What interface?

For experts to discuss very technical stuff and newbies to ask why the Spectrum they bought off ebay doesn't work.
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R-Tape
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What interface?

Post by R-Tape »

What are the best interfaces for getting TAP etc files onto real hardware these days? And where to buy?

I have limited experience of these as I had a lot of problems with an old divIDE—the type that protrude horizontally from the back. I’d be after something small, reliable, won’t break my Speccy, and that arrives ready to use (no addional wiring or software to be added).
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Spud
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Re: What interface?

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I use a DivMMC Enjoy! and it works pretty well. I'm not a hardcore user of it mind you.
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beanz
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Re: What interface?

Post by beanz »

SMART card is great, cheap and simple.

i've got a DIVDE+, Enjoy, and one of these...I tend to lean to using this one more than anything. Sits solid in the speccy no wobble problems or anything like that.


http://blog.retroleum.co.uk/smart-card-for-zx-spectrum/

26 quid, says currently out of stock but he makes them pretty quickly, drop him a note.
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stupidget
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Re: What interface?

Post by stupidget »

I've got a DivMMC plugged into my +2 and as good as it is I have had problems with is being a bit wobbly and crashing my speccy. Sometimes I only have to look at it wrong and it stops working.
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Re: What interface?

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stupidget wrote: Thu Oct 25, 2018 6:11 pm I've got a DivMMC plugged into my +2 and as good as it is I have had problems with is being a bit wobbly and crashing my speccy. Sometimes I only have to look at it wrong and it stops working.
Sounds like a pretty authentic speecy experience!
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PeterJ
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Re: What interface?

Post by PeterJ »

beanz wrote: Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:47 pm SMART card is great, cheap and simple.

http://blog.retroleum.co.uk/smart-card-for-zx-spectrum/

26 quid, says currently out of stock but he makes them pretty quickly, drop him a note.
I've got one of these too, but a small issue for me is it won't work with 128K games.

The divMMC Enjoy Mini is good for £35. I also have the Interface1Bis which is a fantastic bit of kit if you are willing to put the time into getting it working.
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Alessandro
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Re: What interface?

Post by Alessandro »

stupidget wrote: Thu Oct 25, 2018 6:11 pm I've got a DivMMC plugged into my +2 and as good as it is I have had problems with is being a bit wobbly and crashing my speccy. Sometimes I only have to look at it wrong and it stops working.
Unfortunately I have to say that too. The interface seems to have been designed with the first (rubber-keyed) model in mind in fact, because it fits firmly in it. When using it with Amstrad manufactured Spectrums, I have to put some object below the interface just to make sure it does not bend down.

That said, the DivMMC EnJoy is fantastic and I recommend it without hesitation.
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stupidget
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Re: What interface?

Post by stupidget »

Yeah I find that a tape placed under the DivMMC when plugged into a +2 works perfectly.

It is a superb piece of kit and the fact you can save direct to the SD Card is great.
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R-Tape
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Re: What interface?

Post by R-Tape »

Cheers fellas. It looks like the best options are:

-Smart card, but 128k games aren't supported
-DivMMC EnJoy*, but you'll need a 'bluetack' solution for later Spectrums.

*Ahhhh, En Joy = In Joystick interface. I previously thought it was just a bloody silly name :?
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Re: What interface?

Post by hikoki »

There are different DivMMC.. DivMMC enJOY by Ben Veersteg, DivMMC nano by Piotr Bugaj, DivMMC Future by tfw8b.
I've read good things about Interface1bis https://sites.google.com/site/interface1bis/
and PicoDivSD https://youtu.be/BuxR-oJx8wc

Off-topic: Another option is to make a collection of turboload audio files with otla or k7zx and put them into one mp3 player
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PeterJ
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Re: What interface?

Post by PeterJ »

Thanks [mention]hikoki[/mention], I had not heard if that device. Only problem is it is not listed for sale in the shop page. Maybe he will make some more at some point.

The Interface1Bis is indeed a great but of kit, but I found it complicated to get started, but once I got to grips with it, it's amazing what it can do. There are some YouTube supporting videos but they are voiced with a computer voice so aren't that great to listen too.
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Re: What interface?

Post by hikoki »

^^ there is a button in there to get notified when more pico units are available
the youtube guides for the 1bis are useful to set up the folder structure required on the sd card
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Re: What interface?

Post by PeterJ »

I checked with [mention]hikoki[/mention] and he was referring to divsd-nano on sell my retro. There is a option there to be informed when they are back in stock.

https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/detai ... trum-10667

Sadly it looks like the Pico unit hasn't been manufactured since 2015.

I have put a DIVDE+ Enjoy on my Christmas list!
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Re: What interface?

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PeterJ
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Re: What interface?

Post by PeterJ »

That looks another interesting device. Is there any advantage of compact flash over SD Card based units? I wonder if they ship to the UK?
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Turrican
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Re: What interface?

Post by Turrican »

PeterJ wrote: Sat Oct 27, 2018 5:06 pm
That looks another interesting device. Is there any advantage of compact flash over SD Card based units? I wonder if they ship to the UK?
Hi Peter.
Yes, he ships to the UK. I live in Brazil and bought one.
The advantage is the compact device and that it is vertical. Less problems with conector. It is more reliable.
About cf x sd, no advantages as I know.
Regards.
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