DesTestMAX C64 Test Cartridge Build & Test

[@horusfalcon]

A neat piece of kit you have there, Jan. Thanks for showing it to us.

[@borayurt66]

This is so revolutionary that I think Matt should also have a go at writing a new full diagnostic software too.

[@JanBeta]

Matt is working on improved DesTest software as we speak. ;)

[@borayurt66]

@JanBeta Great news!!

[@3dlabs99]

6:22 Super human fast soldering... even faster than BigClive :) Thanks for all the great content!

[@JanBeta]

Haha, I wish I could solder at that speed in real life sometimes... :D

[@datassetteuser356]

The Destest has more tests than the Deadtest does. Say that five times in a row real fast 😂

[@JanBeta]

Haha. I actually had to edit quite a few sentences like that out where I twisted my tongue a little bit too much. ::D

[@horusfalcon]

"How many tests can a DesTest test if a DesTest makes all tests"? 😆

[@twocvbloke]

Seeing tools like these being made today for repairing and reviving computers older than me makes me wonder if in 40 years time, people will be reviving and repairing devices of today for that "retro nostalgia" of what they experience right now as children growing up... :)

[@JanBeta]

Not sure if today's devices offer the same level of affection that we had for the machines back in the day. It all seems pretty soulless to me these days but who knows? :D

[@dieSpinnt]

@@JanBeta There are still(or again) Vinyl Records ... and you can get really maintainable (for fixing in the future, and f.e. "The right to repair" movement, Open Hardware, etc.) and quality-oriented hardware, even today. Well, it is just (just ... hehehehe) a matter how big you wallet is:) Just as a side-note: remember how much a 1541 and discs cost back in the day? I needed PARENTS to remotely afford this **g** So buying hardware for the equivalent of a months loan may even get you something for "eternity", today. Well designed, pretty and nice to look at for decades. Yeah okay, we have to de-solder all components and get rid of this new rubbish, refloat all joints with the real (LEADED! hehehe) stuff! Have a good one Jan and @twocvbloke!:)

[@TzOk]

You can use this test (as well as a dead test) on Kung Fu Flash and Kung Fu Flash 2. Yes, there is a new version of this great cartridge, but no one talks about it. I have just built one for myself, and it is great. At first glance, it is good old KFF, but there is one new option in the setup-REU emulation, which is a game changer for me. Another small change is that it no longer uses Flash for emulating CRT cartridges, now it loads them into its own RAM.

[@JanBeta]

Nice! I had no idea that there's a beefed up version of the KFF. I'm going to have to check that out asap.

[@davemcd2579]

would love to know the steps to get this to work. Kims Github says rom files are supported (same with .bin files) but neither seem to work for me at all. Unless the KFF i got is just a poor implementation (apologies if you got this comment as a duplicate) I was logged into youtube under my work account not personal so deleted that and reasked as me :)

[@TzOk]

@@davemcd2579 For Ultimax cartridges (like DeadTest or DesTestMAX) you need to have them in CRT format. BTW Jan made a mistake, DTM needs to work in Ultimax mode, not in Game mode, labels on the PCB were correct.

[@christopherdecorte1599]

Its funny the the future might still be 8 bit because of the way modern software is being so intrusive on everyones freedom's and gathering personal data i have been avoiding my modern computer a lot because of windows 11.

[@JanBeta]

Yeah, Windows 11 is a bit of a nightmare. I love using the old machines as much as I can. Unfortunately they are not powerful enough for HD video editing and such. :D

[@christopherdecorte1599]

@JanBeta yeah my pentium 3 pc win win 98 does most tasks with office 97 and play many of the games I enjoy so I use it more then my modern pc.

