Commander X16

Older storage would be a self-imposed challenge for developers who want a taste of what developing in certain eras was like (but I agree that they won't be common on the X16):

Tape: Data can only be loaded once (unless you ask the user to rewind), and always arrives in the same order. You sometimes have software control of the play/pause function (i.e., for pausing the tape while you process the data that just came in), but if you use it, your software won't load if the user has a cassette player that doesn't support this.

Floppy Disk: Data can now be randomly accessed, but limited space means data must be spread across multiple disks, and must be organized in a way that minimizes how many flips/swaps the user needs to do throughout use.

CD-ROM: Much more storage space, redbook audio is now available, but this media is read-only. The previous two mediums provided the user a way to save, but CD-ROMs are read-only, so the user must fall back to another method if they want to save data.


Current mediums:
ROM cartridge: Data is instantly available and doesn't always need to be copied into RAM. Components can be added to allow save data to be stored directly on the cartridge.

SD card: Lots of space, fast loading times, random access, read and write (optional write-protection), modern computers support them so it's the most hassle-free way to transfer data between a PC and the X16.

Network card: Hmm, watch this space.

While CD ROM (and perhaps DVD) support sounds like a good idea, there is a draw back that not many modern computers can not create content on these media types these days, since drives are no longer a standard part of a computer. They can be ordered as an extra option by some manufacturers.

No media type is immune to degradation, just like no online opinion is either.

That being said, someone might pursue building an optical media interface/system for the X16. That's one of the minor goals - users can adapt and build on the system in a relatively easy way (as compared to a modern slot such as PCIe.)

Edmond D wrote: ↑Tue Dec 17, 2024 6:44 pm While CD ROM (and perhaps DVD) support sounds like a good idea, there is a draw back that not many modern computers can not create content on these media types these days, since drives are no longer a standard part of a computer. They can be ordered as an extra option by some manufacturers.

No media type is immune to degradation, just like no online opinion is either.

That being said, someone might pursue building an optical media interface/system for the X16. That's one of the minor goals - users can adapt and build on the system in a relatively easy way (as compared to a modern slot such as PCIe.)

Optical media may not be standard for most computers but it's still pretty easy to get them as a SATA option. I have a newish Ryzen 7 board and prebuilt system and I made a point of ordering an DVD/CD burner preinstalled. (The board came with another surprise for such a new board. It has a P/S 2 keyboard port as well).

ahenry3068 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 17, 2024 7:01 pm
Optical media may not be standard for most computers but it's still pretty easy to get them as a SATA option. I have a newish Ryzen 7 board and prebuilt system and I made a point of ordering an DVD/CD burner preinstalled.

Agreed - at one time a CD drive was more or less a requirement as most OS shipped on CDs and SD cards were 32 Mb. For the mass market an optical drive is a "retro" thing.

ahenry3068 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 17, 2024 7:01 pm (The board came with another surprise for such a new board. It has a P/S 2 keyboard port as well).

Kinda neat - you'b be able to plug your X16 keyboard into it

Need CDDA on CX16's CD-ROM Add-on

Starting FMV Test Like Sonic CD for Commander X16 CD-ROM Add-on

RulsanSoftware wrote: ↑Thu Dec 19, 2024 1:59 pm Need CDDA on CX16's CD-ROM Add-on

Can I ask what is CCDA?

CDDA = probably the acronym of CD Digital Audio. I think what's meant is that you should be able to play audio cd's on the hypothetical add-on.

We Need Commander X16 CD-ROM Add-on's Name

desertfish wrote: ↑Sun Dec 22, 2024 6:58 pm CDDA = probably the acronym of CD Digital Audio. I think what's meant is that you should be able to play audio cd's on the hypothetical add-on.

Assuming the existence of a Drive to read CD-Roms to the X16 it would be relatively easy to implement CDDA on top of that, as long as the transfer rate was at least 150kb / s ( 1x CD-Rom speed ). It would be hard to make that background though without some sort of cpu on the interface card itself.