Source: The MSX Files

A while ago, we reported about the MSX Rio 2007 photoshoot. The highlight of that meeting was a demonstration of the VDU (Video Display Unit) project: four stacked V9958 chips for four scrolling layers, four times the video memory and four times the sprites. Ricardo Oazem, creator of VDU, just announced the evolution of his project, which now is called VSU (Video and Sound Unit).

This new VSU is now made with two v9958 chips and two v9990 chips (instead of the four v9958 chips from VDU). In addition to that, it comes with an OPL4 chip! As one can expect, the VSU will be 100% compatible with both the GFX9000 and Moonsound!

Relevant link: The VSU

Source: MRC Forum

A few days ago, MRC user grit reported on his successful upgrade of an Yamaha CX5M/II to an almost full-blown MSX2. The Yamaha CX5M/II is a half-breed between MSX1 and MSX2: it does have the V9938 VDP and 128 kB of RAM, but lacks the proper amount of VRAM, the clock chip and MSX2 compatible BIOS or BASIC. Yamaha did provide space on the machine's boards, though, and grit made use of that. He has put together a document showing the necessary adaptations. The only thing missing is the clock chip...

Relevant link: Converting the CX5M/II 128 to MSX2

Source: MRC forum

In this forum thread MSX developer Dennis Koller has announced that a new batch of the MP3 player will be ready in January 2008. If they aren't sold out within the snap of a finger, they'll be available on the MSX fair in Nijmegen. At the moment the best known third party software that supports this MP3 player is SymAMP, the mediaplayer from SymbOS, which can be seen playing MP3's on youtube. Currently, there's a way to get a free MP3 player: there's one piece reserved for the winner of the second Scene Music Remake challenge!

Relevant link: MP3 player thread

Danjovic has managed to write a bitbanged serial routine which is able to transmit data to a PC at speeds of up to 19200bps. In order to accomplish this a TTL to RS232 level shifter is needed, implemented using a transistor.

Using a small program it is possible to intercept the LPRINT hook used by MSX-BASIC to direct output to the serial port. The example program in BASIC can use the LLIST command to send the listing itself to a PC running a terminal program such as HyperTerminal. Timing values can be easily adjusted to best suit the MSX computer used and to change the transmission speed from 1200 to 19200 bits per second.

The data goes out through pin 6 of Joystick Port B. The source code as well as the schematics of the 1-transistor TTL-to-RS232 level converter can be found on the author's weblog.

Relevant Link: TTL to RS232 Converter
Relevant Link: LPRINT to Joystick Port

In 1998, the company "Forte II Games" made a very small MSX board for arcade machines, using a modified bios/game. It was assumed lost until today when Alexandre Souza of Tabajara Labs found a working piece. The ROM code was extracted and made to work in BlueMSX. This is quite possibly the rarest MSX hardware ever made in Brazil!

Relevant link: Tabajara-Labs (the page is in Portuguese)

Source: Konamiman's MSX Page

Some sad news was to be found on Konamiman's MSX Page some time ago. It seems that the production of Dumas, the internet-age multi-purpose-MSX-cart, is postponed for an unspecified period of time. While the small news post doesn't give much information, it does suggest things are not looking too good. Let us all hope this will soon change for the better, so we may still enjoy this handy device which would offer MSX computers an ObsoNET Ethernet Card with USB controller and internal 512kB memory mapper.

Relevant link: Konamiman's MSX Page

Hardware manufacturer Leonardo Padial Ortiz has released a new board for our MSX: the LPE-MMC-V6, a massive storing device, a MultiMedia Card and SD Card controller.

Features include:

• High speed read/write access.
• Compatible with all the MSX computers: MSX, MSX2, MSX2+ and MSX Turbo R.
• It doesn't need any external power supply.
• 2 MMC/SD card controllers.
• Kralizec's DRLPSDMMC compatible.

