1541 Ultimate is a fantastic piece of kit. Easily the best thing i bought for C64, worth every penny. U64 also, Thanks for the info on the latest updates.
This single update has completely changed the way I look (and will use) my U64. From a pure usability standpoint, it's making the C64 almost as easily accessible (from a "gray beard's" perspective) as a mobile phone. If there's WiFi nearby, there's C64 BADASSERY GOING ON! Holy crap! After performing the update today I am sincerely considering pulling the board out of my very pretty German "Plexilaser" w/LED case, and moving it into a C64C or Breadbin. Why? So I can use it with my spare MechBoard and make the U64 a mobile daily driver. My mind is spinning! Everything is questionable! Who invented pork rinds, and why?! Long live C= and long live the Ultimate64. Thanks for the fun vid.
Wow, nice! Thanks, Matt - I guess I'm getting the Ultimate II+ out tomorrow. :) edit: I see mine was still on 3.6a. Like you, I bought it and put it away for years. I plugged it in back when I received it, saw that the ethernet came up and though, "Why would I want my 64 online?" :) Now you (and Gideon) gave me a great reason with this new firmware.
There's a couple of reasons. The U2+ could get online and you could get it to talk to CBM BBS's. I never have done that, as I was more interested in the TELNET/FTP applications of use where I could remote in via Putty and control the U2+ that way, and then push/sync without having to pull the USB drive out, etc. I found it easier to just drag/drop from my NAS to the U2+ rather than the whole sneakernet thing.
Mine had 3.7 on it when I took it out of the box. I upgraded it to 3.10 before the stream so it'd have the current Flash filesystem layout, etc. I love the Assembly 64 feature and can't believe they're still finding ways to make the device better after all these years!
@@retrobitstv Absolutely - I had so much fun with it yesterday, esp. Tetris (Fusion, 1988) an Qix (taito)! :) I dropped a short video on it as did CallousCoder.
It is a CRIME to have that board lying in a box for 3-4 years - shame on you ! ;o) But wow its cool. I get mine later this year when mk.2 is ready. I have the U2+L and flashed it with 3.11 and the Assembly64 is very cool. I did also buy A Pig Quest but damn the difficulty is set high.
Nice demonstration. I am one of those tormented souls without an Ultimate 64, but with a MiSTer. All these awesome features would be very welcome in the C64 Core 😁
The ?LOAD ERROR is a known bug in 3.11 when you have the IEC drive alone on IEC bus. If you enable one 1541 virtual drive (with or without JiffyDOS drive ROM) you will no longer get this error. Gideon and I were aware of this issue before releasing the firmware. We hope to solve this in next firmware. Currently I still don't have a clue of what is happening. It is a JiffyDOS IEC protocol issue, something may not be acknowledged as expected but I lack of JiffyDOS protocol documentation to find out the bug root cause.
I remember Slimey's Mine. The sound blew me away. If you copy down the "random" white letters in the scroller at the bottom of the title screen, you get "THIS GAME WAS DESIGNED TO ANNOY PARENTS HA HA HA ..." The title screen was a drum machine. You could also hold down space to clear the pattern, then press other keys to enter a new one.
Thanks for the tip, I went back and made some of my own jams with the game! It ran fine in NTSC mode and I was able to clear the first asteroid field, something I never did as a kid.
Ngl, even if I didn’t show up until the near the end, the part where you showcased a little bit of music from Fallout 4 (including the main theme) was definitely my favorite part, thanks for making my inner Fallout nerd die inside in a good way!
I last played with the U2+ when they put out the 3.10 release. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get the firmware on it and try out that WiFi goodness. LOVE the idea of just downloading the images and running off that. Would be even better if I could redirect to my own site inside the LAN.
You may have figured out by now that U2+ does not have WiFi unfortunately, but it still has the Assembly 64 functionality over the Ethernet port, so that is pretty great.
