The Ultimate II+L Cartridge - The Best C64 Cartridge Money Can Buy?

[@gideonz74b]

Thank you for this excellent video! I love it! One thing you forgot to mention is that the cartridge now also does cycle accurate 1571 emulation and the 1581 as well.

[@TheRetroShack]

Thanks Gideon - pinned your comment so that hopefully people note that.

[@L0wcash]

And i can confirm that both of these emulated drives work in fast mode on a C128!

[@JudgeDrokk]

I think I might have been under a stone for a while - I have a II+, what's the "L" ? tnx

[@gideonz74b]

@@JudgeDrokk Perfectly explained in the video!

[@YoreHistory]

Gideon you sly magnificent genius!!! What a NICE Surprise...time to replace my Ultimate II+ or rather pair it up with a 2nd version albeit this new beast! :) Great video Retro Shack!

[@mjy]

I have long attested that my original II+ is without a doubt the single best Commodore accessory I have ever purchased in 40 years. It is quite simply amazing.

[@jameschamblin7120]

One thing I like about the U2+ is the DMA loading. As long as the program is just a standard .prg file, with no proprietary fastload or copy protection, you can use the DMA load to instantly load the program into memory. The menu button is great also, as you can switch disks, format disks, etc... while you are using another program. With the Pi1541, you either need to squint at a tiny screen, use a second monitor hooked up to the HDMI (which is unavailable on Pi0 based devices), or load a menu program into C64 memory, deleting whatever was running to begin with.

[@MindCaged]

I was curious if it could do this. I understand that's how the Kung Fu Flash works, but the fact that this can do either a cycle-accurate or a DMA fast load is awesome as it gives you the option of speed if the software doesn't use a fast-loader. It's ironic that now a fastloader actually slows down these old programs.

[@_zzpza]

I bought one because of your video, well I placed a pre-order. Just got an email to ask for payment and it should be shipped in 2 weeks. So excited :)

[@sbirchsbirch6232]

It is epic. I received mine in the mail two days ago. Absolutely love the power it has, Gideon is so modest about what it can do. You can replace C64 kernal rom, and hot toggle it on and off. Awesome for JiffyDOS. You can emulate all kinds of cartridges. You can use both a physical 15xx with the emulator. It has a tiny speaker that makes 15xx drive sounds (makes me all giddy).

[@BillAnt]

Can you have more than than two carts emulated and running as the same time, provided that there's no memory address and IRQ conflict? Have you tried it?

[@sbirchsbirch6232]

@@BillAnt No, you can run one cart at a time, and when you swap them, the machine needs a proper reboot. But I think you can run a REU simulated and cartridge simulated, like the AR6 That I use.

[@BillAnt]

​@@sbirchsbirch6232 - Well in that case one can use a a Cartridge Expander board which allows the Ultimate-II plus two more carts at the same time, provided that there's no memory address and IRQ conflict. Even if selecting one cart at a time manually, it's quicker than having to go through menus loading each one every time. ;)

[@sbirchsbirch6232]

​@@BillAnt Thanks I was unaware of that. I don't have the room on the desk though :) The U2+ already takes up a lot of vertical space, added to the C64C case Im already more than 60 cm deep on the desk if I also must have some free space for my hands and a joystick.

[@BillAnt]

​@@sbirchsbirch6232 - No problem, just cut a hole in the closet or the wall to make the 3 carts fit. ;D Jokes aside, the cart expander has dip switches on it which allows configuring it with no conflict in most cases. I remember running a Fast -Load cart and Super Snapshot back in the 80's using one of those early expander boards. One of the best new 3 port expanders is the "X-Pander3" by Retro Innovation. Just Google "C64 x-pander".

