Commodore 128D GEOS Battle Station

[@curiousottman]

Sweet sweet memories. Such a feat of engineering that GEOS fit into the c64 and still had working ram for word processing, spreadsheets etc. Very efficient code. GEOS with a ram expander vastly improves its speed. 80 column mode on the C128 along with the 2MHz is the best possible set up as demonstrated in this video. Back in the late 80s as a teenager I had a part time job working in a computer store. We sold boat loads of the 64C bundled with GEOS. Mice and printers too. GEOS definitely gave new life to the aging 8 bit platform.

[@AmigaLove]

That is very, very cool. Where did you live when you worked at the computer store - and what was it called? (I wish I'd had a job like that back then. I'd always worked in fast food or grocery stores. Software Etc or Babbages would have been a dream job for me!)

[@bozimmerman]

I print directly from GEOS, over my network, to a modern all-in-one HP laser printer using the ras4c64net driver. So, that's a thing you can do too.

[@AmigaLove]

I would love to know how to do that. AND HOLY SHIT BO ZIMMERMAN!!

[@francoisleveille409]

I created cleoRAM which is compatible with the most recent version of GEOS to offer up to 4MB of expansion. It works on both the C128 and C128D.

[@Lucidleo-li8yu]

That's awesome!!!!!! Imagine having 4MB of RAM back in the 80s.

[@bryansillman3240]

The GEOS 2.0 disk is overloaded with printer drivers, including a MAC Laser Printer driver. The quality was excellent. The drivers adapted printers of higher resolutions, created stunning results. Also, many printers of the time had DIP switches allowing them to emulate other printer types. For example, Panasonic printers can emulate IBM Pro Printers. Under GEOS you could use all the drivers for all the modes your printer can emulate, allowing you to access what you considered to be higher quality. There was even a Postscript driver, allowing use of even more advanced printers and higher quality types. It was a wildly expanding time of development and excitement for the Commodore/GEOS legend.

[@kimvette1]

Geos128 was a tremendous upgrade over the original GEOS 1.0. I unfortunately had the flat C128 (I got mine before the C128D/DCR were announced) so I had the 16K VDC RAM rather than 64GB VDC RAM.

[@BobJohnsonETech]

Well done. Brings back great memories of my C128. I also had a U.S. Robotics 1200 baud modem attached to run my BBS. So much fun!

[@DrDavesDiversions]

Very cool. This is exactly what I used in college c. 1987/1988, before I sold my 128 with GEOS and 1571 for $400, so I could buy the Amiga 500. You are absolutely correct that the print, on a dot matrix, was jaggy - I remember my English prof complaining about it when I printed my classwork on it on my Star Gemini-10X. Still, exactly as you say, it was the Macintosh for the masses for a year or two.

[@AmigaLove]

A friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that he'd done a TON of research back in the day and discovered there was a Star NL-10 (not the NX-10, which was quite popular) that produced pixel perfect prints from GEOS. You could only buy the printer via mail-order and as such I've not found one anywhere. Even if I ever do find one, the chances it would actually work are kinda sketch. But it's fun to dream...

[@a4000t]

Geocable II hooked to a HP Laserjet5 will print fast and the most beautiful text and graphics on Geos. Its really amazing.

[@XalphYT]

5:32 I thought I knew it all. Yet here you come with the U36 chip. When on earth was this announced? I don't remember reading this in _Compute,_ in _RUN,_ or in any of the other computer magazines.

[@Lucidleo-li8yu]

I wrote all of my high school papers on my trusty C128 with GEOS and it was a godsend.

[@AmigaLove]

you were one seriously lucky dude

[@user-tc2ky6fg2o]

It is extremely satisfying to see that someone could build this workstation and present it to us with this kind of honest drama. I couldn't afford C128 then but "always" wanted it after C+4 and C64.

[@AmigaLove]

:) Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It's a dream setup for me, too!

[@earthsteward70]

Yall are gonna love this, GEOS is being ported to the commander x16 with support for color.

[@AmigaLove]

That's very cool. Does the x16 support IEC devices, too?

