ArduiTape/CASDuino/TZXDuino - The cassette player replacements

 I managed to get hold of a copy of Cannon Fighter by Moorwood Software on cassette which to the best of my knowledge has not been archived so I have converted it to both CAS and TSX files. You can download it from here.   A while ago ago I posted a link for the MSXtra compilation by Alligata but the TSX files were bad, but I've redone them and they should now all work. You can download them from here. You can download the CAS files from here.

 When Andrew Beer and I came up with this idea the intention was for people to build their own and many people have but once in a while someone comes up with something so amazing it really needs to be shared. JamHamster came up with the idea of fitting a TZXDuino in a cassette. Originally it was powered by USB and had a 3.5mm Ear socket but it looked amazing. Then he added a battery so that it was self powered. Then he added a head from a CD to cassette adapter. Then he added a switch under that head so that when you press play on the Cassette Recorder it plays the file you've selected. And the TZXCassette was born Because he is a great guy he's also uploaded the instructions on how to build one to Github and you can download the instructions and build your own. Now at the moment there is no REM control it may not work as well with a CPC 464 as it does with with a Spectrum +2 but it is a stunning piece of electrical engineering and a work of art in my opinion.

New firmware . TZXDuino 1.15.3 Adapted the MAXDuino ID19 code and TurboMode for ZX80/81. To access Turbo Mode for ZX80/81 and Electron please switch Turbo Mode On in the menu Also added UEF Chunk 117 which allows for differing baudrates in BBC UEFs. Added a Spectrum Font for OLED 1306 users converted by Brendan Alford. Option added to userconfig.h Added File scrolling by holding up or down buttons. By Brendan Alford. Download from here. CASDuino 1.24 Added a Spectrum Font for OLED 1306 users converted by Brendan Alford. Option added to userconfig.h Added File scrolling by holding up or down buttons. By Brendan Alford. Download from here.

TZX Block type ID15, bane of my existence when it comes to TZXDuino I found, with the help of users, that enabling ID15 screwed up many other TZX files that used to work under 1.13 on the MSX and Spectrum. To fix this I've added yet another option to the Menu. It's not how I would like to have done it but it works. If you're not trying to load a musical loader or a Direct Record (usually a Firebird game) on an Amstrad CPC then switch ID15 off. There are very few TZX files for the Spectrum that use ID15 and so far there are no TSX files for the MSX that use ID15. Also please make sure you turn the Gremlin Loader off as well as that can also stop files loading properly. Turn these options on separately if a file fails to load. IF after that it still fails then please let me know the file, where it's from, and what computer you are trying it on. TZXDuino 1.14.2 can be downloaded from here.

Thanks to the help of Rafael Molina Chasserot some new features have been added to the TZXDuino and CASDuino firmwares which has freed up some memory as well, which may lead to more features being added in the future. A percentage counter and a timer counter have been added to all screens so that you know how much is left of a file to play and how long it has taken to load. The OLED1306 and PCD8544 use completely new routines for the firmwares saving a lot of memory. Folder navigation is now different. Rather than using the Menu button on TZXDuino or the Stop button on CASDuino to return to the ROOT directory, if you press the stop button when no file is playing you will go up one folder only making it easier to navigate. TZXDuino The TZXDuino has had a menu added so that MSX users can set the Baud rate of TSX files so that they can load faster than normal. A few more emulator only IDs have been fixed so that they are skipped by TZXDuino. CASDuino CASduino has had a Baud Rate of 3...

Whilst it may seem there han't been much going on in recent months we have been working behind the scenes on improving and adding more options to the various firmwares and trying to improve the hardware. The main difference with these firmwares is that OLED 1306 screens are now fully working on all of them and that the PCD8544 has added as a screen option. I will go into the hardware changes needed for that at a later date. ArduiTape 1.5 What's New Added support for the PCD7544. Download from here. CASDuino 1.15 What's New Improved support for CoCo and Dragon Added support for OLED1306 and PCD8544. Download from here. TZXDuino 1.8 What's New Added ID2A Added support for PCD8544 Download from here. TZXDuino 1.8.1 What's New TSX support for MSX TSX files added by Natalia Pujol. Not officially supported and any bugs should be reported to her. Download from here.