There are different versions on sale:

• Basic version: LPE-MMC-V6 for €60
• Version with slot expander connector: LPE-MMCEXP-V6 for €70 (no slot expander included, only the connector)
• LPE-MMCEXP-V6 slot expander: LPE-3SLTEXP-V6 for €70
• Plain cable for LPE-MMCEXP-V6 and LPE-3SLTEXP-V6 connexion for €6
• 4Mb RAM memory mapper version:LPE-MMC4MB2EXP-V6 for €120
• Board with embedded slot expander (no cable needed): LPE-MMCEXP-V6 + LPE-3SLTEXP-V6 for €130

Regarding the LPE-MMC-V6 driver, DRSDMMC from Kralizec: The SDMMC Driver consists of a BIOS, tools and a set of programs intended for handling the LPE-MMC-V4/6 board. The board uses MultiMedia Card and SD Card as massive storing devices in the MSX computers family. Get the driver here!

Features include:

• Compatible with any MSX computer with a minimum of 16k RAM.
  
• Support of DOS1, DOS2 or higher partitions in both FAT12 and FAT16.
  
• Embedded MSXDOS 2.31 Kernel inside the System. Fully functional in MSX1.
  
• Internal set of tools. No need of external tools to work.
  
• Tools available using CALL command in BASIC. (Format, partition changing, card swapping).
  
• Support of any MMC/SD card from 4 Mb to 2 Gb.
  
• DSK file(s) emulation as extended partition and boot.
  
• Possibility of disabling all system interfaces during the BOOT DSK emulation.
  
• No need of use tools as IMPROVE to emulate DSK files.
  
• Support of card Hot-Swapping.
  
• Possibility of using memory mappers in MSX1 without needing the driver installation.
  
• Possibility of using the bigger memory mapper as the main one in Turbo R and 2+ Panasonic MSX computers in DOS1 and DOS2.31.
  
• Compatible with Okei's FAT16 driver.
  
• Use of Shortcut keys to avoid disk booting, force the DOS2 for ROM games which require disk access, avoid the system...
  
• Easy-of-use GUI, 100% MSX1 compatible.
  
• Functional from any slot/subslot, primary or extended. No interference with other disk interfaces.
  
• Boot system from a FAT16 partition allowed.
  
• Can use any other OS FAT12/FAT16 formatted cards.
  
• Compatible with driver LPEMMC-formatted cards.

To order any of these products, contact Leonardo Padial Ortiz.

Relevant link: Leonardo Padial Ortiz website

Source: MSX Posse

Zett has released two videos demonstrating a second version of his ZettCube, a 'display' made out of 8x4x4 leds, powered and controlled by MSX through the printerport. The ZettCube was developed in co-operation with Emil Sokolowski. An earlier edition of the project was demonstrated at MSX Vriendenclub Mariënberg.

Relevant link: ZettCube2 - Rotation
Relevant link: ZettCube2 - VRotation

Some time ago MSX Hardware Argentina published a scan of the blueprints of the Talent TPC-310, sent by Juan Jose Galvan (ex Talent technician). The problem with the blueprints was however that they contained many errors and unreadable values of a lot of the components.

The blueprints have now been checked for errors, and were corrected when this was required. A PDF of this blueprint is now available in the download section of MSX Hardware Argentina website.

Relevant link: MSX Hardware Argentina

In the Russian section of our forum, MSX user SFMSX gave us a link to his blog, in which he writes about everything where it concerns his MSX.

You can see a picture with network-enabled MSX-DOS and CP/M floppy disks that were supplied with every Russian Yamaha MSX2 KYBT-2 class. Such a class usually consisted of one master Yamaha MSX2 YIS805/128R and 9 to 15 student terminals (Yamaha MSX2 YIS503IIIR) without disk drives.

All KYBT-2 machines were equipped with the side-slot network module, and connected to each other as a garland.

The most interesting part in this blog are the pictures of the disk drive SFMSX has made himself using the mentioned network module, without breaking its functionality. The floppy controller fully fits inside the module, and connects to it where the original network ROM has been. SFMSX has removed the ROM and soldered it on the other side of the board. He also made a hole on the side of network module and has put there a 23-pin connector. An external floppy drive, which you can see on the first photo, is to be connected there. According to SFMSX, he also managed to design and implement a floppy drive that fully fits into the net module, using a laptop floppy drive.

Relevant link: SFMSX' blog
Relevant link: Jetze Mellema's page about Yamaha YIS-503III R (in English)
Relevant link: tnt32's MSX-link DIY and usage (in Russian)
Relevant link: MRC newspost about tnt23's MSX-link for KYBT-2 network module