[@earthsteward70]

@@AmigaLove it's got expansion slots and it can communicate with RS232

[@jsmythib]

I am waiting for delivery on my commander x16. Loaded. Hopefully in the next month. I still need to order the case. Psyched :)

[@robwebnoid5763]

I still have all my Commodore 64 stuff & GEOS stuff, but they're all packed away. This includes several floppy drives, a couple modems & a printer buffer adapter. Last time I used my setup was in the mid 1990's, but even earlier I was also using it around 1987-1990 for typing up papers when I was studying at the university. But what made my GEOS 2.0 fly was my Turbomaster CPU that ran the C-64 at 4 Mhz in 1990, so that means it's twice as fast as the C-128 in native 2.0 Mhz mode. My problem now though is that my best spec'd C-64 is broken, so I need to look into that. I have 3 64's (first one bought in 1983). However again, all my stuff is stored away in boxes, so I would need to find & gather everything to put together. My mouse, the Contriver M3, is also in pieces, taken apart 25+ years ago, so I will need to repair that too. If I was to further max out the speed of GEOS64, I would need an REU in conjunction with my Turbomaster but not sure if it's worth buying, as I also need the dual connector for that which also costs just as much as an REU. I know there are also modern drive RAM emulators for the 1541-81. For now, my original setup, with Turbomaster & 2-4 flop drives, should suffice ... if I had the time to find everything first in storage, heh.

[@robertserver3846]

I used GEOS 128 2.0 well into the 90s. So usable!

[@AmigaLove]

Robert, was it for school? Or were you writing and crafting things for other purposes? I'd love to know. Sorry for my late response. YT makes it pretty tough to see some comments for some reason that I don't understand. Cheers!

[@robertserver3846]

@@AmigaLove I used my 128 as my main home computer until 94 when I finally made the jump to a 486. I did some gaming on there, but I also had an SNES at that point. The things I remember most at that point was using it as a method to connect to my school UNIX accounts so I could connect to Grimne diku MUD. I’d also do some BBSing although the local c64 scene was dead. When I had school papers due, I would definitely use GEOS 128.

[@AmigaLove]

@@robertserver3846 I've been fortunate to acquire some CMD hardware in the past few years. I'm only just now mentally ready to give Wheels a shot. Here we go!

[@robertserver3846]

@@AmigaLove there is so much supplementary hardware out there today to use! I assume you’ll upload a video of your experience?

[@AmigaLove]

@@robertserver3846 I imagine so. I have to complete the project I'm on right now, which is all about the MSD SD-2. After that, I want to (first learn and then) show a complete C128D system I acquired last year that was completely BONKERS. It was, to my knowledge, the only C128D that was used to manage a business. It even had 3 1531s! Totally wild setup. I plan on showing how it was used to run the business, while also respecting the family's wishes to not reveal his actual identity. (the gentleman passed away.) After that is Wheels, most likely. Then... probably back to Amiga-land! I've really been enjoying the C128, though. Did you see my latest video, which is all about Eye of the Beholder - for C128? :)

[@TheBasementChannel]

Beautiful setup! So nice to have the complete set of matching components.

[@AmigaLove]

Thanks! It's a dream come true for sure. I'm still tweaking a couple of things, but it's just about as near-perfect (for me) as I can imagine it. I did just pick up a Commodore printer (with two different built-in interfaces) to experiment with it. Time to create some janky newsletters! ;)

[@DasIllu]

I've had a DCR with 256k REU, 2x 1581 (One of them had an misaligned head), another external 1571, proportional mouse and 2 monitors. The 128 was easily the most accessible computer to learn graphics, sound, sprites and coding in machine code. Although the VDC was a capable chip it always irked me to no end that you had to access the video memory through that 2 register bottleneck. The REU could have made window dragging in geos possible. The DMA chip on the REUs was incredibly fast. I remember programming fullscreen animations, stashing the frames in the REU and then used a fetch loop for playback on the VIC in it's assigned memory. Too bad the color ram wouldn't play ball with the DMA chip, so monocrome or single BGND color in multicolor mode only.

