News about Amstrad CPC, PCW, Notepad NC100 NC150 NC200, PDA600 and also Amstrad PC






Version v22 of the CH375 driver by FreddyV (USB mass storage on PC XT/AT)

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FreddyV is still working on the drive of the CH375 which permits to use USB mass storage on any PC XT and AT. The last version of the driver is v22, which was released the 30th June 2022 for PC XT. There is also a version for PC AT (286 and plus).

Retro Erik has done a video on the use of this USB-ISA card (see the Lo-Tech web page).

Retro Tech Chris has made a 3D model of a bracket for this ISA card.

See the thread on Vogons.



CPCemu v2.5, an Amstrad CPC emulator by Rainer Loritz is available

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Rainer has released CPCemu v2.5. It's available for MacOS, Android, iOS, Linux (x86_64 and ARM, included Raspberry Pi) and Windows.

This new version is available on the author's web site or on the Google Play store for the Android version.

This new version features :

  • Floppy LED (visible only with virtual keyboard)
  • Virtual keyboard : adjustable (position, size, transparency), persistent (saves position, size, transparency automatically, separately for portrait and landscape on Android and iOS), visual and acoustic (switchable) feedback
  • Virtual joystick in two different sizes
  • Virtual mouse (selectable instead of joystick): AMX, Reisware/Gerdes or Symbiface II (PS/2)
  • Original sounds of disk drive, cassette relay and keyboard (can be switched on and off)
  • Zoom function (display without border), alternating with and without full screen; persistent (separately for portrait and landscape on Android and iOS)
  • Audio emulation deeply revised; output quality significantly improved (you can select from 4 output frequencies)
  • Vortex memory extension SP64-SP512
  • Jarek memory extension 576-4096 Kb
  • Bank-switching speed dramatically improved; correct emulation of C3 mode
  • IPv6-enabled web server similar to M4 board (upload and download into/from the emulator via web interface)
  • Autostart behaviour improved (automatic file selection and deactivation)
  • Minimal audio latency on Android (Oboe)
  • User interface improved on Android/iOS
  • Setup settings are saved immediately
  • First preparations for new user interface
  • Adjusted to SDL version 2.0.22 (which needs to be installed manually on Linux)
  • Fixed bugs: background-foreground-changing behaviour on Android, real-time speed, video output speed (in particular on Android, iOS and MacOS, I think also on the Raspberry Pi), memory leaks, M4 sockets, file access on Android and iOS



CP/M is really open source now

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In 2001 a limited licence for using CP/M was given to Tim Olstead (The Unofficial CP/M Web site) by Bryan Sparks who was (and still is) CEO of Lineo (successor of Caldera).

This licence has been clarified by Brian Sparks, CP/M is now clearly under an open source licence.

Source code of CP/M (different versions) is available, also their respective manuals.

You will find more informations about CP/M on John Elliott's web page.



AY (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST) Computer Sound Chip Emulator v2.9 beta 32

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The ZX Spectrum Computer Sound Chip Emulator v2.9 beta 32 by Sergey Bulba is available, it permits to listen to many music format files, including .YM, .AY and .AYM music files, for windows and linux.





Red Planet for Amstrad CPC by Play on retro is available

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First announced in 2017 using the CPCTelera framework, Salvador Cantero finally used the MK1 game engine by the Mojons Twins for his platform game Red Planet, the initial version was for ZX Spectrum. You can see the game being finished on Youtube by Amstrad Maniaque.

The game is written by :

  • Salvador Cantero : programmation, graphics
  • tacha : music and sound effects (I personally like the music)
  • masterklown : cover illustration

Youtube video



WIP Revenge of Trasmoz by Volcano Bytes on Amstrad CPC

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Revenge of Trasmoz by Volcano Bytes is a WIP Amstrad CPC conversion of their game Curse of Trasmoz originally for ZX Spectrum. It's a 2 player arcade platform game on one screen.

The game is written by Carlos Pérezgrin and Borja de Tena, music and sound FX by Beyker and A. Pérez, cover art and graphics by Dani Diez, loading screen by BitFans. It is written with the CPCTelera framework by Francisco Gallego.