Re: Announcing the Vic Flash Plugin

Hi Marko,

Marko Mäkelä wrote:
> I see, it has already been done. The cartridge design looks elegant.

There are two revisions, the older rev9 which needs more soldering of 
cables, push buttons and the battery, and the up to date rev10.

I bought a rev9 a while ago, and only the PCB, as I had some parts already 
left over from older projects and the rest could be sourced easily.

> I was basically suggesting a stripped-down version of the FE3. It could 
> be somewhat cheaper to build, but the price might not be that much of an 
> issue for anyone who is into retro computing.

That might be true. The FE3 also could be made somewhat cheaper, e.g. you 
can leave out the sd2iec part, but then you're stuck with the 512kB 
FlashROM which is too small to hold all VIC-20 software. On the other hand, 
if you have the sd2iec you don't need that large a Flash. For this reason 
it is only used to hold the menu software for most people :)


> The FE3 page does not say whether the software is open source. I guess 
> that the sd2iec is, but what about the Vic-20 menu software? In the file 
> <http://www.retro-donald.de/media/bastelecke/final-expansion/fe3_first_sd_card.zip> 
> I can see binaries, but no corresponding source code.

The file is only a small update to add support for a new Flash chip. The 
sources should all be available on the homepage of Thomas Winkler, who 
developed the FE3: http://t-winkler.net/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=fe3:main

> Interesting that the FE3 is only being sold as a parts kit, and with 
> through-hole components instead of SMD. Is it because of the WEEE 
> directive of the European Union?

That's the idea. But in the past, the shop also offered some help in 
soldering the kits as an option, which effectively gave you an almost ready 
to use product :)

Nicolas

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