[@rpdee7344]

2/16/23 Had a similar C=>128 setup with both the 5.5 and 3.5 disc drives and the 512 ram drive, but only the first versions of Geos 64/ and 128. I was able on the AOL Geos user group to DL an HP Inkjet Deskjet 500 printer driver to us with the $500 printer to use with Geos Publish and Geos write. My main computer is more current with today's tech, but for its time the Commodore was a great home computer for the masses at a more affordable cost. Like the video you did see that the Geos 2.0 had some upgrades to its OS. I always felt Geos was a better OS than MS Windows 3.0 and did more at a reasonable price add-on software for Geos.

[@AmigaLove]

Man, that is so wicked cool that you had such a setup back in the day. You really were on the cutting edge. I would have been one envious pimple-faced high school kid back then looking over your shoulder as you printed out some amazing calendar or newsletter.

[@joshhiner729]

Regarding printing: the ultimate ii plus cartridge can emulate a printer and allows you to print to a PNG graphics file. Would be nice if it also did pdf but that takes horsepower and Png is great as a graphic file guarantees there will be no translation issues to a pdf file.

[@TheMcflyster]

Great video! I really like your editing and voice! Thanks man!

[@AmigaLove]

Very nice of you to say so - thank you!

[@frugalprepper]

I ran it on my old C64C, it came with it. I had a little joystick that hooked to the side of the keyboard. It was neat to play with, but before long I was back to playing games.

[@adamlongaway]

Loved GEOS. That OS aways made me feel bad for PC users in the mid late 80s and for Mac users bank accounts. You could buy a car for those systems.

[@AmigaLove]

Hah! So true. Back then I could never understand why anyone would buy a PC when my C64 looked and sounded the way it did. It wasn’t even close. but back then I didn’t use productivity software, like GEOS. That would’ve made the argument even more solid with a set up like I have now.

[@realmchat6665]

I wrote a report on castles in 4th grade using GeoWrite on my c64, printed it on my 803 printer. The teacher had never seen a word processed document with fonts and accused me of having someone else do my work, and called my mother in. My mom came in, heard the accusation, then tore the teacher a new asshole - "I heard that loud printer running all night, and no one was in the room with him, he did it".

[@AmigaLove]

Hah!! That's an amazing story. Did you dare do any more reports the same way? Hope she graded you fairly. :) Very cool!

[@CobraTheSpacePirate]

Like the Dragonlance in the back!

[@AmigaLove]

=) Thanks. Those are original unopened calendars from back in the day. I love the D&D inspired art from back then. It's a fountain of youth.

[@CobraTheSpacePirate]

@@AmigaLove Larry ELMORE was one of my favorites.

[@darthbizkit]

I would have gave my car away when I was 16 for this setup nice.

[@AmigaLove]

Hah!! Well said. You and me both. (Have you seen my more recent video "Part 2" that adds gobs of CMD hardware into the mix?)

[@TheBasementChannel]

The turned up page corner in the lower left of the window to go back is some genius level interface design.

[@AmigaLove]

It's pretty smart, yeah. Although there are times I wish I could just get to "all pages" or immediately to page 4 of 7 (etc.). I didn't show in the video but we can switch from icons to a list view, which is actually a lot more useable. The thing is 99% of folks are used to the icon view (which is a lot more interesting to look at) so I left the default alone.

[@joshpayne4015]

@4:37 SHOUT OUT to the Electric Dreams movie soundtrack! Great soundtrack for a great period film.

