The Final Expansion cart for the VIC-20

[RobertB]

     The Final Expansion, a cartridge with 512KB SRAM, 512KB EEPROM, and a SD Card slot is now available for purchase.  Months in the making, this new cart sports a built-in SD2IEC.  For more information and to purchase, go to

          http://for8bits.com/

and click on Final Expansion on the left of the page.

              I must have one,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              http://videocam.net.au/fcug
              The Other Group of Amigoids
              http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
              Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
              http://www.sccaners.org

[Diddl]

Yes, shop link is also available in english:

The ultimate cartridge for your VIC is available as a kit now in Nils Web shop: for8bits

* Configurable, huge memory with 512KB RAM and 512KB Flash
* Modules and programs can be saved by the user
* Self starting firmware with comfortable menu
* Built-in SD2IEC (µIEC): Use a SD-Card (up to 2 GB) as a floppy!
* Very simple file transfer to and from the PC via SD Card
* Battery buffered Real Time Clock
* Start menu allowing easily Select & Play
* Automatically correct memory configuration when the program starts

[RobertB]

* Modules and programs can be saved by the user

Nice.

* Self starting firmware with comfortable menu

Extra nice.

* Built-in SD2IEC (µIEC): Use a SD-Card (up to 2 GB) as a floppy!

Have you tried larger SD cards?  For example, I've successfully used a 4 GB SD card on Jim Brain's uIEC and NKCElectronics.com SD2IEC (though admittedly, I've never filled up the card in my tests).

* Automatically correct memory configuration when the program starts

That is very convenient.

              Must stop spending on Vectrex and start saving for FE,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              http://videocam.net.au/fcug
              The Other Group of Amigoids
              http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
              Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
              http://www.sccaners.org

[Diddl]

Never tried SD cards bigger than 2GB. But it is nearly same hardware than NKC SD2IEC (ATMega 644) and so if 4GB works on NKC it also must work on FE3.


But, all existing VIC-20 Software doesn't exceed 500MB ... 

[RobertB]

But, all existing VIC-20 Software doesn't exceed 500MB ... 

Heh, good one!  Time to make some bloated software that would fill up 4 gigs. 

                 Truly,
                 Robert Bernardo
                 Fresno Commodore User Group
                 http://videocam.net.au/fcug
                 The Other Group of Amigoids
                 http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
                 Southern California Commodore & Amiga

[Diddl]

Yes I hope someone will make a game or a utility which uses this big memory of 512 KB.


Maybe a diskette copy program? Or a RAM disk? Or a big adventure with many pictures and sound?

Within 512 KB you can store up to 3 whole 1541 diskettes ...

[RobertB]

     Ack!  I was hoping to buy the FE3 in December, but upon estimating for Christmas expenses, it looks as if I will have to buy one in January or perhaps in February (just in time for my birthday!).

               Delayed again,
               Robert Bernardo
               Fresno Commodore User Group
               http://videocam.net.au/fcug
               The Other Group of Amigoids
               http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
               Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
               http://www.sccaners.org

[Diddl]

Nils has updated his assemble instructions for Final Expansion: click


appended how to assemble the case and the label.


Have fun!

[RobertB]

Nils has updated his assemble instructions for Final Expansion: click

The more instructions, the better, especially when I try to convince master tech Ray Carlsen to build it for me. 

               Truly,
               Robert Bernardo
               Fresno Commodore User Group
               http://videocam.net.au/fcug
               The Other Group of Amigoids
               http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
               Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
               http://www.sccaners.org

[carlsson]

I got the "two weeks" notice from Nils on Monday. A friend of mine got the same delivery notice last week and for him it took four days for the package to arrive, so with a bit of luck I may get my kits by Friday. No problem if it is delayed until after Christmas.

[Diddl]

New firmware 019:

+ SJLOAD: Improved loading speed by 40% (thanks to Hydrophilic!)

+ SJLOAD: Now nearly all kernal IO vectors used: CHKIN,CKOUT,BSOUT,BASIN,CLALL,CLRCH (not only LOAD, SAVE)

This improves data access to jiffy devices (also in BASIC).
Is not supported in Mini Wedge (Wedge in 3K LO-RAM, memory config F7).

+ SJLOAD: Messages only in direct mode. In program mode messages are suppressed.


A small BASIC program (included in 019 package) which read/writes 8K data shows speed improvements:

Normal VIC-20:
write 25,26s
read 18,70s

VIC-20 with SJLOAD and Jiffy 1541:
write 19,51s
read 10,34s

VIC-20 with SJLOAD and SD2IEC:
write 6,45s
read 4,0s


have fun ...



download firmware from my page: click

[RobertB]

...it looks as if I will have to buy one in January or perhaps in February...

Darn!  This month car repair costs (front brakes, right tie rod end, wheel alignment, drive belts, windshield wiper motor) are slowing down my plans to buy a FE3.  February and March look to be about the same -- more car costs (upper and lower control arm bushings, rear differential drive pinion oil seal, couple of tires, automatic transmission fluid change).  And now, I'm involved in a couple of Commodore projects, which require money.  FE3 estimated month of purchase -- April or May.

               Delayed again,
               Robert Bernardo
               Fresno Commodore User Group
               http://videocam.net.au/fcug
               The Other Group of Amigoids
               http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
               Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
               http://www.sccaners.org

[Diddl]

bugfix release r019a :: many thanks to nbla000 from denial board!


download as usual at http://vc20final.t-winkler.net/zip/


Image for VICE included ...

[Diddl]

No one sent problems with release candidate so I release r020 today:


As usual please download r020 from FE3 download page.


Many thanks to Vic20-Ian for translating FE3 Loader file docu: click



Changes: 

   
• Bugfix: BLKD command fixed

   
• Diskloader is improved. It works now with programs starting at cassette buffer address. But this file must be loaded at last (if more than one file)!

   
• SAVE has a shorty in FE3 wedge. With "arrow left" you will do a SAVE.

If file already exists on the disk you can choose between "update" und "replace".

Replace simply send a @S: command to delete the file first.

Update will hold 2 versions of the file. It always does a "delete old file", "rename file" and "save file" sequence.


Caution: "update" will work only within D64 image files, not in normal file system of the SD card. This is cause SD2IEC (µIEC) doesn't process the @R: command outside of image files.



Replace:



Update:

[Diddl]

The documentation for Final Expansion is partly translated now from german to english: FE3 WIKI


Improvents are welcome, my english is really bad ...

[carlsson]

I managed to build mine to a working state last week.    However I used a different IEC cable than the supplied one since I'd rather want a long one in case I plug it into the back of a floppy drive.

[Diddl]

This is a very good idea with this long IEC cable! I also had problems to connect an additional drive to test demos on a real drive.