[@rfxtuber]

Hi Retro Shack... The ultimate II+ Cart in my view is the best Cartridge ever made for the C64... However, i unfortunately had the idea of using it to assist with diagnostics of my five sick breadbin C64s which was an easy mistake to make as the Ultimate ii+ allows you to use CRT diagnostic images ect... (Why not it has this very functionally) BUT never ever use an ultimate II+ cart for any form of diagnostics on older machines or machines that are not confirmed to be in good working order because as the ultimate ii+ uses FPGA and not EPROMs like traditional cartridges any bad or unknown voltages that go down the 5v line into the cartridge port will damage and destroy the ultimate ii+ in a heartbeat and turn it into a worthless paperweight with no support or help. I still have an action reply cart from back in the day which was also used on one of the systems that was bad but still lives on working fine today.... So.. The ultimate ii+ is worth the money... but be very very careful using it on original hardware and make sure the filter on older C64 breadbins at location L4 has not gone bad or going bad as your ultimateii+ will be no more and you will have no idea why!!! The Ultimate ii+ Is awesome and looks like ill be getting another.. but the original revision cart and i suspect the new revision has no defense for bad voltages..!!!!

[@JudgeDrokk]

Love my UltimateII+ and have the standard II as well. I pipe simulated SID to bookshelf speakers from the cart and also SID from my Steampunk 64's inbuilt 4 speakers too to give stereo 6581 and 8580. Sounds dreamy! - The cart is brilliant in 1000 other ways too!

[@my_username]

Those are my SID chips at 4:00! I absolve you for not attributing the photo correctly (Creative Commons) 😅 Great video - currently waiting patiently for my own UII+L to arrive.

[@TheRetroShack]

Oops! Sorry about that. Sometimes it’s just not clear where an image originates but my bad and thanks for letting me know!

[@my_username]

@@TheRetroShack No worries, just having a bit of fun, I was delighted to see it!

[@davedavenport8673]

No mention of Ethernet functionality or DMA loading of single file prgs? The feature set on this device as well as the Ultimate 64 are unparalleled. Well worth the money. I first bought a cheap sd2iec, then heard about UII+ and got that and then saw the U64 and bought that. Wish I had just gotten the U64 from the beginning, but it wasn’t created yet. Yes, it is the best cartridge you can buy for the C64.

[@scucci]

Pretty cool... definitely need to update from my PI1541. Also, with a clear case like that, there is no way I could've resisted putting the SwinSID Ultimate in there for the lightshow.

[@espressomatic]

I always have a laugh when someone mentions "legal copy" of JiffyDOS while at the same time using pirated copies of hundreds/thousands of games and other applications.

[@hernancoronel]

I think it may be important to point out that JiffyDOS is a current product with a current seller who intends and needs to make money to keep supporting the product. The other products you mention (most of them, at least) are products that are no longer for sale, from companies that may no longer exist and it may be even impossible to even tidy up the legalese up to the point to be able to sell them again, even if somebody really wants to. My two cents on the matter…

[@coffeecuparcade]

Thanks for the insights. I've been looking at possible solutions for myself, this video helped a lot

[@tonysofla]

I'm making a RISC-V based cartridge, runs natively at 5Volts with the 16bit addrs connected consecutively as one read/write. As everything is done in software at 80Mhz (pll comes from dot clock) there is no limit what it can emulate or how it does DMA. Can be USB device or host with both USB-C and USB-A connector. RTC with 10year battery that sets TOD registers at boot up. 16MB on-board flash storage.

[@dougjohnson4266]

I have the 1541 U2+ and the 1541 U2+L and both are excellent.

[@cjh0751]

Nice to have the Shack back

[@merman1974]

Great stuff, I have an Ultimate II cart already but would love one of these.

[@Hayaliminiçine]

1541U2+L unfortunately action replay does not work in T64 files.

[@G7VFY]

I would love to see a die cast aluminium case for the C64 with a bit of extra space and a more comfortable keyboard angle.

[@drpc98014]

gotta wonder if these devices work with a C128? my last 2 add on devices (kung fu flash and sd2iec) did not properly support c128 and 80col modes. they were promptly returned and negative feedback was given.