[@dieSpinnt]

"You don't need the CIA(s) to work ...", Jan Beta 0:50 Oh boy, oh Jan, we are back on the watchlist! Hehehehe and thanks for sharing your impressions on this nice piece of test equipment:)

[@C64Lover]

I recently built one and so far I see that while it is improvement over dead test, my own mod of dead test (movie is on my channel) still does suffice, actually real game changer would be microcontroller that listen to bus and do some auto-analysis, otherwise if there is more damage than ram you get blank screen here and on dead test as well

[@JanBeta]

As far as I know Matt is working on improving the DesTest a fair bit. It's going to be A LOT more useful soon.

[@arnolda.lampel6087]

Cool 😎 More Retro Sh!t that I don't need but want 😊 Edit: I do need AND want one.

[@JanBeta]

Haha. I feel the same. :D

[@Phil-Sands]

Just ordered one 😁

[@hollgo626]

Ich habe mir eins gebastelt und schon 2 64er damit untersuchen lassen. Ist s hon cool, wie schnell der Test im Vergleich zum deadtest abläuft und dazu viel übersichtlicher in der Darstellung. Ich habe auch noch den Ultramaxtest, der ist ja auch eine Art deadtest. Da der destest einen eigenen charset mitbringt, würde sogar bei einem defekten character rom noch eine leserliche Ausgabe auf dem Bildschirm kommen, beim deadtest kommt in so einem Fall ja nur ein komisches muster heraus. Jetzt müsste es nur mal eine neue Art diagrom geben,das wäre was...

[@RetroShare2]

Hallo. Hast du eine Anleitung, wo ich mir das nachbauen kann?

[@JanBeta]

Eigentlich zeige ich im Video alles, was du wissen musst. In der beiliegenden pdf-Anleitung ist auch nochmal näher erklärt, wie du eine Platine konfigurieren musst, damit das Teil funktioniert. Geht mit allen Standard-8K-Platinen, die es so gibt.

[@KAPTKipper]

You can also just load it on to a flash cart, like the Kungfu Flash

[@JanBeta]

Yes, of course! Should probably have mentioned that. I like to have standalone test carts though, in case something prevents the more complex multicarts from starting up.

[@giulianomarco]

Yay! 😁👍

[@dcarlin3]

Have you tried DesTestMax SwiftLink edition? Don’t even need a working VIC chip or any RAM!

[@C64Lover]

@@dcarlin3 without vic you don't have cpu clock and dead test or destestmax do already start without ram so...

[@JanBeta]

I don't have a serial adapter for the C64 unfortunately (yet), so I couldn't test that. I doubt that it would start up without a VIC-II though, because that is responsible for providing the system clocks as well (among some other crucial things).

[@rager1969]

Jan, do you ever use your sponsor, PCBWay?

[@JanBeta]

Yup, I do order PCBs from them quite frequently. I have a lot of stuff that people sent me though so I'm often showing other PCBs, too.

[@myleft9397]

Program. No verify. Ballsy. Good video.

[@mal2ksc]

What's it going to do if it isn't properly programmed, corrupt the nonexistent hard drive on his C64?

[@JanBeta]

The programmer software does a verify pass automatically so no need to trigger it manually again. ;)

[@Nukle0n]

Don't even need the wire links to jump those connections. Just put a blob of solder over it.

[@JanBeta]

Yup. I just wanted to do it in a more reliable way. I think the PCB is laid out to use pin headers and physical jumpers really. There's other cartridge PCBs (like the Versa64) that have proper pads for solder blobs, too. :)

[@noggin73]

Why does the deadtest/destest only test the lowest 4k of RAM?

[@C64Lover]

Because ultimax

[@JanBeta]

It's because of the Ultimax mode it runs it. It only lets it access 4K of RAM. Matt is working on a version that can see all 64K currently.

[@C64Lover]

@@JanBeta actually it's possible to have one image start as ultimax (it bypass kernal so irq/nmi/reset vectors are in the end) ans well as regular 8k cart (CBM80 signature and vectors in the front) edit: and the latter can use 64k

[@terryraymond7984]

please make me one up and I will give it a try , Ha Ha