@@davedavenport8673 100% worth the wires. I'm not a wireless fan. Cell phone, fine. Some tables.. ehh. ok... Devices? Gotta have. Only wireless I'll give a pass on is my headset. Beyond that, ♫ gimme all the wires, all the wire ties too! ♫ As stated, the only real grievance is that I can't reassign where the unit looks for its information. I'd much prefer a place in the software to indicate it's going to Assembly64 or my own API (Provided I had the API to make the calls the U2+ is making to Assembly64). If Assembly64 goes away, an alternative has to be put into place, or the functionality needs to be removed, etc. But yeah, love it.
Enjoyed Todays session Live Video, I Have the Ultimate II+ , not yet used it, though am wanting maunly to record music audio and set up for Twin SID stereo output. need some nerdy person and a Mucician, though first I need to get my head around it all , though its great to see the update and solutions as well as the ability to play files by remote access. It's all wating to happen abit like you had your Ultimate 64 sitting in the box.
Also, running Assembly 64 on PC is great because the search and overall functionality is better. It recognizes your Ultimate and a simple double click on a file will push it to the Ultimate. You can also keep a local copy on PC of any of the archives they have if you want and it will update itself anytime you open the app. I don't use it that way. I just use the search or the charts which show top files in various categories. It also has a sid player and you can create your own playlists. It can play the sids on your pc or push them to the ultimate. For some reason I did not know about the USB keyboard functionality, so now I can use my main logitech wireless keyboard to control my C64 and switch it back and forth to the PC. U64 can sit off to the side where I only need access to power switch and joystick port(I don't have elite version).
Sure, it's called the Blingboard64 - th-cam.com/video/D3ijF-ZjSVc/w-d-xo.html The best way to keep up with the latest news is on the CBMSTUFF.COM discord: discord.gg/GCHNcGh5
What about this new feature which is announced on the U64 webpage: "On the Ultimate 64 it is now possible to isolate the serial bus from the computer, which allows the Ultimate 64 to be used as external drives. Look for "Serial Bus Mode" in the "Ultimate 64 Specific Settings"." ?
I briefly mention this at the very end but basically it lets you use the U64 like a disk drive and attach it to a real C64 or other IEC-capable Commodore machine. The UII+ could already do this if you powered it from the USB port. This way you can use either device as as a disk drive for a VIC-20, Plus/4, etc. Pretty narrow use case, but it's there if you need it. You'd have to control what disk was mounted via the REST API or telnet connection.
The campaign hasn't started yet but the cbmstuff.com Discord is probably the best place to stay up-to-date: discord.com/channels/855695782435094538/855734745300074546
After patching the ESP I got WiFi Disabled. But, nothing happens when I try to enable it. I did try accessing the WiFi when it was updating the ESP. Any idea how to fix this ?
I didn't notice that at the time but I see it in the replay. That is odd. Either something else was in BASIC memory and got saved in the file or perhaps the filesize calculation is wrong. I may have to take a look at the raw data on the USB stick and see what's in there...
1541 Ultimate is a fantastic piece of kit. Easily the best thing i bought for C64, worth every penny. U64 also, Thanks for the info on the latest updates.
This single update has completely changed the way I look (and will use) my U64. From a pure usability standpoint, it's making the C64 almost as easily accessible (from a "gray beard's" perspective) as a mobile phone. If there's WiFi nearby, there's C64 BADASSERY GOING ON! Holy crap! After performing the update today I am sincerely considering pulling the board out of my very pretty German "Plexilaser" w/LED case, and moving it into a C64C or Breadbin. Why? So I can use it with my spare MechBoard and make the U64 a mobile daily driver. My mind is spinning! Everything is questionable! Who invented pork rinds, and why?! Long live C= and long live the Ultimate64. Thanks for the fun vid.
Wow, nice! Thanks, Matt - I guess I'm getting the Ultimate II+ out tomorrow. :)
edit: I see mine was still on 3.6a. Like you, I bought it and put it away for years.
