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Site Computer News
2012
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2015
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2019
2020
2021
Latest News
- April 2024
- Posted magazine extracts courtesy of Alan Wilson (Alan is the
"AF Wilson" that submitted a number of MTX programs to various
computer magazines in the '80s)
- MTX Recover in
assembly language by AF Wilson, Popular Computing Weekly, 29 May
1987
- Panel Copy Utility in assembly language by AF Wilson, Popular Computing
Weekly, 2 June 1987
- Posting these items reminded me that, some months ago, Alan sent
me copies of some very interesting material that he wrote back in
the late '80s. He even took the time to reformat the originals and
sent me copies of the tidied up PDFs. I have been very tardy in
actually publishing them (sorry Alan!), but have done so now. Check
them out . . . .
- It has just come to light that I made an error with the silk
screen jumper labels on the
MAGROM Version 1.1
PCBs. The REMEMORizer and RS128 labels are reversed. I don't think
that this has had any impact on buyers as I don't think that anyone
actually uses MAGROM with either of these systems. The issue was
discovered when testing MAGROM with MFX for a buyer who wanted to
use both. The short term "fix" is to pin MAGROM for "RS128", rather
than, "REMEMORizer" - the option that was supposed to be used, along
with a GAL update, to provide MAGROM compatibility with MFX.
March 2024
February 2024
- Updated Geoff Boyd's WATN Page to
include changes to his Linkedin profile in 2021. Also included a
copy of Geoff's comments on
the Guardian article of 2020 citing "the 20 greatest home computers"
which omitted any mention of the MTX.
- Martin has done a modification to the
MFX GAL to allow MFX to
co-exist with MAGROM.
This means that MFX BASIC loses access to 128k of the RAM, leaving
"only" 384k for BASIC. Very few users have both MFX and MAGROM, but
if you want to use the two at the same time, you can download the
GAL update from the Firmware
page
January 2024
- Continuing to post the audio files uploaded by Nassim Bakir to
the Downloads page
- Educational software: Refraction, Symmetry
- Type-ins:
Bomb Run, Decision Maker, Egg Catcher, Horse Racing, Pong
- Utilities: Memosketch, Micro Canvas,
Paintbox, The Designer
- Bill Brendling has developed an Extended Storage ABI
for MFX. This ABI allows an
MFX with an updated ROM to use media partitioned in a Windows sense,
i.e., the CP/M partition containing the Memotech "disk drive" images
can coexist on as SD card with a FAT partition. To take full
advantage of this, after updating the ROM, you should also download
copies of htes.com and
fatcopy.com -
described on this page.
- Bill has also released ROM upgrades for
CFX and
CFX-II to support the
new ABI
December 2023
- Continuing to post the audio files uploaded by Nassim Bakir to
the Downloads page
- Educational software: Cesil, Electronics, First Letters,
Maths-1, Physics-1, Words n Pictures
- Educational software: Angle Estimator, Chromatography,
Fractions, Glass Designer
- Educational software: Game of Life, Number
Line, Network (Memotech Node Ring)
- Games: Alice in Wonderland, Arcazion, Astropac, Astromilon,
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
- Games: Backgammon, Blitz, Blobbo, Bomber &
Etch A Sketch, Boris and the Bats, Bouncing Bill
- Games: A Business Game, Contract Bridge II,
Caves of Orb, Chamberoids, Cobra, Combat, Cosmic Raiders
- Games: Dennis and the Chicken, Dennis at
the Circus, Dennis goes Bananas
- Tunes: Can Can, Dance of the Red Flute,
Teddy Bear's Picnic
- Utilities: TextEd
- Posted a copy of Snaki, a Centepede clone, discovered
and uploaded by Mike Railton (thanks Mike). Only available as a .wav
file at the moment, on the Downloads page
November 2023
- Another batch of MFX
boards are under construction (thanks Martin!). Most are allocated
to outstanding orders but there will be a few extras available to
purchase, let me know
if you are interested.
