Ramtop Retro

The ElkSD-Plus1 is designed to co-exist with other hardware, whereas the ElkSD64/128 are intended to be the only device connected to the Elk, so it's the best choice if you're running with expansions added.

23.11.2025 20:21 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Unfortunately, yes. The normal RH Plus 1 ROM checks for a joystick input on the ElkSD, gets confused, and thinks the fire button is always pressed. The custom ROM on the ElkSD has the joystick routines patched out.

23.11.2025 14:37 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0

The only thing I can think of is to use the ElkSD flash tools to flash an empty 16K file into bank F to wipe it. But the RH Plus 1 ROM on the ElkSD is custom, so having the Plus 2 version active instead will cause joystick issues in some games.

22.11.2025 20:58 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Atari Missile Command for the Acorn Electron

Is now available on Stardot, please follow the link, log in, read the post, download the file(s) and get playing.

www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewt...

11.11.2025 15:47 — 👍 18    🔁 7    💬 7    📌 1

Pardon our interruption...

I just use a standard Xilinx USB programmer, one like this: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25478804...

13.11.2025 21:52 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Lave in the Compendium version of Acorn Electron Elite

The Constrictor mission in the Compendium version of Acorn Electron Elite

A Dodo station in the Compendium version of Acorn Electron Elite

A Thargoid in the Compendium version of Acorn Electron Elite

It's done! I have just released the Compendium version of #Elite for the #Acorn #Electron.

This massively enhanced version of the original game contains pretty much every feature of #BBCMicro Elite, but on the Electron. Just add 16K of sideways RAM.

Links in thread.

#retrocomputing #retrogaming

10.07.2025 15:58 — 👍 185    🔁 44    💬 11    📌 3

Thanks for taking the time to check that, Mark. I'll be demonstrating your enhanced Elite at the ABUG Scotland meeting later this month, good to know I should pack a joystick 🕹️😀

04.07.2025 22:19 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Superb. He has done a magnificent job, with lots more still to come.

19.06.2025 13:13 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Superb! This is the Elite the Elk should have had back in the day.

03.06.2025 22:22 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Yep, looks like it. It's an easy fix if you know the problem exists, just make sure bits 0-3 always contain the current bank number when writing to &FE05.

28.05.2025 10:34 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

SW RAM on the Elk is more standardised than the beeb, but the documentation is vague so there are oddities between various hardware. Big one is requiring bits 7-4 of &FE05 to be zero when doing bank switches. Some hardware (early ElkSD128s included) don't enforce that and will bank switch regardless

27.05.2025 23:25 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

My Electron dev system

My new project is an all-singing, all-dancing version of #Elite on the #Acorn #Electron.

It's early days, but I'm really enjoying it. So here’s a thread about the wonderful community hardware and software I'm using to port #BBCMicro Elite to the Elk. (1/7)

#retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit

24.05.2025 19:54 — 👍 69    🔁 12    💬 2    📌 4

10 is 2 in binary, and 2 is an entirely acceptable number of donuts 🍩🍩

30.04.2025 17:34 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Getting some strong Project X vibes, there 😀

17.04.2025 18:16 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Atari Missile Command for the Acorn Electron + 16k of sideways RAM.

Progress remains good, moving as much as possible out of the main memory map into the SWR memory space to get the fastest speed possible.

No sound at present, going to be a challenge to emulate a POKEY chip on here.

05.04.2025 13:57 — 👍 33    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0

🤯

19.03.2025 23:02 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Oh for the days when graphics chips had public datasheets...

30.01.2025 20:09 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The current prototype has a CPLD emulating a pair of SN76489 sound chips. I'm working on implementing an 8-bit sample channel with its own discreet memory on the cartridge.
www.youtube.com/shorts/_t0ZZ...

05.01.2025 17:59 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Electron ULA/Plus 1 ROM latch behaviour - stardot.org.uk

In theory they all work the same, just with the SW ram in different banks. But there are some wrinkles with the way SW paging is implemented on some hardware. See stardot.org.uk/forums/viewt...

15.12.2024 23:25 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

I should probably post an update on Stardot and get some feedback, as the project is rather stalled because I can't decide where to go with it.

15.12.2024 16:28 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

I might just take you up on that! I have a basic VGM player working with a single SN76489, but that's about the limit of my 6502 skills.

15.12.2024 16:26 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The low number of new games using SW ram is quite discouraging for us hardware guys. No point in doing the design if it gets ignored. The new sound card I'm working on for the Elk will probably never be produced in any numbers because I'm not convinced games will make use of it.

15.12.2024 14:34 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 3    📌 0

Multi-part tunes via SWRAM banks are now working on the BBC Micro Music Player & Driver. I can finally play lengthy conversions such as Rob Hubbard's epic Knucklebusters track at nearly 17 minutes. Time to put some new music disks together...

01.12.2024 21:31 — 👍 11    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

On a whim I counted all my retro computers. I have 24 of them. That is either very bad or very good, I'm not sure which...

21.11.2024 18:36 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Loved this series, so it's a little bittersweet to be reading the last book.

21.11.2024 18:33 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0