Interview with Wilfred Bos from the ACID64

Interview with Wilfred Bos on 17/12/2017

‎Besides Gideon Zweijtzer and Jan Derogee I also interviewed Wilfred Bos on that rainy Saturday December 17th 2017 in Maarssen(NL) during the bi-monthly gathering of the Commodore and Amiga enthusiasts .
To me he forms the Dutch Dynamic Trio with Gideon and Jan considering their ingenuity and creativity in the Commodore scene.

Who is Wilfred Bos I hear you say? Well shame on you, every musing loving C64 user should know it! :)

Wilfred his besides being a caring husband and father also a valued member of the Commodore scene and also an active member of the High Voltage SID Collection team.

Wilfred gave us the very first SID player for the C64 in 1996. The Ultimate SID player in the Ultimate C64 & The ACID player on PC that can handle all kind of Sids via software or hardware.

His piece de resistance is his upcoming ACID C64 network Player in combination with the 1541 Ultimate II & the Ultimate C64. :D



Read the interview and find out more about him.

How did you end on the C64?

As a little kid I played a lot outside and I did some pranks in the neighborhood which was not always appreciated by my neighbors. My parents wanted me more at home and they asked me if I would like to have a video recorder or computer. I told them that I would like to have a computer and especially a Commodore 64 since I already had seen one. That was in 1984 and in January 1985 my dad bought a C64 for himself and he let me use it as well. I was 12 years old and the result was that since then I didn’t play a lot outside anymore☺

At first, I just played games on the C64 and when I was 14 I started to program in assembly since I wanted to do things that was not possible using BASIC. I started to make demos with some friends and we called ourselves Channel Four.

In 1989 I got an Amiga for my birthday and I did some programming on it in assembly. In 1992 I switched to the PC and I made some small demos in assembly. In 1995 I started to make a SID player in assembler without emulating the SID. At that time, I was studying computer science and I met Peter Wendrich (known from the Chameleon cartridge). I told him that I was busy with writing a SID player and then we had the idea to make use of a real SID chip. We sat together and Peter made a test board with a SID chip on it connected to the parallel port and then we added some code to my SID player to control the SID chip on that board and by our own surprise we could play the tune from Commando on it in just an afternoon.We then made two prototype boards and I continued programming on the player but since we had no time to manufacture the board, the project was put on hold.

In Summer 1996 I joined the High Voltage SID Collection team where I’m still a member of. Currently there are 50.240 SID tunes in the music collection.

In 2003 my girlfriend got pregnant, which gave me more time in the evenings to do some programming and I picked up my old project again which I transformed in a Windows application. I made support for the HardSID ISA card and called my program ACID64. I released ACID64 in June 2003.

Where does your passion for music come from?

In the beginning of the 80s, I liked to listen to 80s pop and synthesizer music. I was impressed by the sound chip of the Commodore 64 and often I just turned my C64 on, started a demo or game just for listening to the music.


What tools do you use when you’re programming for the C64?

When I started programming on the C64, I made use of the monitor of the Power Cartridge and saved all my code on tape. Later I got a disk drive and in 1988 I started to write code in Turbo Assembler.

For my C64 related projects I use several programming languages, like Delphi and Java. When I am programming for the C64, I make use of 64tass assembler on the PC.


What music tools do you use on the C64 & PC?

I don’t make use of music tools on the C64 since I don’t make music for the C64.

Since I’m a member of the High Voltage SID Collection crew, I make use of tools to rip music from C64 programs. I made several tools for identifying SID tunes, for calculating song lengths, for cleaning SID tunes and packing them, for identifying the play routine of a SID, etc.


You were a member of the Channel Four Group. Where does this name come from?
Well in the Netherlands we had 3 TV channels in the 80s in the town I grew up, namely NED1, NED2 and NED3. For us the C64 was connected to Channel Four!!

Channel Four demos can be found here: http://csdb.dk/group/?id=1566


When did you make the first Ultimate Player for the 1541 Ultimate?

I made the first Ultimate Player version in 2009. Currently I’m busy with an update of the player. The player will get support for sub tune selection via the keyboard and a clock will be displayed with a time bar. Also, it will get song length support.