- Nassim Bakir has kindly uploaded 20 audio (.wav) files
of Memotech games to my Google Drive. These have now been added to
the Downloads page where they
are available to Memotech owners who don't have the luxury of
having a more modern method of loading software. (Thanks Nassim!)
- Angle Ball, Boulder Dash, Crystal, Felix in the factory,
Firehouse Freddy, Football Manager, Jet Bikes
- Jet Set Willy, Manic Miner, Maxima, Miner Dick, Munch Mania,
Pac Manor Rescue, Reveal, Slither
- Soul of a Robot, TNT Tim, Life The Universe and Everything ,
Vortex
- Brunword Word Processor, MTX Demonstration Tape
- Nassim has now uploaded the rest of his tape library, he has
spent considerable time obtaining and cleaning up these .wav files
and all of them are believed to be working. If you have any problems
loading particular files, please let me know. Nassim believes that
he has found copies of ALL of the published software for the MTX. I
am slowly working my way through and adding them to the website.
- 3D Tachyon Fighter, 3D Turbo, Adventure Quest, Agrovator
October 2023
- Posted .img format archives
of the CP/M versions of Turbo Pascal V2 and V3
- Memofest 2023
took place on Saturday 28th October, hosted by Bill Brendling -
see this
forum post
- You can read about the day's activities
here
- Martin has written a small program to patch MFX CP/M to cater
for QWERTZ (German layout) keyboards. It can be downloaded from the
MFX Firmware/Software
support page.
- Posted photos of the French language keyboard and piggy-back ROM
- The MFX User's Guide
now contains hyperlinks in the Table of Contents for ease of use
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
- The replacement MTX PSU
design produced by Mark Kinsey used a Vigortronix: VTX-126-050-2075
transformer which has now been discontinued. A similarly rated (230V
50VA 7.5V+7.5V ) transformer would be suitable, one possible option
has been added to the web
page. (As used by Steve Gardiner)
- When playing with the MFX
web server, I thought that it would be a good idea if the program
was able to display a default file name, e.g., index.htm,
when a client connected. Bill has modified
the program
accordingly - thanks Bill!
- I have received a copy of Spelli-copter (kindly donated by Wendy
Mclaughlin via Facebook). I will post a copy as time allows.
- Peter Axelsen has kindly dumped the character ROM from the MTX
(not FDX!) 80 column board, a copy is now available for download
from the ROMs page.
February 2023
- Posted updated SD card
image file for MFX
- Well, Openreach finally connected me on the 15th - only some
145 days
after the order was placed!
- Found some interesting information about
Francis Wallinger, so created a new
WATN entry for him
- Some progress on the 6th - the fiber is now live outside my
study, final connection due on the 15th - fingers crossed!
- Openreach have still not connected me, the latest "promise" is
for the 15th of the month, but let's see . . . . .
- Kurt Klemm got in touch and has offered scans of some of the
missing User Group (Genpat
and MOC) magazines. I will post
them as I receive them - thanks a lot Kurt!
- Kurt also sent me a copy of the letter issued by MOC in August
1989 announcing that the MOC would close in December of that year
and pointed me to the editorial in the June 1988 MOC mag which
advised that Genpat had just closed down..
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
- Not a lot to report website wise, there are a few updates
outstanding, but I have just moved house and BT/Openreach's
incompetence have left me with no internet access and no indication
of when it might be resolved!
- Other priorities associated with the house move have meant that
Memotech activities, including MFX, have taken a back seat, but I
hope to get back to normal soon - please bear with me in the
meantime.