I plugged it in back when I received it, saw that the ethernet came up and though, "Why would I want my 64 online?" :)
Now you (and Gideon) gave me a great reason with this new firmware.
There's a couple of reasons. The U2+ could get online and you could get it to talk to CBM BBS's. I never have done that, as I was more interested in the TELNET/FTP applications of use where I could remote in via Putty and control the U2+ that way, and then push/sync without having to pull the USB drive out, etc. I found it easier to just drag/drop from my NAS to the U2+ rather than the whole sneakernet thing.
Mine had 3.7 on it when I took it out of the box. I upgraded it to 3.10 before the stream so it'd have the current Flash filesystem layout, etc. I love the Assembly 64 feature and can't believe they're still finding ways to make the device better after all these years!
@@retrobitstv Absolutely - I had so much fun with it yesterday, esp. Tetris (Fusion, 1988) an Qix (taito)! :)
I dropped a short video on it as did CallousCoder.
Thanks for another great show and tell about ultimate updates :) you make them really well!
Great update- Wifi and Assembly 64 are killer! Hoping to get an Ultimate 64 this year
It is a CRIME to have that board lying in a box for 3-4 years - shame on you ! ;o) But wow its cool. I get mine later this year when mk.2 is ready. I have the U2+L and flashed it with 3.11 and the Assembly64 is very cool. I did also buy A Pig Quest but damn the difficulty is set high.
Haha yea, time just got away from me :P It's a tough one. I did get to the last level of A Pig Quest but never finished the game.
Nice demonstration. I am one of those tormented souls without an Ultimate 64, but with a MiSTer. All these awesome features would be very welcome in the C64 Core 😁
Thx for a great video. i am going to update firmware right now :) Thx to Gideon we have amazing peace of hardware!
The ?LOAD ERROR is a known bug in 3.11 when you have the IEC drive alone on IEC bus. If you enable one 1541 virtual drive (with or without JiffyDOS drive ROM) you will no longer get this error. Gideon and I were aware of this issue before releasing the firmware. We hope to solve this in next firmware. Currently I still don't have a clue of what is happening. It is a JiffyDOS IEC protocol issue, something may not be acknowledged as expected but I lack of JiffyDOS protocol documentation to find out the bug root cause.
Ah, good to know and thanks for your work on this update!
I remember Slimey's Mine. The sound blew me away.
If you copy down the "random" white letters in the scroller at the bottom of the title screen, you get "THIS GAME WAS DESIGNED TO ANNOY PARENTS HA HA HA ..."
The title screen was a drum machine. You could also hold down space to clear the pattern, then press other keys to enter a new one.
Thanks for the tip, I went back and made some of my own jams with the game! It ran fine in NTSC mode and I was able to clear the first asteroid field, something I never did as a kid.
Ngl, even if I didn’t show up until the near the end, the part where you showcased a little bit of music from Fallout 4 (including the main theme) was definitely my favorite part, thanks for making my inner Fallout nerd die inside in a good way!
I last played with the U2+ when they put out the 3.10 release. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get the firmware on it and try out that WiFi goodness. LOVE the idea of just downloading the images and running off that. Would be even better if I could redirect to my own site inside the LAN.
You may have figured out by now that U2+ does not have WiFi unfortunately, but it still has the Assembly 64 functionality over the Ethernet port, so that is pretty great.
@@davedavenport8673 100% worth the wires. I'm not a wireless fan. Cell phone, fine. Some tables.. ehh. ok... Devices? Gotta have. Only wireless I'll give a pass on is my headset. Beyond that, ♫ gimme all the wires, all the wire ties too! ♫
As stated, the only real grievance is that I can't reassign where the unit looks for its information. I'd much prefer a place in the software to indicate it's going to Assembly64 or my own API (Provided I had the API to make the calls the U2+ is making to Assembly64). If Assembly64 goes away, an alternative has to be put into place, or the functionality needs to be removed, etc. But yeah, love it.
