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REVIEWS
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64Em.2rvw
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1988-03-28
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7KB
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150 lines
2 VIEWS ABOUT THE 64 EMULATOR
FIRST VIEW - Peter Hanrahan
You've upgraded to an Amiga from a 64, and find you miss some
of your old software, or perhaps you would like to use files you've
found on a 64 BBS, so what do you do?
Well there is a solution, The 64 Emulator, by Readysoft.
The 64 Emulator has some nifty features:
1) You can configure Amiga devices to be recognised by the emulator.
Devices 8 - 11 can be configured to be hard drives, 1010's or 1020's
(though they won't read 1541 format disks) even RAM:. If you have the
Amiga to 64 serial adapter, you can even use a 1541. When using an
Amiga device, you can either use it straight, or select 1541 emulation.
This entails writing a file to the device which the Emulator will then
handle as though it was a 1541. You can even use a sector editor with
it and find everything where you would expect it on a 1541.
Devices 4 & 5 may be configured to be a Parallel, Serial, or C64 format
printer.
2) The Emulator may also be configured to act as though a 1764 ram
expansion is connected, and if you find it a little slow at times, you
can lock the screen to 1 bitplane and speed it up somewhat.
What I liked about it:
For starters, the ability to configure any 64 device to
any amiga device, this allows you a great deal of flexibility. Ability
to have your 1010 emulate a 1541 is a bonus too, as the direct mode on
1010 will recognise only 2 file formats, PRG and Direc tory, with no
provision to access the directory. 1541 emulation recognises all 1541
formats, and will simulate direct sector access as well. The emulator
will also recognise some fast loader formats too, and will load ISEPIC
files, which most 1541 clones for the 64 will not.
What I didn't like:
Copy Protection! The Emulator is supplied on a protected disk,
which I haven't been able to back up, particularly annoying as it died
recently, after a visit from the virus. I've received a replacement
from the US, but not being able to protect yourself is a major
problem. Surely they could have used either a dongle, or "quote the
manual" type protection, allowing a legitimate owner to back it up.
Sound. Although the emulator supports sound (unlike GO64), the
quality leaves a great deal to be desired. A simple half second "bing"
in a program prompt becomes a 2 second "gong". More sophisticated
sound suffers similarly.
The C64 Serial Adapter. It's overpriced, as it is simply a
cable from the parallel port to a C64 connector. The Amiga does all
of the conversion required, and the appropriate signals are then
available on the parallel port. I've included wiring directions at
the end of this article, for those who can make their own.
There is no provision for Multi-tasking, it hogs the whole Amiga.
A pity really, as I was hoping to use Grabbit to pick up some old 64
graphics, and do some work on them in the Amiga.
Overall, I liked the 64 Emulator, it works reasonably well,
better than GO64, and cheaper too. It seems odd that a computer with
the power of the Amiga should have speed problems when emulating a
C64, but the limitations are similar to those encountered with an
interpreted language. Perhaps a better approach would be a program
which would treat a 64 program as source code, and compile Amiga
code to emulate the original program.
If you would like to run 64 software, without keeping the
machine, then I recommend it, with reservations. I received my copy
from Diskworks, $120 without serial adapter.(Subject to the condition
of the Aussie dollar.)
These are the connections for the Amiga to C64 Serial adapter.
The connectors are:
Amiga DB25 female to go to the parallel port:
C64 270 degree 6 pin Din to go to 1541 or printer.
Connections are as follows:
-------------------
| Amiga <-> C64 |
| Pin 5 Pin 3 |
| Pin 6 Pin 4 |
| Pin 7 Pin 5 |
| Pin 8 Pin 4 |
| Pin 9 Pin 5 |
| Pin 20 Pin 2 |
-------------------
If you are using a 500 or 2000 then I believe the Parallel connector
is different, you may need to crosscheck the pinouts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SECOND VIEW - DAVE WATERS
The intentions of this emulator is to allow those people upgrading from
their C64 to an Amiga not to lose their program library .
This emulator is very good even allowing you to emulate the addition of
the 1764 Ram expander ( a 256 k Ram expansion device ) . The serial
device cable which comes with the emulator enable you to connect a 1541
drive and printers .
This connection of the drive is essential for the transfering of programs
from the C64 Disks to Amiga disks . It also means that programs written
with copy protection designed for the 1541 drive may still be used .
The transfer program provided works very well in copying your programs
and files from a 1541 drive . The benefits this transfer is that your
Amiga has five times the disk capacity of the 1541 . The amiga drive can
also be made to emulate the 1541 drive if required , thus losing this
extra storage space.
All programs transferred with no copy protection ran from the amiga
drive , some at slower speeds than normal , this is why a monochrome
mode is included to help speed it up . Very few programs with copy
protection have run successfully but all programs have run from either
of my 1541 or 1571 drives . I have tested programs like "Fast
Hackem","MathBlaster","SpeedReader II","WordsAttack", "Galaxions" etc.
The user guide assumes a working knowledge of both the C64 and the Amiga .
It specifies that to install a hard drive you must alter the startup
sequence at a specific point , but Ram expansion is not covered any
where . Of course I would recommend the purchase of a back up copy prior
to doing any changes .
Any one seriously wanting to run C64 games should keep their C64 ( slower
speed will ruin some games and monochrome is undesirable in game play ) .
Most games available are copy protected and this would mean the
connection of your 1541 drive ( still worth around $250 second hand at
present ) .
If you only want to run unprotected programmes like "SpeedScript" or
educational programs then it is worth having .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ END OF 64EM.2RVW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~