- Posted the ROM image from a
single disk, non-CPM FDX, courtesy of Martin
- Martin is now the proud owner of a single drive FDX that
previously belonged to Jim
- After a gap of two years, a mini-Memofest
(aka "Memofix") was
hosted by Martin on the 5th November
- In advance of the event, Claus released his latest game
conversion, Fruit Panic, a platform game
originally for MSX
October 2022
- Bill has released a modified version of Hextrain that supports
both SD and SD/HC cards when used with MFX's latest firmware, the
updated Hextrain build and MFX firmware are available from the
MFX Firmware page.
September 2022
- I have started to ship the first MFX boards, though not as
quickly as I would have liked. Things are quite hectic at the moment
and MTX activities are a little lower down my priority list than
normal. If you have previously expressed an interest in getting one,
I will get to you soon(ish).
- Thanks to ongoing work by Bill and Martin, support for SDHC
cards has been added to MFX. At this point, SDHC cards are supported
in the same way that SD cards are, i.e., storing data in RAW format,
without any support for higher level formatting such as FAT32. The
immediate advantage is that SDHC cards are more readily available
and cheaper than legacy SD cards, making it easier for users to
source additional SD cards for backups etc. Existing MFX users can
download the updated ROM firmware and re-flash the ROM themselves or
contact me for an upgraded ROM.
- Note: Andy's Hextrain program uses
customized code to access the hidden HT data area and is
incompatible with SDHC cards. Bill is working on modifying the
HT program to correctly handle the SDHC card format. An updated
HT program will be available for download in due course. In the
meantime, HT can only be run from SD card.
August 2022
- There was a minor problem with the initial batch of
MFX PCBs. Modified PCBs have
now been received and I have started assembling them for the first
orders. Samples of the 3D printed end plates are on order, once they
have arrived, the first completed MFX boards should ship by mid
August.
- Bill Brendling has released an updated version of his
Z80 assembler written in
Python to reflect changes to Martin's home brew Z80 assembler
for RISCOS. (Martin uses his assembler to compile the firmware for
our MTX add-ons. As well as its other functions, Bill's tool allows
people without RISCOS machines to compile Martin's code.)
- Posted a copy of the "HRX
Graphics System - HRG Utility Software Manual ", kindly uploaded
by Simon Goodwin who
received it directly from Memotech after the PCW Computer Show in
1984.
- The first MFX boards are now ready to ship - if you have
previously expressed an interest, I will be in touch with you
shortly.
July 2022
- Bill Brendling has released a library of C functions for SDDC to
support programmers wanting to code for the MTX in C. The library is
available here. As well
as the function library, Bill has created a development environment
(using Code::Blocks) that
allows you to automatically build a MTX .run file and invoke MEMU to
execute it. It's really neat - try it out! (An updated version,
dated 23/07/22 is now available.)
- Testing of the MFX is
continuing, PCBs have been fabricated, and apart from a couple of
minor issues, appear to be working as designed. Assuming that we
don't find any "show stoppers", I am likely to make it available for
order in a couple of weeks or so, say around the end of the month. I
am starting to put together some documentation that will describe
how to use it that should hopefully answer any questions that you
might have. I will post the documentation in the
MFX project tree on the
website when it's done.
- It's done! To whet your appetite for MFX, a draft of the MFX
Operator's Guide is now available.
June 2022
- More details revealed on the
development process for MFX
- Bill Brendling has kindly shared his experience and some photos
of how (not) to
open a MTX PSU
- Added a new game,
"Diamond Dash", developed for MSX and ported to MTX by Under4mhz
- Added a new game,
"Mazenstein-3D", developed for MSX and ported to MTX by Under4mhz
- Bill Brendling has made some updates to the
ReSource Manual
May 2022
- Work is continuing on development of the proposed
MFX
- The MFX overview page has
had a minor update; the "mystery enhancement" can now be revealed.
- A recent glut of MTX sales on eBay, likely stimulated by the
"lockdown blues" suffered by retro computer enthusiasts, has led to
renewed interest in CFX and
MAGROM. I still have a
number of PCBs and most components in stock, if you are interested
in buying one or both of these devices, please
get in touch.