[@mechamania]

... All without paying Xerox to use their GUI patents, the way Apple did-with the foresight and, as a result, far better GUI-based software support-which made things far more expensive for Apple to design, produce, advertise, market, and sell/distribute (especially as compared to 8-bit Commodores, Ataris, and (1977) Apple II home computers (which are comparative garbage, regardless of the price difference, next to a 1979 Atari 800 or a 1983 C64 (or the lines each created, and although the Atari 1200XL and Commodore 128 didn’t need to exist, the C128D (with onboard disk drive) was a vey cool machine) which were targeted at advertising creatives and planners (in all the top agencies, globally, locally, regionally, and locally), print media journalists and graphic design/layout professionals (up to the largest newspapers and magazine houses). While GEOS is a very cool GUI for an 8-bit machine like the C64, it remains a home and small business computer that can’t compare to what a Mac could do, when it came to producing professional journalism and mass comm paper-based media for the top US markets or other large metro areas. With Adobe and Quark support and their ability to run them so well, Macs were dominant-even against IBMs with Windows-among large corporations that not only had the money to buy them but _needed them,_ to keep pace - and for advertisers and journalists to have inter-operable file formats. That’s a big reason why, too, they only needed to be black-and-white, for almost a decade - ‘cause color newspapers weren’t that big a market, and Macs hadn’t (really) been targeted to the home market, until then, with the introduction of Performas... ). Even today, in large part because of “legacy systems” (newsrooms and ad agencies full of computers that those industries squeezed every last penny from, before upgrading all that hardware and software, and then multimedia corporations jumping into the mix), Macs still dominate those spaces and multimedia. Of course, being as ubiquitous as they are, in education, media folks cut their teeth on personal/desktop Macs - which also fill the classrooms, as I can tell you from being a prof in two of the best and largest comm colleges in the US and an undergrad-master’s and doc school student and instructor in two others, and having guest-lectured and/or interviewed at several other top programs (Penn State, Colorado, Texas, Ohio U EW Scripps School of Journalism, LSU, Boston University, Southern Miss, Ithaca College, Columbia, Michigan State, etc.). GEOS was also worth the R&D to install on what is essentially a “single model” of computer (including the 128’s 64 mode) that had likely already become the best-selling such home computer (although the totals usually include C64s, repackaged C64s, SX-64s, and C64Cs, the gap between the OG C64 and any other computer is still miles ahead of what any past or future computer will ever be), with such a huge install base... That said, I am a fan of both - and the Atari-bit line (the 800, my first love), ST(Es, etc.) and AMIGAs, all but one of which I don’t own (an ST, but it’s on the list... ‘cause minus MIDI control, which I’m getting into now, the choice between even a 1040ST and an AMIGA 500 wasn’t difficult - which I was lucky to get, for graduating high school and heading to university... ). Anywho, just providing some seemingly necessary context for was going on, in the mid-/late-‘80s, for those who might not understand the day-to-day of having made Apples to Commodores and Ataris, in that way... Hope that helps!

[@ipponyc]

Loved the C128 ! I had the 512k version of the 1750 REU. Good stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have my old school c64 and 128 to this day and still boots up! Great show!!!!

[@AmigaLove]

That's awesome! Thanks for watching and subbing. Really means a lot. Hope to see you around some other videos in the near future. Cheers!

[@ipponyc]

@@AmigaLove 😀

[@NULUSIOS]

DAMN! My dream setup! A C128D next ton an A1000. I really envy you.

[@AmigaLove]

I'm very lucky indeed. I've got both machines pretty much exactly how I want them, too. Pure perfection!

[@michaelwallen738]

Excellent well done as usual. Now I want to find a 128D.. So cool

[@SteveGuidi]

Another excellent presentation -- as always, a work of art! I have many memories of producing high school book reports and essays using geoWrite the early 90s, and also performing a myriad of conversions from Mac/PC image formats to geoPaint so I could print them full-page without scaling. The print quality was really dim, but legible -- then I met someone who had CMD's Perfect Print LQ software... mind blown!

[@AmigaLove]

Thanks for the kind words, Steve. And that's SO cool! CMD really was so far ahead of its time. Or, stuck in time and simply never gave up. If they'd been releasing their hardware years earlier, who knows...? Like, if some of that hardware had hit the market pre-1990? Either way, I still very much am in awe all these years later by what they created, and for how long they stuck with the platform.

[@a4000t]

Geos 128 with a geocable II and hp laserjet 5L was amazing printing and fast! There are also geos color laser drivers.

[@youtube-ventura]

Man, you've nailed the best setup! Thanks for sharing!