The same player will also be integrated in ACID64 so that you can select SID tunes in ACID64 but they will be played on the C64 when you connect your 1541 Ultimate 2+ to the network.

‎

How long did it take to have this first Ultimate Player version?

At that time, I could program the player during the day and it took me about a month to finish it.




Do you want to share something with our group?

I make programs because of my own needs and because I like programming. I like when people enjoy my programs which motivates me even more to do more programming.

Thanks for your helpful answers Wilfred!!


The video below gives you a little taste of how crowdy and noisy it is during our meetings in Maarssen.
Funny note for the quick observer, during filming my cellphone went of. I didn't edit it out of the footage because I wanted to you to hear that i'm a SID addict.😄
Can you guess which SID it is then please leave a note below? I wonder how many people will recognise it.😊

                                

In  2016 he made an intro for this music colection: http://csdb.dk/release/?id=149405

Link to Wilfred's websit: Acid64.com.

All Wilfred's demos can be found on CDSB:  http://csdb.dk/scener/?id=6746

Interview with Jan Derogee from the Cassiopei 1 & 2 and the 1541-III

Last Saturday December 17th I was in Maarssen(NL) for the bi-monthly gathering of the Commodore and Amiga enthusiasts. It was busy, as it always is in December.

Jan Derogee was there also and he demonstrated his final version of the Cassioiopei 2. We got talking and so this interview got started :)

Jan how did you end on the C64?  

The C64 is my 1st computer and therefore has a special place in my heart. I must have been about 13 years old when I bought a C64 from my savings money with a datasette and 2 rickety joysticks. I chose the C64, simply because my sister's boyfriend had one and because I knew it was a much sold computer. So knowing that software could easily be copied, this seemed like a good choice. I never regretted it.








Where does your your passion for electronics and C64 come from? And which projects do you already have realised?
When I was young, there were so many beautiful items for computers for sale, but all too expensive. Making it myself was not an option back then because I lacked the knowledge and parts.
Nowadays the parts are more powerful than then and only cost a fraction. Information about the C64 can be found in abundance on the internet and in books (which I got hold of on club days in Maarssen). In short, I can now make more beautiful things than I once thought possible. In the retro computer field I have the 1541-III, the Cassiopei and then the Cassiopei v2.0. I made (for a joke) an M & M sorting machine that is controlled by the C64 and can control the lights of my house with the C64. But that is all for fun, I made a video about it for the Cassiopei.

Have you made any programs on the C64?

I wrote all the software for the Cassiopei myself:
- The code for the Cassiopei itself (firmware for the microcontroller in the Cassiopei is written in C),
- The code for the CBM computers (from PET to C128, are written in asm),
- Software for the PC like development tools, conversion of images to PETSCII and conversion of multiple images in a row for an animation.

The latter is a piece of software that I want to release somewhere in early 2018 for use in combination with the Cassiopei. It is highly compressed but works nicely. Especially given that all data traffic goes through the cassette port. It comes down to playing PETSCII animations on your CBM (from PET to C128).

Which programming tools do you use on the C64 and PC?
CBM program studio, great tool, really an all-in-one, would not be able to do anything without it.
Visual Basic.net. I just use this software to create programs that must run on a PC.

How did the idea rise for the first Cassiopei?
I wanted to build a speech synthesizer, and the Cassette port was a getting disused as connector interface. Then I realised that it would also be useful to also load software via that interface. When I realized that the Cassette port was present on (almost) all 8-bit Commodore computers, the idea for 1 device that works on several computers was born.

When did you start with the first Cassiopei and when was this done?
If I am not mistaken, I started in 2011 and I was ready with that design somewhere in 2013. But there is still a year of extra development attached to it, because yes, software is never finished and extra functions have also been added. Like compression of TAP files, the first Cassiopei had only 8MByte memory and thanks compression I could effectively double the capacity for the TAP files. (The TAP files are compressed by an average of 50%).

How much time do you put into the first version?
See above

What tools do you use for creation the Cassiopei?
See above

The most recent is the Cassiopei 2, can you explain the evolution from version 1 to version 2 please?
The first version of the Cassiopei was actually fully developed and it was time for something new. Something with more storage, something that can work without cables, something that can work entirely stand-alone. For the first Cassiopei a PC was required for configuration. That was not always handy for all users.