[@ScoopexUs]

Probably a nice piece of kit (when author feel like making a few) but lost it at the stretched picture. How is this so much less important than hey, I can emulate SID and have a BBS on the Internet? :) It's just a head-scratcher for me.

[@sesa2984]

I’d be curious for you to compare it to the Sidekick64. I haven’t seen anyone do that yet and I just discovered the thing and it’s throwing me for a loop as to choice. One pro is that its available right away. Also, I’ve seen videos of people getting programs and updates online with it straight to the Commodore. Pretty interesting and I’m intrigued. The price is right too.

[@JJXB2004]

while i have a Turbo Chameleon V2 that's able to do most of the listed stuff plus VGA output (bar the inbuilt modem and 1571/81 and tape loading), this does look good. and i'd have likely considered the Ultimate II + as an option were it available at the time i had the cash to splash.

[@ralfjung4156]

I hope you can help me. I purchased the Ultimate II+ from a seller in Bavaria. And it works very well too. But when I want to load a cartridge, no cartridges are listed. What am I doing wrong or is the Certridge manipulated? I purchased the cartridge, among other things, because of the implemented cartridges.

[@timlocke3159]

Hmm. I wonder if it is possible to use this simultaneously with FujiNet.

[@MindCaged]

Impressive bit of kit. Seems to run pretty much anything. The C64 was the first computer I ever owned though I found it at a garage sale since it was old even when I first got it. I actually had a pretty decent collection going from garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. Also my dad's coworker had a whole big collection of disks. I do believe I had a fastload cartridge and several 1541s. I even had a SX-64.which I understand are very rare. Can't remember what happened to most of it. I was rather annoyed one time where I picked up a C64 from a thrift store and some jerk had removed every single chip out of it and then donated it.

[@L0wcash]

You skipped the DMA-load function that loads single files instantaneously in memory.. This feature can be combined with all the other features so you never have to wait for loading of the first file on a disk image! Super handy! The 1541-II+ can also emulate gamecarts that load instantaneously... even the modern easyflash ones! In my opinion this really is the best C64 cart that money can buy!

[@0LoneTech]

As I understand it, there's an alternate kernal known as hyperspeed that can use rapid access for other files too.

[@L0wcash]

I did not know that. Thanks for the tip!

[@ancipital]

Thanks, that's interesting - I've got a pi1541 with a real pi as a standalone, sounds like the cartridge would be a good thing and I get the pi back for other things! - got a quick question - what do you use to record the C64 video onto your PC?

[@TheRetroShack]

I use a scart to HDMI converter and then a HDMI-USB 3.0 video capture device into OSB Studio.

[@ancipital]

@@TheRetroShack thanks for that, been trying to work out how do it as tried with a composite to usb but didn't sync to the signal.

[@JendaLinda]

Very strange choice for the cassete port connector. Simple ribbon cable would be better.

[@relo999]

that was what I was thinking, that's something prone to create issues especially when you can plug in USB devices. Even a more proprietary port would have solved the issue (but would also increase cost).

[@andrewgillham1907]

Why would a ribbon cable be better? USB3 cables (& connectors) are cheap. Personally I would rather have an extra USB 2.0 port that also doubles (well technically it uses the USB3 pins for tape) as a tape connector than some pin headers and a ribbon cable taking up space.

[@JendaLinda]

@@andrewgillham1907 Such ribbon cables are used by C64 testing harnesses, so the appropriate solution already exists.

[@simonbooth9152]

You can actually plug a USB 2.0 device into the port, just not a 3.0 device as the extra pins are used to carry the datasette signals.

[@rfxtuber]

Disagree... The cassette connector is robust and sturdy and will last a good while... The best design you could possibly expect for such a device in my view...

[@HojoNorem]

Sigh... You had access to the Action Replay cart image and you STILL chose to demo Epyx... No wonder people still take the mick for the C64 disk being slow.

[@ryanjones1938]

This is what I've always said too...

