Hi!

I am totally new to MSX community - today I got my first MSX computer and it is a Philips VG 8010. I created a Tape lead for it and downloaded a bunch of (original) .CAS files. Converted them to .WAV and tried loading them to the new beast. Loading works fine, but the problem is that almost NONE of the games I try want to work on this machine. The only two that work are Manic Miner and Master of the Lamps.
Most others just stop loading, show OK message or reset themselves.

I want to know if there is something wrong with the machine, or does it just have not enough memory (32k RAM , 16k VRAM, 32k ROM) for most of the games to work - I tried games like Batman, Head Over Heels, Green Beret, etc.

Some games, like Grog's Revenge and Le-Mans reported that they don't have 48k memory available, so I guess it must be this

And if this is the problem is there a way to add extra 32k memory to it ?

Thank you for your answers.

Best regards,
Tomcat

Games which need 48kB of RAM indeed won't work well on a 32kB computer. How to expand RAM? Uhh I really wouldn't know, try and see if there are open sockets on the motherboard next to the RAM already installed. Or you can simply buy another MSX1 which *has* 64kB of RAM (an MSX1 isn't worth more than €5 or so anyway so it won't cost ya ), or try to find an MSX1 (non-mapped) memory expansion cartridge.

As for the games which don't work well, those which are simply resetting and don't specifically need >32kB memory (I'm not from the MSX1 time so I don't really know what the usual memory requirements were for cassette games back then, but only 2 32kB games doen't seem like an awful lot, so I think it's another problem with most of them), maybe their signal in the .CAS file isn't very clear or strong. I experimented with cassette games a couple of times in the past, and getting the volume right was always a bit tricky, at least in my experience. Probably it was also because the cassettes were already quite old by then. Anyways fiddling a little with the output volume of your sound card might get things working. Or else you could try and look at the signal with a wave editor, see if there's a lot of noise or distortion in it. If so applying a mild noise filter might help.

I hope this can solve your troubles ^_^.

~Grauw

How can a .CAS file have a bad quality if it's a binary representation of the cassette signal ?

Anyway, 32k ram is too little to run most msx games: Head Over Heels and Batman need 64k, and Green Beret will need over 32k since it's a cracked version of the original 32k rom. Cracked versions of 16k roms should run fine (Magical Tree, Antartic Adventure, Pippols, Athletic Land, etc.)

Thank you guys for the help !

I tried some more games and some worked fine. It seems that really a VAST majority of good games for MSX will need more ram than my VG 8010 has.

Anyway, been fiddling around with the emulators a bit lately and found that what I should get is a MSX2 machine really Those games rock the world (especially Konami conversions ). How much do the standard MSX2 machines (128k RAM probably ???) which would play most (if not all) games cost ? And where is a good place to get one (I live in Europe, Slovenia).

Best regards,
Tomaz

The standard MSX2 has 256k RAM - that is 128k RAM + 128k VRAM. Be sure to choose a model that as a 720kb disk drive. You can also buy, say a Philips VG8235 with a 360kb single-side drive and upgrade to a 720kb drive - adding a 8245 EPROM chip (see my thread on this topic).

Your best bet is thus to get a Philips 8245 or later model MSX2. Check Ebay for MSX2 auctions.

There is (was) a 16KB Ram Expansion for the VG-8010 (I got one of those) to bring the 8010 to full 64KB of Ram .... Only chance these days would be EBay, but this Cart is rare and hard to find .... but it´s worth the trouble, the 8010 is a nice and very solid built MSX1

If you want to play nearly ALL MSX games (1, 2, 2+, TR) you need to find a Turbo-R on EBay but these are more than rare and very expensive ... If you just want to play MSX1 and MSX2 games you will need more than 128KB of Ram because there are many really good games that use more Ram

A good buy would be a Sony-HB F700D for example cause it has 256KB Ram and 128KB VRam but of course it is a *bit* more expensive than the VG-8235

Well, ofcourse a turboR cannot play cassette games, so that might be a problem...

Quote:

If you want to play nearly ALL MSX games (1, 2, 2+, TR) you need to find a Turbo-R on EBay but these are more than rare and very expensive ... If you just want to play MSX1 and MSX2 games you will need more than 128KB of Ram because there are many really good games that use more Ram

Imho although a turboR is nice, an MSX2 (preferrably a bit extended with stuff like additional RAM and a 7MHz circuit) does just fine. The number of turboR-only games is (as mentioned in another thread on this forum) quite limited.

~Grauw

Again, Thanks guys!

I will check the ebay once in a while to see whats there... I like this Philips VG 8010 a lot, so the best thing would be to get that 16k ram expansion one day, but that might never happen, if they are so rare If any of you spot one oneday then maybe you can give me an email and I can grab it

I will be on a lookout for a msx2 with 256k ram too... not in a hurry at all - but one day I will prolly own one (I have shitload of Spectrums, C64, etc. computers - all in pristine condition - if someone wants to trade then I am for it too ).

Best regards,
Tomaz

I still have a 48KB RAM Cartridge from Addcom lying around here. Seems like an MSX1 solution to me

Will that work with Philips VG 8010 ? If so, would you sell/trade it (my email is tomcat@sgn.net ) ?

Contacted you in person.

Anyone here knows if this (generic?) 48k module will work with Philips VG 8010 (it seems to work with 8020 computer) and if so, will it give additional 48k RAM (which will make it a 80k ram machine) or will it just replace the original 32k RAM ? And if most (if not all) MSX1 casette games out there (stuff like Head Over Heels, Batman, etc.) will work with this ?

best regards,
Tomaz

All Cassette-Games I know, will work with a standart 64KB MSX1

So - if I buy this module (48k) will this make my VG 8010 a standard 64kb MSX1 ??? (it will if the 16k VRAM is included in it )