Universal Amstrad CPC RAM Card
The Universal Amstrad CPC RAM Card is available in two versions, providing either a 512KByte RAM expansion or a full 1MByte. The card is suitable for all Amstrad CPC computers, and when used on an older CPC464 or 664 is able to provide full 6128 compatibility as well as the more usual DK'Tronics mode of operation.
DIP switches are used to select three different main modes of operation
- 6128 and plus machines
- 464/664 DK'Tronics compatible mode
- 464/664 Amstrad C3 (FutureOS) compatible mode For 464/664 computers, these cards provides full DK'Tronics compatibility in common with other expansions. To achieve this, the universal cards have to backdrive the electrical signals (as the DK'Tronics cards did) in order to write protect CPC RAM when writing to the expansion RAM.
The unique feature of these card compared with all other CPC464/664 cards is that is they are able to mimic the CPC6128's video mode 'C3' operation. No other card, including the original DK'Tronics cards, are able to do this. This allows CPC464/664's expanded with these universal cards to be able to run FutureOS and other software which depend on this mode - something which was previously possible only with actual 6128s.
Full documentation for the 512KByte card is included in the release notes for the CPLD firmware..
A more comprehensive User Manual and Technical Documentation document is provided for the 1MByte card.
The boards are fully compatible with the DK'Tronics/Amstrad bank switching schemes described in the DK'Tronics Peripheral Technical Manual.
The 512KB RAM Card has been available for some time, the firmware is fully tested and good for all applications as described in the release notes.
The 1MByte Card is new and firmware is currently going through beta testing.
All programs and data files in this project are made available under the terms of the GNU General Public License v3.