- Added a
screenshot of the additional
MAGROM games available
with Version 2 of the MAGROM ROM. Existing MAGROM users with MTX512
or better machines can install this ROM on their existing MAGROM
board. Users can either download the ROM themselves, or get one from
me for a small charge to cover the cost of the ROM and P&P.
April 2022
- Work has started on the design of a new SD card based expansion
for the MTX, the Multi-Function eXpansion
card, (MFX). If this exercise
does lead to a new product, it is likely quite a few months away
from being available, but we'll see . . . . In the meantime, please
don't ask about availability and/or price - at this point, I really
have no idea, but just wanted to give folks a little advance
notification that there may be some good news on the horizon!
March 2022
- Things have been pretty quiet here for a while - real life
getting in the way again . . . however, some news . . .
- Thanks to a generous donation from Paul Smith, I am now the
proud owner of a NewWord ROM board and a HiSoft Pascal ROM board
(V1.4) - thanks a lot Paul!
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
- Due to popular demand (OK, Martin asked), I have made access to
the pages on disassembling Memotech hardware more obvious and linked
to them from the Repairs index
page
- Added some info to my MTX
PSU page to document the internal fuse fitted to some MTX PSUs
supplied to Europe. The presence of this fuse makes no sense to me -
if you can explain it, please let me know.
October 2021
September 2021
- Martin has provided a Bug fix for the
CFX-II ROM
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
- Added another
game
disassembly from Martin - Goldmine
- Bill Brendling has ported Z-Machine (an interpreter for Infocom
text adventures) to the MTX. Bill's description of the process and
links to download it are available
here.
May 2021
- Posted a copy of Martin's upgraded version of his
Z80 assembler
for RISCOS
- Martin has also started to share some
disassembled
code from MTX games that he has worked on. I have created a new
page for them
here.
They should be instructive for novice, or even experienced, Z80/MTX
programmers. If anyone else has similar stuff to share, please let
me know and I will add it to the page.
- Added Martin's
latest program disassembly (Toado)
- Added Martin's
source and
listing files for Text Mode Invaders, released at
Memofest 2014
- Added a new game,
"Minesweeper", developed for MSX and ported to MTX by Under4mhz
- Added a new game,
"Vexed", developed for MSX and ported to MTX by Under4mhz
- Added a new game,
"Klondike Solitaire", developed for MSX and ported to MTX by Under4mhz
April 2021
- Updated MTX Sales page to reflect
recent increases in eBay prices for MTX
- Updated MTX Survey page and
associated statistics
- Added some information about the workings of the piggy-back
language ROMs to the
keyboard page, based on Martin's disassembly of a couple of the
ROMs
- Added high res scans of the Chess, Draughts and Toado posters
scanned by Mikael Anker Madsen and uploaded to archive.org by Claus.
Available here on my Nick Mynheer
artwork page
March 2021
February 2021
- Another item for the collection! Jonas O'Brien in Norway
recently advertised a
Norbit Elektronikk Toolbox '85 on eBay but decided to donate it
to me instead. The similar looking Toolbox '84 was advertised for
use with MTX. The '85 has a slightly different lead and I/O sockets,
but otherwise looks identical. Jonas also sent me an unmarked unit
with the same lead and sockets as the '84 model for the MTX. Sadly,
I don't have any documentation for it, but it's a great find!
- Now that the much improved ReSource
is available, I will make the original version of
The Source available on
request to anyone that can provide other Memotech documentation that
is not already on the site -
contact me if this applies to you.
January 2021
- Expanding on Martin's original, Bill Brendling has contributed
updates to ReSource
- Another update to ReSource,
this time by Martin, adding the details of his Diagnostic ROM board
- Posted a review
of the MTX500 from What Micro? of March 1984 (Courtesy of Rob Green)
See Earlier "News"
2012
2013 2014
2015 2016
2017 2018
2019
2020 2021
2022
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