[@AmigaLove]

Compliments will get you everywhere. ;)

[@dandavis8500]

@5:11 Neat OS! Where'd you get it? Why Toys R Us of course!

[@AmigaLove]

Heck yeah! They had a whole computer aisle (or two) back in the day, mainly aimed at Atari and Commodore. But then they also had the entire console/cartridge aisle, too. Toys R Us was a one-stop-shop of awesome. Got a little Xmas $ left over? Time to head over to the Star Wars action figure aisle... ;)

[@dandavis8500]

:) I remember. Pour one out for Toys 'Я' Us!@@AmigaLove

[@75slaine]

Fantastic, a setup I'm currently trying to achieve myself.

[@AmigaLove]

Sweet! What pieces do you have, and which do you lack?

[@75slaine]

@@AmigaLove the big one is the 128DCR.

[@AmigaLove]

@@75slaine I love that machine so much. For me - getting the 8/9 switch was a game changer. It allowed me to use expansion cartridges more easily with way less hassle.

[@75slaine]

@@AmigaLove You have great taste in machines. My ambitions are along very similar setups to your collection. I’m going to get the C128DCR and Quadra 700. Have wanted them for years and years. I’m torn on the A1000 though. I have my childhood A500 spec’d out to my dream setup. I love the look of the A1000 but my heart is already taken.

[@AmigaLove]

@@75slaine Can't argue with that! The A500 is AWESOME

[@mcd3379]

If you use an SD2IEC to boot GEOS128 from you can get rid of the 1581 and the RAM expansion module........it also gives you plenty of room to work without all of the disk changes. Interestingly, GEOS64 boots faster from an SDCard than GEOS128.

[@OldAussieAds]

As a kid in 1980s Australia I was aware of everything Commodore 64 from friends and magazines. I never knew of GEOS until I was an adult.

[@AmigaLove]

I think for a lot of us - especially in the 80s - we didn't have the extra peripherals to really appreciate the power of GEOS when stretched to the max.

[@pacbilly]

This exact setup has been my dream for most of my life, even to this day. I have a 1581 and a couple 1351s, but not a 128-D or an REU. There's actually another way to convert your GeoWrite documents to RTF using the command line and CBMTools on a modern computer. I've done it but I'd have to remember how.

[@AmigaLove]

128D's are a little rare these days, and often pricey. They are kinda like the A1000 in that you should never buy one if the keyboard isn't included. The keyboards are almost never sold/found solo. I found a program that was written in 2015 that'll not only convert the GeoWrite docs to plain text, but they'll actually convert them to RTF so a lot of the formatting is preserved (bold, justification, etc.). Pretty cool.

[@joshhiner729]

Mind sharing the name of the program? Thanks 😊

[@AmigaLove]

@@joshhiner729 Look up geowrite2rtf from pagetable.com

[@BreakingPintMedia]

I used to own a C128D CR many years ago. During a move from an apartment to a house, someone broke into the moving truck we were loading up that was parked in the apartment complex and, of all things, took my C128D. The keyboard, mouse, monitor, and a boxed copy of GEOS128 2.0 were still in the apartment, so I ended up bringing those with me but a few years later I traded the keyboard and software for an SGI machine. I still lament that loss to this day as I really loved the C128D.

[@AmigaLove]

My god what a freaky thing to have happened. I wonder if the people who stole it even knew what they hell they'd taken at the time? That's crazy.

[@BreakingPintMedia]

@@AmigaLove that's the saddest part... And this took place around 2006 when they were still relatively inexpensive, even though they were already somewhat rare to come by. At that time, only those who actually interacted with them in the 80s would have had any incline to relive their youth... It wasn't at the "curious collector" level quite yet.

[@DerNikDE]

This was more or less exactly the rig I had back that days. Geos was AFAIR the only software that took use of the RAM expansion. I had the smaller one and upgraded it to 512 K by soldering. Two more differences: My monitor was called 1901. I assume that was the European version. Also I put in a turbo button. There was a jumper on the mainboard, to switch from European power frequency to US power frequency. The computer was then 10-20% faster. The VIC did not like that, but the high resolution mode of the c128 did not use the VIC. To sad this did not make it through time.

