Commodore Free 12/Commodore_Free_Issue_12_2007_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64/t.iv stone pt2

Text File | 2007-01-01 | 11.0 KB | 355 lines

u
The SOASC= Project
http://www.6581-8580.com/index.htm

PART 2

Q - Although the website lists how it
was all done can you give our reader "a
brief how to guide" on how you bulk
record from a CBM

A - First you need a stand-alone
player/software on the C64 that does
not require any user input to play
songs & change sub tracks. There are
some players for the C64 which can
play the RSID & PSID files, but it
requires you to press return & use
arrow keys. I choose PSID64 v0.7/v0.8
because the player routine is included
together with the SID itself. PSID64
creates PRG executable files which
start to play instantly. But, some of
the tracks lock up the C64 so you can
choose sub songs that easily & secure.
I then had to duplicate the SID file
with the START SONG bit set to
increment for each track. Then, by
loading them one by one, PSID64 would
start playing on that particular sub
song. I even think there is some kind
of WinAMP plugin that sends the SID
file to a C64 server program & plays
it from there.

And so the playing system was really
set up. Now comes the hard part. How
do you load & run several PRG in a
row. Well, first you need to LOAD a
file, RUN it & then wait until the
song ends & reset the C64. This
can't be done without human
interaction. Some specific tailored
software with its own loading and
resetting system would have to be
programmed. Since, I don't know any
advanced programming on the C64 this
was no option. So, I figured I had to
simulate key presses & resetting the
C64 without me touching it. I drooled
on robotics....but the solution was to
use 2 x LPT PAR ports as relay
triggers. Send a byte to the PAR: port
voila you have a connection between a
wire & thus simulating a key press.
I made a custom relay card (thanks
Waxhead for the schematics) & used a
regular IDE cable with its original
connecter & jacked that into the
C64's keyboard connector on the main
board. Since the C64 also have a handy
reset functionality on the USER PORT I
could reset the C64 also by sending a
specific byte to the PAR: port. I had
to use two PAR: ports, because I
needed to type some filenames, reset
C64, pressing shift together with :
and compressed version of LOAD...which
is L+SHIFT+O as you might remember.

The physical "char set" I ended up with
was; 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,L,O,COMMA,:,SHIFT
RUN STOP, USER PORT RESET & SCROLL LOCK
detection for 64HDD.

So, where do the files come from?
They came from another PC acting as
a fileserver in DOS only. I used the
freeware version of 64HDD to set up a
simulated 1541 device by connecting a
XE1541 cable from the PAR: port & to
the SERIAL PORT of the C64. The nice
thing about the 64HDD is that it tells
you when its loading something. It
turns on the SCROLL LOCK LED on the PC
while loading (its an command line
option) so when finished loading the
PRG file it turns the LED off again. I
then coupled two wires from my SCROLL
LOCK LED on the PC keyboard to my own
custom made relay PAR: card to detect
whenever the LED was on or off. This
was really an important factor of the
project & without it

I would have to estimate the loading
time of each PRG & that could resulted
in some damaged recordings.

Anyway, with the 64HDD up & running
I could type LOAD"453453",9,1 & it all
set to go. Then, to be able to control
all this in a fluid automatic loop I
created my own software which use my
own tailored INI files (with actual SID
FILE information) & file naming
structure. My software (SIDREC)
controls the PAR: ports & then typed
everything automatically by sending
bytes to the PAR: port. My software
also uses information found in the
HVSC songlengths.txt to determine when
the song has finished recording. At
that point the C64 is reset by SIDREC
and the recorded WAV are converted to
MP3 in the background on Windows.After
converting, it loads the next INI file
in the queue, extracts information
about the filename to load, how long
the song is, who composed it etc etc
and stores that internally in SIDREC
and then spits this information back
into the MP3 file during encoding.
Kinda strange & akward way of doing it,
but it did work.

Q - What were all the songs recorded to

A - Everything was recorded as
44,1Khz, MONO WAV to a 8.4GB and
6.4 GB 7200RPMHDs which needed to be
emptied out each 3rd day or so for 4
months. After the WAV was recorded it
was encoded to MP3 & deleted. The PC
hardware used on the project was
nearly as old as the C64 themselves.
I did not buy or have any large HD's
at the time when I started recording.
I spent a minimal amount of money on
this project. Also, I though It would
be a good idea to turn the entire
system off (to copy the recorded MP3s)
for 30mins each 3rd day to avoid
corrupted memory or other issues with
the C64 & its chips/power supplies.

Q - Can all the Mp3 be downloaded for
your website

A - Yes & no. During March, May,June
July 2007 all was okay with our
hosting provider...but in August 2007
they could not can handle us anymore.
Actually during 2007 two hosting
companies have been promoting false
advertising about their accounts and
storage capabilities & we had to
cancel the accounts. We will alert
people about this either through our
forum or via hosting review companies
and try to spread the word about this
false advertising. We told them we
intended to use the space & they
agreed. Then, after some months of a
300GB packed website & download
traffics (but far away from what they
claim we are allowed) they asked us to
leave etc.They offered us the world,
and gave us only a straw....and they
were all short!

