The Cassiopei is an SD-card based storage device that is capable of loading software into all your 8-bit CBM computers in a very convenient way. It can do that because it connects to the cassetteport, this port is available on all 8-bit CBM models.
Unfortunately there are some exceptions, for instance the SX/DX-64 and the 64GS, but these are "just" modified (Commodore removed the cassetteport) versions of the C64. Also the CBM 600 series are not supported because Commodore has crippled the cassetteport loader in the ROM, to save space for other functions, therefore when you type LOAD"",1 on these systems they report: device not present.
The fact that the Cassiopei uses the cassetteport, does not automatically mean that it is a slow device. It may start slow, but when after a few seconds the fastloader kicks in, it can load more then 50x faster (that is even faster then the 1541 without a fastloader).
The name "Cassiopei" stands for CASSette Input Output Peripheral Expansion Interface, which simply means that it is a device that uses the cassetteport as a communication port for incoming and outgoing data trafic. Peripheral expansion stand for the fact that you can connect it to other devices through it's expansion port. However this was more a thing of the 1st version of the Cassiopei which had an I2C port, analog input, audio output. This version of the cassiopei (the Cassiopei II) is less expansional (from an electronic point of view) and focusses more on the transport of data. However the wifi interface can connect in certian (simple) ways to the internet.
The Cassiopei is designed by me, Jan Derogee, electronics is my passion and some of my projects I have put onto my website. Feel free to visit my project page to learn more about these projects.
The cassiopei is based on a microcontroller (which is nothing more then a tiny computersystem designed to control electronic devices). It is programmed with special software called "firmware", just like any other softwarebased system updates can be expected (for improved functionality or bugfixes) this firmware might require an update. If you want to know which firmware version you have, just reset the Cassiopei and look at the startupscreen where it will be shown for a few seconds (remove the SD-card to maintain visibillity if required). You must manually check the project page as mentioned above to see if there is any new firmware available and if it is, you must manually download this file and store it onto your computer. To program the new firmware into the Cassiopei, go to [ipaddress]/fwupdate and follow the instructions carefully.
Unfortunately there are some exceptions, for instance the SX/DX-64 and the 64GS, but these are "just" modified (Commodore removed the cassetteport) versions of the C64. Also the CBM 600 series are not supported because Commodore has crippled the cassetteport loader in the ROM, to save space for other functions, therefore when you type LOAD"",1
The fact that the Cassiopei uses the cassetteport, does not automatically mean that it is a slow device. It may start slow, but when after a few seconds the fastloader kicks in, it can load more then 50x faster (that is even faster then the 1541 without a fastloader).
The name "Cassiopei" stands for CASSette Input Output Peripheral Expansion Interface, which simply means that it is a device that uses the cassetteport as a communication port for incoming and outgoing data trafic. Peripheral expansion stand for the fact that you can connect it to other devices through it's expansion port. However this was more a thing of the 1st version of the Cassiopei which had an I2C port, analog input, audio output. This version of the cassiopei (the Cassiopei II) is less expansional (from an electronic point of view) and focusses more on the transport of data. However the wifi interface can connect in certian (simple) ways to the internet.
The Cassiopei is designed by me, Jan Derogee, electronics is my passion and some of my projects I have put onto my website. Feel free to visit my project page to learn more about these projects.
The cassiopei is based on a microcontroller (which is nothing more then a tiny computersystem designed to control electronic devices). It is programmed with special software called "firmware", just like any other softwarebased system updates can be expected (for improved functionality or bugfixes) this firmware might require an update. If you want to know which firmware version you have, just reset the Cassiopei and look at the startupscreen where it will be shown for a few seconds (remove the SD-card to maintain visibillity if required). You must manually check the project page as mentioned above to see if there is any new firmware available and if it is, you must manually download this file and store it onto your computer. To program the new firmware into the Cassiopei, go to [ipaddress]/fwupdate and follow the instructions carefully.