[@MacCrafter707]

I miss my 128D. It was awesome!!

[@SteelHorseRider74]

wow, this setup would have been quite unaffordable back in the days... I am sure tho, most 128s were used with "go64" command right after the power-on... and not for (semi-)professional use ...

[@AmigaLove]

In the grand scheme of things, that's probably true in the 1980s. However, I would highly recommend you hunt down "Commodore World" magazine, made by CMD in the 90s. You'd be surprised!

[@honkybear666]

Great video Amiga (cue the reverb) Looooovvvveeeee 😂

[@AmigaLove]

HAhahahahahah!!!

[@lactobacillusprime]

That’s a fantastic setup. Using geos with a single drive on a c64 is not as smooth. I remember borrowing a second 1541 off a friend and writing a biology paper on the drosophila genetics practical in high school (the Dutch variant thereof) and handing in a professional looking ringbound paper that was met with much scepticism by my biology teacher. He was used to handwritten papers on graph paper being handed in. Writing it with all sorts of self drawn imagery and graphs was a fun experience on the c64. When in was in medical school I needed a PC with WordPerfect 5.X and it also needed to run statistical software SPSSPC+ but I ended up getting a Mac LC off one of the professors when it was time to actually write papers. That worked a lot better. I remember remembering my experience on the c64 with GEOS which really wasn’t there on PC only to be found on classic Mac.

[@AmigaLove]

Sorry for my late response. Sometimes YT comments never show up for me, which drives me crazy. Anyway, I really appreciate the comment and found myself nodding to it. One of the facts a lot of my friends have trouble accepting is back in the 1980s, the KILLER APP for a ton of people was actually desktop publishing. And from day 1, the Macintosh completely destroyed C= and even a lot of PCs. The Mac, hands down, owned writing and crafting documents like no other. I was on the high school paper and in year 2 we moved from old typesetting tech to brand new Macintosh computers. My school got 2 of them, and one had a "massive" 20 MB hard drive. No more exacto blades cutting crap out to send to a print shop - we could do everything on the computer. The quality of the paper jumped, and the time saved was amazing. Back then I had a Commodore 64 and thought of myself as a hard core computer afficianado and gamer. When I started using the Mac, though, I realized everything had changed. And my machine - while still a better gaming platform - wasn't a "professional tool" like this at all. It was a sobering realization.

[@CyperN077]

I loved to use my geos powered commodore.

[@rauberhotzenplotz6657]

Very well done video, bravo

[@AmigaLove]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@c128stuff]

I still use GEOS 2.0 on a C128 for keeping notes and writing documentation for my Commodore related projects. I could use almost the same setup as you are using (minus the 1581), but I do use an Ultimate II+ for REU, and emulating 2 1581 drives. It also provides a faster alternative for the boot rom (see the short GEOS128 video on my channel. That setup also gets you a preloaded ram drive (btw, there is a newer configure128 program which allows for a ram 1581 instead of the 1571, so you could put a base geos setup entirely on the ram drive). The 'ram boot' functionality is provided by a c128 function rom I wrote and maintain, specifically for using the UII+ with a 128.

[@AmigaLove]

I very much look forward to experimenting with your setup and programs!

[@c128stuff]

@@AmigaLove You make interesting videos, and I watched most of them. I did just notice I was not subscribed to your channel, fixed now 🙂

[@AmigaLove]

@@c128stuff I really appreciate it. And very much admire your work! I wish I had those skills but I'm content to follow the leader. =)

[@c128stuff]

@@AmigaLove We all have our own skills. People like you keep this all alive for a larger public.

[@studiokadaver]

I have that mouse. Love your setup

[@AS-ly3jp]

That was just beautiful!

