Sold Final Expansion 3 Rev 11 [3rd Batch]

Status
Not open for further replies.
Shouldn't the disk manager show something at least even without a LOADER file? I was under the impression that it should show the contents of the SD card, i.e. the single D64 file that I have on there. This is what I see in the manual (yes, I did study the manual for this before asking :-)). Basically when I press F3, it shows the disk manager screen for ½ second and then jumps straight back to the main menu as if it was unable to access the SD card.

I will try the loader and see if that changes anything, but I do not think it should be required to use the FE3 right? It will just improve compatibility with various software as it configures a proper config for each program. Initially I am just trying to save and load my own 'Hello World' BASIC program. Baby steps. :-)

Regarding the wedge then yes if I press F7 I get the BASIC screen that says 'FE3 wedge enabled' but typing '@' or '$' does absolutely nothing here. The cursor just goes to the beginning of next line.
If I instead press F8 in the main menu (normal BASIC), then @ will read and show the status code from the disk drive, i.e. 'SD2IEC*' if the drive was just reset or 'OK,0,0' if I type it again. This is what I would expect in wedge mode as well. So the SD2IEC does seem to be connected and work as it should and the VIC can load from it, just not in wedge mode. I gather this could be related to why the disk manager also seem to be unable to read from it if it uses the same pieces of code.

This seems to be a very weird issue and my next step is to go back to the standard kernel ROM as perhaps there is some incompatibility. I suppose the FE3 should work with both PAL and NTSC kernel ROMs (there are some differences in the timings)?

Edit: The cart flasher does the same as the disk manager, but I guess it is using the same methods to read from the drive.
 
Last edited:
Can you please post a link to the manual you are using and the point where it says it should show the contents of the SD card? The Disk Loader is not a SD card browser; it simply loads the LOADER file in the root directory of the SD card. The LOADER can point to programs or other LOADER files that are in sub-directories. That's how it has always been.

When I bought my first FE3 (Revision 9) from Diddl years ago, I was under the same impression as you about the disk loader. If you want a standard SD card browser then you should download CBM FileBrowser and create a LOADER file that points to it. You could also flash it to the Cart Loader so it's available no matter which SD card you put in. You could even get fancy and create an entry in the LOADER for CBM FileBrowser for each RAM mode so you can load the browser with the appropriate amount of memory for whatever you want to run.

The Cart Flasher also uses the LOADER file. Anything you define in the LOADER can be flashed to the Cart Loader using the Cart Flasher.

I'm very confused about your wedge issue. It sounds like you are saying it works when the wedge is disabled but does not work when it is enabled? Can you make a video to show me what is happening?

Heather
 
I think it is starting to make more sense to me now. Now I can't find what I thought I had seen in the manual, so I must have been confused. I was also confused wrt the kernel since there is no S-JiffyDOS for VIC20 so I just had the regular JiffyDOS. :)

Regarding the wedge issue, I found that it was due to the fact that the SD2IEC drive ID was set to #9. The JiffyDOS wedge commands apparently adapted to that, but the FE3 commands did not. I have changed the ID to #8 and now the FE3 wedge commands work as well. I can now use FE3 wedge commands to manually CD: into a D64 file and load a game from disk, so I guess that all I am missing now is to create those loader files and I should be good to go.

Thanks again for the help. :)
 
Yay! I'm so glad you got it all figured out. The LOADER files are just BASIC programs that can be edited directly on the VIC-20. Because of that, you can actually create a really nice menu system for your Disk Loader. I'd still use MKLoader to do the mass configuration of the files you initially put on your SD card then customize them from there and maybe manually create new entries when you need to. Since it's a BASIC program, you can list a section of a program then change the line numbers and data in the line to something new without having to retype everything.

Let me know if you need more help. :)

For anyone interested in buying an FE3, I have fully assembled devices, kits, and 3D printed White and Dark Brown cases available. I only sell the cases with a kit or fully assembled FE3, not by themselves.

Heather
 
Hey everyone!

I'm ceasing sales of this product and selling off my remaining stock. As of right now, I have about 6 kits and 11 fully assembled devices left. Once they are gone, I will not be selling more. I do have White and Dark Brown standard print resolution COREi64 3D printed cases for $30 with the purchase of a kit or fully assembled device.

Thanks!

Heather
 
That's too bad. These are the GOOD FE3s because unlike most other versions available out there, yours have the gold plating that's standard on high quality boards designed for edge connection.

e5frog is the co-designer of PLAnkton, LumaTOLB and GandALF. He always does excellent jobs.
 
eslapion said:
yours have the gold plating
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, these are just good quality ENIG, which is what all of the Final Expansion Rev 11 boards have been. However, After many hundreds of insertions and removals, my primary cartridge has held up extremely well. Were I to do more edge connector based products, I would certainly do the gold plating. I just don't want anyone to get the wrong impression about this particular board. :thumbsup:

Heather
 
LOL! You are, of course, correct. I mistook what you said for the 'Hard Gold' that is used on some edge connectors. :)

Heather
 
Last edited:
Feedback left for rmzalbar. I've been really slack about getting an International shipping quote to braincell1973 but I'll get that over to him today.

I only have a few kits left and around 10 fully assembled devices. After that, I won't be offering this wonderful device anymore.

Heather
 
I planned to build this kit at a leisurely pace this summer, but I couldn't control myself. Tonight I got itchy hands and figured I had to at least get started.. and before I knew it, the thing basically put itself together! I got Game Theory going right away, and as soon as I figured out how to load firmware for the SD2IEC I got that working too. Super happy! Thank you to SkydivinGirl, e5frog, CoreI64 and others who collaborated on this project, it's awesome!
 
Payment received from braincell1973 and his package will ship soon.

@rmzalbar

Thanks for letting us know you built your FE3 so fast! I'm so glad you are happy with it. Please let me know if you ever have any questions. I'm always happy to help. :)

Heather
 
Package for braincell1973 is on the way. :)

Only 3 Kits left and around 10 fully assembled devices.

Heather
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

piemmeweb
For Sale FINAL EXPANSION 3 REV 11 for Commodore VIC20
Replies
1
Views
290
piemmeweb
piemmeweb
SkydivinGirl
  • Locked
Sold Pre-Orders: Final Expansion 3 Rev 11 [2nd Batch]
2 3
Replies
46
Views
9K
SkydivinGirl
SkydivinGirl
SkydivinGirl
  • Locked
Sold Pre-Orders: Final Expansion 3 Rev 11
4 5 6
Replies
104
Views
16K
SkydivinGirl
SkydivinGirl
COREi64
  • Locked
Closed Case for Final Expansion 3 Rev 11 VIC-20 cartridge
Replies
0
Views
785
COREi64
COREi64
MC1173
  • Locked
Found VIC-20 Final Expansion 3 Rev. 10
Replies
10
Views
2K
MC1173
MC1173
Back
Top Bottom