Commodore Online if you don't want to, it's just an added free service. Flyer does so much on it's own without the need of a website. Once the SDK is available, you'll probably see a lot more cool sites showing up to use your Flyer with... the Sky is the limit.
What's awesome with Flyer is it works without having to use any website or have an internet connection. You can create disks (d64, d71, d81), write programs on your Commodore computer and save them directly to Flyer and/or Commodore Online (if you want).
With Commodore Server you need to use the Comet64 modem which always needs an internet connection. Comet64 uses the user port and kernal hacks via the v-1541 software. It only works with your Commodore 64 an d64's unless there is an update to v-1541 I'm not aware of at this time.
Flyer uses the IEC port on your C64, VIC-20, Plus/4, Commodore 16 and C128 or the IEEE port for your PET. No special disk software is needed or required to use Flyer. No kernal hacks, just a clean Commodore computer. Flyer has firmware that is updated via the internet, no special disk is needed or a real disk drive. Flyer is bringing Commodore 8-bit computers into the future
You can grab disk images from other websites and save them directly to Flyers onboard storage. Check out the documentation for specifics.
Comet64 uses device #2 for loading disks off the Commodore Server website. Flyer uses device #7 for internet related things, but once you have disks on Flyer, you can use device numbers 8-15 which are selectable by a button on Flyer. Want to play your Jumpman d64 using Comet64? Can't do it with device #2, but you can play it using Flyer. A lot of games are tied to device #8.
Having the display screen on Flyer makes it nice to see what disk you are accessing, what device number you have selected and so much more. Again for anyone wanting more specifics, check out the Flyer documentation PDF.
I could go on and on how awesome Flyer is... hehe... but as mentioned the documentation tells you a lot and of course more information will become available as things happen with development.
Bottom line IMHO is Comet64 and Flyer are two different pieces of hardware on so many levels but of course I'm just explaining things from my own personal experience in using Flyer so YMMV.
Snips off the web site. Been looking forward too grabbing one of these! If it only had a option for a case oh well without will have too do
Hey Shane. I've been in discussions with Brandon about a case for Flyer and some pretty cool ideas have come up, so I'm sure at some point when an official case solution is available, it would be posted on the Retroswitch.com site.
I personally know the hardware/software developer for Flyer and can confirm 100% it's not using the sd2iec code. All code for Flyer has been custom written from the ground up.
how is the level of compatibility then compared to sd2iec? and will the software stay closed source? _________________
Joined: 10 Jan 2010 Age: 34 Posts: 1188 Location: Surrey
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 6:44 pm Post subject:
Seems like downloading d64 from csdb will be possible from c64.
For example downloading d64 of new demo Just Dance I would have to obtain file address from csdb e.g.: http://noname.c64.org/csdb/get...00519/Just Dance 64.d64
Then on c64 I type:
load”http://noname.c64.org/csdb/getinternalfile.php/100519/Just Dance 64.d64,d=Just Dance”,7
and it saves file on flyer as Just Dance.d64
correct?
but many files on csdb and game base are in zipped. I never understood why to zip d64's where they are such a tiny files by todays standards. _________________
Joined: 23 Nov 2011 Age: 42 Posts: 18 Location: KPDX
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:04 pm Post subject:
groepaz wrote:
how is the level of compatibility then compared to sd2iec? and will the software stay closed source?
The drive emulation isn't as feature rich as sd2iec, however it will continue to get there... It currently supports all the basic commands (new, copy, validate, etc) as well as many of the direct access / lower level commands (b-r, b-w, b-p, b-a, b-f, m-r, m-w, u1, u2).
It passes all applicable tests on the SX-64 test demo disk currently, although that's obviously not too comprehensive I'm hoping to get a lot of feedback as people start pushing the device.
REL files are currently not supported, and d81 partitions are partially supported (both of those are near the top of my TODO list after a couple more website tasks).
I also plan to get JiffyDOS and burst mode transfers implemented in the near future. Between the available JiffyDOS disassemblies and my trusty logic analyzer, I don't believe it will be too difficult
The software as a whole will remain closed source. However, I do plan to post some code snippets (completely license free) on retroswitch.com as part of future blog posts, such as my IEC and IEEE-488 drivers. It's all very well commented C++.
Joined: 23 Nov 2011 Age: 42 Posts: 18 Location: KPDX
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:10 pm Post subject:
lukasSid wrote:
Seems like downloading d64 from csdb will be possible from c64.
For example downloading d64 of new demo Just Dance I would have to obtain file address from csdb e.g.: http://noname.c64.org/csdb/get...00519/Just Dance 64.d64
Then on c64 I type:
load”http://noname.c64.org/csdb/getinternalfile.php/100519/Just Dance 64.d64,d=Just Dance”,7
and it saves file on flyer as Just Dance.d64
correct?
but many files on csdb and game base are in zipped. I never understood why to zip d64's where they are such a tiny files by todays standards.
That's correct. Just omit the '//' after 'http:'. You could reduce that further by using aliases. For example, if you set alias 0 as "http:noname.c64.org/csdb/getinternalfile.php/", you could use the following shorthand from that point forward:
load"a0:100519/Just Dance 64.d64,d=Just Dance",7
Of course, if csdb did support the Flyer at some point, you could simply just load"disk:Just Dance 64",7, and retrieve search results with load"$:Just*",7 for example. You can have up to 4 cloud servers configured on the Flyer currently and you can switch between them using the button and LCD on the Flyer.
Taking this fictional example further, you could select CSDB on the Flyer, load"disk:Just Dance 64",7, then tap the button to switch the cloud server to CommodoreOnline, and save"disk:Just Dance 64",7 to save the disk to your CommodoreOnline account (or another compatible cloud storage site).
Never thought about zipped files - I'm not sure how big the code/memory footprint would be to support that. Otherwise, I think that would be a fantastic feature and I'll definitely research it further.
The Flyer arrived today. First impressions Nice layout and after looking closely at the finished job, well made!
Connected Ethernet cable, IEC lead, 9vdc and switched on the Flyer, it promptly displayed
<- Flyer - >
1.1.1
then seconds later.
No disks found!
Ok it work's now too read manual and setup the network.
The Flyer comes with a CONFIG program that you use too setup the network it's easily found with load"$1",9 then list, you will see "CONFIG" file in device 9 or whatever the Flyer is currently set too, wait changed too device 10 without reseting the C64 and now it's on 10! " Nice you can change the device number without resetting the C64 "
OK load"1:config",10 and run Brings up a configuration menu on your C64.
(N) etwork (A) liases (C) louds (Q) uit entered N
Then my network setting, That could not have been easier well maybe when DHCP is working but i setup everything with static IPs at home anyway.
Now too load disk images.. more on that later need too read manual.
The Flyer arrived today. First impressions Nice layout and after looking closely at the finished job, well made!
Connected Ethernet cable, IEC lead, 9vdc and switched on the Flyer, it promptly displayed
<- Flyer - >
1.1.1
then seconds later.
No disks found!
Awesome that you received your Flyer. It has the factory 1.1.1 firmware on it, but you'll want to grab the latest firmware update. It's in the manual how to do it, but here it is for quick review:
From your Commodore computer (with Flyer connected to the internet) type:
LOAD "^:*",7 (then press RETURN)
Where ^ is means the up arrow key on your Commodore computer. It will download the latest firmware which is currently 1.1.2 and you can see this happening on the LCD display which is pretty cool.
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