Q - Have you thought about providing
the files on a DVDs - how big are all
the songs as mp3{SHIFT-*}s I read somewhere
about 300GB is this accurate

A - The current collection as per
August 2007 is 302.8GB which covers
the MOS6581R4 & CSG8580R5 chips. We
are planning to record the entire HVSC
collection also with the MOS6581R2
version since it has a very good
popularity in the community. Our
6581R4 chip has a very strong filter
which is sometimes too strong, but
this filter factors are very common
knowledge amongst the hardcore SID
lovers :)Well, I think regular DVDs
are out of the question. Maybe
in time when the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray
discs are more common household
material, such a solution might be
possible?

Q - I notice you have a forum and
user have asked for a Bit torrent
download will this be available.

A - In fact, I use very rarly Bit
Torrent files...for me its just so
amazingly slow...if its not popular.
So, if that is going to happen or how
I have no clue about. As it is today,
I'm the only one in the world with the
entire collection in one place. When I
have fixed some additional errors in
the collection & recorded off the
HVSC#47 & the MOS6581R2 chip I have
some contacts that will be able to get
a copy of the entire collection on a
400-500GB HD with the intent of
presenting this on a radio stream or
more preferable acting as a file
mirror.But as it is today during 2007
I will keep the collection being
spread minimalistically. I am a
perfectionist & I won't give the
whole pack away before I am really
satisfied with the work.

Q - You must be a perfectionist if you
prefer the real machine other than
emulation would you like to comment.

A - In fact, before June 2006 I was
quite happy with listening to emulated
SIDs on the PC with like Sidplay2/w.
But, the truth is that I was blown
away while surfing to a emulation vs
hardware recording site which featured
the one & only track that ignited
the whole SOASC= project. That track
was Gloria by Dane & Mitch.Listening
to the extreme cool difference in the
beginning of the filter sequence I
could not believe it. So, I loaded up
my real C64 & recorded it myself and
there it was. I started doing my own
recordings vs emulation on other songs
and found out that there is really a
good difference between the real thing
and emulation. But, of course in many
many cases the emulation was just as
the real thing..so respect for the
work involved in the emulation world.
But, I guess the old saying: "nothing
beats the real thing" made my day...or
months actually!"If emulation was
perfect..." - a wise man stated once.

Q - Will the hardware & software so
our reader can DIY the project be
available for purchase.

A - No, I don't think so. My SIDREC
software was specifically designed to
work against a specific setup & it
has  a lot to do with the PAR: ports
and their addresses & what kind of
mainboard you'd have. I had a really
difficult time finding old enough PC's
to work with the 64HDD & to get the
PAR: ports work correctly towards the
XE1541 cable. The whole thing is
somewhat a cruel mess & if you do
not have a copy of my brain..you're in
for some headaches & troubles.

Q - What was the hardest part of the
project?

A - I guess the hardest & most
"working against the whole universe"
part was to get 64HDD up & running
together with the homemade XE1541
cable & a DOS based pc.It was really
picky about the main boards, processor
and the BIOS setup for the LPT ports.
Even the cable & the diodes I had
problems finding so I tried some
equivalents. nope, did not work too
good. I messed with this a whole week
before I almost went insane & just
had to quit it all...I had no idea
that the software could be so tricky
to get to work. You just need "that"
specific main board with "that"
specific command line not to mention
"that" specific setup in BIOS. And
even, if you'd tried the same thing on
another main board it did not work.and
that was especially the BIOS/LPT setup
part. But, when you finally get it to
work I could not have done the project
without 64HDD. Love it & its stable
as a rock.

Q - What{SHIFT-*}s next is there more to
perfect on the project

A - Next in line during 2007 is to
setup a dedicated homemade recording
rack where all the hardware (that used
to lay on a 3 meters long table). It
will also be TCP/IP connectivity this
time in both DOS & WINXP for all the
PCs. I have smacked together almost
all the hardware during July 2007

which consists of:
2 x server DOS PC's
2 x Recording WINXP PCS's,
1 x 6581 machine, 1 x 8580 Machine,
1 x 14 inch display,
2 x 12inch displays with touch screen,
5 x power supplys,
2 x cd-roms,
2 x floppy drives,
3 x PC keyboards,
1 x VGA switch,
1 x keyboard switch,
4 x HD's,
1 x 7inch CRT TV,
2 x homemade relay PAR: cards,
1 x 5 port hub & a lot of cabling!

Its really called the FrankenStein
rack for now :) The whole thing has
been mounted into & onto a old
Fisher stereo rack from the 80 90's..
you know those with tape player & a
record player on top.Other thing is to
record the HVSC collection on a
MOS6581R2 chip, just because it has
its own filter characteristics which
can't be ignored. Other than that I
don't know, news will be posted on my
site.

Q - When does the process finish is
a HSVC update is issued will you re
record the whole thing again or just
the updates

A - I will only record the update and
add it to the collection. Recording
of HVSC#45 took about 122 days to
accomplish. Recording of HVSC#47 took
about 4 5 days. My system is able to
record about 500 tunes each 24 hour
session for one CBM64 model.
Since I have two setups, basically one
for 6581 & 8580, the max tunes to be
spit out are 1000.