[@AmigaLove]

Thank you so much for watching and for saying so. I'm sitting here next to the C128D and honestly enjoy looking at it when I'm not even using it! :)

[@AS-ly3jp]

@@AmigaLoveMy C128 sits next to my Amiga 1000 in my office where I admire the view too, feeling happy. I really must say, one can hear the joy and love for the great Commodore systems in your voice, infecting the viewer. Do you use co/m software to? I really can't find much original (or, err, other) cp/m software. Do you or does Anybody else know a good source for C128 or CP/M productivity software for our C128's? I use my PC-10 III to write C128 Discs. Have a great weekend! Thank you!

[@AmigaLove]

@@AS-ly3jp In my attached article at the very end I list 4 places I mine for software. I assume you've hit all of those places already. But they include Lyon Labs, Zimmer, Commodore.Software and CBM Files. I personally have no experience with CP/M on the C128. After reading Marg Morabit's C128 book (and after interviewing her) I was certainly inspired to do so but at the time had no clue where to look for "cool stuff". What I'd heard, though, was that it was really, really slow and I cooled on the idea. I think it would be cool to use something like Word Star, though, and pretend to be George R.R. Martin for a split second. :D

[@AS-ly3jp]

@@AmigaLove Thank you! A year ago i bought a copy of the loadstar archive (8bitshowandtell mentioned it), maybe there is some cp/m stuff on it.

[@alexshepherd]

It’s nice to see the 1351 mouse working in 80-col mode. I can’t get that to happen here - I have the mouse driver placed first on the disk, the mouse works in 40-col mode, but when I switch to 80-col mode, no pointer appears. The next time I start up, it’s frozen - unless I start in 40-col mode. Re-writing the disk gets it working in 80-col mode, but only with the joystick

[@AmigaLove]

How utterly bizarre. I've never run across that issue before. When you flip to 80 column mode and press C= key + "i" does it show the 1351 mouse in the list for you to select and use?

[@alexshepherd]

@@AmigaLoveyes - if running with a joystick in 80-col mode, I can use C=+I to select the mouse driver. Or I can use the joystick to place the mouse driver first on the disk and restart. But either way, the mouse pointer disappears and no further input is possible, not even pressing C=+I again. It will, however, restart in 40-col mode and the mouse will work there, but 80-col mode will not start again until the disk is re-written. Frustrating indeed :)

[@alexshepherd]

@@AmigaLove I’ve just found it. Intermittent RAM fault in the ‘high’ bank, I guess the loading of the mouse driver must be just the point when the memory has ‘filled up’ to that faulty part! Replacing one chip solved it, but it’s not the first RAM problem I’ve had in this particular machine (and I’ve replaced all the other RAM as a precaution). One of the problems was actually some bits of the data bus being pulled down by failed ROMs. All the ROMs are EPROMs now

[@AmigaLove]

@@alexshepherdcongrats on figuring it out!

[@markholle3450]

I love how the Okimate 10 is available. I used it to print my final paper for college back in 1987 that I had written using GeoWrite. I loved how I could print in color too. But it was so slow and expensive. Each pass on the cartridge was "one and done". Those were good days since I thought I had a MacLite with Geos.

[@skeggjoldgunnr3167]

The 80 column bit is nice! I wonder if my Amiga 500 has any office / business productivity suite that compares... I would enjoy running my business on that. Having my customers wait for their invoice / receipt to finish printing on a dot matrix printer. A big clunky RGB CRT monitor on the desk...

[@gregferguson7737]

Yes. There are multiple excellent word processors (even Word Perfect which I used back in the day), PageStream for DTP, spreadsheets and database (SuperBase and FinalCalc)

[@DonnyHooterHoot]

I LOVED my C64/128/Amiga, LOVED. They are now all retired and their motherboards hang like trophies in my man- cave. My current PC, a Windows type, is about one million times faster and can draw real pictures! Amazing, huh? LOL. Keep retroing!

[@danield.7359]

Very cool! I used Geos too on a C64. However I preferred Vizawrite as text processor over geoWrite.

[@AmigaLove]

I will have to check that out! Thanks

[@GrymsArchive]

Missing: 1: Cart. Port Expander (Power trace cut and powered externally) 2: Swiftlink RS-232 cart. 3: 9600 v.42bis modem And maybe a copy of DESTERM but shocked at the lack of a CMD HD.