What are the functionality differences between these two generations? What are the differences in hardware such as the FPGA or PIC?
The first Cassiopei had an internal memory of 8MByte, Cassiopei v2.0 used a full-size SD card that can support up to 32GByte (no need for compression)

The first Cassiopei needed an USB connection with a PC with special software for configuration, Cassiopei V2.0 is needs only a web browser and / or a SD card reader.
The first Cassiopei had only 3 buttons and a power LED, not suitable for navigation through a TAP file. The Cassiopei 2.0 has a display and a menu structure with which you can setup (almost) everything.
The first Cassiopei had an expansion connector, for the connection of self-made electronics based on I2C. Cassiopei v2.0 does not have that. In practice, very few people need to have that and in the new design I also no longer have any free IO pins left.

Cassiopei v2.0 has a cassette port connector for connecting a Datasette, so you can easily create a tap file or record tapes (backup / restore). I am working on a disk wizard, so you can also convert D64 files to a real disk and vice versa. Considering that most user will not be using this tool heavily (only occasionally for making a real disk to play a certain game that must run from disk) speed is not a big issue.
But it is software, so who knows, it can always be improved. Anyway, this was impossible in the old Cassiopei, which did not have enough storage for that.

How did you come up with the idea for the Cassiopei 2?

The first version was fully developed and couldn’t be expanded anymore and small drawbacks in the first version made me think. Then the ESP8266 came up, which is now the base of the new design. The Cassiopei therefore has a WIFI interface, which is still used for a simple web server page to configure the Cassiopei (or update with new firmware). 

But there is a lot more potential in it, although this means that custom software must be written for the ESP8266. But theoretically, the internet via the cassette port is no problem at all. Think of emailing or tweeting via your C64 (sending, reading can be difficult) but that is all for the future.

Since when did you start with this and what is the number of man-days that you spent on it?
Over a time of 2 years, on average 4 evenings a week and if I could whole days in the weekends and / or holidays. I’m always building small pieces of software and then expanding into something complete. I did a lot of exploring and trials because I have to pull some tricks to get things done. Such as the generation of time-critical TAPE signals on a system that can be interrupted at any moment by another time-critical event such as Wi-Fi traffic.

I suspect that the FPGA or PIC is different from the Cassiopei 1. Can you explain this please?
The first Cassiopei used a PIC microcontroller at 48MHz with only 64KByte of program memory, fast enough but you could not fit a meaningful implementation of the FAT system in combination with the other functionality.

The Cassiopei v2.0 uses an ESP8266, which runs at 160MHz and has 4MByte to program memory. Room enough for an implementation of the FAT file system that can be used to control a SD card of 32GByte with LFN (long filenames), sub directories, reading and writing. 

But for sure the Wi-Fi functionality is surely the biggest difference; literally and figuratively a new world of programming possibilities opens up. One of these is firmware updates via the built-in web server. This means that the user does not need any special software or cables to run a firmware update. That is much more user-friendly than in the first Cassiopei. And because there are no cables needed anymore between the PC and the CBM computer, there are no problems regarding potential differences due to different power supplies, something that can occur if power supplies in computers do not hang on edge ground or if a fault occurs somewhere. Thanks to the Wi-Fi connection, data can still be transferred between the PC and the Cassiopei v2.0. (Virtual file mode) something which was essential during the development of the Cassiopei also of great value for anyone who wants to do cross development with CBM computer.
A tentative release date for the second Cassiopei? 
February 2018.

Have you used for the Cassiopei 2 other tools than for the Cassiopei 1? Explain please. The compiler for the microcontroller differs, but the most important thing remains CBM program studio for both models.

What have you else made besides the Cassiopei?
See above

Do you want to share something with the group?
Nothing comes to mind.

Can you send pictures of playful or not during your Cassiopei 1 and Cassiopei 2 periods? :) Or other memorable moments like your Hammer game :D
If you do not have photos, you can also share a playful anecdote ;) 

Photos, sorry, I have a mobile with a worthless camera and a memory for a handful of photos. I know, I need a new mobile. But I do not want one, after all I already have a computer on which I can do everything, then I will not mess around on such a small screen. But the advantage of such a handy mobile is that you can take photos very easily and thus document things for fun and for later, so I’m slowly looking around for a new mobile. Unfortunately, I do not have those photos. The photos that I have are on my website. 

