Some updates for 2025:
- One new thing is that the Checkmate 17" and 19" seem to be on pre-order now. I've not seen reviews yet on the Checkmate (to verify the contrast and speaker quality), and it's a bit confusing to order (to decide on what internals you want). But by all accounts, it does seem to be a fantastic flat panel for retro systems.
- Lazer3D is now offering both the lower profile "pizza box" and a taller "desktop box" version of the X16 case! As cute as the pizza-box style looks like, it realistically only supports a single expansion card. The "slightly less than half height" cards never really materialized (dual sided component PCBs is difficult to fab). So for those probably going to use multiple expansion cards, the "desktop box" is probably the better way to go.
- The other update is that sadly, the WASD Keyboard no longer seems to be available. This is very unfortunate, since one benefit it had was support for "rollover keys" (allowing you to effectively press as many keys at once as you'd like, as opposed to the cheaper Perixx-based keyboard). It's a bit of a mystery, since this lack of availability seems to apply to all WASD products and not just X16 specific.
- Speaking of keyboards: some PS/2 keyboards (including some Perixx keyboards) may have a bug or issue where a few seconds after startup, it reverts to a "slow" typematic rate (and before this happens it may flash/flicker all the LED lights). In the Discord is a utility from Stefan you can run from autoexec.x16 to "revert-this-reversion" and get back to the fast typing rate (without having to go through the MENU control panel every time after a startup). [ this happened to me when using a black Perixx keyboard, to match a black Lazer3D case ]
- There may still be an issue with the SELECT button on certain aftermarket SNES Gamepads. We've tried to iron this out and seems we still can't quite pinpoint the issue, so just be aware it may continue to be an issue. Many gamepads do work fine, just we still can't narrow it down to a specific recommendation that is "100% always flawless." Just that once you do find one that works well, write "X16" on it and don't let it go
- The TexElec serial card is now available. ROMTERM continues to be a work in progress and isn't fully part of the official ROM build just yet. I'll attach the "current as of this moment" version of ROMTERM here for reference. Use LOAD and then RUN on that like any other PRG. The ports ending in -0 are for the ESP32 WiFi-modem (internal), while ports ending in -8 are for the classic 9-pin serial connector side (which you can connect to third-party wimodem, actual external models, or to other RS232 terminal devices).
- There is a new "all in one" ROM updater!! A few of us have been testing it, and I'd like to push for it being more officially supported during the next upcoming R49 update (which hopefully will be by mid-this-year). Those with the earliest X16 PR releases had a "prerelease" of R47, and later shipments had the "official" R47, and since then there has been an R48 release. So just be aware that there is a newer update-tool - I'm pretty excited about it (and info is in Discord), and will update on when it is more officially supported.
We can't read minds, so if any questions ( other than about adding CD-ROM support!!
) - let us know!Here is info about BASLOAD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdgd1ZauyDw
And here is info about assembly programming on the X16 w/ 6502:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ0VTLGGp_I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2vGiIqDXkA
Notes on doing sound in assembly on the X16:
https://www.8bitcoding.com/p/sound-in-a ... g-rom.html
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