Enjoyed Todays session Live Video, I Have the Ultimate II+ , not yet used it, though am wanting maunly to record music audio and set up for Twin SID stereo output. need some nerdy person and a Mucician, though first I need to get my head around it all , though its great to see the update and solutions as well as the ability to play files by remote access. It's all wating to happen abit like you had your Ultimate 64 sitting in the box.
Press CLR on any of the fields of the Assembly 64 filters to clear them.
Dig Dug Revival!?
Hold on. I've got to get on my PC and download something...
Also, running Assembly 64 on PC is great because the search and overall functionality is better. It recognizes your Ultimate and a simple double click on a file will push it to the Ultimate. You can also keep a local copy on PC of any of the archives they have if you want and it will update itself anytime you open the app. I don't use it that way. I just use the search or the charts which show top files in various categories. It also has a sid player and you can create your own playlists. It can play the sids on your pc or push them to the ultimate.
For some reason I did not know about the USB keyboard functionality, so now I can use my main logitech wireless keyboard to control my C64 and switch it back and forth to the PC. U64 can sit off to the side where I only need access to power switch and joystick port(I don't have elite version).
Very cool, I haven't tried the PC client yet but I'm going to have to now!
Retro gaming made easy.
Great news, thanks. Habby New Years.
Is there a non-Facebook way to keep up with Ultimate II+ firmware releases?
Great update Matt! You mention about Jim Drews mechanical keyboard and keys for the c64. Can you please provide links and details for it?
Sure, it's called the Blingboard64 - th-cam.com/video/D3ijF-ZjSVc/w-d-xo.html The best way to keep up with the latest news is on the CBMSTUFF.COM discord: discord.gg/GCHNcGh5
Why dont I have sound on my Ultimate Elite after this upgrade - I can only hear the emulated loading sound....
Do you know if there anyway to save your wifi ssid password? Every time I power cycle my U64 it doesn't save. Thanks for video
So nice , I have the U64 cant want for updating it!
I was wondering why you were using WSL, and the curl commands for REST API purposes is the answer.
What about this new feature which is announced on the U64 webpage:
"On the Ultimate 64 it is now possible to isolate the serial bus from the computer, which allows the Ultimate 64 to be used as external drives. Look for "Serial Bus Mode" in the "Ultimate 64 Specific Settings"."
?
I briefly mention this at the very end but basically it lets you use the U64 like a disk drive and attach it to a real C64 or other IEC-capable Commodore machine. The UII+ could already do this if you powered it from the USB port. This way you can use either device as as a disk drive for a VIC-20, Plus/4, etc. Pretty narrow use case, but it's there if you need it. You'd have to control what disk was mounted via the REST API or telnet connection.
@@retrobitstv Thanks so much for your detailed explanation.
Bonne Année 2024
Merci pour les informations
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Do you have a link for the blingboard64? Its the last step in my all new c64 and I'd love to have one.
The campaign hasn't started yet but the cbmstuff.com Discord is probably the best place to stay up-to-date: discord.com/channels/855695782435094538/855734745300074546
After patching the ESP I got WiFi Disabled. But, nothing happens when I try to enable it. I did try accessing the WiFi when it was updating the ESP. Any idea how to fix this ?
Short of trying the flash operation a second time, I do not. Hopefully the ESP isn't bricked!
@@retrobitstv Nothing happens if I run the esp programming flash again. It says it starts but nothing happens. :(
Wonder why MAZE2 saved at 9 blocks with no change and MAZE is just 1 block.
I didn't notice that at the time but I see it in the replay. That is odd. Either something else was in BASIC memory and got saved in the file or perhaps the filesize calculation is wrong. I may have to take a look at the raw data on the USB stick and see what's in there...
MAZE has 1 block. But when you loaded and saved it, MAZE2 had actually 9 blocks. Weird.
Maybe CD up arrow or CD.. goes to parent directory?
I dont think T64 files work on Jiffy Dos
I think you hit the nail on the head. I had forgotten in that moment that JiffyDOS ditches the kernal tape loading routines. Oops!