keyman64 1.1 released

This release features a USB remote control interface and a second, improved revision of the keyman64 board:

Various aspects of the pcb layout have been improved in comparision to the first revision. The SMD USB connector has been discarded in favor of a through-hole connector. A pin header has been added to allow selection of the power source (keyboard connector, direct connection or USB connector). The electrolytic capacitors around the 7660 have been replaced with tantalum types. The silkscreen has been improved, indicating the direction of the diodes and polarized capacitors and showing the layout of the user and serial interface pins. Proper mounting holes were added as well.

A remote control interface has been added to allow sending commands from the PC via USB directly to the keyman64.

The project is now licensed under the GPL2.

Please refer to the project page for detailed documentation.

Please see the remainder of this post for a detailed Changelog.

keyman64 1.0 released

I am proud to announce the first major release of keyman64, a programmable keyboard interceptor and hardware control system for computers equipped with a simple 8x8 matrix keyboard, such as the Commodore 64.

The keyman64 is installed between the keyboard and the computer can be configured to intercept special key combinations and invoke arbitrary sequences of commands to alter the state of sixteen general purpose control lines provided on the board. These lines can be used to control additional hardware instead of using physical buttons or switches.

Additional features include the ability to send predefined keyboard macros or to redefine the keyboard layout. A simple serial interface for remote control is provided as well.

Configuration and firmware updates can be transferred via USB, eliminating the need for additional programming hardware.

For some concrete examples of what the keyman64 can do, see the configuration examples.

Please refer to the project page for detailed documentation.

xlink 1.3 released

This release fixes a firmware bug that prevented xlink from working properly with C64C boards (Assy. 250469 and later). On these boards an additional 470pf capacitor has been added to the /FLAG line on the userport, which requires increasing the time that the line is held low in order to assert it.

Also version 1.2 introduced a bug in the win32 client, resulting in a double free() on exit, which causes windows to display a message among the lines of “The program has stopped working…”, although the program has worked properly up to that point.

Thus updating is only required if you’re using xlink from windows or with a later C64 board revision.

• xlink-firmware-1.3.hex
• xlink-1.3.msi

xlink 1.2 released

This release adds support for the C128. A new hardware revision has been created to account for differences between the C64 and C128. The client software and library have now been ported to MacOSX. The 1541 drive commands have been removed. Some minor bugs were found and fixed in the USB adapter firmware and the server software. An update of the USB adapter firmware and server software is recommended for this release.

xlink 1.1 released

This release features a new hardware revision of the usb adapter with additional port protection, support for emulating an xlink adapter in vice and a few minor bugfixes to the library. No updates of the firmware or server software are required.