[@AmigaLove]

I use my RAMLink as a cart expander when I need it. I can't fit anything else back there. I use a WiFi modem, but that doesn't pass the 1989 threshold I'd created (neither does the RAMlink). I have Desterm. I wish it supported PETSCII. Is there any C128 80-col terminal that supports petscii? And don't be shocked about the lack of a CMD HD. Unless you know someone who is selling one for less than a Ford Pinto. ;) I'm lucky to even have the RAMlink. I've been on the hunt of a FD-2000, too, for a long time. Honestly I'd love one of those.

[@GrymsArchive]

@@AmigaLove Ummmm I thought DesTerm supported PETSCII... Granted it has been a few decades... Wasn't there another one... NovaTerm?

[@AmigaLove]

@@GrymsArchive DesTerm works internally in real ASCII. I think by the time v3 came out in 1998, petscii BBSes were fading away and folks wanted their C= machines to play nice with the PCs. Novaterm is cool, but 40 cols. Honestly these days I often use my Amiga 1000 and use a program called "64Door" which allows 40 and 80 column modes as well as full PETSCII support. It's great!

[@MatthewCenance]

Is it normal for the screen to have that noise pattern at 6:23?

[@gertachimrenel595]

It's also possible to convert geoWrite and geoPublish documents to PostScript with patched versions of geoLaser and geoPubLaser.

[@ScoopexUs]

You should also be able to transfer files via (null)modem. Don't know if there was software to read C64 etc files from C64-formatted floppy via the Amiga 5.25" floppy drive, but it would make sense that there were. Very nice video :)

[@AmigaLove]

Thanks for the kind words and for watching. A null-modem cable is how I sometimes transfer files from PC to Amiga. Doing the same from Amiga to C128 would be pretty cool. Not sure I've seen any software that would assist with that but now I'm going to have to go look around. Let me know if you find anything, too - cheers!

[@a4000t]

Amiga can read/write to 1581 disks via C1581.lha it works well.

[@AmigaLove]

@@a4000t That's a very cool idea - thanks. I'll check it out!

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

If only there was a 65F10 you know a FPGA version of the CPU used in the COMMODORE C128.

[@MyNameIsBucket]

I think we all know what needs to happen. Get a Mac 512k running System 4, an IBM PC running Windows 2, and have a battle royale.

[@AmigaLove]

😅

[@rhysholdaway]

I want to know more about the Delorean Matchbox car! 🚘

[@AmigaLove]

Hah! That's hilarious. :)

[@rhysholdaway]

@@AmigaLove Good work on the video. Was really fascinating. Love seeing how old tech can be pushed to it's limits. Vaguely remember having GEOS on my old 286 laptop.

[@AmigaLove]

@@rhysholdaway I knew they'd ported it to the apple ][ but I don't think I've ever seen a DOS port before! I had no idea there was such a thing.

[@rhysholdaway]

@@AmigaLove it was a slightly different beast by then, sort of a Win 3.1 alternative / Office Suite. There were a few of these back then... IBM and Novell also had interesting desktop shells for Windows but never tried them.

[@Elbas_Tardo]

It didn't make sense to buy a C128 with a mouse and memory expansion, because with an Amiga from the same era it cost pretty much the same and was much better.

[@Kobenete]

I love the 128d minus the keyboard. Imagine a hitek 128d...

[@AmigaLove]

If the new blingboard64 by Jim Drew hits the final stretch goal, it is apparently going to be able to be used with C128's and well as the SX-64. Mechanical keyboards for the c128 might happen... in 2024!

[@travismoore7849]

I kind of wish the geos would run on the picomite for under twenty dollars.

[@STANI420]

this is awesome!

[@AmigaLove]

Thank you!!

[@LyricsVideo4U]

00:42 Nicee

[@AmigaLove]

:)

[@cazb73]

Not a light-soeed, but pretty usable speed for 99.9 true homeusers. Why the progress? For few games, looking as movie? ;)

[@robmclaughjr]

[@RealMusicHype]

Nice..

[@AmigaLove]

Thank you! Cheers!