[@jimmyhillgren7479]

REU is the only thing I miss on IDE64 but having a harddrive to run operating systems and multidisk games from beats most things. I wish they have kept evolving the Princess to have full 1541 emulation then it would have been the ultimate for emulating the diskdrive and tape. I like to keep things separate between the ports on the C64. Feels more pure that way. Would be cool to make a printer emulator using a pi and the 1541 shield that you can use to make your own 1541 emulator.

[@svenvandevelde1]

No c128?

[@zxspectrum16KB]

Does it have super cpu with 80 columns

[@yelloledbetter100]

It's an amazing cartridge, Buy one it's worth the wait 👍

[@cdl0]

Oooerr Missus! I see Mrs Retro Shack is in the credits.

[@ZxSpectrumplus]

I am waiting for stocks to be available for the UItimate X64 board...i rather have a totally brand new system then a cart that links to a 40 years old hardware...if the C64 dies (very likely, i need to replace 3 chips to repaired the C64 i have), then this cart is junkware. Better pay a bit more in the long run. Too bad still no stocks since like 2020....:(

[@surfinbirdzx]

I'm a proud and satisfied user of pi1541+epyx fastloader combo cartridge but your video made me "dowantdowantdowant" this product:) The only thing it lacks is support for the modern mice.

[@andrewgillham1907]

Yeah it would be neat if there was a “mouSTer” builtin also.

[@gideonz74b]

I would be interested to know HOW to do that. The cartridge cannot simply override values read from CIA or SID. Could make mouse position available from registers in the $de00-$dfff region, but that wouldn't give much software compatibility.

[@andrewgillham1907]

⁠@@gideonz74b I would say a adapter similar to the tape one and the U2P can have a toggle between 1351(MicroMys) emulation or tape on those pins. Or sense what adapter is plugged in. (Resistance check or whatever) I like the idea of a newly defined register also and things like C64OS could have a driver. Maybe GEOS could get a driver too. As you mentioned that wouldn’t work for software compatibility. I suppose if the register was “identical” behavior people could just patch the address byte in software with mouse support? (But then would it be 7 registers? That seems painful.)

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

its a good cartrage for the C64 and i would recamend. as for for the 128 i have had nothing but problums :( even in c64 mode.

[@Aeduo]

At least it's not L+ratio cartridge. :P

[@pastoelio]

should have shown demos on it :D

[@markhatch1267]

The more options people have for affordable ways to entertain and amuse themselves with low spec hardware, the more pressure it will put on high spec hardware makers to stop making poor products.

[@carloscatano1750]

Fantastic!

[@Colin_Ames]

Very nice. Now if only I had a C64……..

[@MechaFenris]

I hope to see my preoder before i croak. 😂

[@giant000]

Another xcellent video

[@bgone5520]

Epyx Fastload is the worst Any of those others in that directory are faster and more compatible

[@TheKetsa]

Way too expensive.

[@espressomatic]

I thought so too. Then I bought one and my mind was changed. It's really liberating and so useful. I then went ahead and bought an Ultimate64 Elite which is even more $$.

[@gideonz74b]

What would be a reasonable price according to you? 😊

[@L0wcash]

@@gideonz74b Héé Gideon! A VERY satisfied longtime user of your products here.. Your prices always have been very reasonable given the used hardware in your products. There are many cheaper, and also very good, options, but none of them come even close to the feature set you provide. You simply get what you pay for!

[@simonbooth9152]

I bought an Ultimate 64 board a few years ago and recently bought one of the new UII+L cartridges for use on my original C64. They are both more than worth the price to me. I’ve got an SD2IEC, Tapuino, Kung Fu Flash etc, the Ultimate replaces all of those in one device 😊.

[@wolvesaywe1155]

What is the point the reason I went on eBay and bought a c64 was to get that 1980s experience back from when I was a kid this stuff has nothing to do with that if I want to go on the Internet I will use my laptop

[@relo999]

Backing up disks, demos, "loading backups", basically anything you want to do with a C64 beyond nostalgia.