Maybe you can do something with the photo of the failed case designs. Because the cabinet for the Cassiopei was not finished in one iteration. The design had to look neat, practical but also printable on the 3D printer, at the end I have to print everything myself otherwise it would be unaffordable. With every design there was something wrong and it did cost me many iterations of the design before I knew what was useful. The current design meets most of my requirements. The Cassiopei project has led to the fact that I have been able to improve my (self-designed and built 3D printer) and the quality is not inferior to that of an expensive ready-made version. I am quite proud of that. Anyway ... Although even if you print in the highest quality mode on a 3D-printer ... you can always see that it’s done on a 3D printer. On the one hand, that’s a curse, on the other hand, it has its charms. Anyway without a 3D printer, the Cassiopei would be just a boring square box with a blue edge connector sticking out. Now it is a perfectly fitting module that fits (almost all e.g. not the SX or the GS) every 8-bit Commodore computer. And the whole setup is still solid & sturdy too.



This is a video of Cassiopei 2 in action.

You can read more on Cassiopei and Jan’s other project on his website:

http://home.kpn.nl/bderogee1980/index.html

Interview with Gideon Zweijtzer from The 1541 Ultimate and Ultimate C64

Last Saturday December 17th I was in Maarssen(NL) for the bi-monthly gathering of the Commodore and Amiga enthusiasts. It was busy, as it always is in December.

Gideon was there also and presenting his debugged Ultimate C64. He is really a nice lad and down to earth.

After taking some pictures I chatted with him. As it was rather noisy and I wanted some good answers, I asked him if it was Ok for him if I could sent the questions by mail, so he could take his time and answer them when he had the time. The good lad he is, he said to me:"just ask me now". 👍 I told him that it was quite lengthy and I wanted him to answer when he was relaxed.

So here are the questions and his answers translated from Dutch to English, Enjoy!

A nice down to earth lad!

How did you end up with the C64?  

Mainly due to the enthusiasm of my brother, who started programming on the ZX81 and later on the C64 and C128. Because he is almost 7 years older than me, I was relatively young when I learned about programming. I was about the age of 8 when I started.  

Where does your passion for electronics and C64 come from?

Electronics: I find the practical side of the techniques very nice, and it fits well with my interest in computers and programming.  When I was 11, I got my first own computer; that was also a C64, because I already learned a lot about it through my brother. Now that I had one for myself, I also had more opportunities to experiment with creating programs. Later I also soldered small things together and hung them on the C64, such as a temperature gauge.

Did you made any programs on C64?

Yes. Never very big constructions, but I have made a number of programs, including a program for my father, to search for articles. My program could then index and search on a floppy.

Furthermore, I re-engineered Giana Sisters, and created new levels together with two friends, and thus released an unofficial Giana Sisters II via a local BBS in the neighborhood.  

Which programming tools do you use on the C64 and PC?

On the C64 actually none, other than the built-in tools in a cartridge, for example the monitor in the Retro Replay.

For the PC, see question below.

How did you come up with the idea for the 1541 Ultimate?

Actually, I was already working for a while to rebuild parts of the C64. Then Jeri Ellsworth came with her C64 implementation (later C1). I did not feel like playing the "me too" game, so I thought: I'll re-implement the 1541 drive. I already had a reasonable implementation of the 6502, so it was not really that difficult. Then I had to puzzle out how the floppy images would be sent to this emulator. At the very first demo of the 1541 emulation a floppy image (.d64) had to be sent via Ethernet from a PC. That was not very practical. Then the idea arose to create a selection menu that ran on the VIC itself. To this end, I tried to 'take over' the VIC via the cartridge port and DMA. It worked. In the end, a colleague did not think it was a good idea, because they had to 'sacrifice' the cartridge port for this purpose. He had a point there. Then I decided to also emulate two cartridges, the FC3 and the Action Replay, in order to eliminate this "drawback" of an occupied cartridge port. This proved to be a success!

When did you start the 1541U and when was this done?