[@joerhorton]

BBS is not using the internet. You still get the same experience of accessing the BBS through a device like this as it was in the 80's. I do like using the original 1541 and C64, but convenience is king.

[@andrewgillham1907]

So… move along and keep enjoying your view of the 80s experience? The point is a single cartridge that makes the “80s experience” way better and more enjoyable. Without a lot of frustration from bad drives or floppies, weak power supplies, cartridge expanders, hardware modifications etc. You can pop in a cartridge and get a ton of features. My C64 has all the “hardware” I couldn’t afford in the 80s in one cartridge.

[@surfinbirdzx]

That's only if you have all stuff: datasette, disk drive, disks and tapes with all the games that you'll want to experience.

[@surfinbirdzx]

Oh, and SID player is also VERY desirable feature. "Sidplay" that I use to listen music prone to crash on a big SIDs and cannot stop playing DIGI sids.

[@-Error99]

I think most C64 users would get just as much out of a Kung Fu Flash cartridge. You can get loads of games in CRT format with no loading time. It also partially supports sd2iec, but much faster. The Ultimate II is for power users.

[@davedavenport8673]

If you want to watch demos, you need cycle accurate 1541. I know C64 is 99% about games, but the demos are amazing. If you want to see the PAL demos, then get the U64 so you can run PAL and have HDMI out and a host of other goodies.

[@davedave9308]

I have an Ultimate II from way back (thanks Gideon!) and didn't consider myself a power user at the time of purchase. I have had a lot of enjoyment learning how make some use of the UII - backing up floppies, restoring original floppies, using freezer and fastload carts. Plus, disk images are still much more commonplace than cart images. I still use my real 1541 and the UltimateII cart helps me get more fun out of it.

[@andrewgillham1907]

The KungFuFlash is an awesome cartridge. Roughly $57USD from TFW8b. The U2+ is roughly $158USD. That extra $101USD gives you significantly more functionality. You get cycle accurate 1541/1571/1581, REU,SIDS,Kernal replacement, clock, virtual printer, tape emulation. Pretty much all at once! (Tape emulation adapter costs a bit more) There is really no comparison feature wise it is just a matter of if cartridge support & DMA loading single load PRGs is all you want you can definitely save that $100 and live within the features of the KFF. I have both. I love the convenience of the KFF for loading cartridges or a freezer like SuperSnapshot but almost always use it along with a SD2IEC. But in the end the U2+ does just about everything with amazing compatibility. My only disappointment is I still need a SD2IEC attached if I want to run C64OS since it can’t (yet) run from the software IEC drive on the U2+.

[@rfxtuber]

​@@andrewgillham1907 A once in a life time device that brings everything together within the c64. What also must be considered is that it replaces all the old devices like the tape deck, disk drives that fail, break and wear out and replaces them all while retaining all that functionally at the same time!!! Awesome device!!

[@iguanac6466]

I'm still looking into building a PI1541 so I can run .nib/.nbz images even though I own the Ultimate II-L. I'm also considering the WiC64 to load games over the network...we'll see how motivated I get!

[@JestersDeadUK]

USB is completely compatible, you wont break a device port plugging USB3.O into USB2.0 😂😂😂

[@0LoneTech]

The physical usb3 connector on this cartridge is not electrically usb3; there are other signals (datasette) on the 5 new pads normally for superspeed usb. If those signals don't match directions and levels with actual usb, then a usb3 device plugged into that port could cause damage. This is only an issue on the left side blue connector, the connectors on the right are true USB2 and will work with USB3 devices. I think the USB superspeed lines are normally capacitively coupled with ESD protection clamps, and the datasette signals are low impedance 5V signals. So the expected result would be excessive power running through the clamping diodes in the usb3 device and level shifters in the cartridge. This might have been avoidable by moving those shifters into the datasette cable, I'm not sure.

[@JestersDeadUK]

No USB-C?!? massive oversight 😮