Somewhere in 2006 I had the first floppy emulator in FPGA, and in 2007 the first Ultimate prototype came as a cartridge. At the end of that year, the production of the first Ultimate generation was started.

How much time did you put into the first 1541U?

I really have not kept that up.

Which tools do you use for this?

On the PC I mostly use Eclipse as a programming environment, but of course many other tools, such as 64tass to convert assembly code into a binary for the C64. And of course the compilers for the embedded soft cores that run in the Ultimate.

Anyway, there are also many other tools that I use for the hardware, and for FPGA design there are also several tools that I use, including a simulator (Modelsim and Aldec Riviera). And then of course there are the vendor-specific environments of Xilinx and Altera that I use to build the FPGAs.

The most recent is the 1541U2+, how do you explain the evolution from 1541U to the 1541U2 and to the present 1541U2+?

The most recent is the U2 + indeed. The U1 had some caprices, was not properly maintainable in terms of code, and was not great in terms of production, so I started again. I also thought it would be necessary to have a case around the PCB. That is how the U2 originated. I have produced these for a number of years, until the factory of the casings lost the injection mold for the second time. Also the FPGA of Xilinx suddenly became considerably more expensive, because this type came to the end of its life cycle. This was the time for an upgrade. The U2 + was created, with a new and better housing and a FPGA of a more recent family.

What functionality differences exist between these 3 generations?   What are the differences in hardware such as the FPGA?

There are too many differences to list them in detail. The U2 + has a somewhat larger FPGA, of Altera (now Intel), of the type Cyclone IV, while the U2 has a Xilinx Spartan 3A. The U2 + also has standard Ethernet on board, a speaker for the drive sounds, and an analog audio out- AND input. The audio output is of much higher quality than that of the U2. More USB ports, too.

How did you come up with the idea for ​​the Ultimate C64?  

I had this idea for quite a long time. I once gave a demo of a Commodore 64 in FPGA from my hand, sometime in 2011 or 2012. I only had the idea that this would never be feasible to take it into production, because of the board's price. The whole idea ended up in a box in the attic, and I did not do anything with it anymore. But, it turns out that the quality of the real C64s is deteriorating. I notice this with more and more problems with the Ultimate cartridges that are actually caused by failing old hardware. In order to let the C64 live on, I thought it was worthwhile at some point to get rid of the layer of dust from the project of a few years ago. And, ... by solving some things a bit more cleverly, and with more experience in terms of production and purchasing it has become feasible. Of course, the experience with the U2 + also helped to create a solid design.

Since when did you start this and what are the number of man-days that you have spent on this (women's days included ;-)   )?

I do not keep this, sorry.   I started the new hardware design at the beginning of this year (2017). Anyway, it went with ups and downs. Sometimes it was quiet for a few months. Around August I had the first prototypes, I started testing, measuring and debugging, and now, in mid-December, I can finally say that the first batch of U64s is in production. In technical terms: the zero series.

I suspect that the FPGA is different from the 1541U2 +. Can you describe this more please?

The FPGA is indeed different. The U64 uses one of the members of the Cyclone V family of Altera / Intel, while the U2 + uses a Cyclone IV.

A tentative release date for the UC64?

I expect that at the end of January 2018 the first 100 pieces will leave the factory.

Did you use other tools for the UC64 than for the 1541U2+? Explain please.  

No actually not. Just a good editor for the VHDL code (Eclipse), and a good simulator. For the U64 I have measured a bit more on a real C64. Of course, I built all kinds of tools for myself to verify what I had made. I have the most fun when figuring things out myself, and I have certainly not neglected on the U64.

Do you want to share something with the group?

Euhm .. I cannot think of anything in 1, 2, 3 .. Oh, yes, maybe. There is a new website in the making, which makes it easier to order / pre-order the U2 + and the U64. I have received a lot of questions in the past about the ordering process, and I hope that with the new website it will be immediately clear. As soon as the website is opened, I will announce this on Facebook, and also link it from the old website.  


This conludes the interview. Please leave a message if like the blog or just want to share your view on the subject 😉
Bye for now and till next time 😊

Update 20171226
Read more about Gideon's projects on his websites
http://1541ultimate.net/content/index.php
http://ultimate64.com
Please  take into account that the latter website maybe under construction!